GILDED LILY

Hidden Identities, scandalous secrets... Deadly Attraction.

Frederique Murcheson’s introduction into society hasn’t gone smoothly—some would even call it a disaster. Only Freddie considers her debut a success. Her scheme to become a makesmith has gone off flawlessly. The only thing that could upset her plans now would be if someone discovered that brilliant tinker Fred Merchant is, in fact, a lady in disguise.

Wooing a spoiled heiress is not exactly Barnabas Smith-Grenville’s idea of high espionage. However, considering his brother disappeared on the job, supposedly into the most iniquitous of opium dens, he cannot expect much better. At least the assignment will afford him time to search for his brother, whom he suspects is in spy-related trouble rather than a drug-addled haze.

But when Freddie proves to be both irresistible and the key to the answers he seeks, Barnabas finds himself not only entwined in a scandalous mystery involving lethal submersibles and deranged dirigibles, but also in a dangerous game of the heart…

Delphine Dryden tried unsuccessfully to get past being an English major by becoming a lawyer, a special education teacher, and an educational diagnostician. She finally gave up the fight several years ago and began writing full-time. She is now the author of the Steam and Seduction series, including Gossamer Wing and Scarlet Seduction, the Science of Temptation series, including The Theory of Attraction, The Seduction of Hypothesis, and The Principle of Desire, and numerous other romances.

When not writing or doing “mommy stuff,” Delphine reads voraciously and noodles around with web design. She counts herself fortunate to have two absurdly precocious children, and two delightful, if occasionally disobedient, mutts. Delphine and her family are all Texas natives, and reside in unapologetic suburban bliss near Houston.