by Cheryl Bolen
She leaned into him, and he kissed her hungrily. Sweet Heavens! Kissing Mr. Birmingham was the very most pleasant experience ever. How could she have missed out on something this wondrous her first seven and twenty years?
When the kiss ended, he settled his hands on either side of her face and looked at her. . .well, there was no other word for it – lovingly. "I don't like to think of you risking that lovely neck of yours. In fact, I have a proposal to make an honest woman of you."
Before she could find out just what his proposal was, though, sounds of jubilation came from the corridor, and if she was not mistaken, the sounds were being made by Dottie and . . .What's His Name, Mr. Birmingham's valet?
Mr. Birmingham quickly untied her. "What the blazes?"
"My maid is actually the woman who- - -"
Mr. Birmingham glanced into the corridor. There stood Dottie, with What's His Name's arm around her!
"I take it your maid masqueraded as your mute sister," Mr. Birmingham quickly surmised, getting to his feet, as did she.
Sophia gave a sheepish nod.
"Give us a minute," Mr. Birmingham said to his man.
After they left, he turned to her and drew her into his arms for another searing kiss.
"About that proposal?" she finally managed, a hopeful lilt to her voice.
"I don't know why in the blazes I should care one fig about you. You've done nothing but lie to me from the moment me met."
"My kiss was not a lie."
He stood back and peered at her through narrowed eyes. "What about what you called me?"
"When I told that awful man you were my lover?"
He nodded.
"That was not a lie, either."
"That settles it, then."
Her heart fluttered most agreeably. "Settles what?"
"I propose to make an honest woman out of you. No more smuggling."
"Actually, my dearest Mr. Birmingham, I'm not nearly as dishonest as you believe me to be."
"Enlighten me, please."
"I was so desperate to get away from Finkie that first night, I would have answered to any name."
"Then your name's not Isadore?"
She shook her head.
"You are well born, are you not?"
She nodded. "Until two days ago I had answered to the name Lady Sophia Devere for seven and twenty years. And, I must tell you, I am also the sole heiress to my grandmother's fortune."
He nuzzled soft kisses along the column of her neck. "I should prefer an entirely different name for you."
Dare she hope? "Pray, what name would that be?" She circled her arms around him, her heartbeat galloping.
"Mrs. Birmingham?"
"I suppose I need to accept. I must reform your wicked ways. I'm prepared to help you financially, only I beg that you never involve yourself with smugglers ever again."
He held her tightly and laughed, a deep raucous laugh.
"Pray, what is so funny?"
"You don't know who I am?"
"Of course I know who you are. You're Mr. William Birmingham, smuggler of gold bullion."
He stood back and drew her hands into his. She felt unaccountably secure.
"You've heard of Nicholas and Adam Birmingham?" he asked.
"Who hasn't? They're the wealth- - -" She stopped, suddenly realizing her great stupidity. "They're your brothers?"
His eyes laughing, he nodded.
"You're from that Birmingham family?"
"Sorry to disappoint."
"Why in the world do you resort to smuggling gold if you're that ridiculously wealthy?"
He shrugged. "A single man can take risks. I liked the excitement."
"Then I daresay you must marry." She moved into his arms. Nowhere on earth could ever feel better.
* * *
Downstairs, where, thankfully the Finkie mess had been cleaned, they met up with their servants.
Dottie's eyes glittered with excitement. "Oh, milady, you won't believe it, but Mr. Thompson said he's been fiercely attracted to me since that first night, but he dared not aim at such a high-born lady! He was talkin' about me!" Dottie launched into a sniveling giggle.
Sophia faced the valet. "I must felicitate you, Mr. Thompson. You have excellent taste in women."
"And, my good man," William added, "you will be happy to learn that my house will be merging with this lady's house very shortly." He looked down at Sophia most lovingly.
"Very good, sir," Thompson said.
Once more, she found herself in his embrace. "Do not be surprised, my lady, when you're a shrunken little white-haired woman and you husband is still calling you Isadore."
THE END
COMING SOON:
A Most Discreet Inquiry
(Book 2, The Regent Mysteries)
June 2012
It all started quite innocently when Lady Daphne Chalmers's duchess sister came to her sleuthing sibling for help in retrieving love letters she wrote to Major Styles, now deceased. But as Daphne and her own lover, Captain Jack Dryden of His Majesty's Hussars, join forces to track down the letters, they follow a trail of treachery and murder that threatens the entire kingdom.
Marriage of Inconvenience
Love Inspired Historical
October 2012
A loveless marriage between a bluestocking and a powerful peer turns out to be anything but. . .
Win a $50 Gift Certificate
I hope you enjoyed Lady Sophia's Rescue. If you did, would you please consider posting a review by the book's listing at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, Smashwords or a site where you might have read it? If you do, please send me an email at [email protected] and I will enter your name in one of my quarterly drawings for a $50 gift certificate to Amazon, Barnes & Noble or I-Tunes. Each time you review one of my books, let me know, and you will get another entry for each review. This promotion will last all of 2012, with a drawing each quarter.
