In USA Today bestselling author Tina Wainscott’s gritty, emotional small-town romance Falling Hard, passions run high as a reformed bad boy reconnects with an old enemy…and gets her engine revving. In Laura Marie Altom’s tale of forbidden love, Stepping Over the Line, meet two tortured souls with an unbreakable bond. Then comes a tender military romance from Serena Bell, USA Today bestselling author of Hold On Tight, in which a war-shattered veteran gets a second chance at love with the one that got away in Can’t Hold Back.
Writing duo MJ Fields and Chelsea Camaron release another sizzling-hot Caldwell Brothers story—Morrison, which hits the Vegas strip as a bad-boy gambler from Detroit Rock City shows a single mom what it means to play for keeps. Then it’s off to Los Angeles, where Hollywood’s hottest young actor hits the road to chase his big break—and discovers a leading lady where he least expects in Cassie Mae’s No Interest in Love.
I can’t believe 2016 is upon us, can you? Thank you for spending your reading time with Loveswept, and we hope to entertain you all over again in the new year.
Happy Romance!
Gina Wachtel
Associate Publisher
Read on for an excerpt from
A Gentleman’s Position
by K. J. Charles
Available from Loveswept
Prologue
FEBRUARY 24, 1820
Lord Richard Vane and his valet stood in the book room, waiting. The clock on the mantel ticked.
“What the devil is keeping Julius?” Lord Richard demanded of David or of the empty air. “He should surely have the man here by now.”
“Conspiracy to murder and high treason.” David made a face. “It may not be that easy to secure his bail. Mr. Norreys has an authoritative manner”—Lord Richard gave a short laugh—“and your name has a great deal of power. Nevertheless…”
“Indeed. Oh, damn Dominic and his accursed democrat. What will we do if Julius can’t get him out?”
Silas Mason, a radical bookseller and writer of sedition, had been arrested that morning as part of what was already being called the Cato Street Conspiracy. A group of gutter revolutionaries had plotted to murder the entire British cabinet the previous night, and although they had been thwarted, an officer had been killed in the melee. Everyone involved would doubtless hang.
That was not David’s problem, and certainly not Lord Richard’s, except for the matter of Dominic Frey. Lord Richard’s best friend was conducting an intense affair with Mason, and when the radical had been arrested he had been wearing Mr. Frey’s coat. If people started asking what linked a murderous seditionist to a gentleman of the Home Office, Mr. Frey could find himself in very deep trouble indeed.
Lord Richard had fallen out badly with Mr. Frey over his disgraceful affair, but they had been lovers once, and friends since boyhood. Lord Richard would not see him suffer if he could prevent it.
Or, rather, if David could prevent it. Lord Richard gave orders; it was David who carried them out.
To the world he was a valet, nothing more. A servant who wore Lord Richard’s livery and obeyed his commands; even his offensively red hair was powdered away to white on his master’s order. But when he had Lord Richard’s will to enforce, David Cyprian was silently and secretly one of the most powerful men in London. Unknown, unseen, and in charge. The pleasure of it tingled in his veins.
“It depends, my lord,” he said now. “We’ll have to play the hand as it’s dealt to us, but we can play it. Trust me.”
“Oh, I do,” Lord Richard said. “I depend entirely on you. Otherwise I suspect I should have run mad after the last few months, and as it is, I can feel Bedlam beckoning. Cyprian, what the devil do I do if Mason is not innocent?”
“Mr. Frey insists he is.”
“Dominic may not be the best judge at this time,” Lord Richard said grimly. “If the man is part of murder and treason— But he had Dominic’s coat, curse it. What if saving my friend requires saving a traitor?” His voice was strained. David knew how deeply he loved Mr. Frey, how heavily he bore his responsibilities, and his master’s dilemma was a stab to his own heart. “God rot it, how can I decide that? What can I do?”
“You can leave it to me,” David said.
Lord Richard’s eyes widened, as well they might. David went on before he could speak. “You should not have to make a choice between duty and friendship. Nobody should. If it happens—and it may not; Mr. Frey is no fool—but if it does, my lord, I beg you, walk away and let me deal with it.” He offered his master a smile. “That is what you pay me for.”
“I truly don’t,” Lord Richard said. “Golden Ball himself could not pay you so much. I can’t ask you to take on that responsibility for me.”