A romantic princess...
Princess Aria Eleonora Ingrid Petronella of Sweden has been exchanging letters with the most marvelous man in the world. Perhaps her true love is somewhat aged, and perhaps butterflies don’t swarm inside her chest when they meet briefly at a ball, but she is certain no man equals the Duke of Framingham in magnificence. When he proposes marriage in a letter, she eagerly accepts.
A bookish commoner...
Rupert Andrews doesn’t expect to enjoy writing letters on behalf of his elderly cousin. But when the Duke of Framingham informs Rupert that he’s fallen in love with a beautiful woman and needs someone to write letters on his behalf, Rupert reluctantly agrees. After all, the cottage he inherited after his mother’s death is heavily mortgaged, and the duke has kindly let him take longer to repay the debt. On the duke’s wedding day, Rupert overhears the duke tell his mistress that he plans to toss his new bride off his balcony so they can marry. The duke merely desires the princess’s money, and Rupert knows one thing: he has to rescue her.
A romance that should never have occurred...
Princess Aria is astonished when a young, spectacle-wearing man kidnaps her. She’s in love with the duke—after all, he’s sent her such wonderful letters for weeks. Soon though, she’s on the run with Rupert to London. If only Rupert had sent her such lovely letters. . .
“You should not be here.” The princess raised her upturned nose and sniffed. Rupert may as well have been an unpleasant scent wafting from a cow-filled pasture.
“And you should not be murdered.”
She fixed her eyes on him. Unlike her demeanor, which was cold, as if she’d been raised by glaciers and polar bears, her eyes were a warm honey color. Something in Rupert’s heart clenched, but he shook the emotion away.
In her letters, she’d been warm and playful, but now when he was speaking with her, her demeanor was frosty. His very presence repulsed her, and his throat tightened.
He was not going to muse about her undeniable beauty. He was absolutely not going to ponder her golden skin, her large dark eyes or her upturned nose. He was not going to think about her curly dark hair, and he certainly was not going to ponder the glossiness of her strands. He had the definite sense that touching her hair would be wonderful indeed.
But Rupert was not going to think about that. She was a princess, a duchess, and worse—his cousin’s wife. It didn’t matter how curved her waist was, how alluring her long delicate neck was, how intriguing her collarbone and sloped shoulders. He forced himself not to gaze at the ruby pendant that hung from her neck. Thinking about her ruby pendant might draw his attention to her beautiful face, or worse, it might draw his attention to her deliciously curved bosom. That generous slope was most intriguing.
But Rupert wasn’t going to think of her breasts, and he wasn’t going to ponder their shape, and he certainly wasn’t going to muse about what they might feel like in his hands. He wasn’t going to imagine trailing kisses to her waist, and he wasn’t going to imagine stroking her flat belly. He absolutely was not going to imagine any of her lower region, even though her legs were long, and even though they might feel quite good wrapped around him.
No, Rupert wasn’t going to think of those things, no matter how much his heart hammered, and no matter how appealing her jasmine and violet scent was.
He was going to stop her from being murdered.
“Look,” Rupert said hastily, “I know this sounds mad.”
“Mad?” She huffed. “Even asylum dwellers would find it challenging to say something of equal absurdity.”
“I know,” Rupert said. “I know. But it’s—er—true. Absolutely true.”
For a moment the princess hesitated. She had to believe him. She’d spent the day married to his cousin—that might be sufficient reason to believe.
“Why are you saying this?” she asked finally.
“I don’t want to see you get hurt.” He glanced at the window. “Or more accurately, I don’t want to see you get flung from the balcony, and I don’t want to hear my cousin tell others that you slipped in an unfamiliar environment.”
Her face paled. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“He said he would do that this very afternoon.”
