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A plucky yet innocent wallflower writing a dictionary of bawdy slang arranges her own marriage to the ultimate the town rake. As sexy as it is witty and as charming as it is irreverent, The Very Definition of Love is Emily Henry for the regency era.

1816– Harriet Barrington may be on her fifth season with no marriage prospects, but she’s fine with that. It gives her more time to write her dictionary of modern slang. Words are her passion, especially the exciting, filthy ones men have kept hidden from women for far too long.

While researching late in the library during a party, Harriet accidentally finds herself in a compromising situation with notorious rake, Lord Alexander. To save her reputation and her younger sisters from ruin, Harriet has no choice but to slightly kidnap Alexander and strong arm him into an elopement. This arranged marriage has a very particular condition—it will be in name-only, leaving each of them to follow their own interests. For Harriet that’s her work, for Alexander, that’s women.

But soon Alexander’s rakish existence is not nearly as fun as spending time with Harriet, and Harriet’s beginning to worry about how much she actually likes her husband. Behind the closed doors of their respectable home, things become a little… complicated. After all, who better to teach her the very thorough meaning of these indecent words than the renowned lover, Lord Alexander Stirling?

Perhaps this marriage will teach them both a little more about that word they’ve been avoiding—love.

If Carrie Bradshaw wrote a Regency romance…. Meet an irresistible new voice in sex and relationships columnist and lifelong romance fan, Sophia Benoit.

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Sophia Benoit is the author of Well, This Is Exhausting (Gallery, 2021), writes regular columns in GQ and Bustle, and has written for WSJ, The Guardian, The Cut, Fatherly, Insider, Refinery29, Allure, PS, and more. Sophia doesn’t have an MFA from anywhere, and probably isn′t ever going to, much to the chagrin of her father. Originally from St. Louis, she now lives in Los Angeles with her dog and her boyfriend (but usually only spouses make it into bios, so don’t worry about him).