Description: Their mercenary marriage of convenience was perfect ... until love got in the way ...
Mary Barnett has never dreamed of marriage and family. Scarred and wary, she's done everything she can to avoid men. Operating her family's vast business is the only future she has ever wanted. Mary had no way of knowing that her father would place conditions on her inheritance. Namely, she will only retain control of her father's empire if she marries. And not just to any man, but a peer of the realm ... The last time his family tried to force Miles Ingram to marry for money, he rebelled, abandoned society for good, and went off to war. His subsequent employment as a dancing instructor might have been enough to sustain him--but when his brother dies, saddling him with a destitute earldom, Miles can no longer hide from his obligations. He'll need to marry a wealthy woman, and fast ... They're complete opposites, but their goals are perfectly aligned. And it's not long before they realize their hearts aren't as far apart as they initially thought. Miles and Mary know their dance with love can only end in happily ever after, or heartbreak. But which one will it be? Contains mature themes.Brief description: S. M. LaViolette also writes historical romance under the name Minerva Spencer and historical mystery under the name S. M. Goodwin. Unlike many authors, S. M. hasn't wanted to be a writer since she was knee-high to a grasshopper. In fact, she's a very late bloomer and didn't write her first book until she was forty-five. That book, Dangerous, came out in 2018, the year S. M. turned 50. She is living proof that it is never too late to try something brand new. Since 2018 she has published fifteen books and two novellas, one which is included in an anthology with mega bestselling author Sylvia Day. S. M. has worked as a college history teacher, bed and breakfast owner, criminal prosecutor, and bartender (her favorite job next to writing). S. M. now writes full time and lives with her husband and multiple animals in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. When she's not writing she's cleaning out chicken coops, crafting, or reading.