 | She needs to wed... And he's going to find her a husband. When Margaret Carberry’s mother drags her upstairs at a ball, Margaret does not expect her mother to tie her to the bed and lock the door. Unfortunately, Margaret’s mother has taken it upon herself to declare Margaret compromised—whether or not Margaret wants to resort to such tactics to snare a husband. Jasper Tierney, the Duke of Jevington, is surprised to encounter a half-clothed woman sprawled upon his bed. He is even more shocked to discover her identity. Margaret Carberry is renowned as an incorrigible wallflower, not a seductress, no matter how appealing her bare flesh is against his bedding. When Margaret declares she won’t go along with her mother’s scheme and will find a husband on her own, Jasper vows to assist her, lest Margaret’s mother concoct another method to arrange a compromising situation. Jasper is certain of one thing: he has no desire to marry. As Jasper works to match Margaret to a fellow duke, the prospect of a forced marriage with her lacks its earlier loathsomeness. Perhaps he missed his chance for true bliss. |
 | Lady Juliet is happy. Very happy. After all, she's engaged, even if she rarely sees her betrothed. So what if her betrothed keeps postponing their wedding? Or that there are wicked rumors about him? Still, when the Duke of Sherwood doesn't appear at a ball as intended, there's only one thing she can do: discover the truth herself. Lucas, the Duke of Ainsworth, is exceedingly dull. At least, that's what he desires everyone to believe. He makes certain to enter into conversations with the ton about obscure plants and to quote Latin tomes while fiddling with his spectacles. By night, Lucas is involved in a different task: bringing down criminals. No criminal is as elusive as the person spreading counterfeit coin through the Lake District, and Lucas is determined to discover the source. When he sees someone sneak onto the man's estate in the Lake District, he expects to discover one of the man's accomplices. Instead, he is shocked to discover Lady Juliet. Lucas vows to help her, no matter how distracting her alluring presence is. |
 | This duke loses his memory and gains a bride. Sebastian, the Duke of Sandridge, has been looking forward to holidaying at his cottage in Cornwall. He is disgruntled when he discovers the cottage has been rented, and he is furious when he discovers the cottage has been rented to a woman he despises. After Genevieve's father encountered financial difficulties, her mother took Genevieve and her younger brother to Cornwall, far from their home in the Lake District. Genevieve is determined to keep her family's new home, even after a grumpy duke demands to take the cottage away from Genevieve and her mother. Still, when Genevieve witnesses the duke have a swimming mishap, she rescues him. When the duke wakes up, he has lost his memory. Her mother quickly announces that Genevieve is married to this man. Will the duke ever know that the woman he considers his wife is not only not his wife, but a woman he has always abhorred? |
 | She accidentally proposed to a duke... then he accepted. Marriage was only supposed to be a business arrangement; Portia wasn’t supposed to fall in love. But then, Colin North, the Duke of Brightling, wasn’t supposed to board the ship to Guernsey either. Unfortunately, Portia isn’t informed about a clause of her late father’s will that stipulates that if she doesn’t marry by the end of the year, she will lose her inheritance, until it is almost too late. She must find a husband herself: one who is not picky and requires money. Fortunately, she finds just the person. Colin North, the Duke of Brightling, does not require a bride. But when he mistakenly takes the cabin of Portia’s new betrothed on a ship bound for Guernsey, and she insists he marry her, he decides he may as well accept her offer. There’s something appealing about her, and he can’t abide the thought of ruining her life. After a decade of being chased by matchmaking mamas and simpering debutantes, it’s a relief to find someone who doesn’t know he’s wealthy and titled. Then the chaos begins. |
 | She’s determined to find him a match… whether he’s ready or not. Miss Daisy Holloway is in need of a position and fortunately she knows the best one: matchmaker. After all, she has no intention of staying in her family’s home forever. Daisy might not yet be England’s premiere matchmaker, but she is certain she will be once she convinces the Duke of Hammett, Bath’s newest temporary resident, to let her find him a bride. What better way to start her career than to find the perfect bride for a duke? And what more difficult duke to match than the dour, perpetually grumpy Duke of Hammett? The only thing worse than being injured in a boxing match for Reginald Smythe, Duke of Hammett, is being forced to go to Bath to heal. There’s a reason that the broadsheets have called him the Beast, and it’s not because of spending time in a spa town to recuperate. Reggie certainly has no need of a wife, despite what a particular aspiring, definitely pushy matchmaker desires. At least, he thought he didn’t desire a wife. |
Born in Texas, Bianca Blythe spent four years in England. She worked in a fifteenth-century castle, though sadly that didn’t actually involve spotting dukes and earls strutting about in Hessians.
She credits British weather for forcing her into a library, where she discovered her first Julia Quinn novel. She remains deeply grateful for blustery downpours.
After meeting her husband in another library, she moved with him to sunny California, though on occasion she still dreams of the English seaside, scones with clotted cream, and sheep-filled pastures. For now, she visits them in her books.
Lord Splendid (formerly titled The Perfect Fiancé) is a short prequel novella to Bianca Blythe's Matchmaking for Wallflowers series. Sign up to receive your free e-book and get news from Bianca.
Rosamund Amberly is overjoyed.
And soon, she's certain, she'll start feeling the emotion.
Rosamund prides herself on her matchmaking skills. After meeting Marcus Worthing, Earl of Somerville and her older sister's childhood best friend, she knows she's found the perfect fiancé . . . for her reclusive sister.
Unfortunately, she's spending far too much time thinking about the man.
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