Dark Venetian

Emma Maxwell knew her stepmother, Celeste, must have some scheme in mind, even before they arrived in Venice.

When she heard what it was, Emma wanted no part of it. Then she met Count Vidal Cesare, on whom Celeste had designs, and decided he was old enough and experienced enough to look after himself.

Still recovering from illness, she had agreed to the trip only for rest, not to assist in snaring a titled husband for a wealthy widow. Installed in the decaying Palazzo Cesare, she soon discovered that the cynical nobleman had little interest in playing the compliant groom.

Between excursions across the sunlit lagoon and tense dinners under Celeste’s watchful gaze, she resolved to keep her distance from a man whose light blue eyes saw through every defence.

Emma was very firm about her own future. She informed the Dowager Contessa, "No, signora. When I marry it will be for love. And my husband will love me …and only me!"

• May-December Romance: Nineteen-year-old Emma finds herself dangerously captivated by the enigmatic forty-year-old Count Cesare, whose worldly cynicism masks a fierce and unexpected passion.
• Romantic Suspense: Beneath the glittering surface of Venetian high society lurks a deadly smuggling syndicate, drawing Vidal into undercover danger and putting Emma directly in the line of fire.
• Forced Proximity: Confined together within the echoing halls of the Palazzo Cesare and drifting across the secluded waters of the lagoon, the tension between Emma and Vidal threatens to shatter all resolve.
• Also by This Author: Fruto del amor, Un heredero inesperado and Le piège du désir.