The Blighter and the Bluestocking: The Ashbourne Legacy, #1

By Eliana Piers

She's a bluestocking living on the edge of scandal.

 

He's looking for anything but that to be the mother of his future children.

 

When Lady Bridget is riding her newest invention through Hyde Park, the last thing on her mind is love. She has dedicated her life to science and improving the world around her. And she will settle for nothing less than complete freedom to do so.

 

Arthur, the Duke of Whitewood, can't help but notice the strange woman on the weird contraption gliding through the park. How improper! How scandalous! How utterly, and annoyingly…intriguing. He has to warn her of the danger she's putting herself into. Little does he know the danger she's about to put his heart in.

 

Will Arthur cling to his version of what a wife ought to be? Or will Bridget show him that there's more than one way to love a lady?

 

This is the first book in the steamy new regency series, The Ashbourne Legacy, that follows the seven brothers of Snow White.

 

Read this novelette if you like sweet and spicy easy reads with witty banter and lovable characters.

 

The Ashbourne Legacy:

1. The Blighter and the Bluestocking
2. The Scoundrel and the Scientist
3. The Virgin and the Vixen
4. The Rogue and the Rose
5. The Rake and the Writer
6. The Wastrel and the Wallflower
7. The Spy and the Spinster

• Language: English
• Publisher: Free Mind LS
• Release date: Jan 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9781998281046

Eliana Piers

What makes people fall in love? Why do two people end up together? Every love story is unique, and I love love.

Book preview

image-placeholder

The Blighter and the Bluestocking is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. 

Copyright © 2023 by Eliana Piers

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact author.

Cover image © Eliana Piers

Cover design Copyright © 2023 Eliana Piers

All rights reserved.

ISBN E-Book 978-1-998281-04-6

ISBN Print 978-1-998281-05-3

To all the girls in glasses,

I love your jewelry

Free E-book

Get my FREE Short Story when you sign up to join my mailing list. Plus you’ll learn more about me, get sneak peeks at what’s in the works, as well as receive access to some discounted or free books from other authors.

Sweeten the Rogue: One wager, one evening of passion, two possible futures for a rogue and a lady

Or use this link here to receive the free ebook: https://bit.ly/SweetenTheRogue

Or email me to get the story: [e-mail]

Contents

Author's Note

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Stay Connected

Read More: The Ashbourne Legacy

The Scoundrel and the Scientist

Thank You

About the Author

Also By Eliana Piers

Read More: Dukes for Christmas

A Beauty for a Duke

Read More: The Good Dukes

Good Duke Gone Cold

Author's Note

image-placeholder

Hello Beautiful Reader, 

Welcome to the Beau Monde. Most, if not all, of my books are part of an interconnected world with the Good Dukes, where it all started. This series, The Ashbourne Legacy follows the 7 brothers of Snow White, and it has some enchanting fairytale vibes for you.

If you like SWEET & SPICY, you are in for a treat.

I love to write funny, easy, breezy stories where the characters learn things about themselves and the world around them, all the while continuing to reach for hope, joy, and above all, LOVE.  

Love always wins. Love never fails. 

You will always read a happy ending in my stories. 

I write to have fun, and so I make stories fit into a historical context, but I often take leeway with history. SO, if you are looking for a 100% accurate depiction of historical language and settings, please put this book down. You will be disappointed. And I don’t want that. You don’t want that. Neither of us wants you to be disappointed. Let’s just be happy. The world is a hard enough place as it is. 

IF, however, you don’t mind to sacrifice some historical truths in the name of LOVE and HUMOR, AND you want to read about some HOT men falling head over heels in love with some INTELLIGENT, STRONG, INDEPENDENT women, then read on, dear reader.

Much love, 

Eliana Piers

Chapter 1

image-placeholder

1816 England

IT WAS CONSIDERED PRUDENT for a lady to fastidiously contemplate the art of securing a husband at the age of five-and-twenty. It would gratify her parents immensely and reassure her entire family that she would be well taken care of if she devoted scrupulous efforts to the science of love. 

But it was deuced boring. According to Lady Bridget Harrington. So instead of fastidious contemplation and scrupulous efforts wasted on the art and science of love, she was spending her time simply on the arts and science. No love needed.  

Currently, she was experimenting with her latest invention.

The Glider. 

Ah, yes. The Glider. Glorious. Breathtaking. Windbreaking. Well, maybe not that. But in the wee hours of the morning, as she rode alone down the now desolate Rotten Row, the wind blew through her hair. No speed demons at this time flying by on their horses, trying to win a wager. Just her and her Glider. Pure freedom. Pure delight. Her feet landed on the ground, astride the wooden beam between her legs. The leather of her front and back wheels had lost momentum against the friction of the grass and dirt. It was time to push off and glide again.  

This was what deserved her utmost attention. This invention, among others, was where her heart lay. Her true love. 

As her feet hit the ground again and pushed off, she could feel the slight burn in her muscles from the exertion. Curious and wonderful to experience something new. Perhaps the next version of the Glider would have a method for using her feet to spin the wheel. Like how a knee lever or a foot pedal on a piano controlled different parts of the instrument. She would have to contemplate that more. Yes, that would be her plan for tomorrow: plan pedals of some kind. 

Though it was not in vogue to be a bluestocking, she was fortunate enough to have parents who discouraged censure on her unladylike predilections. 

She glanced