Lady Saves the Duke Read online

  Mama and Papa gave each other one of those secret looks before Papa spoke. “It’s not smoke, it’s water, Nicky,” Papa explained. “The moisture from your mouth condenses, and that makes your breath look like a cloud.”

  “Like fog?” Nicky asked.

  “He’s getting too smart for us, Alex,” Mama said to Papa, laughing. “Now, no more lessons for today. Let’s get these skates on before I turn into an ice cube!”

  Mama helped Nicholas, Papa helped Fiona, and after about ten thousand hours, they were finally ready to step out onto the ice. For just a minute, Nicholas thought his father looked scared, but that was silly. Papa wasn’t afraid of anything.

  And then they were skating. After holding Fiona for a little while, Mama handed her to Papa and then twirled and glided around by herself. Mama liked to sing while she did things like this.

  Nicholas wasn’t as good at skating as Mama, but he was much better than baby Fi.

  Papa glided around holding baby Fi and after a while he held Mama’s hand too.

  Nicholas was too big to need them to hold his hand when he skated. But sometimes the skates made his feet hurt. “Are we almost done, Papa?” he asked finally.

  “I’m cold!” Baby Fiona said while sucking on her thumb through her mitten.

  Leaning past the baby, Papa kissed Mama on the nose. “Cook promised hot cider when we were done. Are you ready to go inside, sweetheart?” And then he whispered something in her ear which made her face look even redder.

  Nicholas impatiently waited while Mama and Papa helped take off all the skates, and again after about a thousand hours, they were headed back to the house. They stopped outside to make a few snow angels and then rushed into the warmth of home.

  Nicholas could hardly wait for tomorrow.

  Papa had promised him a snowball war!

  A word from the author…

  I’ve been a writer all my life but not completed a manuscript until autumn of 2014. I’d worked in numerous fields, even owned businesses, but nothing panned out for me. My default job was bartending. Having my days free, something finally clicked, and I figured out that I could write books.

  With my husband and kids cheering me on, I’ve recently been able to quit tending bar and stay home to write fulltime. The trick now is to find something that makes me get dressed, go outside of my home, and interact with other human beings. Still working on this adjustment, but really, my PJs make a most excellent uniform!

  Writing romance novels is a dream come true. I hope my books can provide a fraction of the comfort Mary Balogh’s books have brought me.

  I love keeping in touch with readers and would be thrilled to hear from you! Join or follow me at any (or all!) of the social media links below!

  [email protected]

  https://www.annabelleanders.com

  https://www.amazon.com/Annabelle-Anders/e/B073ZLRB3F/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

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  Read more by Annabelle Anders

  Nobody’s Lady

  (Lord Love a Lady Series, Book 1)

  Dukes don’t need help, or do they?

  Michael Redmond, the Duke of Cortland, needs to be in London—most expeditiously—but a band of highway robbers have thwarted his plans. Purse-pinched, coachless, and mired in mud, he stumbles on Lilly Beauchamp, the woman who betrayed him years ago.

  Ladies can’t be heroes, or can they?

  Michael was her first love, her first lover, but he abandoned her when she needed him most. She’d trusted him, and then he failed to meet with her father as promised. A widowed stepmother now, Lilly loves her country and will do her part for the Good of England—even if that means aiding this hobbled and pathetic duke.

  They lost their chance at love, or did they?

  A betrothal, a scandal, and a kidnapping stand between them now. Can honor emerge from the ashes of their love?

  ~*~

  A Lady’s Prerogative

  (Lord Love a Lady Series, Book 2 )

  It’s not fair.

  Titled rakes can practically get away with murder, but one tiny little misstep and a debutante is sent away to the country. Which is where Lady Natalie Spencer is stuck after jilting her betrothed.

  Frustrated with her banishment, she’s finished being a good girl and ready to be a little naughty. Luckily she has brothers, one of whom has brought home his delightfully gorgeous friend.

  After recently inheriting an earldom, Garrett Castleton is determined to turn over a new leaf and shed the roguish lifestyle he adopted years ago. His friend’s sister, no matter how enticing, is out of bounds. He has a rundown estate to manage and tenants to save from destitution.

  Can love find a compromise between the two, or will their stubbornness get them into even more trouble?

  ~*~

  Lady at Last

  (Lord Love a Lady Series, Book 4)

  Coming in 2019

  Thank you for purchasing

  this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  For questions or more information

  contact us at

  [email protected].

  The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  Also available from The Wild Rose Press, Inc. and other major retailers

  Nobody's Lady

  by Annabelle Anders

  Dukes don’t need help, or do they?

  Michael Redmond, the Duke of Cortland, needs to be in London—most expeditiously—but a band of highway robbers have thwarted his plans. Purse-pinched, coachless, and mired in mud, he stumbles on Lilly Beauchamp, the woman who betrayed him years ago.

  Ladies can’t be heroes, or can they?

  Michael was her first love, her first lover, but he abandoned her when she needed him most. She’d trusted him, and then he failed to meet with her father as promised. A widowed stepmother now, Lilly loves her country and will do her part for the Good of England—even if that means aiding this hobbled and pathetic duke.

  They lost their chance at love, or did they?

  A betrothal, a scandal, and a kidnapping stand between them now. Can honor emerge from the ashes of their love?

  Also Available

  A Scandalous Request

  by Micki Miller

  London, 1812. After fleeing the clutches of her vile brother-in-law, Rose Evans finds refuge in the home of her dear friend, Lord Ashton Sennett. They come to an agreement, a marriage of friendly convenience. Since another holds claim to Ashton’s heart and body, he seeks to see that Rose experiences all life has to offer. And so to Lord Darington he makes a most scandalous request.

  Burke Darington, Third Earl of Blackwood and an austere, solitary man, can scarce believe his ears. Apparently, his whispered reputation has earned him an outrageous solicitation – Lord Sennett wants him to seduce his wife. Though Burke finds Rose fascinating, sweet, intelligent, and with a unique bent toward independence, she is also innocent. She deserves better than to be fouled by a tainted man.

  A seduction, a shooting, and an unexpected matter of the heart, throw two wounded souls into a sensational scandal