One Whispered Plea (Singular Sensation, #9)

When unexpected adventures are in the offing, it's best to jump in despite potential heartbreak.
Michael Ashworth, Viscount of Winteringham, has been a widower and a father for nearly eight years. Living with grief and uncertainty as well as the after-affects from the war leave him drained, but he must be strong for the sake of his son. When he accidentally overhears a faint, whispered plea in the Reading Room at the British Museum in a feminine tone, it practically demands that he come up to the mark and help.
Miss Charity Maitland is the daughter of an antiquities dealer, and she is quite alone in life. Though she's not a stranger to relics and secrets due to her father's pawn broker shop, it is that knowledge which has led her into trouble. When she's kidnapped by a strange man who wants information her father had regarding a specific tiara once belonging to the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh—though she's never seen the piece—her life is in jeopardy from her captor.
Which leads to a marriage of convenience, for Charity requires protection. When an unexpected kiss between the nuptial pair ignites mutual unwanted attraction, they ignore it to hunt for the tiara. Staying one step ahead of the criminal network who wishes to gain the piece proves difficult, especially when Winteringham encounters a villainess who despises the Rogue's Arcade men. Working together and allowing fate to have at them might mean stumbling upon something more valuable than the tiara—love, family, and belonging—unless they don't survive the madwoman's machinations...

Sandra Sookoo is a USA Today bestselling author who firmly believes every person deserves acceptance and a happy ending. Most days you can find her creating scandal and mischief in the Regency-era, serendipity and happenstance in Victorian America or snarky, sweet humor in the contemporary world. Most recently she's moved into infusing her books with mystery and intrigue. Reading is a lot like eating fine chocolates—you can't just have one. Good thing books don't have calories!

When she's not wearing out computer keyboards, Sandra spends time with her real life Prince Charming in central Indiana where she's been known to goof off and make moments count because the key to life is laughter. A Disney fan since the age of ten, when her soul gets bogged down and her imagination flags, a trip to Walt Disney World is in order. Nothing fuels her dreams more than the land of eternal happy endings, hope and love stories.