The Inconvenient Compromise. The Dunne Family Series, #8

A Regency Romance of Scandals, Secrets, and an Unexpected LoveA compromised position leaves Miss Fiona Trimble with only one option: a hastily arranged marriage to a man she never intended to wed. Fiona has always known her path to security lies in making an advantageous match, even if it means befriending the scheming and ruthless Lady Bruxton. But when the Earl of Kenworth-her carefully chosen prospect-becomes engaged to another, Fiona's plans crumble.
Worse, Lady Bruxton has blackmailed her into committing an unthinkable act, a betrayal that threatens to ruin her entirely. Lucian Maxwell never imagined his life would lead here. As the illegitimate son of a married nobleman and a widowed countess, he grew up on the edges of society. But a long-forgotten Scottish inheritance changes everything, and Lucian reluctantly becomes an earl. Still navigating his unexpected new title, Lucian awakens in a remote inn near the Scottish border-with an innocent and scandalized Miss Fiona Trimble in his bed.
For Fiona, being discovered with the wrong earl means one thing: ruin. For Lucian, it means a wife he didn't ask for but might just need. As Fiona's sharp wit and quiet strength begin to thaw his guarded heart, Lucian finds himself fiercely protective of the woman who has turned his world upside down. But Fiona's past, and Lady Bruxton's machinations, are not so easily left behind. In a battle of wills, secrets, and schemes, can Fiona and Lucian turn their inconvenient compromise into a love that defies all odds? Or will Lady Bruxton's vendetta destroy them before they can truly begin?Filled with forced-proximity romance, a marriage of convenience, and a strong-willed heroine who meets her match, The Inconvenient Compromise is a steamy, heartwarming tale of love, redemption, and triumph over scandal.