Book 1 of the Rakes of Italy Series A.D. 1757 WHEN ROME'S LOVELIEST ROSE AND VENICE'S FIERCEST LION TEAM UP TO WIN BACK THE LOVE OF THEIR RESPECTIVE SPOUSES-TO-BE, THE SERENE REPUBLIC MAY EXPECT A HILARIOUS ROMP - AND PERHAPS THE TORRIDEST LOVE STORY TO HAVE EVER BEDAZZLED ITS GILDED CANALS... A ROSE WITH THORNS. Spoiled Princess Isabella Pamphili of Rome is a radiant bride-to-be. The youngest of four daughters, Isabella has always secretly feared that her father might honor the custom of "giving her to God" instead of finding her a husband. Thankfully, though, her father found her a splendid betrothed, a dashing Venetian aristocrat, so Isabella threw herself wholeheartedly into keeping her future husband diverted with lively correspondence, until such time that they would be united in matrimony. Recently, however, her fiancé stopped writing. Alarmed and perplexed, Isabella convinces her father to send her to Venice with the intention of rekindling her fiancé's passion and to set a wedding date... but the disasters keep coming. En route to Venice, Isabella finds herself in the midst of a full-blown battle, with no one to defend her, except for a very rude navy commander... A HEART OF A LION. The unappreciated second son of an aristocratic Venetian family, Brando Loredan has proven his valor on the maritime battlefield time and again and is to marry La Serenissima's most famous beauty. But now, stranded with a handful of soldiers on the Isle of Lina, Venice's last frontier against the marauding Turks, Brando is prepared to die a hero's death rather than return home a failure... but he may just have to postpone his untimely arrival at Elysium in order to rescue a very troublesome Roman princess...
4 parts