Hortense Marchand has played many roles, but never wife. Until one desperate marquess seeks the lady spy’s help—and her hand… Thief. Spy. Wife. Orphaned as a child, Hortense has had to fight her way to becoming the ton’s favorite private investigator. But for a woman who lives on the edge, the past is never dead. When her former spymaster asks her to find his wastrel brother Jamie, the Marquess of Clare, she thinks it’s just one more job uncovering the ton’s dirty secrets. She has no idea that she’s about to find her future… Lord. Lover. Husband. To her surprise, Lord James Asquith isn’t as wayward as his brother thinks, and when Jamie catches Hortense searching his study one night, neither can ignore the sparks that fly. Intrigued, he tracks her through London, watching her work. But when his rakish past comes back to haunt him, Jamie can think of no one better to help him than the talented, and very fetching, lady spy… When Lord Becomes Lover and Thief Becomes Wife… Their quest takes them back to Hortense’s dark past as a child pickpocket, where she and Jamie will have no choice but to work together to do the bidding of a powerful thief lord—even if that means marriage! Despite their chaste intentions, passion flares and as they grow closer Jamie and Hortense can’t help but wonder if love will be enough to make their marriage more than a masquerade...