Hello readers! My name is Jessica Peterson, and my latest historical romance release,
THE UNDERCOVER
SCOUNDREL, hits shelves TODAY! It’s the third and final book of The Hope Diamond
Trilogy, a Regency-set series I pitch as The Thomas Crown Affair meets a
(very sassy!) Jane Austen.
THE UNDERCOVER
SCOUNDREL is about a second chance at first time love, which happens to be one of
my all-time favorite tropes. That scene, when the hero and heroine see each other for
the first time in years, maybe even decades, has to be the ultimate breathless moment.
It got me wondering what it is, exactly, that we as readers find so appealing about
getting a mulligan; what it is that makes us wish we had another chance to get romance
right with a lover, boyfriend, or even friend from our past.
First love is a complicated thing. For those of us late bloomers, perhaps our first
love was unrequited; maybe it wasn’t everything we thought it would be, or it left us
reeling with hurt and regret. How cool would it be if the studly guy you crushed on
college – the guy who never noticed you because you were too shy to say hello – ran
into you now at a bar? You’ve long since shed your shyness, and now that you’re older
and wiser, you’re more confident, too. You could show him what’s what, and maybe
indulge in that make-out session you dreamed about when you were eighteen. That’s
certainly a powerful fantasy!
I think for many of us, our first love just wasn’t meant to be. Maybe you moved away;
maybe he changed schools; maybe your parents didn’t approve, or in the end, the two of
you didn’t want the same things. But the passion, and the intensity, was there. I
remember feeling everything so intensely when I was a teenager, and even into college.
It’s wonderful to think that there’s a chance, however small, that we’ll experience
that same intensity and passion again – maybe even with the same person!
In THE UNDERCOVER
SCOUNDREL, Lady Caroline – a Duke’s daughter – falls head over heels at the tender
age of seventeen for the ginger-haired son of her neighbor. His name is Henry, and
although he’s barely twenty, he’s already managed to find trouble – trouble that will
ultimately tear him away from Caroline for more than a decade.
When Henry mysteriously appears at a ball in London some twelve years after they shared
a secret – and passionate! – wedding night, Caroline hasn’t a clue what to do. She’s
kept her first love a secret for years; Henry keeps secrets of his own. Dangerous
secrets. Thrown together by the scandal surrounding the theft of the priceless French
Blue diamond, Henry and Caroline are offered a second chance at their first time love –
love that lingers despite the betrayals and secrets that exist between them.
THE UNDERCOVER
SCOUNDREL is full of secrets, spies, and second chances – some of my favorite
things. Take a peek below for a fun excerpt – happy reading!
Read an
Excerpt
Jessica Peterson began reading romance to escape the decidedly unromantic awkwardness
of her teenage years. Having found solace in the likes of Rhett Butler and Mr. Darcy,
it wasn’t long before she began creating tall, dark, and handsome heroes of her own.
A graduate of Duke University, Jessica worked at an investment bank before leaving to
pursue her writerly dreams. She lives with her husband, the tall, dark, and handsome
Mr. Peterson, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
JessicaPeterson.com | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
The author of THE MILLIONAIRE ROGUE returns to her dazzling series about a bygone era
filled with romance, espionage, and one dangerously seductive diamond…
Mr. Henry Lake spent the past twelve years uncovering the most scandalous secrets of
Europe’s wealthy and powerful, serving as one of His Majesty’s most decorated spies.
But when a mission to find the legendary French Blue diamond brings him back to London,
and face to face with a beautiful noblewoman he once loved, it’s his own hidden
passions that are uncovered…
Lady Caroline, Countess of Berry, knows better than to lose her head over a man. After
an embarrassing romantic entanglement forced her into a loveless marriage and early
widowhood, she learned to never trust in desire, especially when it comes to the man
who once broke her heart. Only, despite her good sense, she finds Henry impossible to
resist—even when he once again places her in deathly danger…
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