Thank you from Cheryl Bolen
Other eBooks by Cheryl Bolen:
With His Lady's Assistance
(Book 1, The Regent Mysteries)
(Humorous Regency Romance Mystery)
With His Lady’s Assistance is a delightful blend of humor, romance, and mystery, a romp through Regency society, sprinkled with appealing characters and colorful figures from British history. Protecting the eccentric Prince Regent from an unknown assassin has never been so entertaining. – In Print
This is a highly enjoyable read. There is mystery, humour and romance – a winning combination. I eagerly await the next installment. – Amazon Reviewer
* * *
To help him mingle in the highest echelons of English society to investigate threats on the Prince Regent's life, super spy Captain Jack Dryden must feign an engagement to the exceedingly plain spinster, Lady Daphne Chalmers. Together they embark on an investigation which brings them into grave peril – and makes the captain reevaluate the skinny maiden who has a most amorous effect upon him.
His Lordship's Vow
This was the kind of sweet, romantic Regency romance I used to love to read. I'm so glad they're coming back - especially by talented authors like Cheryl Bolen. 5 STARS – Amazon Reviewer
Thank you so much for writing a story of ROMANCE. Ms Bolen makes reading about the hero and heroine enjoyable and romantic. 5 STARS – Amazon Reviewer
* * *
Bereft of beauty as well as fortune, the exceedingly plain Miss Jane Featherstone has failed to attract any suitor during her three Seasons. Rather than be a burden to her brother and his obnoxious wife, Miss Featherstone vows to accept the first man who asks—even though she's always worshipped a lord who's far above her touch. . .
Lord Slade must marry an heiress in order to honor the deathbed vow he made to his father, and he needs Miss Featherstone's help in wooing her beautiful cousin. After her initial anger, Miss Featherstone agrees to his scheme, telling him she's doing so because she admires his Parliamentary record of humanitarian legislation a
nd his reverence for truth. But the more he's with the two cousins, the more attracted he becomes to Miss Featherstone. What's a man of his word to do? Break a vow to a beloved father—or follow his heart with Miss Featherstone?
The Bride Wore Blue (The Brides of Bath Series #1)
Cheryl Bolen's writing draws you into her fast-paced story. 4 Stars – Romantic Times
Cheryl Bolen returns to the Regency England she knows so well. . .If you love a steamy Regency with a fast pace, be sure to pick up The Bride Wore Blue. – Happily Ever After
* * *
For six long years Thomas Moreland has dreamed of the beautiful young noblewoman who rescued him from death. While amassing his fortune in India, not a day passed he did not recall Felicity's fair loveliness, did not recall the silken tones of her sweet voice, did not desire to possess her.
Now a widow, Felicity Harrison does not recognize the handsome nabob as the young man left for dead by highwayman years earlier. Though she wants nothing more than to snub the arrogant man who promises to rescue her family from financial ruin in exchange for presenting his sister to Society, she cannot snub him. She must force herself to bear his company. But the longer she is with him, the more she has to force herself to remain true to her dead husband's memory. Why is it the humbly born Thomas Moreland possesses more nobility that any man of her class? And why is it she finds it harder and harder to mourn a dead man when Thomas's virility awakens her deepest desires?
With His Ring (The Brides of Bath Series #2)
Texas Gold's Runner-up for Best Historical Romance 2002
Highly recommended. – Under the Covers
Cheryl Bolen does it again! There is laughter, and the interaction of the characters pulls you right into the book. I look forward to the next in this series. 4 Stars – Romantic Times
With His Ring is a good book. Once you start reading you will not want to put it down. . .The secondary characters are a blast. They will have you laughing right along with Glee's stunts. – The Romance Readers Connection
If you liked Cheryl Bolen's first installment in her Brides of Bath series set in Regency England, you'll like this one. With His Ring has plenty of sensuality. – Happily Ever After
* * *
Glee Pembroke has turned down countless offers of marriage because she has secretly been in love with her brother's best friend, Gregory Blankenship, all her life. When she learns Gregory will lose his considerable fortune if he's not wed by his twenty-fifth birthday, she persuades him to enter into a sham marriage with her. What he doesn't know is that she plans to win his heart. She will do everything in her power to make him happy – including mimicking the ways of a "fast" woman since he's noted for alliances with women of that sort.
Why did he ever allow himself to marry the maddening Glee? He'd thought they would have great fun, but at every turn, she exasperates him. Why does she persist in wearing the bodice of her dresses so blasted low? Why do other men persist in flirting with her, his wife? And why in the blazes has his heretofore complacent life been turned upside down by this sham marriage? He finds himself longing for a real marriage, but for reasons he cannot divulge, that can never happen.
A Fallen Woman (The Brides of Bath Series #3)
You'll fall for A Fallen Woman, the latest Regency romance by Cheryl Bolen. .this emotional story of a woman's journey from despair to triumph has what we all want from a love story. – In Print
A story of healing, forgiveness and change that will make readers cheer. – Romantic Times
I would recommend A Fallen Woman to anyone." – Escape to Romance
* * *
Since his commanding officer in the Peninsula took a bullet meant for him, James Moore, now the Earl of Rutledge, feels responsible for the dead man's young son and the boy's exquisite mother, Carlotta Ennis – so responsible that he offers to marry the lavender-eyed beauty. Though their marriage was not to be a love match, Carlotta's torturing presence has James yearning to make her his true wife.
