Ten years ago, lies destroyed Lady Margaret Neeley's reputation. Even the man she loved and thought she would marry, Simon Barret, Earl of Winchester, turned his back on her in her time of need. Maggie, shunned by Society then dubbed the Half-Irish Harlot, married a much older man with whom she was not happy. During her unfortunate marriage, she cultivated her talent for drawing and painting. Simon, now a successful politician, sees his political future compromised by caricatures from a certain Lemarc. Lemarc is Maggie's nom de plume; she has been successful at hiding her secret identity and has even managed to build quite a reputation as the elusive Lemarc, the mysterious male artist whose secret is known by only three people. Throughout the years, Maggie has tried her best to avoid Simon, and as they did not frequent the same circles, it was an easy task as polite society never readmitted Maggie in their midst.

THE HARLOT COUNTESS is book two in the Wicked Deceptions series, and although characters and events from the first instalment are mentioned, THE HARLOT COUNTESS can easily be read as a standalone. Ms. Shupe has crafted a compelling study of Regency mores in THE HARLOT COUNTESS, and made Maggie's bitterness and anger ring so true it hurts. Maggie is a wonderfully complex and interesting character, and I thought it was easy to understand her attitude, unfortunately so was it for Simon. Ms. Shupe's prose is elegant and refined and her attention to detail is superlative.

THE HARLOT COUNTESS is a very entertaining book, fast- paced and well-researched, but however much I liked everything else, I found the rekindled romance a tad hard to digest because of Simon's behaviour, past and present, towards Maggie. Do not let not a legendary pet peeve of mine deter anyone from reading THE HARLOT COUNTESS. The story is captivating, the writing is superlative, and I much appreciate Ms. Shupe's perceptive understanding of what women had to endure in those times.

Book Summary

Maggie, Lady Hawkins, had a debut she'd rather forget--along with her first marriage. Today, the political cartoonist is a new woman. A thoroughly modern woman. So much so that her clamoring public believes she's a man...

FACT: Drawing under a male pseudonym, Maggie is known as Lemarc. Her (his!) favorite object of ridicule: Simon Barrett, Earl of Winchester. He's a rising star in Parliament--and a former confidant and love interest of Maggie's who believed a rumor that vexes her to this day.

FICTION: Maggie is the Half-Irish Harlot who seduced her best friend's husband on the eve of their wedding. She is to be feared and loathed as she will lift her skirts for anything in breeches.

Still crushed by Simon's betrayal, Maggie has no intention of letting the ton crush her as well. In fact, Lemarc's cartoons have made Simon a laughingstock...but now it appears that Maggie may have been wrong about what happened years ago, and that Simon has been secretly yearning for her since...forever. Could it be that the heart is mightier than the pen and the sword after all?