A Midsummer Night's Sin

A Midsummer Night's Sin
Kasey Michaels

Three unrepentant scoundrels infamous for being perilous to love… Handsome as the devil and twice as tempting, Robin ‘Puck’ Blackthorn lives for the pleasures of the moment. His only rule – never dally with an innocent woman. But when an encounter at a masquerade ball leaves him coveting the one woman who refuses to succumb to his charms, Puck realises that some rules were made to be broken…Scandalised to discover that the masked man with whom she’d shared a dance is the ton’s most celebrated rake, Regina Hackett vows to keep her distance. Yet when her dear friend vanishes, it is to Puck that Regina must turn.And as they embark on a dangerous journey through London’s darkest alleys, Regina will discover that beneath Puck’s roguish façade lies a man who will stop at nothing to protect her…

Praise for USA TODAY bestselling author

KASEY

MICHAELS

‘Kasey Michaels aims for the heart and never misses.’

—New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts

‘One of the finest Regency writers does it again with a charming and fun trilogy starter … Wit, humour and cleverness combine to create an utterly delicious romance.’

—RT Book Reviews on The Taming of a Rake

‘Michaels’s new Regency miniseries is a joy … You will laugh and even shed a tear over this touching romance.’

—RT Book Reviews on How to Tempt a Duke

‘Michaels has done it again … Witty dialogue peppers a plot full of delectable details exposing the foibles and follies of the age.’

—Publishers Weekly, starred review, on The Butler Did It

‘Michaels demonstrates her flair for creating likeable protagonists who possess chemistry, charm and a penchant for getting into trouble. In addition, her dialogue and descriptions are full of humour.’

—Publishers Weekly on This Must Be Love

‘Michaels can write everything from a light-hearted romp to a far more serious-themed romance. [She] has outdone herself …’

—RT Book Reviews on A Gentleman By Any Other Name (Top Pick)

‘[A] hilarious spoof of society wedding rituals wrapped around a sensual romance filled with crackling dialogue reminiscent of The Philadelphia Story.’ —Publishers Weekly on Everything’s Coming Up Rosie

Dear Reader,

Did you ever meet someone who just made you feel good, glad to be around him, glad to be alive? Someone you just have to look at in order to smile, feel good about yourself and the world in general? Rare, wonderful people.

Robin Goodfellow Blackthorn, known affectionately as Puck, is one of those special people. Sweet, loveable, mischievous Puck.

I didn’t know all that, of course, when he first invaded my subconscious, but once I “met” him—well, I was hooked. He made me smile, he made me laugh—he made me look around at life and see the good about everything. He reinforced my belief in happy never-endings.

What possible defences could a young woman like Regina Hackett raise to avoid succumbing to Puck’s charms? How can you look at a man who smiles into your eyes and asks, “Do you love life? I do. I love life!” and be able to just walk away?

Oh, how I love Puck. I hope you do, too!

And then please watch for Much Ado About Rogues to read about Black Jack Blackthorn, Puck’s brother—and the definite flip side to his fun-loving sibling!

Happy reading!

Kasey Michaels

A Midsummer

Night’s

Sin

Kasey Michaels

THE BLACKTHORN BROTHERS

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To the two astonishingly accomplished women

my sons married, Susan and Tammy, with love

What revels are in hand? Is there no play,

To ease the anguish of a torturing hour?

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

PROLOGUE

HE DIDN’T FOLLOW fashion, he made it. He had the air of the finest salons of postwar Paris about him, fairly reeked of suave sophistication. When he’d taken to growing his blond hair nearly to his shoulders, half of the young fashionables had rushed to do the same, a few going so far as to resort to hairpieces.

He rode a strawberry roan stallion with a white diamond-shaped blaze. Sales of strawberry roan stallions soared, as did the profits of one Jacques Dupuis, former jockey and a true artist with whitewash.

He could make a violin weep, turn a pianoforte naughty and played the flute because he thought it amusing. Unemployed music masters found themselves beleaguered with demands for lessons, and those who would term any music “a beautiful noise” hadn’t yet had their ears abused by the efforts of dozens of tone-deaf young French fops.

He shunned the theater, and tickets sales plunged. He made a joke, and all of Paris laughed. Young ladies dreamed of him, young men fought to be seen with him. Hostesses showered him with invitations … to their parties, to their boudoirs.

They called him Puck, the name delighting them. He was so very unacceptable, yet welcomed everywhere.

He was le beau bâtard Anglais, the beautiful English bastard, the beloved pet of Paris Society, and completely, wholly delicious.

And now he had said his adieus to the openly distraught Paris and returned to the land of his birth, just in time for the new London Season.

Where he was known only as Robin Goodfellow Blackthorn.

Bastard.

PUCK POSED AT THE mantelpiece in the lavish drawing room of the even more lush mansion in Grosvenor Square, the very heart of fashionable Mayfair. He appeared nonchalant in his fine French clothes, his cravat a masterpiece, his tailor’s appreciation for his client’s fine physique evident in the exquisite cut of the broadcloth jacket and form-fitting trousers molded to his long, lean body.