Introduction: Desperate Duchesses (Desperate Duchesses #1)  "Welcome to a world of reckless sensuality and glittering sophistication...of dangerously handsome gentlemen and young ladies longing to gain a title . . . of games played for high stakes, including--on occasion--a lady''s virtue." A marquess''s sheltered only daughter, Lady Roberta St. Giles falls in love with a man she glimpses across a crowded ballroom: a duke, a game player of consummate skill, a notorious rakehell who shows no interest in marriage--until he lays eyes on Roberta. Yet the Earl of Gryffyn knows too well that the price required to gain a coronet is often too high. Damon Reeve, the earl, is determined to protect the exquisite Roberta from chasing after the wrong destiny. Can Damon entice her into a high-stakes game of his own, even if his heart is likely to be lost in the venture?...