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Welcome back, sweet readers! I’m the culprit again. A.S. Fenichel wants a Teaser Tuesday: What are you working on? Give us a sample of your work in progress.

Here’s the beginning of Misleading A Duke. it will be out in late September and I can’t wait. It’s still in edits so forgive any mistakes.

Misleading A Duke

Chapter 1

The last person Nicholas Ellsworth expected to find at his good friend, Geb Arafa’s dinner party was Lady Faith Landon. Yet there she was, Nicholas’s fiancée, maddeningly pretty and equally aggravating. She fit perfectly with the lush décor and priceless artifacts in Geb’s parlor. “Lady Faith, I had not expected to find you here. In fact, you and your friends’ presence is an astonishment.”

“I hope you are not too put out. It seems Lord and Lady Marsden have become fast friends with Mr. Arafa and that friendship has extended to the rest of the Wallflowers of West Lane.” Despite his desire to be rid of her, Faith’s soft voice flowed over him like a summer stream and he longed to hear that voice in the dark, in their bed. The way her curves filled out the rose gown set his body aflame and there seemed nothing he could do about it.

He shook away his attraction reminding himself that this was a sneaky, manipulative woman who it had been a mistake to attach himself to. The fact that he longed to find out if her honey-brown curls were as wild as they promised despite her attempts to tame them into submission, shouldn’t matter. Nor should his desire to get lost in her wheat colored eyes and voluptuous curves. This was a woman made for loving.

Lord, he hated himself. “I wonder that you’re being here with those friends is not some dire plot in the making.”

He had reason to be suspicious. When he’d first arrived home from France, in the spring, she and her friends had engaged in spying on him and trying to ferret out his past. It was intolerable. He should have called off the engagement, but the thought of ruining her for good society didn’t sit well with Nicholas. Instead he’d offered her the opportunity to set him aside, but she had refused to do so as of yet.

She frowned and was no less stunning. Her full lips longed to be kissed back into an upturned state. “We are here because Mr. Arafa invited us. He’s your friend. I’m surprised he didn’t mention it.”

Nick was equally bewildered by Geb’s silence on the matter of Faith and the other members of the Wallflowers of West Land. He had met them on several occasions during his feeble efforts to get to know Faith. Her instant suspicions that he was hiding something may have led to her friends’ actions, but he still couldn’t let the slight die. Though he did admire the strength of the friendship between Faith and the three women she’d gone to finishing school with. They were as close as any soldiers who fought and died together. Even if they had called themselves “wallflowers” there was nothing diminished about any of the four.

“He is not required to give me his invitation list.” It pushed out more bitterly than intended.

Those cunning eyes narrowed. “I think you would like it exceedingly well if he did.”

That she wasn’t wrong raised the hair on the back of Nick’s neck. He had not been able to keep many friends over the years. His work for the crown had made that impossible. Now his friendship with Geb Arafa was in jeopardy as well.

He bowed to her. “I do not always get what I want, Lady Faith.”

Head cocked, she raised one brown. “Don’t you, Your Grace?”

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Here’s more about Misleading A Duke:

Finishing school failed to turn them into proper society ladies. Now these four friends vow to remain single until they find suitors worthy of their love and devotion . . .
 
Betrothed to a man she has barely met, Lady Faith Landon calls upon her three best friends—the self-proclaimed Wallflowers of West Lane—to help uncover the secrets of her mysterious fiancé. Her suspicions are aroused when she learns that he has recently returned from France. Is he a traitor to his country? The truth is quite the opposite. Nicholas Ellsworth, Duke of Breckenridge, is a secret agent for the English Crown who has just completed a risky mission to infiltrate Napoleon’s spy network.
 
After his adventures, Nicholas craves the peace and quiet of the country and settling into domestic bliss with his bride. Until he discovers Faith’s deceptive investigation. How can he wed a woman who doesn’t trust him? But a powerful spark has ignited between Nicholas and Faith that could bring about a change of heart. Faith seizes her second chance to prove to Nicholas that they are a true love match but his past catches up with them when three French spies come to exact revenge. Surviving rather than wooing has become the order of the day.

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Hop back if you missed Leslie Hachtel http://lesliehachtelwriter.wordpress.com

Keep on hopping for Elizabeth Schechter

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We have to wait until September for Misleading A Duke but book on, The Earl Not Taken will be here in just a few weeks.