SOLVED. Revenge Historical Romance; heroine was a proper lady who was introduced to her Hero by he brother. Her brother was abandoned by his wife while she was pregnant and in the sequel, the wife masquerades as a man [s]

[Jill]

The heroine is betrothed, but her fiance's rival seduces her in order to get revenge against her fiance. The heroine accuses her Hero of not caring about anyone except for his revenge. Their butler puts money in the stocks because he doesn't know that the hero is trying to bankrupt the company, so he remarks later that poor people like him shouldn't play with the stocks.
I read it between 2012 and 2014.

[Kris]

Anything on this list of revenge-themed romance novels?
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Why does the hero's rival seek revenge?

[Jill]

Oh, sorry, I edited the question to make it less confusing. The Hero is the heroine's love interest, and her fiance is the bad guy. I cannot remember what the fiance did to incur the hero's wrath.

The heroine was a proper lady who was introduced to her Hero by he brother. Her brother was abandoned by his wife while she was pregnant and in the sequel, the wife masquerades as a man in order to go on a mission that took place in either India or the Middle East. The reason the wife left was that she was suffering from some type of pre-partum delusion.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Jill, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

[Jill]

No, I never did find the novel. Thank you for checking.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Are you still interested in finding it? You should bump your thread every few months because new members are always joining. You never know when someone might recognize your book.

[Jill]

Thank you for telling me about that. I completely forgot bumping it can catch more attention.

[Kris]

Why does the fiance want to marry her?

What's the location (e.g., London, England) and time period of the story?

What's the tone - e.g., romantic, angsty, steamy/clean, adventure, suspense, funny at times?

In the next book, what type of mission for her brother's wife go on to India or the Middle East? Who is she working for? What type of skills does she use on the mission (while disguised as a man)?

[Jill]

The hero of the story stole the heroine from her fiancee because here fiancee was a bad man who either tried to murder or seriously wrong the hero. The hero and the ex-fiancee were rivals.
The ex-fiancee wanted to marry her because she had a pure image and he degrades women without pure image. He likes the idea of being the first to "take" a woman. He owns a brothel that sells virgins to clients. Sometimes sponges would be used to fake the hymen. He enjoyed breaking their virginity and causing them pain.
The romance tone was angsty due to the hero's desire for revenge.
Her brother's wife was living in India or the Middle East ever since she lost her baby. She was a property owner who masqueraded as a man so she could own property and be unbothered. I really want to find this novel, but I remember very little about it.

[Kris]

Silk and Shadows by Mary Jo Putney?

(Google search - site:www.goodreads.com "historical romance" fiance rival seduce "a brothel")

[Jill]

Wow, thank you. That is exactly the right book. Now I will read the sequel with the brother.

[Kris]

Great. Glad we could help, Jill.