From the Inside Flap
Discover the enchanting world of Collette Cameron's Regency and Scottish Highlander romances! Explore her complete library today and see what's coming next from this USA Today bestselling author.
CHRONICLES OF THE WESTBROOK BRIDES
Unconventional characters, thrilling intrigue, and heart-pounding suspense weave together with soul-stirring romance as scandalous rogues and spirited women defy society's rules to find their soul mates and become the unforgettable Westbrook Brides!
· Midnight Christmas Waltz
· Mission at Midnight
· The Midnight Marquess
· Holly, Mistletoe, and Midnight Snow
· The Wallflower's Midnight Waltz
· Minuet at Midnight
· Kiss a Rake at Midnight
· Unmasked at Midnight
· Memories Made at Midnight
· Once Upon a Midnight Dream
DUKES COME CALLING (SEDUCTIVE SCOUNDRELS)
Indulge in these captivating, emotion-laden and quick-read historical Regency romances sure to warm your heart and put a smile on your face.
· A Diamond for a Duke
· Only a Duke Would Dare
· A December with a Duke
· What Would a Duke Do?
· Wooed by a Wicked Duke
· Duchess of His Heart
· Never Dance with a Duke
· Wedding Her Christmas Duke
· The Debutante and the Duke
· Loved by a Dangerous Duke
· How to Win a Duke's Heart
· When a Duke Desires a Lass
· My Dearest Duke
FOR THE LOVE OF AN EARL
Enthralling Regency adventures brimming with intrigue, lovable scoundrels, strong heroines, and unforgettable, sigh-worthy romance.
· Earl of Wainthorpe
· Earl of Scarborough
· Earl of Keyworth
· Earl of Renshaw
HIGHLAND HEATHER ROMANCING A SCOT: CASTLE BRIDES
Pamper yourself with Scottish Regency historical romances packed with intrigue, smoldering passion, and page-turning surprises.
· Heart of a Highlander
· The Viscount's Vow
· The Highlander's Heiress
· The Earl's Enticement
· Triumph and Treasure
· Virtue and Valor
· Heartbreak and Honor
· Scandal's Splendor
· Passion and Plunder
· Wishes and Wonder
· A Yuletide Highlander
HEART OF A SCOT
Indulge in these captivating, emotion-laden, spicy Highlander suspense romances sure to warm your heart and put a smile on your face.
· To Love a Highland Laird
· To Redeem a Highland Rake
· To Seduce a Highland Scoundrel
· To Woo a Highland Warrior
· To Enchant a Highland Earl
· To Defy a Highland Duke
· To Marry a Highland Marauder
· To Bargain with a Highland Buccaneer
· A Christmas Kiss for a Highlander
LADIES OF OPPORTUNITY
Unconventional heroines dare to rewrite society's rulebook, taming roguish hearts and sparking love stories full of daring adventures, swoon-worthy intrigue, and a dash of irresistible mischief.
· The Wallflower's Wild Wager
· The Spinster's Secret Stake
· Better Not Bet a Bluestocking ~ Coming Soon!
· When You wager a Widow ~ Coming Soon!
SECRETS OF SCANDALOUS LADIES
Read these engaging, sweet romances featuring loveable rogues, scandalous secrets, a pinch of mystery, and a dash of humor for page-turning reads you won't soon forget.
· A Lady's Scandalous Kiss
· No Lady for the Lord
· Love Lessons for the Lady
· His One and Only Lady
· Never a Proper Lady
· Lady Tempts a Rogue
THE CULPEPPER MISSES
Read the Culpepper sisters saga for page-turning, humorous, and satisfying historical Regency romance romps you can't forget. Giggles guaranteed.
· The Earl and the Spinster
· The Marquis and the Vixen
· The Lord and the Wallflower
· The Buccaneer and the Bluestocking
· The Lieutenant and the Lady
THE HONORABLE ROGUES®
Are you ready for rousing, emotional, and romantic historical Regency romance quick-read capers you won't want to put down?
