Carnally Ever After

By Jackie Barbosa

Jilted at the altar, Lady Louisa Bennett seeks the solace of a quiet, empty chapel and instead finds Alistair de Roche, her fiancé’s best man and the subject of her fantasies from the moment she met him. Alistair knows bedding his best friend’s betrothed is well beyond the pale, but Louisa has haunted his dreams for months. Soon, Louisa and Alistair are caught up in a consuming love affair that threatens their families’ plans and their own hearts. Can they find a way to live happily, and carnally, ever after?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Publishing
• Release date: Aug 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094423357

Jackie Barbosa

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a writer when I grew up, but there were plenty of times when I wasn’t sure I ever would be. As it turns out, it just took me about twenty years longer to grow up than I expected! On the road to publication, I took a few detours, including a stint in academia (I hold an MA in Classics from the University of Chicago and was a recipient of a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities) and many years as a technical writer/instructional designer for a data processing company. I still hold my day job, but my true vocation has always been writing fiction and romance in particular. To stay informed of my release schedule, you can sign up for my newsletter (which I only send out when I actually release a book) or follow me on Twitter or Facebook. As a matter of public record, I tend to be a lot more active on Twitter, but also a lot more political. I am represented by Kevan Lyon of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. I’m a firm believer that love is the most powerful force in the world, which that makes romance the most powerful genre in the world. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise!

Book preview

Carnally Ever After

The Ever Afters, Book 1

Jackie Barbosa

BRYANT STREET PUBLISHING

Carnally Ever After

(The Ever Afters, Book 1)

Jackie Barbosa

© Jackie Barbosa, 2007, 2011, 2018

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment and should not be copied or given away to other people.

Publishers Note

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

About This Book

Jilted at the altar, Lady Louisa Bennett seeks the solace of a quiet, empty chapel and instead finds Alistair de Roche, her fiancé’s best man and the subject of her fantasies from the moment she met him. Alistair knows bedding his best friend’s betrothed is well beyond the pale, but Louisa has haunted his dreams for months. Soon, Louisa and Alistair are caught up in a consuming love affair that threatens their families’ plans and their own hearts. Can they find a way to live happily, and carnally, ever after?

To Ann Aguirre, whose challenge prompted me to write this story in the first place. To my wonderful critique partners, Darcy Burke, Leigh LaValle, Janice Goodfellow, Lacey Kaye, and Erica Ridley, who helped make this story what it is. And finally, to my husband, who has given me my own happily—and carnally—ever after.

Chapter 1

St. Paul’s Cathedral, June 1816

J ust like the bloody man! Alistair de Roche, Earl of Holyfield, sank into the rear pew of the Morning Chapel and loosened his cravat. Behind him, the shuffling footsteps and grumbling whispers of the guests echoed as they exited the cavernous cathedral. Thwarted in their hopes of witnessing the wedding of the Season, the rumormongers would have to find their amusement elsewhere.

No doubt in ripping the unfortunate bride to shreds with vicious speculation as to the reason her intended had failed to appear at the altar.

Isn’t it just?

Alistair nearly fell off the narrow bench. Though he could discern only the outline of a figure in the far corner of the dimly-lit niche, he recognized her voice instantly. Lady Louisa Bennett’s husky yet dulcet tones were unmistakable, with the capacity to make him hot and uncomfortable.

Never mind that she was his best friend’s betrothed.

His best friend’s jilted betrothed.

He opened his mouth, attempting to frame a suitable response to her question, and then, finding nothing to say, closed it. After taking a deep breath, he tried again. Grenville is a trifle unreliable.

An understatement, surely.

Lady Louisa emerged from the shadowy recesses into the light streaming through a stained glass window set high in the wall. A rustle of silk and satin accompanied her movement. Bathed in the multicolored glow with her dark hair arranged in artful curls about her face and her large, round eyes glaring at him, she looked every inch a vengeful angel.

An angel with a form so lush, she could tempt the devil into an alliance with the other side.

Grenville was an idiot.

She crossed her arms beneath her breasts, forcing the ivory mounds upward until they threatened to spill forth from her bodice. Although the neckline of Louisa’s gown might have been demure on most women, on her, it bordered on indecency.

Alistair’s fingers flexed. He had no business thinking about her breasts, in or out of her dress. Although now, he could think of nothing else.

Out of her dress held the greater appeal.

Why did he not come? she demanded.

A reasonable question. Alistair was the best man and it was his duty to see the groom to the altar. A duty he’d failed miserably.

He shrugged to cover his unease. I’m sure he was unavoidably detained by some sort of emergency.

Provided an emergency included sleeping off a night of debauchery. This was Grenville’s typical reason for missing appointments, even one as important as his wedding. Alistair knew that if his friend’s father found him, he’d be enlisted to search London’s best brothels and slimiest hells for Grenville. Alistair had skulked away from the rest of the wedding party when no one was looking precisely to avoid that thankless—and likely protracted—task.

She closed her eyes, dark, expressive eyes he knew to be the color of rich chocolate. Her plush, upper lip crumpled in on the lower one. She shook her head. I doubt it.

Damnation! Did she know more about Grenville’s proclivities than he thought?

He didn’t come because I’m fat.

Alistair blinked, dumbfounded. The words were spoken with such flat conviction and self-loathing, he felt them like a fist. Fat? Louisa? No, surely not.

Voluptuous, ample, and yes, perhaps a trifle plump. Though her dressmakers seemed to do everything possible to disguise Louisa’s generous proportions beneath modest, billowy gowns, their efforts were wholly ineffectual, a fact for which Alistair was not certain whether to thank or curse his Maker.

He grimaced owing to the increasingly snug fit of his breeches. She honed in on his expression.

You admit, then, I am right. No man wishes to bed a fat girl, especially not for the rest of his life. Her voice cracked.

He wanted, quite inappropriately, to laugh. All it would take to disabuse her of her foolish misapprehension would be to lay her hand on his breeches where his nascent erection strained to escape his fall. The idea thickened his cock even further.

He daren’t stand up now, though he would like to go and comfort her. Instead, he shook his head vehemently against her words.

That is not true.

Her lips pursed in exasperation. He

Reviews for Carnally Ever After

[Mary Makler · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not her best writing but it was a creative story with a totally new angle. A little odd but still almost believable....

[benn9314 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A book so sexual and loving as ever been written