One Bride Too Many

By Connie Brockway

An enchanting Regency novella! 

Can two stubborn hearts be seduced into betting on true love?

When Alexander Thorpe returns from the Crimean War, he is no longer the viscount Lucy St. James once adored. Although he treats her with cool detachment, Lucy is alarmed to discover Alex is even more irresistible than the man who won her heart three years before. 

 

Alex returns to discover Lucy has yet to become the bride of another man. He has never forgiven the spirited beauty for the moment their "understanding" became a misunderstanding. But when a ridiculous wager throws Alex and Lucy back into each other's arms, they must decide once and for all if they are willing to forsake their pride for their passion…

 

"Connie Brockway's work brims with warmth, wit, sensuality and intelligence."—Amanda Quick, New York Times bestselling author

 

"Romance with strength, wit, and intelligence. Connie Brockway delivers!" — Tami Hoag, New York Timesbestselling author

 

"If it's smart, sexy, and impossible to put down, it's a book by Connie Brockway — Christina Dodd, New York Timesbestselling author

 

"If you're looking for passion, tenderness, wit, and warmth, you need look no further. Connie Brockway is simply the best." — Teresa Medeiros, New York Times bestselling author

 

"Brockway's lush, lyrical writing style is a perfect match for her vivid characters, beautiful atmospheric setting, and sensuous love scenes." — Library Journal

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amber House Books
• Release date: Feb 22, 2025
• ISBN: 9781943505548

Connie Brockway

A New York Times bestselling author of twenty-two novels for Avon Books, Julia Quinn is a graduate of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges and lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest. New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James is a professor of English literature who lives with her family in New York but can sometimes be found in Italy. Connie Brockway, the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-two books, is an eight-time finalist and two-time winner of the RITA® Award. She lives in Minnesota with her husband and two spoiled mutts.

Book preview

One Bride Too Many

One Bride Too Many

A Regency Novella

Connie Brockway

Amber House Books

Contents

One Bride Too Many Blurb

Praise for Connie Brockway

Books by Connie Brockway

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Books by Connie Brockway

About the Author

Lassie, Go Home Sneak Peek

One Bride Too Many

by Connie Brockway

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Can two stubborn hearts be seduced into betting on true love?

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When Alexander Thorpe returns from the Crimean War, he is no longer the viscount Lucy St. James once adored. Although he treats her with cool detachment, Lucy is alarmed to discover Alex is even more irresistible than the man who won her heart three years before.

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Alex returns to discover Lucy has yet to become the bride of another man. He has never forgiven the spirited beauty for the moment their understanding became a misunderstanding. But when a ridiculous wager throws Alex and Lucy back into each other’s arms, they must decide once and for all if they are willing to forsake their pride for their passion…

Praise for Connie Brockway

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Connie Brockway’s work brims with warmth, wit, sensuality and intelligence.—Amanda Quick, New York Times bestselling author

---

Romance with strength, wit, and intelligence. Connie Brockway delivers! — Tami Hoag, New York Times bestselling author

---

"If it’s smart, sexy, and impossible to put down, it’s a book by Connie Brockway — Christina Dodd, New York Times bestselling author

---

If you’re looking for passion, tenderness, wit, and warmth, you need look no further. Connie Brockway is simply the best. — Teresa Medeiros, New York Times bestselling author

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Brockway’s lush, lyrical writing style is a perfect match for her vivid characters, beautiful atmospheric setting, and sensuous love scenes. — Library Journal

Amber House Books by Connie Brockway

The Golden Season

So Enchanting

As You Desire

A Dangerous Man

The Bridal Season

Bridal Favors

One Bride Too Many

Lassie, Go Home

Copyright Info

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No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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

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Copyright © 2019 by Connie Brockway. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-943505-54-8

Cover design by Control Freak Productions

Cover Photo © Period Images

Cover Background © Fedor Selivanov (Used via license of Shutterstock.com)

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Published by Amber House Books, LLC

http://www.amberhousebooks.com

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For more information, contact [e-mail]

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Chapter 1

St John’s Wood, ten miles outside of London

The Height of the Season, June 1856

"E ven if you did win your wager, how in God’s name do you expect me to fulfill the requirements?" Alexander, Viscount Thorpe, asked in disgust.

