What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I am searching for a historical romance I read a while ago. It is part of a four book series with girls who want to look for their own husbands. The prologue is of four young girls/women(?) who secretly gather while a party is going on and discuss their progress with the search.
Back to the present. Our heroine has decided on a husband and he's her neighbor. He's a recluse who only has his manservant living with him, who's also a good friend. His mother lives in a house close by but she does not talk to him. Blames him for the death of his father. The hero is a bit of a rake as well. There's a scene where the heroine walks to the hero's house to propose marriage to him. He is obviously shocked and tells the manservant send her away. The heroine doesn't give up and with the help of her maid, sneaks to the hero's house at multiple opportunities to convince him. The maid and the manservant already have a romance of their own going on. Well, the heroine somehow spends the night with the hero but they get caught when the heroine sneaks back home. By the hero's mother. Who hates him. She tells people and the heroine is ruined. Also, the heroine has another suitor who still steps ahead to marry her even though she is ruined. Her mother is all for it. But everybody is reluctant for the heroine to marry the hero even though it was his fault.
This is where the big secret comes out. The heroine finds out later that the hero is falsely thought to have impregnated and abandoned the heroines sister (!!). And she has been told that the sister died at a young age of fever. But the sister is alive ( more !!!). And of delicate mental stability. Turns out it was the hero's father who was the culprit and no one knew. The hero's mother thought that the father came to know what hero did and died because of it. So she blamed the hero for his death.
Somewhere in between there is also a scene where the hero takes the heroine to a demimonde ball to show her that he's thoroughly bad and mixes with 'loose' women and that she should stay away from.
And a scene where there is wall climbing. The hero's property has a wall which was built for climbing which was his hobby I think. For many years, since all the trouble started, the hero has not climbed it and there is a scene I think where he finally does it again ( I am not sure but I think it was to save the heroine after she gets stuck on top and can't get down on her own..maybe)

Now how tragic is it that i can remember so much about the story and still not remember the name.... Internet searches give me the devil's winter by Lisa Kleypas which is not it.

The hero's name I think maybe Nicholas and the sister's may be Sarah.

Please let me know if found... Thanks in advance.

Justine, why does the heroine choose her neighbor for a husband?

Around what year did you read this book? I find "a while ago" means different things to different people in this large group.

Added a spoiler alert to the topic header.

Justine, not surprising that you remember so much. Many of our members either have very vague memories of the book they are searching for or could practically re-write it and remember everything EXCEPT that all important title (I myself have a few of both). Bump up every 30 to 90 days if no one can ID it for you quickly.

@ Ann aka Iftcan,
Thanks, I will surely do that.
Keeping my fingers crossed...

@Kris
I think she had a crush on him since she was young. I feel that when the girls decided to they were going to select their own husbands, this heroine had this guy already in mind.
I read this book last year but I don't recall the year of publication. I don't think it's a new release.
Thanks for adding the alert. I reread my post and realized I had pretty much given the whole book away!!

A guess - something from the Wallflowers series by Lisa Kleypas? https://www.goodreads.com/series/4115...

Kris wrote: "A guess - something from the Wallflowers series by Lisa Kleypas? https://www.goodreads.com/series/4115..."

When I searched online, I got the same result. The story I'm looking for sounds like the devil's winter by Lisa Kleypas, one of the Wallflower series, but that's not it. Thanks for looking, Kris..

Hi..Still looking for this book... I hope somebody remembers it....

Hmmm... I think I’ve read this book. Does the mother blame the hero because his father died in an accident in bad weather while trying to chase down the hero?

Led Astray by a Rake by Sara Bennett?

@Deborah,

I think so but I will have to read it again to be sure...

@Ayshe

!!!!!!! Yes!!! Thank you so much. As you can see I had been looking for it for quite a while. I wish I had made a better system to remember all the books I have ever read... :(
Thanks once again..