Regency Romance: The Secret Princess (CLEAN Short Read Historical Romance) : Short Sampler to: The Unlikely Gentleman Who Knows (The Chronicles of Loyalty Series): The Chronicles of Loyalty Series

By Jessie Bennett and Jasmine Bowen

Can a mission to find the missing bastard children of the new prince regent lead to the destruction of the happiness enjoyed by a lowly intelligence officer and his beloved Loyalty?

Loyalty is eighteen years old and happy with her life, although a wine-colored birthmark stretches across half of her face. She has everything she could want in life, food, a roof over her head, a steady job, and the love of her life. They are not rich, waiting to marry until their finances are in better shape, but she has hope that it will not be in the distant future. 

Her love has just returned home for shore leave, and is given a secret mission that threatens to change their lives forever. When he’s tasked with finding the prince regent’s bastard children, she never dreams that someone she knows better than anyone will be one of them. The information that could save the lives of her best friend, and could mean life eternal with her beloved, is just a breath away. 

Nathan didn’t want that for Loyalty. He didn’t want her or their life to change. If she was a princess, really and truly, his chances of happily ever after were slipping away. 

However, he had a duty before his love, and that was to the throne. His heart was breaking with every step that they took toward the king’s bedchamber. 

He wouldn’t be able to marry her; they wouldn’t have children. They wouldn’t have the life they dreamed of together. 

She would always be in danger. A princess with such a birthmark would always be threatened. She would never be considered beautiful; they would never see what he saw in her. They would never see her as anything but a broken princess. 

He couldn’t let Jerrico tell her; he couldn’t. 

Midshipman Nathan Rambles is on the fast track to success in His Majesty’s armed forces, an honor that he’s worked hard to deserve so early in life. In order to marry his beautiful lover, he must be able to provide for her, but he wonders whether she will accept his future in the military. Above all else, his duty is to the king and the royal family, though, even if it means sacrificing their plans of love and happiness. 

He is given the secret mission of a lifetime, an opportunity for immediate promotion beyond his wildest dreams, but in the process he learns that Loyalty, his beautiful intended bride, is more than they’d ever believed possible. Her biological father is finally discovered, something she has long dreamed of achieving, and it is through the legwork of a King’s Guard that they discover her true home. The Royal Palace awaits the Secret Princess. 

Will Loyalty be able to have the man of her dreams? 

Can Nathan find the missing heirs and marry the woman he loves?

• Language: English
• Publisher: CREATIVE CLEAN HISTORICAL ROMANCE FICTION PUBLISHING LLC.
• Release date: Aug 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9781536573053

Book preview

W hat rumors have you heard ? he asked, and Jerrico looked a bit jolted by it.

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Memo: All intelligence officers.

Prince George will be Regent by week’s end.

Prince George has admitted to three bastard children, sent away and lost track of over the years. One boy and two girls. He wants to legitimize them until a proper heir is produced.

We will find them.

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No, Doe shook his head. There is no reason we have to. He doesn’t have any more details than are on the paper. He probably didn’t even see the children. So, let’s get to those records.

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Needle in a haystack, Nathan sighed, but followed Doe out the door.

CHAPTER 1

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Historical Regency Romance

It was just past dawn when Loyalty awoke, her mind already racing with all the things she needed to do that day. The HMS Adventure was due to arrive in port today after a long trip, and she was eager to be there when it arrived, fresh and smiling. Her suitor, Midshipman Nathan Rambles was on board, and she wanted nothing more than to see him, even if it meant waiting until all the officers and the fanfare came off the ship first.

Loyalty was not normally a morning person, but Nathan was worth waking up early to greet. She rolled over, reaching for the glass of water beside her bed, and then sat. She had been up late the night before finishing all the things that needed to be done. Nathan was home so rarely that she didn’t want work to interrupt them if she could help it. It might be unconventional for a woman to work, but Nathan didn’t mind. Besides, they couldn’t get by on only his income right now, so it made sense for her to continue to work.

