Part of Mackenzies & McBrides
First published 2014
Rose Barclay married the Duke of Southdown knowing the age gap would raise eyebrows. She did not expect him to die on their honeymoon. Now his son is contesting the marriage in court, and the London papers treat her life as daily entertainment. When soldier Steven McBride stumbles into her orbit at the worst possible moment, a series of small misfortunes lands both their names in the gossip columns together. Neither of them can afford more rumors. So they agree on a fix: announce a fake engagement, let the scandal cool, then walk away clean. It is a sensible arrangement. It does not stay sensible. Rose and Steven spend more time together than the plan ever required, and the performance they put on for London society starts to feel uncomfortably real. Rose needs her reputation to hold if she wants to win her legal fight and keep what the duke left her. Steven, a decorated soldier with a history of gambling and women, has no interest in settling down. What neither of them accounts for is how hard it becomes to pretend something that no longer feels like pretending.
Genres: romance, adult, adult-fiction, historical-romance, contemporary-romance
Vibes: emotional, intimate, romantic, tension-filled, witty
Tropes: fake-dating, forced-proximity, slow-burn-romance
Setting: London
Period: 19th-century
144 pages · ebook · InterMix
Content warnings: death