The Wicked Wyckerly

the long version

In Regency society, the best hope for sustaining the family fortune is to breed "an heir and a spare." But if the heir claims the title and all the wealth, what's the spare to do? John Fitzhugh Wyckerly has never relied on his family for love or money. Handsome, charming, and a genius with numbers, he wins enough money gambling to allow himself the pretense of luxury and indolence expected of an aristocrat's younger son. But when his brother's death makes him the seventh Earl of Danecroft, he inherits a crumbling estate and massive debts. Determined to do right, he reclaims his illegitimate daughter, Penelope, and heads to London in search of a very rich wife.... Abigail Merriweather's rural farm has been maddeningly quiet since she lost custody of her four young half siblings. At least the house bustles when a roguish gentleman named Fitz stops for a few days' respite with his rebellious daughter in tow. His etiquette is questionable, and his parenting deplorable -- so why does Abby delight in his blunt flirtations? And when she seeks a suitor to help her regain the children, why does Fitz keep popping up? They're an impossible match -- yet maybe a match made in heaven after all.