Vivienne Lorret, the USA Today bestselling author of Winning Miss Wakefield, returns with a new series featuring the three roguish bachelors of Fallow Hall.
Gabriel Ludlow, Viscount Everhart, will never marry, and thus is sure to win the bachelors' wager amongst his friends. Assuming, of course, that his deepest secret—a certain letter containing a marriage proposal made in a moment of passion—doesn't surface. After all, without Calliope Croft to tempt him, there's no danger of losing. Or of falling in love.
Calliope wants revenge. Five years ago, an anonymous love letter stole her heart and ultimately broke it. Now Casanova has struck again, and Calliope vows to unmask the scoundrel, stopping him from breaking any more hearts. Yet, time and again, Gabriel distracts her from her task, until she can no longer deny that something about him calls to her…
Gabriel was a fool to ignore the depth of his feelings for Calliope, but the threat that kept him from her five years ago remains. Now he must choose between two paths: break her heart all over again or finally succumb to loving her… at the risk of losing everything.
Feeling like a voyeur, she pretended a sudden desire to check the state of the coals inside the brass foot warmer. No rise of warmth penetrated her limerick gloves. Regardless, she lifted the lid only to find a bed of finely sifted ash. Closing the lid, she sat back. Then, adjusting the heavy woolen blanket over her lap, she reached for the fur muff on the seat beside her. Beyond the fogged carriage windows, heavy gray clouds shrouded the snow-covered countryside. The scenery should have appeared picturesque. Not bleak and desolate. But suddenly that was how she felt. Bleak, desolate… alone. In fact, if she were the lead character in one of the novels she read, she might expect castle ruins looming in the distance. Although, much the same, barren trees and scraggily shrubs marked the rutted landscape like scars along the Great North Road. Since the copses of evergreens did not suit a bout of melancholy she chose to ignore their beauty and wallow for a moment longer. Because if one thought about snow-laden boughs, one naturally thought of sleigh rides. And no one could be unhappy while whisking through the brisk winter air with snowflakes kissing one’s cheeks. Calliope’s sigh fogged up the glass, obscuring her view completely. Perhaps, she never should have refused Brightwell’s proposal. She’d genuinely liked his company. When he’d begun to court her all those years ago, she’d known the likely outcome.
2 comments:
Thank you for hosting today!
My pleasure :)
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