In addition, she liked working. She was honoring her parents, and she was providing for herself should something happen. Things happened to sailors every day; she knew that. It wasn’t that she wished it, of course not. However, Loyalty was prepared for anything.

Meeting Nathan three years ago had been the moment she was sure that she had a future. He had been standing in the center of the square, just a sailor then, helping his commanding officer with signups for the new recruits. Nathan was already ear marked then as the potential genius that he was, assisting in tasks above his pay grade. He was shy, awkward, his social skills seeming to lend energy to his brilliance. There was something about the way he was thinking, the way he looked, concentrating, that caught her attention. She had fallen in love with him being shy at first, and after many shy, awkward lunches in the square and walks home, Nathan had revealed that he felt the same. The rest was history. She knew she was going to spend the rest of her life with him; she just wasn’t sure when that could realistically begin.

Loyalty lived a simple life in the center of London. At 18 years old, she should have been married already, with a few children clinging to her skirts. However, typical was not the way her life went. Her parents had always told her that she was different, special, that they had chosen her. They had adopted her when her birth parents had died of plague when she was just a baby. They had not cared at all for the large birthmark that covered half her face and neck; they told her repeatedly that she was beautiful, until she almost believed it. When the other children had made fun of her, her parents turned her mind to other things, such as business and assisting them. Soon, Loyalty found herself barely caring when she looked into a shiny surface; looks weren't everything. Nathan had never so much as mentioned it, seeing a strong and kindred soul in her eyes. Besides, neither of them were royalty, born to glitz and glamour. They were born into hard work and struggle, with dirty fingernails and stained clothes. It was a meeting of the minds, and eventually the heart.

Although they were poor, Loyalty had never wanted for anything. Her parents both ran their own businesses, as successfully as single-person businesses could be. Her father had run a print shop until his death, a heart attack on the floor one day. Her mother had run a laundry business, able to remove stains even from the whitest of fabrics, and fold sheets with perfect corners. The money from the sale of her father's print shop had kept them afloat for several years, combined with her mother's laundry income. Nevertheless, life was tough in London, with harsh winters, and her mother started to lose her stamina over the years. When she passed away, Loyalty felt as if she was all alone in the world, two sets of parents gone, and only working dawn through dusk saved her from falling into the streets like other young ones who had been orphaned. Her father had left her with a good business sense, and always told her to make informed choices, not to let others tie her down.

Such had been her life for the past three years. Nathan was working toward promotion; she was rebuilding the business, and although they loved each other; they weren't quite ready to get married yet. His shore-leave visits were rare, and she felt like they were too focused on their individual lives.

A knock came at the door as she set the kettle on the fire and she smiled, knowing who it was. Loyalty's only other salvation from a world of constant work and loneliness was her closest friend, Jerrico.

When she had first met Jerrico, a handsome King's Guard with bright blue eyes and a shining smile, she’d thought she was in love. He had come to their house weekly when her mother was contracted to do some of the palace laundry. It was their biggest contract, and the bonus was Jerrico's visits. However, even at 12, she’d learned quickly that what she was experiencing with the 16-year-old Jerrico was not romantic love. It was more like a meeting of twin souls. Jerrico and Loyalty were alike in all the ways that mattered, and different in all the ways that they needed to be. She was a calm, normal breath in his chaotic, seemingly glamorous life. He was always sunny to her sometimes pessimistic, and she was healthy to his weakness. Because as beautiful and healthy as Jerrico seemed, he was plagued by a mysterious illness that often left him unable to work for days on end. There were fevers, chills, fainting spells and tremors; things that would have put a normal guard out of work. However, Jerrico was practically guard royalty, his father and his father before him, so his captain let him out of work whenever he showed up looking like death. Loyalty's house was his sick bed, close to the palace, but far enough away for no one to see him recover for a weekend. As her mother did before her when she discovered it, she spent days by the fire listening to his labored breathing and bringing cool compresses. In return, Jerrico brought her anything that he could from the palace to make her life bearable, and ensured that her palace laundry contract was always intact. It was a good trade.

Today was a scheduled visit; so she wasn't concerned when she opened the door to find him carrying three bags of laundry. It was a