DEAREST ROGUE by Elizabeth Hoyt (May 26, 2015; Grand Central Publishing Mass Market)
HE CAN GUARD HER
Lady Phoebe Batten is pretty, vivacious, and yearning for a social life befitting the sister of a powerful duke. But because she is almost completely blind, her overprotective brother insists that she have an armed bodyguard by her side at all times-the very irritating Captain Trevillion.
FROM EVERY DANGER
Captain James Trevillion is proud, brooding, and cursed with a leg injury from his service in the King’s dragoons. Yet he can still shoot and ride like the devil, so watching over the distracting Lady Phoebe should be no problem at all-until she’s targeted by kidnappers.
BUT PASSION ITSELF
Caught in a deadly web of deceit, James must risk life and limb to save his charge from the lowest of cads-one who would force Lady Phoebe into a loveless marriage. But while they’re confined to close quarters for her safekeeping, Phoebe begins to see the tender man beneath the soldier’s hard exterior . . . and the possibility of a life-and love-she never imagined possible.
He cleared his throat. βMalcolm MacLeish is young and handsomeββ
βA fat lot of good that does me, since I canβt see him.β
ββ a gentleman of high spirits and quick wit and seemingly smitten with you as well.β
There was a silence.
βSmitten,β Phoebe said at last. βSmit-ten. The word sounds like a skin disease if you think about it too much.β
βHe smiles every time he sees you,β he murmured quietly. Was he jealous?
βI smile every time I smell cherry pie.β
βYouβre being ridiculous,β Trevillion said disapprovingly. βI donβt see why youβve rejected him out of hand.β
βYou sound like a querulous old aunt, scolding children for running through the house.β
βI am older than you,β he replied stiffly, βas Iβve pointed out on numerous occasions.β
A terrible thought struck her. βAre you shoving me at Mr. MacLeish because I kissed you?β
βIββ
βIt was my very first kiss, you ought to know,β she said very rapidly, because sometimes it was just better to say the embarrassing thing and get it over with. βIβm sure Iβll improve with practice. In fact, Iβm sure of it. Almost everything improves with practice, donβt you think? And
really, if I had a just a bit of help from your end next timeββ
βI am not kissing you,β he said with the awful finality of a judge pronouncing a death sentence.
βWhy not?β
βYou know very well why not.β
βNooo,β she said slowly, thinking it over. βNo, I canβt say that I do, really. I mean I know why you think we oughtnβt kiss again: youβre as old as the Thames, youβre below me in rank, Iβm too young and frivolous, and you much too serious, et cetera, et cetera, and et cetera, but frankly I donβt have any reasons not to kiss you.β She stopped for breath and to think and amended her statement. βUnless, of course, youβre either (a) a murderer running from the law or (b) hiding a secret wife. Are you?β
βI . . . what?β
βAre you,β she repeated patiently, βeither a murderer running from the law or hiding a secret wife?β
βYou know Iβm not,β he said with impatience. It was a good thing she was so stubborn, because that tone might have put off many another young girl. βPhoebeββ
βSo then thereβs no reason at all not to kiss me again.β She folded her hands in her lap and smiled.
Elizabeth Hoyt is theΒ New York TimesΒ bestselling author of over seventeen lush historical romances including the Maiden Lane series.Β Publishers Weeklyhas called her writing “mesmerizing.” She also pens deliciously fun contemporary romances under the name Julia Harper. Elizabeth lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with three untrained dogs, a garden in constant need of weeding, and the long-suffering Mr. Hoyt.
The winters in Minnesota have been known to be long and cold and Elizabeth is always thrilled to receive reader mail. You can write to her at: P.O. Box 19495, Minneapolis, MNΒ 55419 or email her at:Elizabeth@ElizabethHoyt.com.
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