· A Kiss for a Rogue
· A Bride for a Rogue
· A Rogue's Scandalous Wish
· To Capture a Rogue's Heart
· The Rogue and the Wallflower
· A Rose for a Rogue
· 'Twas the Rogue Before Christmas
· A Rogue Worth the Risk
From the Back Cover
Excerpt - Earl of Keyworth
My darling, not a day does by that I do not wish we were together. I should have defied Keyworth. I should have been brave and strong and escaped when I knew I carried you, my precious love. But Landry needed me. I was so frightened for him...Can you ever forgive me?
~Letter from the Countess of Keyworth to her daughter, Lenora.
Never sent. Ripped up and burned.
Faringcroft Park--Earl of Keyworth's Country Seat
Lancaster, England
16 February 1810--Late Evening
Sweat beaded his brow as Landry Audsley, Earl of Keyworth, held his dying mother's cold, frail hand. A roaring fire hissed and snapped angrily in the hearth. Regardless, the Countess of Keyworth shivered, her feeble form racked by chills. .
The suffocating heat fairly choked him, making it impossible to breathe. Or perhaps it was the unshed tears constricting his throat and cramping his ribs that made the simple task of drawing air into his lungs difficult. .
He tenderly drew another blanket from the foot of the bed over his mother's emaciated form.
Always slight of build, his once pretty-as-a-pansy mother had wasted away these past months until only a shell of the woman he adored remained. She was only two-and-forty--much, muchtoo young to die.
"I love you, Landry," she said, reaching out to graze his cheek.
A sob caught in Landry's throat and, with grim resolve, he quashed the evidence of his heartbreak.
"I love you too, Mama."
He nearly strangled on the five short words. There was so much more he yearned to say.
His mother was all that was gentle and sweet, compassionate and kind. The opposite of the coldhearted, mercenary blighter she had entered into an arranged marriage with. The previous earl had preceded her in death only last year, and within months she had also fallen ill.
So bloody, bloody damned unfair.
Providence. Destiny. Fate. Whatever higher force had dealt this unjust hand was capricious and immensely cruel.
Scorching tears stung Landry's eyes.
His mother's delicate features, ashen in contrast to the pale lavender pillows she rested upon, blurred before his gaze. Summoning gritty determination, he blinked the stinging moisture away, lest Mama witness his grief and become even more distraught.
This dear woman's unconditional love was what had kept him from becoming a replica of the former earl: harsh, unforgiving, selfish, and an abusive, sodding cockscum.
Some claimed giving one's life for another was the greatest gift, and Landry supposed it was. But loving someone unconditionally, even when it guaranteed you'd suffer at another's hands because of that love...
Well, that made his mother a bloody saint in his mind.
Landry had not shed a tear or felt the minutest flicker of grief when his father had kicked off his mortal coil in a most befitting manner--an apoplexy while shagging a Covent Garden doxy.
In truth, it was a wonder the previous earl had not perished from the clap or pox decades ago. It was no more than he deserved.
However, the inflexible, unrelenting reality of never seeing his beloved mother again nearly eviscerated Landry.
God, he screamed silently. Desperately.
"Landry, I must...tell you something," Mama whispered, her voice the merest whisper of sound. An old woman's weak, quavery voice. Not his mother's dulcet tones.
"Shh, Mama," he soothed, leaning down to press his mouth to her too-cool, pale-as-milk forehead. "Save your strength."
It would not be long now.
He swallowed the grief strangling him.
Soon his sweet mother would draw her last labored breath.
Doctor Rendle had left an hour ago. Shaking his silvery-white head, he'd patted Landry's shoulder in a fatherly fashion. "I am deeply sorry, my lord. There is nothing more to be done. The countess will pass shortly. I have given her laudanum to keep her comfortable."
Rage burgeoned in Landry's chest at the unfairness.
By God in heaven.
Evil people should die young.
Those as decent and loving as his mother should live to a ripe old age. To see their son married and to hold their grandchildren in their loving embrace. To enjoy the peace and happiness that was denied them for far, far too long.
The muffled weeping of Warner, his mother's lady's maid for the past two decades, came from the corner she huddled in miserably. The sniffling and watery shudders agitated Landry, but he did not have the heart to order her to leave the bedchamber.
