Love and Lavender Ice Cream

By Sara Freeze

A sudden summer storm drives Miss Sophia Selkirk into a confectioner's shop filled with the delicious scents of ice cream and candies. Just as she settled in with her glass dish of delectable ice cream, a shadow falls over the table: the fiancé she jilted without explanation two weeks before has appeared. Can she trust him enough to reveal the secret that sent her fleeing from the only man she has ever loved?

Simon Warren's entire life was jolted the night before their wedding when Sophia sent a brief note informing him she could not marry him. Now, he has tracked her down to this small confectioner's shop, where over two dishes of ice cream, they will grapple with a secret scandal from the past and discover whether their love can overcome all obstacles.

• Language: Unknown
• Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
• Release date: May 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781509242061

Sara Freeze

Sara Freeze writes historical and paranormal romances and is a member of the Regency Fiction Writers. She previously published her time travel romances with The Wild Rose Press (TWRP) and is excited to begin publishing again with TWRP in 2017. Please visit Sara at www.sarafreeze.com or at twitter.com/sarafreeze.

Book preview

She scraped off a tiny flake of lavender ice cream, intending to savor its rich and fragrant flavor. A deep baritone voice, much too familiar, broke into her reverie. Miss Selkirk, fancy meeting you here. Sophia’s spoon clattered back into the glass dish. Impossible, she had fled all the way to Bath. Scarcely daring to draw in a breath, she stayed rigid in her seat. Perhaps she could get her sister’s attention. She leaned forward just the tiniest bit and glanced out the window. Blast, her sister and her brother-in-law chased after one of their tow-headed offspring as the other boy trotted along in their wake. Salvation would not come from that quarter. You know, the masculine voice drawled, I can see you. The ice cream is not magical; it did not render you invisible.

She couldn’t flee. A small group of customers jostled at the door, exclaiming over how much they had enjoyed their custards and Bath buns and arguing over whether to visit the Sydney Gardens or patronize the shops, blocking off her only direct escape route. She could perhaps consider racing through the kitchen and running pell-mell through the alleyway, but she could feel the heat of his body standing directly behind her chair. She had only one option: face him.

Love and Lavender Ice Cream

by

Sara Freeze

One Scoop or Two Series

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Love and Lavender Ice Cream

COPYRIGHT © 2022 by Sara Freeze

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: [e-mail]

Cover Art by Rae Monet, Inc.

The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

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Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

Publishing History

First Edition, 2022

Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-4206-1

One Scoop or Two Series

Published in the United States of America

Dedication

For Leora the lionheart.

Chapter One

Bath is so dreadful in the summer, Sophia Selkirk said, wrinkling her nose as she drew a handkerchief out of her reticule and dabbed at her forehead. How I wish mama hadn’t insisted on taking the stinky waters this year, especially with everything that has happened. She shuddered as she recalled her own ghastly role in the everything.

Her sister, Amelia, patted her arm with the sympathetic yet vaguely patronizing air only elder sisters possessed. Are you certain you are distressed about the locate, or about a certain gentleman we have been instructed never to mention? She raised an arch eyebrow, as though she already knew the answer.

Sophia blanched and even in the blinding June sun felt icy tendrils of