The Companion’s Secret by Susanna Craig
Blurb:
In this tempestuous new series, rebellious hearts prove hard to tame—but
can England’s most dangerous rake be captured by a wild Irish rose?
They call him Lord Ash, for his desires burn hot and leave devastation in their wake. But Gabriel Finch, Marquess of Ashborough, knows the fortune he’s made at the card table won’t be enough to save his family estate. For that he needs a bride with a sterling reputation to distract from his tarnished past, a woman who’ll be proof against the fires of his dark passion. Fate deals him the perfect lady. So why can’t Gabriel keep his eyes from wandering to her outspoken, infuriatingly independent Irish cousin?
Camellia Burke came to London as her aunt’s companion, and she’s brought a secret with her: she’s written a scandalous novel. Now, her publisher demands that she make her fictional villain more realistic. Who better than the notorious Lord Ash as a model? Duty-bound to prevent her cousin from making a disastrous match, Cami never meant to gamble her own heart away. But when she’s called home, Ash follows. And though they’re surrounded by the flames of Rebellion, the sparks between them may be the most dangerous of all…
They call him Lord Ash, for his desires burn hot and leave devastation in their wake. But Gabriel Finch, Marquess of Ashborough, knows the fortune he’s made at the card table won’t be enough to save his family estate. For that he needs a bride with a sterling reputation to distract from his tarnished past, a woman who’ll be proof against the fires of his dark passion. Fate deals him the perfect lady. So why can’t Gabriel keep his eyes from wandering to her outspoken, infuriatingly independent Irish cousin?
Camellia Burke came to London as her aunt’s companion, and she’s brought a secret with her: she’s written a scandalous novel. Now, her publisher demands that she make her fictional villain more realistic. Who better than the notorious Lord Ash as a model? Duty-bound to prevent her cousin from making a disastrous match, Cami never meant to gamble her own heart away. But when she’s called home, Ash follows. And though they’re surrounded by the flames of Rebellion, the sparks between them may be the most dangerous of all…
Buy links:
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/TCSamz
Apple: https://tinyurl.com/TCSibk
Google: https://tinyurl.com/TCSgogl
Bio:
A love
affair with historical romances led Susanna Craig to a degree (okay, three
degrees) in literature and a career as an English professor. When she’s not
teaching or writing academic essays about Jane Austen and her contemporaries,
she enjoys putting her fascination with words and knowledge of the period to
better use: writing Regency-era romances she hopes readers will find both smart
and sexy. She makes her home among the rolling hills of Kentucky horse country,
along with her historian husband, their unstoppable little girl, and a
genuinely grumpy cat.
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Excerpt:
“Why do they do it? Why do they all call
you ‘Lord Ash’?”
Camellia was studying him again, her head
tilted ever so slightly to one side. She seemed to be one of those women who
was drawn to his darkness. But what drew her? Some
misguided hope to save him from his sins?
Or a far worldlier—and more
interesting—desire to share in them?
“I believe the general consensus is that I
earned the name by blackening reputations and charring hopes.” Would the answer
warn her off, or intrigue her? Which effect was he hoping to produce?
In fact, Fox had fallen into the habit of
addressing him as “Ash” when they were boys at school and “Ashborough” had
seemed a pretentious mouthful. At the time, Gabriel had been glad of the
respite from the weight of a title he had never expected, and certainly had not
wanted, to bear so soon.
Others had taken up the nickname afterward,
for far less genial reasons. He might have challenged them, called out their
blatant disrespect, but why trouble himself to deny such a fitting soubriquet?
Everything he touched turned to cinder.
He was Ash.
Her skirts rustled as she uncrossed her
ankles and sat more upright. Her right forearm flattened against the table. She
was preparing to take flight.
As she should.
Unwilling to let her go, however, he lifted
his chin and said, “My father had me christened Gabriel. Perhaps you think that
better suits?”
He could feel her eyes on him, accepting
his invitation to study his profile. “I—I cannot say, my lord.”
“‘My lord’? Come now, Camellia. We are to
be cousins, after all, are we not?” Ridiculous, really, how he longed to hear
his name on her lips. It was courting an intimacy on which he dared not act.
“I—” The catch in her voice tugged his chin
back into its proper place, and he lowered his gaze to hers. She did not blush
at having been caught in her inspection of his face. He could almost fancy she
liked what she saw. “I believe an angel’s name is entirely fitting, my lord.”
“Oh?”
More breath than speech. He cursed the hopefulness in the sound.
“Of
course. After all, even the devil was an angel once.”
Damn her. Even
hardened gamblers did not trick him into letting down his guard. A familiar
wave of cynicism swept over him like a domino at a masquerade, hiding what he
never meant to reveal, curling the corners of his lips. “I see. By all means,
call me Ash, then. All the best people do.”
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