Bath Tangle

Her future was held by the one man she couldn't trust . . .

When the Earl of Spenborough suddenly dies, his willful and obstinate daughter Serena is devastated. Then Serena is even more horrified to find that her beloved -- albeit eccentric -- father's will states that her inheritance is to be held by a trustee. And none other than the Marquis of Rotherham, an arrogant and fierce noble who used to be betrothed to Serena.

Now the marquis holds Serena's entire estate, knowing that the only way she can regain her inheritance is if she weds . . .And only if the marquis gives his approval. But how can Serena trust a scoundrel to protect her happiness?

Lady Serena Carlow is an acknowledged beauty, but she's got a temper as fiery as her head of red hair. When her father dies unexpectedly, Serena discovers to her horror that she has been left a ward of Ivo Barrasford, marquis of Rotherham, a man whom Serena once jilted and who now has the power to give or withhold his consent to any marriage she might contemplate. With her father's heir eager to take over his inheritance--and Serena's lifelong home--she and her lovely young stepmother, Fanny, decide to move to Bath, where Serena makes an odd new friend and discovers an old love, Major Hector Kirkby. Before long, Serena, Fanny, Kirkby, and Rotherham are entangled in a welter of misunderstood emotions, mistaken engagements, and misdirected love.

Georgette Heyer's genius has always been in creating memorable characters, then placing them in a comedy of manners that is absolutely true to the Regency period. Bath Tangle is a delightful romp through the haute ton of early-19th-century England, and the battling, passionate, meant-for-each-other Ivo and Serena are one of her most successful romantic duos.