"If that is the case, then, my dear sister, just as I've said to my beautiful, smart, and kind wife, please do not ever change."
Had she been standing, her legs would have wobbled at the sweet declaration. She closed the small space between them and kissed him, oblivious of their company. "I love you too," she whispered for only him to hear, her heart full and incandescently happy.
The sound of Sarah mumbling about kissing before her faded as she left the room. Molly chuckled, reaching up to play with the little fluff of hair on their son's head.
"Happy?" Hugh asked her, meeting her eyes.
She swallowed the lump in her throat, unable to voice just how much she was. "Very much so."
His wicked grin made her stomach somersault. "Me too."
They smiled at each other a moment before she laid her head on his spare shoulder, watching their boy. Their little family. A piece of paradise not in Rome, but snowy, country Kent.
It warmed her heart as hot as the Mediterranean sun had her life.
Thank you for taking the time to read Kiss Me, Duke! I hope you enjoyed the fifth book in my League of Unweddable Gentlemen series. If you’re like me, you love traveling, and so I hope you enjoyed the small taste of Rome that was in this book. It goes without saying that it’s one of the most fascinating cities in the world.
I adore my readers, and I’m so thankful for your support with my books. If you're able, I would appreciate an honest review of Kiss Me, Duke. As they say, feed an author, leave a review!
If you think this is the last book in this series, don’t despair. Soon to be released in a Christmas box set is, Lady Sarah Farley’s story. More details on this to come, so stay tuned.
Only an Earl Will Do
To Marry a Rogue, Book 1
The reigning queen of London society, Lady Elizabeth Worthingham, has her future set out for her. Marry well, and marry without love. An easy promise to make and one she owed her family after her near ruinous past that threatened them all. And the rakish scoundrel Henry Andrews, Earl of Muir who's inability to act a gentleman when she needed one most would one day pay for his treachery.
* * *
Returning to England after three years abroad, Henry is determined to make the only woman who captured his heart his wife. But the icy reception he receives from Elizabeth is colder than his home in the Scottish highlands. As past hurts surface and deception runs as thick as blood, so too does a love that will overcome all obstacles, unless a nameless foe, determined with his own path, gets his way and their love never sees the light of day...
Chapter 1
England 1805 – Surrey
“You’re ruined.”
Elizabeth stood motionless as her mother, the Duchess of Penworth, paced before the lit hearth, her golden silk gown billowing out behind her, the deep frown between her eyes daring anyone to follow her. “No. Let me rephrase that. The family is ruined. All my girls, their futures, have been kicked to the curb like some poor street urchins.”
Elizabeth, the eldest of all the girls, swiped a lone tear from her cheek and fought not to cast up her accounts. “But surely Henry has written of his return.” She turned to her father. “Papa, what did his missive say?” The severe frown lines between her father’s brows were deeper than she’d ever seen them before, and dread pooled in her belly. What had she done? What had Henry said?
“I shall not read it to you, Elizabeth, for I fear it’ll only upset you more, and being in the delicate condition you are we must keep you well. But never again will I allow the Earl of Muir to step one foot into my home. To think,” her father said, kicking at a log beside the fire, “that I supported him to seek out his uncle in America. I’m utterly ashamed of myself.”
“No,” Elizabeth said, catching her father’s gaze. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. I do. I’m the one who lay with a man who wasn’t my husband. I’m the one who now carries his child.” The tears she’d fought so hard to hold at bay started to run in earnest. “Henry and I were friends, well, I thought we were friends. I assumed he’d do the right thing by our family, by me. Why is it that he’ll not return?”
Her mother,