His hands came up to cradle her face and he kissed her, a soft, gentle kiss promising days and years, laughter and tears, strength and comfort, and most of all, himself, fully and freely given at last.
When he pulled back, it was a full minute before she could find her voice to respond, to promise him the same, all of herself, bound to him in the simplest and most honest of ways. “Not who we are and what we have. That’s how we started, trading a name for a fortune. I promise you my heart and soul, and those aren’t worth a penny.”
“And I can’t even promise you a name, as I haven’t really got one.”
“Then we’re equal. All we’ve got to offer each other is ourselves.”
He stroked the side of her face as he smiled down at her. “That’s a marriage bargain I’m more than willing to make.”
* * ***
Watch for the next Grantham Girls story,
A COMMON SCANDAL,
coming May 2016
Author’s Note
I’ve been fascinated by this period in time, and by the intersection of new American money and old English titles, since I read The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton many years ago. The Grantham Girls series owes a debt to her four young heiresses. Victoria Carson was inspired in part by Consuelo Vanderbilt, a real-life wealthy American girl who married an impoverished English title, although with a much less happy outcome.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Anne Forlines for invaluable pre-reading and developmental editing, Lisa A Hollett for early copy editing, and to Jennifer deSylva, Sara Mizzen, Kristen, and Michelle for early pre-reading and feedback. This book never would have made it through countless revisions without their support, encouragement, and friendship.
And many thanks to Alissa Davis at Carina. She’s made this book so much better.
About the Author
Amanda has loved romance since she read that very first Kathleen E. Woodiwiss novel at fifteen. After a long detour into a career as a costume designer in theatre, she’s found her way back to romance, this time as a writer.
A native Floridian, Amanda transplanted to New York City many years ago and now considers Brooklyn home, along with her husband, daughter, two cats, and nowhere near enough space.
Is a chance at love worth life and death? Find out in
THE FIGHTER AND THE FALLEN WOMAN
By Pamela Cayne.
London, 1883
“People like us don’t get happy endings.”
In twelve years as a bangtail, Lady has never feared a man’s kiss. Owned by the ruthless Hannibal Adams, the “Earl of the East End,” she’s draped in jewels and dead inside. Lady learns fear, however, when she kisses Mr. Adams’s best fighter for luck—for King sees the real woman locked away behind finery and falsity.
King’s life is made of fists and scars, the only things that have ever felt real to him. Even his name came from the man who owns him—the man who turned him into a champion. From the moment Lady’s kiss sends him reeling, King resists wanting what he can’t have. Mr. Adams never gives up what he owns.
When Lady is sent to nurse King during the tournament, she finds a new strength through the one man who’s never treated her like a whore. King discovers that the woman who shares his dark world might also be the one to lead him out. And as the tournament comes to a violent finale, Lady and King must decide—stay spoiled and shackled, or break free and risk what happens when fear and dreams collide.
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Travel back in time to Regency England for a story of family obligation, betrayal and romance.
THE MARRIAGE ACT
By Alyssa Everett
“Everett ignites sparks between wedded strangers in this tender Regency romance.” —Publishers Weekly
Though bitterly estranged since their wedding night, warring husband and wife John and Caro must mask their hostility to play a devoted couple for Caro’s unsuspecting family in a second-chance-at-love Regency romance.
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Looking for another female sleuth? Meet geek girl Mia Connors in A GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER—available now!
A GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER
The Geek Girl Mysteries, book one
“Anyone looking to step further than the usual cozy crime story will enjoy this book, and geek girls won’t need a second invitation when they see a fun title like A GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER.”
—Fresh Fiction
IT manager Mia Connors is up to her tortoiseshell glasses in drama. A glitch in the Horseshoe Falls email system disrupts security and sends errant messages to residents of the gated community. Her best friend has disappeared. And she finds another of her friends murdered—in her office.
When the hunky new head of Horseshoe Falls security identifies Mia as the prime suspect, her anxiety level registers on the Richter scale. Eager to clear her name, this geek girl must put her high IQ to work uncovering the killer!
The Geek Girl Mysteries continues in 2016 with A GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO ARSENIC.
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We think you have a good book in you!
Do you write in the below genres? Harlequin’s Carina Press wants to see your manuscript.
• Contemporary Romance
• Romantic Suspense
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Submit today! All manuscripts receive a thorough evaluation by a Carina Press editor and a decision within 12–16 weeks. What do you have to lose?
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ISBN-13: 9781459290617
A Duchess in Name
Copyright © 2016 by Amanda Weaver
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All chara
cters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
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A Duchess in Name Page 29
