Book excerpt: Determined to put a troubled Season behind her, Lady Elizabeth Mackintosh eschewed the London social whirl to enjoy Edinburgh- the joie de vivre she hadn't realized was missing. When a handsome English Earl arrives and sets everyone's hearts aflutter, all the better. Sebastian Denholm, Lord Hastings will endure a Scottish Season if it means he can seduce Lady Elizabeth Mackintosh. Coveting an estate she owns, marriage is the simplest way to acquire it. Shockingly, the courtship is enjoyable when Lady Elizabeth reveals herself as one of the most beautiful, intelligent women he's ever met. But when marriage binds Sebastian and Elizabeth together, Sebastian's real reason for their union threatens to rip them apart. One English Earl finds there is nothing more fearsome than a Scottish lass who's been played the fool twice.