My great-aunt’s attic is a warren filled to overflowing with my ancestors’ detritus. Across the gaming table Hugh St. James lifted eyes as dark blue as his sister’s to meet Alex’s. Hugh was drunk, disastrously drunk, yet he still managed to invest his slurred words with a jeer. I’m sure we’ll find something suitable.

Marcus Penworthy and Tom Davidson, having long since bowed out of the current game, traded anxious glances. Even the servant, whose sole duty was to keep their glasses filled with their host’s best claret, could not keep the concern from his expression.

This was not going to end well. The viscount had always been constitutionally incapable of backing down from a challenge, and Hugh St. James kept hurling taunts at him.

It was a shame, as not long ago these two men had been boon companions, raised on neighboring estates. They had even gone to Oxford together. It was there Penworthy had met and befriended both.

What will it be, Thorpe? asked Hugh. Once, the handsome young man had been as well known for his easygoing nature as his boldness. Though he was no longer so easygoing, he was still bold, though the word foolish came more easily to mind this night.

Certainly, it was foolish to bait someone as formidable as the viscount Thorpe. All six feet four inches of his powerful frame vibrated with rigidity, and the scar he’d won in the Battle of Balaklava showed red against his lean cheek before snaking beneath the hard angle of a square jaw.

No one had ever accused Alexander Thorpe of being easygoing, but he had been capable of laughter. Now his expression was always stern, his wide mouth having forgotten what it was to smile. Though he had always been frank, now his manner was blunt to the point of rudeness.

Some thought the Crimean War had made Alex aloof and abrupt. But Penworthy thought the same thing that divided Alex from St. James was also responsible for his stern, unyielding demeanor—St. James’s sister, Lucy.

"Bless me, I can scarce countenance it! The great, the mighty, the infallible Viscount Thorpe is uncertain?" Hugh asked as the moment grew longer and Alex still hadn’t answered. I swear, what next? Are the heavens to fall?

The viscount drummed his well-manicured fingertips against his overturned cards. They hadn’t come here with a mind to gamble, but upon entering the ballroom Penworthy had noted the moment Alex’s gaze had found Lucy’s on the dance floor below. He’d nodded in curt acknowledgment, and she had angled up a dark brow in mocking reply.

They should have left then. And, indeed, for half a minute Alex had hesitated at the top of the stairs before swinging around and gruffly stating his intention of finding himself a game of cards. Penworthy, who’d been rather looking forward to dancing with a few of the Season’s beauties, had reluctantly followed.

Unfortunately, an hour later her brother had found the same companions. And still Alex hadn’t taken Fate’s prodigious hint and departed. No, he must stay and play and drink.

They had been at this table for nearly three hours, during which time ten thousand pounds had found its way into St. James’s pockets. It should have ended there, with St. James smugly and righteously victorious, but it hadn’t. It had come to this. St. James, flush with the mistaken notion of his luck’s infallibility, had insisted on one last foolhardy bet that all but guaranteed Alex would recoup every last penny he’d lost this evening and then some.

There was a catch, of course. There was always a catch. Thorpe must first agree to St. James’s ridiculous terms should he lose.

Not that he was going to lose. St. James hadn’t a hope in hell of winning.

St. James would need to draw to an inside royal flush in order to beat the ten high straight that had become Alex’s hand on the last flip of the card. The probability of its happening was essentially nonexistent. Even the unnatural luck that had attached itself to St. James all evening could not hold out against such overwhelming odds.

Well, Thorpe, what’s it to be? Do you accept?

Don’t be a fool, Hugh. You only make yourself ridiculous, Alex answered.

The room went utterly silent except for the susurration of the gaslight in the sconces, hissing like a scold. Davidson’s eyes widened, and Penworthy shook his head. Must Alex always say exactly what he meant?

Ridiculous? Hugh’s eyes narrowed. Too late. You’ve already seen to that.

At Alex’s stony silence, Hugh’s smile thinned. "Or is it only the females in my family you bother making ridiculous?"

Alex did not answer, but his scar grew pale against the darkening hue of his face.

"Indeed,