{"id":15112,"date":"2015-01-07T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2015-01-07T13:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=15112"},"modified":"2015-01-07T08:00:50","modified_gmt":"2015-01-07T13:00:50","slug":"excerpt-spotlight-giveaway-secrets-of-a-scandalous-heiress-by-theresa-romain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2015\/01\/07\/excerpt-spotlight-giveaway-secrets-of-a-scandalous-heiress-by-theresa-romain\/","title":{"rendered":"Excerpt, Spotlight & Giveaway \u272f Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress by Theresa Romain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"secretsofascandalousheiress\"<\/p>\n

One good proposition deserves another…<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Heiress Augusta Meredith can’t help herself-she stirs up gossip wherever she goes. A stranger to Bath society, she pretends to be a charming young widow, until sardonic, darkly handsome Joss Everett arrives from London and uncovers her charade.<\/span><\/p>\n

Augusta persuades Joss to keep her secret in exchange for a secret of his own. Weaving their way through the treacherous pitfalls of a polite world only too eager to expose and condemn them, they begin to see that being true to themselves is not so bad…as long as they’re true to each other…<\/span><\/p>\n

Other books in the Matchmaker Trilogy:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"it-takes-two-to-tangle\"\"to-charm-a-naughty-countess\"<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"excerpt\"<\/p>\n

She tilted her head, setting the loose curl free again. \u201cAre you doing what you wish?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Doing what he wished? No, of course he wasn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

Right now he wished he could make her smile as she had when giving away her gloves. He wished he could dispense with his conscience and plead for her to take him as a lover. He wished he could pluck the pins from her sunset hair and send it tumbling over her naked skin, wished he could stop kissing her only to make her cry out in pleasure.<\/span><\/p>\n

But always, in the face of a wish, came prosaic reality. A scarred wooden table, a plate of mutton and potatoes, a wedge of cheese. An adequate fire and a roof over one\u2019s head. Such a reality was perfectly acceptable, even if it didn\u2019t hold the luster of a gemlike fantasy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI try to wish,\u201d he said in a calm voice, \u201cfor what I know I might attain. For respectable employment for a reasonable wage. For a reasonable employer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This brought a faint smile to her features, but the expression fell away in another instant. \u201cThat seems a very small dream.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat on earth <\/i>do you mean by that? It\u2019s a very suitable dream.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s not really a dream, is it? It\u2019s what you have now, just shuffled about a bit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, he folded his arms. She lifted her hands, placating. \u201cAs you say, it\u2019s perfectly suitable. And if you insist that it\u2019s exactly what you want, then I suppose it is a dream, after all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course <\/i>it wasn\u2019t a dream. It was good sense. It was practicality. \u201cI don\u2019t know what else I ought to wish for. This is my life. I am a man of business for a nobleman.\u201d Remembering Chatfield\u2019s words, he added, \u201cI am not in bodily danger, nor in mortal peril. It could be far worse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt could be. But if you want it to be better…\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot everyone is fortunate enough to be able to buy happiness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo one is fortunate enough for that.\u201d She turned over her fork and scratched the tines into the surface of the table. \u201cThat\u2019s not what I meant. I know happiness can\u2019t be bought, or I would have bought it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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