TESSA DARE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over twenty historical romances. Her books have won numerous accolades, including Romance Writers of Americaâs prestigious RITA® award (twice) and the RT Book Reviews Seal of Excellence. Booklist magazine named her one of the ânew stars of historical romanceâ, and her books have been contracted for translation in more than a dozen languages.
A librarian by training and a booklover at heart, Tessa makes her home in Southern California, where she lives with her husband, their two children, and a trio of cosmic kittens.
ALSO AVAILABLE FROM TESSA DARE AND MILLS & BOON
Girl Meets Duke
THE DUCHESS DEAL
ISBN: 978-0-008-26825-1
THE GOVERNESS GAME
© 2018 Eve Ortega
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a âLicensed Deviceâ) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
® and ⢠are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
www.millsandboon.co.uk
For my children, the Darelings,
because apparently I have a trend with this seriesâdedicating books to people I hope will never read them.
My daughter served as a
brilliant consultant on Rosamund and Daisyâs characters, and my ever-clever son taught me that some kids learn best in unconventional ways. Darelings, I love you both. I promise that out of all my books, this is the one and only page Iâll ever force you to read.
(Bonus: Iâve now embarrassed you
in front of thousands of strangers. Mom achievement unlocked!)
Alexandra Mountbatten had common sense. Thatâs what her friends believed.
The truth was, Alex had no sense at allâat least, not when it came to charming gentlemen with roguish green eyes. If she possessed any wisp of rationality, she wouldnât have made such a fool of herself with the Bookshop Rake.
Even now, more than half a year later, she could revisit the embarrassing scene and watch it unfolding, as though she were attending a play.
The setting: Hatchardâs bookshop.
The date: a Wednesday afternoon in November.
The personages: Alexandra, of course. Her three closest friends: Nicola Teague, Lady Penelope Campion, and Emma Pembrooke, the Duchess of Ashbury. And, making his first appearance in a starring role (trumpet fanfare, please)âthe Bookshop Rake.
The scene proceeded thusly:
Alexandra had been juggling a tower of Nicolaâs books in one arm and reading her own book with her free hand. A copy of Messierâs Catalogue of Star Clusters and Nebulae, which sheâd plucked like a pearl from the used-book section. Sheâd been searching for a secondhand copy for ages. She couldnât afford to buy it new.
One moment, sheâd been blissfully paging through descriptions of astronomical nebulae, and the next . . .
Bang. A collision of cosmic proportions.