The Lyon's Perfect Mate — Cerise Deland

Can two people who have learned how to fight for all they want and win push pride aside to save their love and their marriage?

Miss Priscilla Taunton has little to commend her. No looks, no titled family, no savoir-faire. But her fortune can buy her a husband if she's brave enough to use it.

Cilla has struggled to make a new life for herself. Years of ridicule and suppression at the hands of her parents mean she has had to live down the scurrilous reputation her elders cast upon her. But after creating herself anew, Cilla needs a husband of good cheer and spotless reputation. To make that a reality, she'll use her money, all of it, if necessary, to hire Mrs. Dove-Lyon -- and ask for herself only one special reward.

Captain Valerian Anderleigh has always won every battle. Hailed by his superiors as honorable, revered by his men as heroic, he is a legend.

When Val returns home from the wars to assume his family's title, he meets challenges for which no battlefield prepared him. His estate is flooded. His stepmother and her two daughters spend every penny. His younger brother runs wild.

Val will do anything to resurrect his family's pride. Even enter the Lyon's Den and assume a terrible burden. Surprisingly, marrying a lovely, lonely woman becomes not a challenge but a greater joy than he anticipated.

Losing the love of his life in defeat is not an option.