Though she did not love his lordship, her desperate situation forced her to accept his proposal. Little did she know she would come to crave being with him, would hunger for his every touch. If only she could be worthy of the fine man she's married, if only she can keep him from learning her dark secret . . .
To Take This Lord (The Brides of Bath Series #4)
(previously titled An Improper Proposal)
"Wonderfully Crafted... Highly recommended... 5 stars." – Huntress Book Reviews
"Bolen's writing... creates the perfect atmosphere for her enchanting romances." –
Romantic Times
"Bolen does a wonderful job building simmering sexual tension." – Booklist
* * *
1Even though it's been two years since his cherished wife died on childbed, George Pembroke, the Viscount Sedgewick, continues to rely on liquor to blunt his grief.
Worried about him and his children, George's sisters urge him to ask spinster Sally Spenser--a longtime family friend--to help care for his daughter and son. Sally's the perfect person. She's of high birth (but has no money) and she adores Lord Sedgewick's children. It's her deep love of the motherless children and fear that their father might marry an unfeeling stepmother that prompt Sally to consider George's proposal. Even though it will be unbearable living under the roof of the man she loves and knowing she can never have him.
A Lady by Chance
Cheryl Bolen has done it again with another sparkling Regency romance. . .I highly recommend it. – Happily Ever After
Anna de Mouchet has the stuff of which Regency heroines are made – the right stuff, that is! – In Print
* * *
The Marquess of Haverstock is incensed when he learns the money he needed to buy crucial war information for the Foreign Office has been lost at cards to the illegitimate daughter of an English duke and French noblewoman. When the bewitchingly beautiful woman informs him the only way to reclaim the funds is to wed her, he has little choice but to agree.
Shunned by the ton, Anna de Mouchet agrees to a bizarre proposal that has her using her skill at cards to force the marquess – whom she’s been told is a traitor – to marry her. As his wife, she will be free to spy on him and prove her patriotism to England. But once she marries the handsome lord, she’s less sure of her loyalties. Especially when she feels her husband’s silken touch.
The Earl's Bargain
Bolen writes with both poetic ease and a good sense of historical correctness. Another great book by Bolen with enchanting characters you actually fall in love with. – Amazon Reviewer
The Earl and lady "bluestocking" provide fun, adventure, and romance, and I loved the Cornwall locations. I've been to Cornwall and Ms. Bolen's descriptions were right on. – Amazon Reviewer
* * *
The impossibly young, stunningly beautiful widow Louisa Phillips finds herself penniless upon the death of her no-good husband. What's a man-hating bluestocking to do?
Enter the Earl of Wycliff, who offers her financial security for life. All she has to do is travel across England posing as his wife. They're both hiding secrets – not the least of which is their budding love for each other.
My Lord Wicked
This terrific regency novel has Gothic elements: the eerie abbey; the gloomy weather; the portrait of his wife seeming to watch over everyone; and his dark, twisted memories of her. Ms. Bolen's novel has it all. A great romance with spooky elements and the mystery surrounding the wife, the author could not have done a better job. I loved this book, and I hope you will love it also. Very highly recommended! – Amazon Reviewer
* * *
What woman would dare make her home at eerie Marshbanks Abbey, perched on a stony hill in remote Northumbria? It is said its owner, the brilliant botanist, Lord Stacks, killed his beautiful bride there ten years earlier.
Unaware of the tales of Lord Stacks' wickedness, Freddie Lambeth comes to live with her guardian, and through his caring blossoms from a plain, shabbil
y dressed girl to a lovely young woman. Freddie and Lord Stacks come to need each other as his flowers need sunshine, but Stacks cannot allow himself to love her. His own wickedness has destroyed any chance for happiness.
Texas Heroines in Peril Series (Contemporary Romantic Suspense)
Protecting Britannia
Antiques dealer 1Britannia Hensley's first day back in London after a seven-year absence seems like an audition for a Survivor in the City episode. Her plane arrives two hours late; she sloshes through blinding rain without an umbrella; her purse is snatched; her hotel room ransacked; some slimeball jabs a gun into her back and tries to abduct her; and every bobby in London's after her for a murder she didn't commit. What's a girl to do when she has no passport, no money, no means of getting any money, and no one she can call? Well, actually there is someone . . . but surely after all these years a handsome guy like Graham's been snatched up by some lucky girl.
* * *
"Drawing on her real-life expertise as a dealer in British antiques, Cheryl Bolen pens a fast-paced, fascinating tale of modern-day romantic suspense." — Colleen Thompson, Rita finalist romantic suspense
Murder at Veranda House
Lovely young widow Annette Holcombe is forced to turn her Veranda House on Galveston Island into a B & B after the recent death of her husband, a man she'd known only a short time. Upon his untimely death, she learns that the only thing she really knew about him was that everything she knew about him was a lie!