First Comes Scandal

First Comes Scandal, the fourth Rokesby novel from Julia Quinn, opens with Georgiana Bridgerton's reputation in tatters after a fortune-hunting suitor abducts her hoping to force a marriage. Facing ruin or a match with her kidnapper, she's rescued by an unexpected proposal from Nicholas Rokesby, the physician-in-training who grew up next door.

Their arrangement is meant to be practical: a marriage that salvages her name and gives him a wife who won't complicate his plans for medical school.

But old friendship has a way of turning into something else, and the more time Georgiana and Nicholas spend as husband and wife in name, the harder it becomes to keep their feelings strictly convenient.