The Rake

From the acclaimed romance writer, Mary Jo Putney, comes The Rake, a polished version of her original award-winning The Rake and the Reformer. Reggie Davenport, a self-destructive man, leavened by wit and humor and painful honesty, is making one last, desperate bid to change his lift. It was predicted that his life, disinherited and disgraced, would come to a violent end. But fate has given him one final chance to redeem himself, by taking his place as the rightful master of Strickland, his lost ancestral estate. Here he makes acquaintance with Lady Alys Weston, a strong, independent woman who is far better at giving love than receiving it. She fled a world filled with mistrust and betrayal and was finished with men, yet how could she have predicted that Strickland's restored owner would awaken a passion more powerful than anything she has ever known? A passion that will doom or save them both...if only they can overcome their pasts and dare to believe in the wondrous power of love.

Mary Jo Putney graduated from Syracuse University with degrees in eighteenth-century literature and industrial design. A New York Times bestselling author, she has won numerous awards for her writing, including two Romance Writers of America RITA Awards, four consecutive Golden Leaf awards for Best Historical Romance, and the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Historical Romance. She was the keynote speaker at the 2000 National Romance Writers of America Conference. Ms. Putney lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Visit her Web site at www.maryjoputney.com.