Dear Reader,

Here is the first of my new "Brides" trilogy, in which three unconventional young women vow they will never marry-only to be overtaken by destiny. Bride #1 is the outspoken Portia....

It's bad enough that seventeen-year-old Portia Worth is taken in by her uncle, the marquis of Granville, after her father dies. As the bastard niece, Portia knows she can expect little beyond a roof over her head and a place at the table.

But it truly adds insult to injury when the Granvilles' archenemy, the outlaw Rufus Decatur, hatches a scheme to abduct the marquis's daughter-only to kidnap Portia by accident.

Portia, who possesses more than a streak of independence as well as a talent for resistance, does not take kindly to being abducted-mistakenly or otherwise.

Decatur will soon find himself facing the challenge of his life, both on the battlefield and in the bedroom, as he contends with this misfit of a girl who has the audacity to believe herself the equal of any man....

Warmest wishes,

Jane Feather