The Earl's Practical Marriage
Childhood friends now all grown upNow they must marry for convenience!Giles Redmond, Earl of Revesby, is marrying childhood friend Laurel Knighton because it’s the only way to save his family fortune. Last time he saw her she was an unconventional tomboy… Now she’s a beauty, but finding himself aroused by her is as baffling as it is surprising. Who would have thought such an infuriating, disobedient bride could be so tempting?
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Childhood friends all grown up
Now they must marry for convenience!
Giles Redmond, Earl of Revesby, is marrying childhood friend Laurel Knighton because it’s the only way to save his family fortune. Last time he saw her, she was an unconventional tomboy... Now she’s a beauty, but finding himself aroused by her is as baffling as it is surprising. Who would have thought such an infuriating, disobedient bride could be so tempting?
“Readers will enjoy the unique setting, the many twists and turns of the plot.”
—RT Book Reviews on Surrender to the Marquess
“From the first page, readers will be hooked by the suspense and romance of this pleasing tale... This is another keeper.”
—RT Book Reviews on The Many Sins of Cris De Feaux
LOUISE ALLEN loves immersing herself in history. She finds landscapes and places evoke the past powerfully. Venice, Burgundy and the Greek islands are favourite destinations. Louise lives on the Norfolk coast and spends her spare time gardening, researching family history or travelling in search of inspiration. Visit her at louiseallenregency.co.uk, @LouiseRegency and janeaustenslondon.com.
Also by Louise Allen
Once Upon a Regency ChristmasMarrying His Cinderella Countess
Brides of Waterloo miniseries
A Rose for Major Flint
Lords of Disgrace miniseries
His Housekeeper’s Christmas WishHis Christmas CountessThe Many Sins of Cris de FeauxThe Unexpected Marriage of Gabriel Stone
The Herriard Family miniseries
Forbidden Jewel of IndiaTarnished Amongst the TonSurrender to the Marquess
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.
ISBN: 978-1-474-07356-1
THE EARL’S PRACTICAL MARRIAGE
© 2018 Melanie Hilton
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
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To the Pit Crew with all my love
Contents
Beckhampton on the Bath Road—June 1814
‘This is completely unacceptable.’
‘You are accustomed to the forces of nature observing your convenience, ma’am?’
She should have ignored the man, obviously. No lady fell into conversation with complete strangers at roadside inns and most certainly not with tall, raffish ones. And by definition, as this one had addressed her uninvited, he was not behaving as a gentleman should.
Laurel turned her head to give him a fleeting glance, although the fine mesh of her veil blurred his features a trifle. She had looked more directly earlier, of course, when she was certain she was unobserved. She was female after all and, at twenty-five, not quite a dried-up spinster on the shelf yet, whatever her stepmother liked to imply. She had a pair of perfectly good eyes and a functioning pulse and the stranger was a good looking man if you liked tall, broad-shouldered blonds with overlong hair. And a tan—another indication that he was not a gentleman, although to be fair she supposed he might be connected to the East India Company or have just arrived home from the West Indies.
