A Counterfeit Courtesan
Page 24
“Look at that little family.” Thomasina’s words drew Juliana from her musings. Thomasina laughed as she leaned back against the blanket. “How did we ever get so lucky?”
“Well, I take all the credit,” Anne said as she poured a glass of wine for herself and Thomasina. Juliana shook her head when offered and reached for a container of tea instead, for she had been limiting herself as her second pregnancy blossomed.
She rested a hand on her swollen belly and laughed. “You mean because you ran away from home, you get to take the credit for everyone’s happiness?”
Anne shrugged. “It’s true.”
For a moment, the three considered that suggestion. And then they dissolved into giggles.
“I cannot argue the logic,” Juliana said. She caught up her tea and raised it. “To the Shelley Sisters. And to the very happy lives we somehow managed to build against all odds.”
“To us,” Thomasina and Anne repeated in unison. Then they clinked glasses, the joy of their futures far surpassing any sorrows of the past.
And so true love conquered all.
Coming Soon
Look for the next series from the mind of Jess Michaels, starting in June 2020. If you loved the 1797 Club, welcome back to their world, as we meet The Duke of Desire, Robert Smithton's bastard brothers and sisters. Wild as their brother, each will face love and danger and have to decide if a future is worth fighting for.
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A series with beloved favorites, new heroes and heroines and stories that will make your toes curl. Turn the page for an excerpt of the first book, The Love of a Libertine!
Excerpt of The Love of a Libertine
The Duke’s Bastards Book 1
Available June 9, 2020
He lowered his arm to find his half-brother, Robert Smithton, the Duke of Roseford, staring at him from outside the cell. He was dressed impeccably, just as he always was, not a hair on his head out of place. His expression was unreadable, though Morgan could tell he was irritated by the way his arms were folded tight across his chest.
“You look like shit, too,” Roseford added and there was a hint of a smile that tilted one side of his lips.
Morgan slowly sat up and tried not to react to the searing pain that burned through his skull and into every joint in his body. God’s teeth, how much had he drank?
“How did you know?” Morgan grunted. His mouth was so dry it was difficult to speak. “I didn’t even know I was here.”
That elicited a chuckle from Roseford. It was well known that Robert had lived a wild life, himself, for a very long time. Not recently, of course. Not since his marriage. “Do you actually need to guess?”
Morgan let out a long sigh. “Selina?” he asked.
Roseford inclined his head in the affirmative. Morgan slowly got up, hating the roil of his stomach as he steadied himself on the wall. Selina Oliver was another half-sibling shared by the two. They all had the same bastard of a father, along with God knew how many others. And while his relationship with Roseford was…strained and uncomfortable at times, his bond with Selina was much stronger. Perhaps because they were so much alike.
“I suppose she was there,” he admitted.
“Yes,” Roseford mused with a troubled expression. “Our sister is as wild as you are. Well, almost. But she isn’t my problem. Yet. You are.”
Morgan pursed his lips and dropped his gaze to the floor. “No I’m not,” he grumbled, wishing there wasn’t so much revealing bitterness in his tone.
He had only come to know Roseford recently. They’d been kept apart as boys. Their father, the last duke, kept his by-blows far from his ‘real’ son. Payments had come, to keep everyone silent, rather than safe. Ten years ago, when his father had died, Morgan had felt a genuine terror that those payments, which supported his education and his mother’s small comforts, would dry up.
And yet they hadn’t. Robert had continued to pay to support his father’s bastards. He’d even managed to get doors opened for them in ways the previous Roseford hadn’t tried. Morgan both appreciated his brother for making the effort…and resented him for wielding a power over him that Morgan couldn’t make equal.
“We’re only half-blood, Roseford,” he muttered. “I’m not your problem.”
“Yet here we are,” Roseford said.
As he said it, a guard approached. At first Morgan thought he might be there to escort his brother from the premises, but instead the giant oaf of a man pulled a ring of keys from a chair around his waist. After a few seconds of fumbling, he opened the cell door and swung it wide, motioning Morgan from the unpleasant accommodations.
