Luck Be a Lady (Rules for the Reckless) - Meredith Duran

I enjoyed this one more than the previous book in the series (Lady Be Good), especially the character of the hero, Nick O'Shea, a gangster with a heart of gold and scrumptiously sexy to boot. The heroine, Catherine Everleigh, known as the "Ice Queen", is less appealing and her transformation from ice queen to a very hot wife for Nick seems inconsistent in places. The plot involving Catherine's nasty and corrupt brother Peter became a little too dense as the book progressed - the book has detailed descriptions of antiques appraisal, art restoration, the fine points and details of auctioneering, arcane municipal politics at the "vestry" (parish or ward) level, women's rights in the 19th century (i.e. lack thereof) - it's all a bit too much to absorb while trying to keep the romance at the forefront of the story.