title: A Reluctant Courtship (The Daughters of Bainbridge House)
author:  Laurie Alice Eakes 
description: <b>A woman without a prospect. A man without a homeland. Can love give them a future?<BR></b><BR>Honore Bainbridge has been courted by two men, one of whom turned out to be a traitor, the other a murderer. Banished to her family's country estate, where she will hopefully stay out of trouble, she finally meets the man she is sure is exactly right for her: Lord Ashmoor. Tall, dark, and handsome--what more could a girl ask for? <BR><BR>But he too is under suspicion because of his American upbringing and accusations that he has helped French prisoners escape from Dartmoor Prison. If he's to keep out of a British prison himself and secure his place in British society, Lord Ashmoor needs a wife beyond reproach--something the vexingly beautiful Honore certainly is not. Though they find themselves drawn to each other, family obligations may conspire to keep them apart forever.<BR><BR>For the sake of her heart, Honore determines to prove Ashmoor's innocence--even if doing so risks her own life.<BR><BR>From the first sentence, award-winning author Laurie Alice Eakes thrusts you into high drama amid the rocky cliffs of Devonshire, England, and keeps you suspended there until the final page.<BR><BR><BR><b>Laurie Alice Eakes</b> is the author of <i>Lady in the Mist</i>, <i>Heart's Safe Passage</i>, <i>Choices of the Heart</i>, <i>A Necessary Deception</i>, and <i>A Flight of Fancy</i>, which won the October 2012 Clash of the Titles Award, voted on by readers. She won a National Readers Choice Award for Best Regency in 2007 for <i>Family Guardian</i>. Laurie Alice writes full-time from her home in Texas, where she lives with her husband and sundry dogs and cats. Visit www.lauriealiceeakes.com for more.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](images/00006.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Choosing a wife is not a task that should be undertaken lightly.”
  
  Bennett Montague, sixteenth Duke of Aveley, is seeking the perfect bride. He’s
  narrowed his search to five worthy “Potentials”...until the arrival of his
  aunt’s companion unravels his carefully laid plans.
  
  Having fought for everything she has, Amelia Mansfield is incensed by
  Bennett’s wife-selection methods. But as she’s forced to spend time in his
  company, she begins to see another side to Bennett—and that man is infinitely
  more tantalizing and enticing...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Amelia offered him a saucy shrug, alongside her smug smile, then buried her
  nose back into her own book unapologetically.
  
  It gave Bennett the rare opportunity to study her properly. Or more important,
  an opportunity to try to understand his own unexpected reaction to her.
  Arguably, this room was filled with the most desirable young ladies of the
  ton. His five remaining Potentials were too polite to risk re