Part of Ladies Most Scandalous
First published 2024
Jane Halliwell sets out silver and arranges seating cards for a house party she was never meant to host. Her employer lies dead, murdered, and someone has to manage a drawing room full of foreign dignitaries. That someone turns out to be Jane, a governess who once had a dowry and a future in this world before her father's death stripped both away. Standing beside her is Lord Adrian Fielding, the man who carelessly broke her heart years ago when he was too occupied with his work at the Foreign Office to notice she existed. Adrian remembers Jane as a friend. She remembers him as a wound. The murder victim was Adrian's mentor, which means Adrian needs answers, and he needs Jane to hold the household together while he looks for them. Jane refuses to stay in the parlor. She pushes into the investigation, and Adrian finds that her sharp wit and steady nerve are harder to resist than any diplomatic maneuver he has ever managed. A killer is still in the house. So are feelings neither of them planned on.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, mystery, adult, adult-fiction, historical-romance
Vibes: atmospheric, engaging, romantic, suspenseful, witty
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity, second-chance-romance, slow-burn
Setting: Foreign Office
Period: 19th-century
304 pages · Paperback · Forever
Content warnings: death, murder