Love Only Once, by Johanna Lindsey

This book was written in 1985, but it reads as if it were written yesterday. It's a regency, from the time when Regencies weren't 80% of the historical romances, and it also introduces for the first time the famous Malory family.
Regina Ashton is the orphaned niece of the rich and aristocratic Malory family. She has been brought up by her 4 uncles, and even though she loves her uncles dearly, she's desperate because they can never agree on a man good enough to marry her.
Nicholas Eden, viscount Montieth, is a rake who works hard on tarnishing his own reputation and pretends not to care about what Society thinks of him. The truth is that he is a bastard, and he's under the constant threat of having his secret exposed.
By mistake, Nicholas kidnaps Regina during a silly prank. He discovers his error and releases her, becoming immediately enchanted by this dark haired temptress. However, Regina is forbidden fruit and he returns her to her family untouched.
Even though nothing happened between them, soon the malicious gossip has Regina's reputation destroyed, and Nicholas is forced to wed her. Angry with her and her family, and scared of how Regina is going to react when she finds out his secret, Nicholas leaves her for the West Indies.
Meanwhile, the black sheep of the Malory brothers - James Malory, a gentleman pirate - returns to England and through Regina's manipulative skills becomes part of the family once more. Of course, he has to help his beloved niece and sails to get the errant husband home.
By that time, Nicholas has recognized that he behaved like an a** and is about to return to his wife when his old enemy, Captain Hawke - aka James Malory - takes him back to England in chains - figuratively speaking. More than one surprise awaits Nicholas, and even though he's crazy for Regina, he still has to deal with his past before he can find true happiness with her.

I liked this book very much, and not only because it introduces the hunky Malory brothers, Anthony and James, who will have their own books later on. Nicholas is sexy and naughty, and even though he's extremely hot tempered, he has met his match in Regina. For her part, Reggie is not shrinking violet, and it's nice to have a strong heroine who's proud and who's not afraid of taking control of her own life. She also has the manipulative skills of Machiavello, and although it gets annoying in later books - she's always the one who prevents the scandal with her plans - in her book it's a welcome deviation from the innocent heroine.

I really recommend this series. You can see in my Johanna Lindsey page the reading order.