The Winterley Scandal
Under the gaze of the ton!As the daughter of wild Pamela Winterley, Eve has always lived in the shadow of scandal. Society watches her every move, waiting for Eve to prove she is just as wayward as her mother…Ever since his father’s scandalous affair, Colm Hancourt has lived life on his own terms. But then he comes face to face with Eve, the daughter of his father’s mistress! It may have begun with a kiss that sets tongues wagging, but could the latest Winterley scandal be the start of something special?
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Under the gaze of the ton!
As the daughter of wild Pamela Winterley, Eve has always lived in the shadow of scandal. Society watches her every move, waiting for Eve to prove she is just as wayward as her mother...
Ever since his fatherâs scandalous affair, Colm Hancourt has lived life on his own terms. But then he comes face-to-face with Eve, the daughter of his fatherâs mistress! It may have begun with a kiss that set tongues wagging, but could the latest Winterley scandal be the start of something special?
He was so strung out with hot curiosity that he broke first.
He bridged the final gap between them with a kiss that healed and yet burned like wildfire at the same time. Haste, heat, fury, excitement and a pinch of doubt roared through him in a heady tangle he couldnât begin to sort out. Then she kissed him back, and that wild rush of feelings melted into just herâ¦just them.
âCloser,â he urged, and they shifted together so the back wall of the summerhouse stopped them.
He braced against it to keep her from the cold hardness, and now they were locked together as if they might dissolve walls and pillars and damp December with their own version of summer heatânever mind hard angles, chilly marble and the ever more ferocious storm outside.
Welcome to The Winterley Scandal. Eve Winterley first appeared in The Viscountâs Frozen Heart, the first book of my A Year of Scandal quartet, and even then I knew she would need a book of her own one day.
Five years on from that fateful year of scandal, Eve has been âoutâ for three years. She is determined not to let her notorious motherâs reputation taint herâbut then she meets the son of Pamela Winterleyâs last lover and must choose between keeping her spotless reputation and risking everything with this gruff, battle-scarred young man she shouldnât fall in love with but somehow canât forget.
I do hope you enjoy Eve and Colmâs story, whether you have read any of the other Winterley stories or not, and thank you for being such wonderful and loyal readers.
ELIZABETH BEACON has a passion for history and storytelling and, with the English West Country on her doorstep, never lacks a glorious setting for her books. Elizabeth tried horticulture, higher education as a mature student, briefly taught English, and worked in an office before finally turning her daydreams about dashing piratical heroes and their stubborn and independent heroines into her dream job: writing Regency romances for Mills & Boon Historical Romance.
Books by Elizabeth Beacon
Mills & Boon Historical Romance
A Year of Scandal: Spin-Off
The Winterley Scandal
A Year of Scandal
The Viscountâs Frozen Heart
The Marquisâs Awakening Lord Laughraineâs Summer Promise Redemption of the Rake
Linked by Character
The Duchess Hunt
The Scarred Earl The Black Sheepâs Return
Stand-Alone Novels
A Less Than Perfect Lady
Captain Langthorneâs Proposal Rebellious Rake, Innocent Governess The Rake of Hollowhurst Castle Courtship & Candlelight âOne Final Seasonâ A Most Unladylike Adventure Candlelit Christmas Kisses âGoverness Under the Mistletoeâ
Visit the Author Profile page at millsandboon.co.uk for more titles.
Contents
Itâs so hot tonight I am only wearing my new rubies as I write. The stones are glorious, but the settingsâoh, my diaryâso old fashioned I could scream. Still, only the diamonds to coax out of Lord Chris nowâand how his brother the Duke of Linaire will gobble with rage when he sees me wear them.
No, I shall wear every last one of Lady Chrisâs jewels, ancient settings and all, the day I get hold of the lot. The Duke of Linaire wants them for his fat mistress, whatever he says about them belonging to his nephew. He doesnât even like the boyâand how dare he threaten to have me whipped at the cart tail because his little brother loves me to distraction?
Chrisâs plain wife is dead and the jewels her vulgar father showered on her never looked half so well on her anyway. The truth is the Duke hates Chris for being young and handsome and having me. After marrying that plain heiress the old Duke insisted one of his sons wed when Lord Horace ran off to the Colonies with that odd female who paints, rather than shackle himself to a nabobâs daughter.
Chris deserves some fun. He endured that low-born creature in his bed for so long it must be bliss to share it with meâand his son canât wear the jewels, can he? So what use are diamonds of the first water to the horrid brat?
Colm Hancourt carefully put down the expensive notebook lest he throw it across the room and let out the breath he hadnât known he was holding in an uneven gasp. As the horrid brat in question, he could argue for a hundred better uses for a fortune in gold and jewels than decorating a vain and adulterous demi-rep with them all. The fortune she had been busy spending had been his as wellâor it would have been if his father hadnât stolen it before Colm was old enough to argue. Whatever Lord Christopher Hancourt had done with his sonâs fortune, inherited from Colmâs fabulously wealthy maternal grandfather Sir Joseph Lambury, those jewels should be in the bank, waiting for Colm to take a wife. So here was proof, if he needed it, they were long gone. Colmâs maternal grandfather might have left his entire fortune to his only grandson, but that hadnât stopped Lord Chris from spending it all before Colm was old enough to go to school.
