Anger consumes Claire Hollybrooke when her father is falsely accused and imprisoned as the infamous jewel thief who steals from the rich. Claire directs her anger at the nobility who shunned her beloved aristocratic mother when she married a scholar. When her mother died, her noble family never acknowledged the fact. Claire believes her grandfather is behind her father's difficulties. Never having met them, Claire obtains a position as lady's companion to her flighty cousin. As a servant, she's invisible and can gather evidence to clear her father.
After secretly working with Bow Street for years, Simon Croft, sixth Earl of Rockford's, latest success is revealing the identity of a high-profile jewel thief. Simon now decides it's time to marry. He accepts a challenge from his friend to mold the first debutante he meets at a ball into the perfect wife. He stumbles upon a spirited young woman who peaks his interest, until she reveals her employment. Simon rejects her suitability and focuses on her charge, Lady Rosabel, who meets his criteria and appears easily malleable to training.
Simon's legendary calm demeanor deserts him upon his frequent meetings with Lady Rosabel's companion. She's argumentative and disdainful of his noble blood. Their spats increase in intensity as they try to hide their emerging feelings for one another. When their secrets and schemes are exposed, they have to decide if they can surrender to love.
Be prepared for an all night read! I could not stop turning pages as Claire scrambled to prove her father's innocence. Ms. Smith writes marvelous scenes of sparring between Claire and Simon, making this tale a perfect balance of suspense and humor.
Dear Reader,
This is the story of how I, a penniless upstart,
became a countess.
I never set out to be the heroine in a romantic
tale of derring-do. As a spinster of five-and-twenty, I was
much too practical to imagine myself tracking a dangerous
criminal or falling prey to ardent nonsense. Nor did I ever
envision myself entering the gilded ballrooms of society
where indolent aristocrats nibbled cake and traded gossip.
But that was before my father was wrongfully imprisoned as
a jewel thief.
Determined to uncover the true criminal, I posed
as an impoverished widow and secured a post in the grand
household of a noble family β the very family that had
cruelly cast out my mother many years ago. Of course, they
knew not who I was. To them, I was merely a servant, an
invisible hireling. And little did I know, my daring plan
would throw me into the path of Simon Croft, the almighty
Earl of Rockford.
Arrogant, charming, and too handsome for his own
good, he might have walked straight off a pedestal in a
museum. I had no use for such a rogue, yet from the moment
of our first meeting, he tempted my unruly heart. And soon,
he threatened my schemes as well, for Simon had secrets of
his ownβ¦.
βClaire, the Countess of Rockford
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