The Fortune Hunter
In 1881, attending séances to speak with dear, departed friends  and loved ones is considered a fashionable outing in New York City, and no  medium is more popular than the mysterious Countess Lovaenya and her sister,  Czarina Renski. But the countess is hiding more than her secrets for calling  forth the spirits: she feels compelled to conceal her real identity (Lavinia  Murphy) as well as her origins and those of her siblings in order to build a  life in New York. But just when Lavinia thinks she has found financial security  for her makeshift family, the bitter, illegitimate son of a wealthy client  targets "the countess" as a means of taking revenge against his hated,  mad father.To protect her family, Lavinia enters into an uneasy bargain with the powerful,  dark Edward. Wary of the undeniable attraction between them, she struggles to  cope with the bargain she has struck, but her experience with contacting the  spirits hasn't prepared her for the dark specters that haunt Edward. Fraught  with pitfalls and roadblocks, the path to Edward's heart is a rocky one, and  Lavinia has reason to wonder if a heart even exists beyond the darkness of his  bitter soul. But Edward needs Lavinia in ways his past experience has left him  unable to verbalize, until a crisis forces him to confront his demons and make a  choice that will affect them both forever.McKinney's crisp, finely drawn characters and complex, intense plot driven by desire, obsession, and revenge makeThe Fortune Huntera novel worth  reading.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.