Captives of the Night (Berkley Sensation)

Overview: New York Times bestselling, award-winning author Loretta Chase’s first & second full length Regency Historical Romances! This series need not be read in order. The short story "The Mad Earl's Bride" is included in several anthologies. Leila Beaumont is a gorgeous and talented portrait painter trapped in a loveless marriage with her profligate husband, Francis. Though long ago, Francis very much played the hero, rescuing and wedding the orphaned 17-year-old Leila - Francis'more recent hedonistic lifestyle of drinking, drugging and womanizing has not only earned him quite a few enemies in London, but lost him the love of his wife.When Francis turns up dead in the Beaumont townhouse, right after a loud and vitriolic argument with his wife, Leila is seen as the primary suspect, innocent though she is. Because of Francis'many enemies and victims, government officials instigate a quiet investigation, many of whom fear fallout from Francis'numerous blackmail and extortion schemes.The man they call on - the sexy blue-eyed Comte d'Esmond - is a man of many talents who has spent the past ten years as one of the government's most trusted covert operatives; a man who also has a dark and treacherous past.Neither Leila, nor Esmond is especially happy to be working together - their relationship is one of intense attraction accompanied by intense resistance. Leila had long ago given up on the idea of love and saw her husband as a means of propriety in London, but now she finds the dangerous Esmond's seductive charm nearly irresistible.But work together they must: Esmond, with a carefully hidden identity that would shock Leila to the core and Leila with her own secrets to keep...It's danger that unites them and it's danger that chains their hearts: Esmond's virility and bold touch enflame Leila's blood...and draw her into the most irresistible intrigue of all...truly passionate love. When the intriguing Comte d'Esmond enters a room, women swoon and men gnash their teeth. The count is fully accustomed to this reaction and brilliant at exploiting it. What he isn't prepared for is Leila Beaumont. One look from her tawny eyes is dangerously captivating. How ... troublesome. Esmond can't afford the distraction of an entanglement, however passionate it promises to be. He's supposed to be working --- for the government! --- and his employers want Leila's corrupt and treacherous husband brought to justice. When the spouse, unsurprisingly and conveniently, gets himself murdered, all Esmond has to do is clear Leila of suspicion and proceed to the next assignment. But not being hanged for her husband's murder isn't enough for Leila. She wants to learn the truth --- all of it --- from Esmond, a man who's been lying all his life. Chase is on! Her out-of-print classic is now back in top form. The Comte d'Esmond is supposed to be investigating Leila Beaumont's corrupt and treacherous husband. But all he wants to do is surrender to her dangerously captivating eyes. Wrongly suspected of murdering her husband, lovely portrait painter Leila Beaumont turns to the enigmatic Comte d'Esmond, a man with a secretive past, for help. By the author of The Lion's Daughter TWILIGHT HAD FALLEN OVER VENICE, TO plunge the marble corridors of the palazzo into gloom.