When Laurel Sutherland and her sisters were young and residing with their uncle on their country estate, Princess Victoria was a frequent playmate. Their ties with Victoria end when she begins preparation to become queen. When their uncle dies, Laurel and her siblings inherit a bookstore and live a quiet and predictable life. Then Victoria re-enters their world begging a favor. Her cousin, George Fitzclarence, is talking treason. Would Laurel pretend to be a wealthy widow, befriend George and discover how deeply he is involved in the plot? She warns Laurel to evade George's friend, Lord Barensforth, a know rake and troublemaker.
Aidan Phillips, Earl of Barensforth, works secretly for the Home Office uncovering financial frauds and keeping tabs on George Fitzclarence, an unhappy illegitimate son of the late king. George's talk of treason has never amounted to anything, until he befriends a suspected traitor. Alchemy, fraud and the murder of a magistrate send Aidan scrambling to discover the extent of George's dealings. One young widow steps in his way. Aidan wishes he could solve the secrets that swirl around Laurel, but she is a distraction he cannot afford.
Laurel enters a world foreign to her. Opulence and intrigue surround her. The one man she was warned to avoid draws her like a moth to a flame. They both harbor secrets and neither will reveal their task.
In her new series, Ms. Chase delves into the political intrigue surrounding the early years in Queen Victoria's reign. She maintains a perfect balance of history, mystery and romance that promises further adventures with Victoria's secret confidants, the Sutherland sisters.
Raised on their uncleβs country estate, the four
orphaned Sutherland sisters formed a close friendship with
the young Princess Victoria. Shortly before her coronation
as queen, Victoria asks the sisters to serve her in matters
requiring the utmost discretion.
They are to become her secret
servants...
Laurel, the eldest, is the first to be called. The Queen is
threatened by her jealous cousin, George Fitzclarence, who
is known for speaking treason. She asks Laurel to pose as a
wealthy widow and use her charms to win Georgeβs trust,
then find out what he is really plotting. Laurel is
prepared for the risks of acting a part, but she encounters
an unexpected and formidable obstacle in the Earl of
Barenforth--Georgeβs friend and a notorious rake, whom
Victoria has warned her to avoid...
An undercover agent for the Home Office, Aidan Phillips,
Earl of Barensforth, is on the trail of a financial hoax
involving alchemy, murder...and George Fitzclarence. When
a lovely young widow wanders into his path and turns his
well-laid plans on end, he senses she is hiding something.
Aidan is no stranger to seduction, or to the wiles of
beautiful women. And he intends employing wiles of his own
to uncover the ladyβs secrets...
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