Not What It Seems: A Clean Regency Romance Series 1

By Sarah Smith

Charlotte's life has fallen apart. Previously the daughter of a well off lawyer, her father is now in prison and her mother dead. She is resigned to a life teaching the children of the aristocracy. She finds herself working as a governess for an Earl, and while the children are lovely, the Earl not a gentleman and Charlotte feels threatened by him.

When Richard, the Earls brother shows an interest in her, Charlotte sees a way out for herself, and a possible source of release for her father. But she soon discovers that Richard has many of the traits of his brother.

Trapped, she feels bound to help her father by marrying a man she doesn't love and who is unfaithful to her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Betty Johnson
• Release date: May 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310269998

Sarah Smith

Making a career goal come true, Sarah has completed her first children's book. The book started out as a short story requirement in an assignment while completing a course at the Institute of Children's Literature. After completing the course, I concentrated on my career in the corporate world. Not feeling fully satisfied with the corporate world and needing the funds to survive, I continued in the corporate world until my retirement in 2012. Always knowing that I wanted to complete my book, I started down the road to accomplish the goal. The dream has finally surfaced again and I'm on my way. Thanks to the help of Smashwords, I have found a way to publish my book on the internet which I've always believe was the best way to get your book to as many readers as possible.

Book preview

NOT WHAT IT SEEMS

A Clean Regency Romance Series Book 1

By: Sarah Smith

Copyrighted material

Copyright 2016 by Sarah Smith

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental.

About the Author

Sarah Smith is an educator for two decades. She maintains a teacher’s blog and spends her free time reading romance novels.

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Smashwords Edition 2016

Manufactured in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Copyrighted material

About the Author

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Recommended Readings

CHAPTER 1

''You will go to prison until you are able to clear your debts. Take him away.'' Two guards took hold of James Worthing's arms, and led him down the steps at the back of the dock, to the cells below. As he went, James looked at his daughter, Charlotte. She was holding a handkerchief to her face, mopping the river of tears that had been flowing down her face for the duration of his trial.

''Come on Charlotte, let's go home,'' Aunt Emily said.

It wasn't a long walk from the Crown Court to Aunt Emily's house. York is a small city, and Emily lived in a terraced house overlooking the river, just four hundred yards away. A bubbly, optimistic woman, she'd promised her brother that she would look after his nineteen-year-old daughter until she found gainful employment, and could stand on her own two feet. The events of the last few weeks had tried even Aunt Emily's optimistic nature.

Her brother was at one time the most sought after lawyer in the city. His practice was well known throughout the county. A tall handsome man, he always had a smile on his face, and people thought they could confide in him. He won more cases than any other lawyer in the country, and soon he'd built a decent amount of wealth. He bought a splendid country residence just outside the city's Roman walls. It was a place where his wife Georgina and his daughter Charlotte, were happy. They became quite used to a life of luxury: servants, a large house, and a vast garden.

Emily pushed the key into the lock and opened the blue door. She nodded at a neighbor who was peering out of the window at her. Her house was in the middle of a row of thirteen. Each had a small front garden, surrounded by a railing fence. Two windows downstairs, and two windows upstairs, the houses were known as two up, two down.

Inside the house was small. It had a living room, a kitchen, and upstairs two tiny bedrooms, and a bathroom. Charlotte had been living there for three months, and each day she'd felt claustrophobic. It was a tenth the size of the house she'd lived in so happily with