To Tempt a Rake by Cara Elliott

Kate Woodbridge had a very unusual childhood for a granddaughter of a duke. She traveled the world with her parents acquiring expertise in botany and has no real claim for all the traditional English customs. But a promise to her dying parents forces her to return to London and try to build a relationship with the stogy old duke. Thankfully she meets up with the other intellectual ladies in the 'Circle of Sin' and has somewhere where she feels like she belongs but she still does not tell the ladies all her shameful secrets of her past.

When she meets the cousin of one of her friends, Marco, the Conte of Como, she is quite flustered as they have met in the past and she just hopes Marco does not remember her. Too bad he eventually places her unique scent and remembers where and why they have meet before. By this time they are both at her grandfathers country home for a party, Kate is there at her grandfathers request, and Marco is there on some secret business for the government and everything goes into a tailspin when there is a murder and the blame is pointed at Kate.

This is the third book I have read from Cara Elliott and I have enjoyed every single one. It has a wonderful mix of heated romance, mystery and touching relationships between family members. There is a small side romance between a couple of the older characters that I very much enjoyed and thought it added a nice warmth to the storyline, along with a few chuckles, watching those two hard headed people butt heads. You can feel the attraction between Kate and Marco right away, and even though they previously met in the second book (To Surrender To A Rogue) you don't need to read them in order, though you do get more of a sense of their early relationship. When Kate and Marco must embark on an adventure together that neither one expected, Marco finally comes to terms with why his is such a rogue (this part I thought could have been expanded upon a bit more to give him a bit more history) and Kate finally finds the love she has been missing since her parents death from more than one place. This is an excellent trilogy and I look forward to future books from Ms Elliott. 4 stars!

I won this book on goodreads.com through their first reads program, thanks!