Countess Confidential

RITA AWARD WINNING AUTHOR "New York Times" bestselling author Barbara Dawson Smith mesmerizes readers once again in her latest novel of a woman forced to enter the aristocratic world she despises--only to find a man she can't live without... "Dear Reader, "" This is the story of how I, a penniless upstart, became a countess." " I never set out to be the heroine in a romantic tale of derring-do. As a spinster of five-and-twenty, I was much too practical to imagine myself tracking a dangerous criminal or falling prey to ardent nonsense. Nor did I ever envision myself entering the gilded ballrooms of society where indolent aristocrats nibbled cake and traded gossip. But that was before my father was wrongfully imprisoned as a jewel thief. " " Determined to uncover the true criminal, I posed as an impoverished widow and secured a post in the grand household of a noble family - the very family that had cruelly cast out my mother many years ago. Of course, they knew not who I was. To them, I was merely a servant, an invisible hireling. And little did I know, my daring plan would throw me into the path of Simon Croft, the almighty Earl of ""Rockford,"" " " Arrogant, charming, and too handsome for his own good, he might have walked straight off a pedestal in a museum. I had no use for such a rogue, yet from the moment of our first meeting, he tempted my unruly heart. And soon, he threatened my schemes as well, for Simon had secrets of his own.... " " --Claire, the Countess of ""Rockford""" "" "Barbara Dawson Smith is a consummate storyteller who always keeps me turning pages long after my bedtime." --Teresa Medeiros, "New York"" Times" bestselling author of "After""Midnight"Smith, Barbara Dawson is the author of 'Countess Confidential ', published 2006 under ISBN 9780312932398 and ISBN 0312932391.