Miss Bradshaw's Bought Betrothal
She'd done it! Plain, invisible Evelyn had escaped…Fed up with being a doormat to her evil stepmother, heiress Evelyn Bradshaw pays a dissolute rake to pose as her betrothed so she can secure her freedom. But then her fake fiancé leaves her with his estranged brother Finn Matlock and disappears!Having withdrawn from the world the last thing Finn needs is the temptation of a woman, especially one like Evie. She has an irritating habit of causing chaos wherever she goes and being in places she shouldn't…including, as he soon learns, his heart!
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She’d done it! Plain, invisible Evelyn had escaped...
Fed up with being a doormat to her evil stepmother, heiress Evelyn Bradshaw pays a dissolute rake to pose as her betrothed so she can secure her freedom. But then her fake fiancé leaves her with his estranged brother Finn Matlock and disappears!
Having withdrawn from the world, Finn knows the last thing he needs is the temptation of a woman, especially one like Evie. She has an irritating habit of causing chaos wherever she goes and being in places she shouldn’t...including, as he soon learns, his heart!
Finn wanted to tell her that she wasn’t plain at all, in his opinion.
She had beautiful eyes and a mouth that begged to be kissed. Not to mention that she had a body made for sin.
‘Surely you could do better than Fergus?’
There was a stubborn glint in her eye that made him wonder if Miss Bradshaw might actually have a spine after all—until she spoke and spoiled it.
‘I am content with Fergus.’
‘Oh, content, are you? I am glad someone is. Meanwhile, it is me who is now stuck with you! How typical of my brother to leave me with his problems while he swans off to have fun.’
She recoiled as if she had been slapped and Finn felt terrible. ‘I did not mean to refer to you as a problem, Miss Bradshaw, I merely meant that—’
She held up her hand to stop him.
‘You are quite right, Mr Matlock. Perhaps you would be good enough to arrange for the luggage to be transferred to Stanford House immediately so that you are not inconvenienced further?’
Who doesn’t love a Cinderella story? Ever since I was a little girl I have enjoyed every variation of the tale, in books or film. However, as I get older I cannot help but wonder about the way poor Cinderella really felt, being treated the way she had by her wicked stepmother and ugly sisters. Because if she were a real person that abuse would leave emotional scars, surely?
And as for Prince Charming—he’s always such a one-dimensional character. He comes to her rescue and falls in love with her. Yes, he goes on a quest to find her, but we learn so little about the real man she falls in love with and I find it difficult to feel any empathy for the guy.
This is my version of the story. Heiress Evie Bradshaw is my Cinderella. A woman who has been ground down by life, who lacks confidence and, to all intents and purposes, is a doormat to be trampled over. But Evie is desperate to reinvent herself and start her life afresh.
Her Prince Charming is definitely not charming. He is rude and embittered and has no intention of coming to anyone’s rescue. He wants to be left all alone to wallow in his personal pit of calm, ordered despair. Unfortunately the arrival of clumsy, vexing, enticing Miss Bradshaw makes that a very difficult thing to accomplish.
It was great fun following them on their path to happily-ever-after...
When VIRGINIA HEATH was a little girl it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older the stories became more complicated—sometimes taking weeks to get to their happy ending. One day she decided to embrace her insomnia and start writing them down. Virginia lives in Essex with her wonderful husband and two teenagers. It still takes her for ever to fall asleep…
Books by Virginia Heath
Mills & Boon Historical Romance
That Despicable Rogue
Her Enemy at the Altar The Discerning Gentleman’s Guide Miss Bradshaw’s Bought Betrothal
Visit the Author Profile page at millsandboon.co.uk.
For my husband and best friend Greg.
You know why...
Contents
May 1816
There was no escaping the fact that the Marquis of Stanford was drunk. Although inebriation was a state that he was known for, even during daylight hours, the assembled guests were still surprised that he had chosen to be in that state today. While the older generation muttered that it was poor form and gazed at his new fiancée with outright pity, absolutely everyone knew that the only reason the handsome, if slightly dissipated, Marquis was marrying Evie Bradshaw in the first place was because he desperately needed her money.
Some of the younger guests, including Evie’s two stepsisters, found the spectacle hugely entertaining. It was hardly surprising, they had muttered maliciously behind their fans, because Evie was such a Plain Jane after all and so very dull. The poor man would need all of the Dutch courage he could consume just to kiss her and that was if he even saw her in the first place because she did have a tendency to fade into the background and become invisible.
