Book excerpt: A wicked game. Bored with yet another London Season, Lady Mercy Spencer and her friends challenge each other to steal a kiss from one of a select number of rogues, preferably as wicked a man as possible. Who better to choose among than the members of the elite club known as The Wicked Earls? A tempting distraction. When his finances take a crashing blow, William Young, Eighth Earl of Woodcliffe has little choice but to lie low while he searches for the man who stole all his money. As he hunts down Eli Grainger--dodging those to whom he owes money all the while--he realizes he’s being pursued, too, by one Lady Mercy Spencer. Of all the young ladies in Town for the Season, Lady Mercy is the most dangerous, owing to her overprotective brother. She’s determined to trap him in a scandal, it seems. As beautiful as she is sly, avoiding her could prove more difficult than restoring his funds. Why won’t she find some other poor sod to marry and allow him to continue his glorious, hedonistic ways?