The McQuoids of Mayfair

Lady Myrtle McQuoid has always felt a little forgotten, and this season is no exception. When her boisterous family vacates their London townhouse for the country, Myrtle finds she’s been left behind. But she just needs to stay warm, keep her belly full, and distract herself until her relatives realize their mistake and turn back to collect her. Surely that won’t take long.

Perpetually unattached Lady Cassia McQuoid has accepted her fate as a spinster. But how can she be expected to lead a life confined to drawing rooms and royal balls when there’s a vast, exciting world to explore? Cassia can find but one solution: she masquerades as a thrill-seeking lad and stows away on a ship bound for open waters. Adventure awaits. So does notorious privateer Nathaniel Ellsby.

Alexandra Bradbury and Dallin McQuoid are neighbors who couldn’t be more different. She’s prim, mindful, and skittish of social improprieties. Dallin is slightly scandalous, boisterously charming, and unbothered by gossip. On an unexpected night of magic forged under the stars, they discover what they do have in common. Could theirs be a rare love match that might last forever? But everything changes in a heartbeat: a death in the Bradbury family, financial ruin, and Alexandra’s betrothal to a wickedly wealthy marquess.