The Girl-Bachelors are back in With Seduction in Mind, a Victorian England version of 10 Things I Hate About You by New York Times bestselling author Laura Lee Guhrke. Guhrke, the author of Secret Desires of a Gentleman and The Wicked Ways of a Duke, offers a fun, sexy, and emotional tale of a young woman who finds her fairy-tale love. Her proposition . . . London Society is harsh for a young woman with no family connections who has to work for a living. But when Daisy Merrick is sacked from yet another job, the feisty and outspoken miss comes up with a plan that could give her a future beyond her wildest dreams. There's only one problem. Her success depends on a man, the most infuriating, impossible, immovable man she's ever met. His resolution . . . Sebastian Grant, Earl of Avermore, is England's most infamous author. Known for his notorious reputation, he is more interested in play than work, and has no intention of cooperating when Daisy shows up on his doorstep with a mad plan. The provoking, fire-haired beauty stirs his senses beyond belief, and Sebastian knows he has only one way to stop her. Seduction. Laura Lee Guhrke spent seven years in advertising, had a successful catering business, and managed a construction company before she decided writing novels was more fun.  A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Laura has penned over twenty-five historical romances. Her books have received many award nominations, and she is a two-time recipient of romance fiction’s highest honor: the Romance Writers of America RITA Award. She lives in the Northwest with her husband and two diva cats. Laura loves hearing from readers, and you can contact her via her website: www.lauraleeguhrke.com. With Seduction in Mind By Laura Lee Guhrke HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Copyright © 2009 Laura Lee Guhrke All right reserved. ISBN: 9780061456831 Chapter One London, May 1877 There were few things Greyden Kane, Duke of Ryeton, had been denied in his privileged life. Generally his every whim was indulged with cheerful abandon. Despite such fortune, life was not without its ironies and Grey had often been given things he never once asked for or, for that matter, wanted—such as the six-inch scar that ran down his left cheek. A scar that was hidden for the time being beneath a supple leather mask that obscured most of his face. And so self-denial became something His Grace sought, but like all things, the taste of it often dulled. It was that same sense of denial that had driven him to Saint's Row that evening. Like the society it catered to, the club located on that abbreviated lane gave the appearance of propriety and good manners, but beneath that façade—if one sought them out—there were all manners of scandalous and seductive delights to be found. In one section, proper ladies and gentlemen might attend a special ball or spectacle of some kind. In another section, less decorous patrons could indulge in their fantasies without risk of their carnal delights ever being found out. In short, it was a place where elegance and debauchery often crossed paths, but were never formally introduced. The large, cream stucco building sprawled like corpulent King George IV, during whose reign it had been built. Back then it had been intended as a theater and had continued as such for fifty years before the owner, one Mr. Threwsbury, lost it and everything else he owned years ago in a card game. That he would risk his livelihood was scandal enough. That he lost the club to a woman . . . well, Threwsbury had to leave England—not just to escape his creditors, but to avoid being a laughingstock as well. Vienne La Rieux was no ordinary woman. That soon became apparent when she assumed ownership of the Saint's Row theater, and took it from tattered street urchin to diamond of the first water in its first six months. Now it was a high-class club open to any man or woman wealthy enough to afford the price of walking through its doors. Oh, there were balls and parties, and a restaurant open to the public, but balls like this one, where everyone wore a mask and spirits flowed freely . . . those were open by subscription only. The only way a non-subscriber could attend was as the guest of a member. Archer was there as his guest. Not because Grey needed his brother's support, but because he knew how futile it was to attend such an event without his younger brother tagging along. And tonight, Grey had a need that would no longer be ignored regardless of his brother's presence. Saint's Row bustled with energy and gaiety and, beneath that, a frisson of sensual promise. It was this promise that Grey chased as the ball ebbed and swelled beneath the balcony where he sat, watching. Waiting. Archer, younger by a scant ten months, sat with him. The younger Kane hadn't Grey's particular fussiness when it came to women and was ready to dance and subsequently romance with whoever would have him. Arch had the look of