Morgan blinked at the offer of freedom and then glanced at his brother. “What?”
“Your debts are paid,” the guard answered first and flashed a rotten-toothed smile toward Roseford. “With our thanks, Your Grace.”
Robert sniffed his response and then turned motioning to Morgan to follow. “Come along, Morgan.”
Morgan looked around but there seemed to be nothing he’d left behind in the nasty cell. He staggered after Robert, his stomach still rolling and his brain still a bit foggy from whatever had felled him last night. Normally he was capable of holding his liquor, so it must have been far more of a party than he recalled.
They weaved their way through the corridors, past men in cells in varying conditions. There were no words said until they exited the building at last and stood in the fresher air of the city. A cold rain drizzled down around them and Morgan pulled his jacket closer and hoped he hadn’t lost his fine great coat in his foggy night of sin.
Roseford’s carriage came along at last. Roseford motioned him in, then said something to his driver before he joined Morgan. They were off in a flash and Roseford sat, silently staring at Morgan as they rose along.
If his brother had railed at him, Morgan would have preferred it. But when he sat silently, arms folded, gaze held firmly on Morgan’s, it made him feel worse than he already did. Like he needed to defend himself.
“You were just as bad as me,” he said at last.
Robert tilted his head back and let out a full, loud belly laugh. Morgan couldn’t help but stare. It made his brother look younger, more wicked. He could see the man he would have liked to run the hells with, rather than the stern duke who held the purse strings.
“I was that,” Roseford said. “I never ended up in Newgate, mind you…but close. I have changed, though.”
Morgan shrugged. Everyone knew that story, even if he and Roseford weren’t that close. “Oh yes. Your great love.”
Roseford’s eyes narrowed at the dismissive tone to Morgan’s voice. “Yes. Katherine changed me. Or made me want to change myself, which is better. And you may scoff, but I would wish you the same luck if you could find someone like her.”
“Hm,” Morgan said, staring out the window into the distance. “Not interested.”
Also by Jess Michaels
The Shelley Sisters
A Reluctant Bride
A Reckless Runaway
A Counterfeit Courtesan
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The Scandal Sheet
The Return of Lady Jane
Stealing the Duke
Lady No Says Yes
My Fair Viscount
Guarding the Countess
The House of Pleasure
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The 1797 Club
The Daring Duke
Her Favorite Duke
The Broken Duke
The Silent Duke
The Duke of Nothing
The Undercover Duke
The Duke of Hearts
The Duke Who Lied
The Duke of Desire
The Last Duke
Seasons
An Affair in Winter
A Spring Deception
One Summer of Surrender
Adored in Autumn
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The Wicked Woodleys
Forbidden
Deceived
Tem
pted
Ruined
Seduced
Fascinated
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The Notorious Flynns
The Other Duke
The Scoundrel’s Lover
The Widow Wager
No Gentleman for Georgina
A Marquis for Mary
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To see a complete listing of Jess Michaels’ titles, please visit:
http://www.authorjessmichaels.com/books
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Jess Michaels likes geeky stuff, Vanilla Coke Zero, anything coconut, cheese, fluffy cats, smooth cats, any cats, many dogs and people who care about the welfare of their fellow humans. She is lucky enough to be married to her favorite person in the world and lives in the heart of Dallas, TX where she's trying to eat all the amazing food in the city.
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When she’s not obsessively checking her steps on Fitbit or trying out new flavors of Greek yogurt, she writes historical romances with smoking hot alpha males and sassy ladies who do anything but wait to get what they want. She has written for numerous publishers and is now fully indie and loving every moment of it (well, almost every moment).
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Jess loves to hear from fans! So please feel free to contact her in any of the following ways (or carrier pigeon):
www.AuthorJessMichaels.com
Email: Jess@AuthorJessMichaels.com
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