'It's pretty hard to pull off a good Georgette Heyer homage, but Moran makes it look easy' i News
In a Bridgerton-style Regency world, three people are caught in a web of passion and deceit.
Fontainebleau in 1825 is a glittering international court, rich with intrigue, passion and simmering violence. Lieutenant Colonel Kit Helford must navigate these treacherous waters to deliver the beautiful, self-destructive Princess Royal to her prospective husband. Kit's childhood friend, Clemency Arwenack, is tasked with safeguarding her royal mistress's reputation as the princess awaits a marriage she is dreading.
But both have secrets they will hide at all costs. Kit is on the run – from a man shot and left for dead back in London and a lifetime of scandal that includes a liaison with the princess herself. He will do anything to salvage his family's reputation. Clemency, meanwhile, conducts a perilous trade in lies and blackmail as she seeks to destroy the princess, not protect her.
With the princess's life under threat, Kit and Clemency are pitted against each other, even as a dangerous attraction grows between them. The past hunts them both, remorselessly, relentlessly, and neither can escape it for long.
'Passionate, smart and action-packed' Sarah Hughes, Guardian
'Lush, dark, utterly real and achingly romantic' Ruth Ware
'A thrilling, sexy romp through brilliantly reimagined history. Hester is one of my very favourite heroines and it's probably best not to ask what I'd like to do with Crow ... Totally absorbing' Holly Hepburn.
'Sweeping and romantic, with a hero to rival Ross Poldark, Wicked by Design is a fantastic and compelling novel that draws you in and paints a glorious alternative St Petersburg, keeping you hooked until the end' Imogen Edwards-Jones.
'A swashbuckling, sparkling world of a novel [...] with a mad, bad and dangerous to know hero' Suzannah Dunn.
'Excellent writing and characterization pushes it up several notches – with special mention for Hester: a fizzing-with-life, believable and resourceful heroine if ever there was one' Daily Mail.
'A cross between Georgette Heyer, Dorothy Dunnett and Poldark' iNews
