Synopsis

A standalone novel in the Mayfield Family series with an unusual premise and an uplifting ending.

Lady Sabrina endured an abusive marriage, a miscarriage, and early widowhood to emerge as a smart, successful, confident woman who found a way to make her mark in a man’s world. She has friends and purpose, but cannot hide from the emptiness she feels when the parties are over and the friends have gone home to families she will never have.

Harry Stillman may be charming and handsome, but he’s a gambler and a rake who has made a mockery of his privileges. He turns to the mysterious Lord Damion for financial relief from his debts, but still ends up beaten nearly senseless by thugs and left in an alley.

When Lady Sabrina comes upon Harry after the attack, she remembers the kindness Harry once showed to her six years ago and brings him to her estate to heal. Though their relationship begins on rocky footing, it soon mellows into friendship, then trust. But Lady Sabrina needs to keep Harry at a distance, even if he is becoming the kind of man worthy of her heart. After all, she is keeping a secret that, if exposed, could destroy everything she’s so carefully built.

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Praise

“Uplifting…Kilpack flips the typical Regency romance script, with the heroine rescuing the hero. Kilpack’s strong, upright heroine who finds a way to claim her power in Regency society sets this love story apart. This magnetic tale will appeal to fans of emotional romance.”— Publisher’s Weekly

“Kilpack takes traditional regency roles and challenges them. She shows how one person can make an impact in the world. I found the story and premise unique.”— Heather Gardner, Fire and Ice

“This is a story of redemption above all else…the ending was perfect.”— Lucinda Whitney, author of Rescuing the Prince

Excerpt

“I am ruined,” Harry said softly. “I’ve nothing left, and no income for at least another month. It would not be near enough even if I were to receive it tomorrow.”

Ward looked irritated rather than sympathetic. Someone shouted from a street over, reminding Harry that they were not in a genteel part of the city. But he had nothing for thieves to steal, and he looked and smelled like an urchin, save for his coat, which he held over his injured arm and away from his soiled clothes.

“I told you to leave,” Ward said tightly as he pointed toward the door of the gaming hell behind them. “I did everything I could to get you away from the tables in time.” Harry raked his hand through his hair, belatedly remembering the filth on his fingers. Would his landlord allow him a bath even though he was behind on his rent?

“I am ruined, Ward,” Harry said again. Did his friend understand what that meant? Did he know how low Harry truly was? “I’ve nothing to sustain me until the parcel is sold, which could take weeks.”

Suddenly Ward was striding toward him, anger adding power to each step. Harry shrank back as though Ward were going to strike him.

“What do you want me to say, Stillman?” Ward snapped, leaning toward him. “Do you want me to pat you on the head and tell you all will be well? Shall I convince you that one more night will change your circumstances?” He shook his head and pulled himself up to his full height, a few inches taller than Harry. “I am near my limit with this . . . dissipation. There is no fun in it anymore, and each night is a bigger disaster than the night before.”

“What can I do?” Harry pleaded. “I’ve no money to pay my expenses, and I can’t get credit with even a blacksmith anymore. I do not have the ten percent necessary to keep Malcom at bay for another week.” He swallowed against the dryness in this throat. He had mere hours to come up with two hundred and seventy pounds. “Help me, Ward. I cannot think straight enough to come up with a solution. Malcolm knows where I lodge. He’ll come for me, and I have nothing to offer him.” He’d once been so good at clever answers to the scrapes he found himself in. Now it was just that beating drum.

Lost it all. Lost it all. Lost it all.

Ward took a breath, forcing calm as though he were the parent and Harry the disobedient child. “My parents have returned to Sussex, leaving the London house empty. We could stay there for a time. I don’t know where you’ll get funds, though.”

“Can I . . . Can I borrow enough from you to hold off Malcom for one more week?”

Ward’s eyebrows came together, and his jaw clenched.

“You shall be the first person I pay back when I sell the parcel,”

Harry said desperately. “And if I could borrow an extra fifty, I could triple it by the end of next week.”

Ward’s face went dark, and he turned to leave again.

“Ward, hear me out,” Harry said, hurrying to catch up. It was the only solution, and Harry could make good on the loan. Not at this club, of course, but there were others he had not been barred from where he could win back all that he owed and more. Tonight was the perfect example of how lucky Harry could be. If he’d just left when he was ahead, or if Ward had not interrupted his luck routines, then things would have turned out very differently. I need to get out of London, he told himself, a whiff of his former decision passing through his thoughts. But he couldn’t.

Not now. Only in London he could win enough money to pay off his debts. Ward turned to Harry, his nostrils flared, but then his eyes focused on something past Harry’s shoulder, and his expression went slack. Harry belatedly heard footsteps on the cobbles and turned to see three men coming toward them from the shadowy end of the alley. His first thought was that they were the protectors from the club, but as they drew closer, he realized the man in the middle was familiar. Harry noted the scar that ran from beneath the man’s left eye to his jawline. Pocked skin and eyes as black as night confirmed the man’s identity. “M-malcom,” Harry said under his breath, every part of his body going cold.

Excerpt taken from Chapter Three, pages 26-28 with permission

About the Author

Josi S. Kilpack is the bestselling author of several Proper Romance and Proper Romance Historical series and a Cozy Culinary Mystery series. Her books, A Heart Revealed and Lord Fenton’s Folly; were Publishers Weekly Best Romance Books of the Year. She and her husband, Lee, are the parents of four children.

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