Rules for Ruin

Mimi Matthews

Book 1 of The Crinoline Academy

In Victorian London, orphan Effie Flite is sent by the secretive Crinoline Academy to infiltrate the circle of a corrupt viscount threatening women's rights legislation, only to be thwarted at every turn by Gabriel Royce, a self-made betting-shop owner who needs the same viscount's influence to protect his old neighborhood. As their schemes collide, the two wary adversaries are drawn into an increasingly complicated attraction even as each stands to lose everything if the other succeeds. It's a cat-and-mouse romance blending political intrigue, class conflict, and a found-family sisterhood of women trained to outmaneuver the men who underestimate them.