Excerpt!
Rattling her head to shake leaves and splinters from her despondent straw bonnet, Effie said, ‘Now there is an allegation I cannot throw off.’
‘Indeed?’ The man closed the final few yards in silence, bringing with him the peculiar, refreshingly cold scent of cedarwood, his eyes fixed on Effie’s hands: one was being licked by the stray, the other held by the dirty boy. ‘My condolences.’
Following his gaze left and right and taking in her dishevelled, muddied state all the while, Effie was unable to disagree on that head and promptly burst into laughter.
‘Oh, sir!’ she cried at length. ‘I declare you have the right of it, and in more ways than one.’
It was not at once clear if this was the jest in which Effie took it to be. For, though this was a man blessed with vastness in every faculty worthy of notice, conceit and arrogance ranked highest amongst his attainments.
But as she continued to laugh at herself, his demeanour shifted. His bright grey eyes examined every vanquished shard of leaf and traced every kink in her gown.
Her fussy chuntering as she smoothed and raked herself further punctured his aloof dignity.
‘Are you quite finished?’ said he, archly.
Effie, deep in the surgery of removing a twig from the lace of her sleeve, did not perceive his tone nor halt her operation. ‘Not just yet, sir, if you would give me a moment…’
Before the man could reply, the young vagrant deemed his mandated deferential silence elapsed and pressed his case.
‘This dog,’ he pointed an oratorical finger at a dog whose shifting eyes told the whole story. ‘Have stolen all me scran!’
Author bio:
Emily Lane writes sweet, clean Regency Romance perfect for fans of Georgette Heyer, Sophia Holloway, and Sophie Irwin. Hearth or Heart, her debut, launches July 13th. By day, Emily is a Management Consultant in the Lifesciences industry - she hopes her novels have just as much chemistry as her job! She lives in Thailand, which would be inconvenient but for the hot weather.
The Bowman Girls is Emily's first Regency romance series, with 3 books currently planned:
Hearth or Heart (out now)
Past or Promise (Late 2026)
Duty or Devotion (Late 2026)
After her father dies, Effie Bowman and her eight sisters are left penniless, homeless, and alone. Salvation comes in the form of the new custodian of the estate, Mr Thornaby. But the more she learns of Mr Thornaby, the more she realises he needs her discretion as much as she needs his security.
In her efforts to moderate the wild Mr Thornaby, she recruits the unlikely aid of ton society’s most determined widower, Sir John Callander.
As the season progresses and Effie pulls Sir John deeper into her desperate schemes to moderate Mr Thornaby, both are forced to wonder if Effie is attempting to tame the wrong gentleman.
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Emily Lane writes sweet, clean Regency Romance perfect for fans of Georgette Heyer, Sophia Holloway, and Sophie Irwin. Hearth or Heart, her debut, launches July 13th. By day, Emily is a Management Consultant in the Lifesciences industry - she hopes her novels have just as much chemistry as her job! She lives in Thailand, which would be inconvenient but for the hot weather.
The Bowman Girls is Emily's first Regency romance series, with 3 books currently planned:
Hearth or Heart (out now)
Past or Promise (Late 2026)
Duty or Devotion (Late 2026)
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