He well knew how much Warner loved his mother. How, she too, had willingly acted as a buffer between the dying countess and the previous earl's violent rages and calculated cruelty.
"No, Landry. You must...listen to me." Mama grasped his waistcoat, weakly urging him nearer. "I should have told you long ago. Certainly after Keyworth died."
Landry had removed his cravat and coat before the doctor left. It somehow seemed wrong to be attired in starchy formality at a time like this. Besides, the bedchamber was a blistering inferno, the scarlet and orange flames in the hearth fiercely battling each other for dominance in a skirmish neither would win.
Sweat trickled down his back and soaked his underarms. His discomfort did not matter. He'd endure hell's fires if it meant easing Mama's suffering a single jot.
Landry forced a smile, though his facial muscles protested the effort, and a merciless vice crushed his breastbone, threatening to pulverize it into dust.
"What is it?" he asked, wishing she would save her strength. Each additional minute with her was a treasure he could store up in his heart and memory.
"You have a sister," she whispered through blue-tinted lips.
A sister?
What?
"What?" Landry drew back, his befuddled mind trying to comprehend what she had murmured.
Was she delusional?
Hallucinating?
Was that a sign of impending death?
Pressing two fingers to his temple, he searched the recesses of his mind.
Had Dr. Rendle mentioned anything of that nature?
Landry honestly did not know.
He could not remember half of what the kindly doctor had told him.
Grief had turned Landry's mind into a foggy, cottony, befuddled mess.
"I named her Lenora, Landry," Mama sobbed softly, a sodden handkerchief pressed to her mouth. "Keyworth was not her father."
So his gentle-hearted mother had taken a lover.
Brava for her.
She certainly deserved a sliver of happiness after having been married to the monster she had called husband for four-and-twenty years. Regardless, his sire's hypocrisy was beyond maddening and equally infuriating.
Where was this sister?
Shunted off to live in obscurity with a distant relative?
Squeezing her hand, he said, quot;It is all right, Mama."
For what else did one say to one's dying parent when they were confessing their darkest secret?
"He...he did not even permit me to hold her," she muttered raggedly, almost as if speaking to herself. Repeating a phrase she had no doubt murmured over and over and over again to herself in her sorrow.
"She would be ten years old now, my little girl," Mama said.
Scorching wrath tunneled through Landry's veins in the next heartbeat. He fought to keep the anger from showing on his face or manifesting in his voice.
He knew of three boys born on the wrong side of the blanket his father had sired--all by different women. And all of whom had been servants in the debaucher's employ.
Undoubtedly, more of his seed had found fertile soil in the countless other women from the filthiest slatterns to the nobles' perfumed and powdered wives he'd swived. Worse than a rutting bull, the previous earl had not been the least selective or discreet in whom he tupped.
In his typical callous fashion, the reprobate had dismissed his pregnant servants on the grounds of promiscuousness. Likely as not, the cockscum had forced himself on them.
When Landry became the earl, he had hired Dirby Madagan, a detective, to locate each ill-used woman and had settled a generous portion on those women and their sons.
It was the least he could do.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Collette Cameron® is renowned for her captivating, humorous, and heartwarming Scottish and Regency historical romance novels. With over 65 published titles, over 1.6 million books sold around the world, and multiple writing awards to her credit, Collette is a well-known author in the world of historical romance.
Readers love her witty and relatable characters including daring rogues, dashing scoundrels, and the strong and spirited heroines who capture their hearts. From the rugged highlands to the refined drawing rooms of Regency England, Collette's novels will transport you to another time and place, where love and adventure are just a page away.
Collette's Sweet-to-Spicy Timeless Romances® are the perfect escape for readers looking for romantic escape, poignant inspiration, engaging humor, and entertaining stories.
Based in the Pacific Northwest, Collette is surrounded by the lush greenery and rainy skies that inspire her writing. She dreams of one day splitting her time between the Pacific Northwest and Scotland. In the meantime, she indulges in her love of all things cobalt blue, dachshunds, chocolate, and of course, crafting her next historical romance.
Connect with Collette on social media, download a printable series/book list, join her VIP Reader Group, and subscribe to her newsletter (get a FREE book too!) by visiting her at collettecameronbooks dot com
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