Does anyone know what book this is?

[Lani]

I'm looking for a wonderfully awful romance novel that I loved when I was a teenager. I can't find it so I may have donated it and now I can't remember the name. I'm posting this all over in hopes that someone will know.

It was set in England, I believe it was a Regency but I'm not sure if that's the right era. Definitely historical fiction though. It starts with the heroine whose mother has just died. Her mother was a prostitute and and her mother's best friend (I think her name is Anne) who lived with them is also a prostitute. So when her mother dies, her best friend takes the heroine on a vacation to some inn by the sea. On the beach the heroine ends up cutting her foot. Insert hero, who is a Marquess. He and his brother on trying to get away from the stress of royalty or something and they go to stay at the same inn. The hero sees the heroine on the beach and goes down to help her bandage her foot and get her back to the inn. Romance ensues.

Back in London, heroine needs money since her mother is no longer providing for her. She tries to find a job in shops but isn't able to. Even though her mother did not want her to become a prostitute, she finds it as her only option to support herself. She ends up as the hero's mistress, as he is engage to another woman (whose name is Penelope. I'm annoyed that I remember her name and not the hero's or heroine's). The mother's best friend ends up with the hero's brother.

I can provide more detail if necessary but I feel like that should be enough. Now I'm second guessing myself and it may have been set in France/Paris. But I'm pretty certain it's England.

[Katie]

If you don't have any luck here you may want to try this group. They have people post the plot to romance novels then the group members help you figure out which book it is. Hope this helps. Here's the link.
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/6...