My Secret and the Earl: Sweet Regency Tales, #4

By Joanne Wadsworth

My Secret and the Earl is the sweet/tame version of The Earl's Secret Bride.

My dearest Richard,

I was a girl of seventeen when you first rescued me from tragic death. You rode in and saved my mother and me from a band of brigands and now six years on, I'm still irresistibly attracted to you. Unfortunately, my father has now agreed to my betrothal to an arrogant marquess who is more than twice my age and if I don't marry the man then my family will lose everything. I certainly can't allow that to happen so I've accepted what shall be, will do my duty and speak vows with him as my father has asked.

Today though, you kissed me down by the lake and curled my toes. You made me long for things I can't possibly have—a marriage that will hold love, companionship, and immense adventure. If I might be so bold as to say in this letter, it is my secret wish that you would ride in and save me a second time.

A dream, of course, but oh my, what a wonderful dream it would be.

Yours in deep devotion, Rosamonde.

Each book in this series is standalone, and can be enjoyed out of sequence.

SWEET REGENCY TALES SERIES

The Duke Who Stole My Heart, #1

The Earl I Adore, #2

To Love During War, #3

My Secret and the Earl, #4

The Prince Who Captured Me, #5

Beware of the Pirate Prince, Book 6

My Infamous Corsair, Book 7

Must Love Pirates, Book 8

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joanne Wadsworth
• Release date: Mar 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386526674

Joanne Wadsworth

Joanne Wadsworth is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author who adores getting lost in the world of romance, no matter what era in time that might be. Hot alpha Highlanders hound her, demanding their stories are told and she’s devoted to ensuring they meet their match, whether that be with a feisty lass from the present or far in the past. Living on a tiny island at the bottom of the world, she calls New Zealand home. Big-dreamer, hoarder of chocolate, and addicted to juicy watermelons since the age of five, she chases after her four energetic children and has her own hunky hubby on the side. So come and join in all the fun, because this kiwi girl promises to give you her “Hot-Highlander” oath, to bring you a heart-pounding, sexy adventure from the moment you turn the first page. This is where romance meets fantasy and adventure… To learn more about Joanne and her works, visit her website: http://www.joannewadsworth.com

Book preview

Chapter 1

Hillhurst Hall, Penrith, England, near the Scottish Borders, six years later, 1811.

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This is such a heinous subject matter, Mother. Rocking in the chair at her mother’s bedside, Rosamonde arched a brow over the thick pages of the volume she’d collected from Hillhurst Hall’s library this morning. Are you absolutely certain you wish for me to read this particular book?

Yes, that’s the one I wish for you to read. Fluffing her lace-edged white pillow, Mother nestled back more comfortably in her bed, her pink and yellow floral bedcovers folded neatly at her waist and a waiting look on her face. Indeed it is. Do begin, my dear child.

I’ll begin after you tell me why you have a sudden wish to read about ghostly wanderers? She tapped the title emblazoned on the front of the black leather-bound cover. Peculiar Warnings Volume Two, The Ghostly Wanderer of the Moors.

Well, you see, Lady Winterly sent me the book and if I haven’t read at least the first chapter of it before she and her daughter arrive for our house party tomorrow then she will be sorely disappointed.

I wasn’t aware Lady Winterly had a love of such, ah, scandalous novels. She should have sent a book of poems or even a fanciful romance as she usually does, not a novel of abject horror. She would have a word with Lady Winterly when she arrived, except the lady she considered a second mother would likely do naught but smile and hug her instead of taking any warning truly to heart.

Perhaps Flora wishes for me to read something different for a change. A wrinkle of Mother’s nose. This may be my fault. I mentioned to Flora in my last letter that I find some days rather difficult and tedious, being that I can’t travel as easily with these useless legs of mine. The book arrived soon after with a note saying, ‘Here is something different for a change.’

If you wish to travel to London, to either call on your friends, attend the opera, enjoy a ride through the park, or visit a museum or two, then you need only say. Father is riding to town next month and we can travel with him. Neither of them had traveled much since that dreadful night six years ago. She’d been her mother’s constant companion ever since, a task she both adored and took quite seriously.

No, I’d much rather stay right here in the country with you. Mother shook her head, her words slightly