Giving in...
To their unlikely attraction
When Alaric Defford, Lord Stafford, bursts into her life, widow Marianne Turner is shocked by their instant connection. She never expected to feel this way for another man, especially one so formidable and arrogant! Having vowed never to love again, Marianne hides behind the fact she’s a completely unsuitable match for him. But her resolve is tested when Alaric’s injured and nursing him back to health reveals a warmer, more passionate side to the viscount...
“I can be a good patient,” Alaric told her with an altogether too-disarming grin.
There was still a hot promise in his gaze, so she avoided it. There could never be anything between a lord and a humble widow they would not need to be ashamed of afterward. “I doubt you know how to be patient in any sense of the word, my lord,” Marianne forced herself to say lightly.
“And I am trying so hard to be humble,” he told her half seriously, and she nearly laughed. She could not imagine a less humble man if she ran through a list of every hotheaded and entitled officer she had ever met, from the Duke of Wellington downward.
“It could take a lifetime,” she argued, and it felt heady and a bit too intimate when he smiled as if he knew he was naturally arrogant and impatient but, given the right incentive, he could be a lot less lordly and very human indeed.
“I will need a lot of help, then,” he said huskily, and all the images in her head earlier were hot in his piercingly blue eyes as he gazed back at her.
Even his mouth looked firm and rather inviting as the notion of what that help might involve sang between them. He was an invalid, for goodness’ sake. And even when he was well, he would still be a viscount.
Author Note
Welcome to the second of my books about the Yelverton siblings. Marianne and Alaric’s unconventional love story has been intriguing to write as they are totally unsuitable for one another but end up falling in love despite all the barriers of rank and fortune that should keep them apart.
I love writing about families and the Yelvertons are especially close to my heart because they share such a strong bond and are all determined to live life on their own terms. I do hope you enjoy Marianne and Alaric’s story and maybe you will join me for Viola Yelverton’s love story, which will be coming soon.
ELIZABETH BEACON
Unsuitable Bride
for a Viscount
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 Harlequin Historical.
Books by Elizabeth Beacon
Harlequin Historical
A Rake to the Rescue
The Duchess’s Secret
The Yelverton Marriages
Marrying for Love or Money?
Unsuitable Bride for a Viscount
The Alstone Family
A Less Than Perfect Lady
Rebellious Rake, Innocent Governess
One Final Season
A Most Unladylike Adventure
A Wedding for the Scandalous Heiress
A Year of Scandal
The Viscount’s Frozen Heart
The Marquis’s Awakening
Lord Laughraine’s Summer Promise
Redemption of the Rake
The Winterley Scandal
The Governess Heiress
Visit the Author Profile page
at Harlequin.com for more titles.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Excerpt from A Royal Kiss & Tell by Julia London
Excerpt from From Cinderella to Countess by Annie Burrows
Chapter One
Viscount Stratford hardly noticed the rain-sodden countryside he was riding through or the cloud-veiled hills slowly emerging from the gloom.
Confounded storm, Alaric thought briefly as urgency drove him relentlessly on.
Finding his niece was all that mattered and last night’s rain had cost him precious hours. He spent the time pacing a wayside barn impatient for even a glimmer of light and how could he sleep when his niece was missing in a deluge? At this time of year nights were short, and the rain had finally stopped, but at this very moment Juno could be wandering alone and lost and soaked to the skin in the hills—even if she had been taken in by strangers would they be kind to her or use her to make money? He shook his head to try and shake off an image of his naive niece held for ransom by hardy rogues, or lying hurt and feverish somewhere and needing him. So badly it hurt to think that he had failed her yet again.
How had he ever managed to persuade himself it was a good idea to leave Juno in his mother’s care while he went to Paris to try and be useful to the Duke of Wellington in his new role as British Ambassador to France? The Royalists and even some former Bonapartists might fawn on the Duke, but it was Bonaparte’s former capital, for goodness’ sake. It beat Alaric how anyone thought it a good notion to put one of the defeated emperor’s foes in such a post, but never mind that now. Juno was all that mattered and thank goodness his London agent had sent warning all was not well so he was already on his way home when she ran away.
And who can blame her when her life was intolerable and you were busy being self-important elsewhere, Stratford? What a fine guardian you have proved to be.
No wonder his orphaned niece had run away to find her former governess, who was now living in the still-sleeping town just visible in the distance. What comfort had Juno ever got from him or his mother?
None at all, the relentless voice of his conscience condemned him once again.
Even thinking about the Dowager Lady Stratford made the weariness of his days on the road between here and Paris lie heavy on his shoulders and he tried to shake it off. But now that Juno had run away from the
