On discovering she is the illegitimate daughter of a peer of the realm, Lucy Graydene, bereft and grieving, sets out to confront Lord Pennington with the result of his misdeeds. She finds instead his autocratic heir, Stefan Ankerville, and is dragged willy-nilly into the new earl’s unconventional family. Lucy is driven to battle for her independence while she struggles against the venom of the half-sister she never knew she had. When the secrets of Lucy’s past begin to unravel, she is reluctantly obliged to rely on Stefan’s help. Can Lucy overcome a dangerous attraction to the earl, with whom an alliance is impossible? Or is there a faint hope of happiness in the hidden truth of her origins?
Author
An avid reader from an early age, Elizabeth Bailey grew up in colonial Africa under unconventional parentage and with theatre in the blood. Back in England, she trod the boards until discovering her true métier as a writer in her thirties, when she fulfilled an early addiction to Georgette Heyer by launching into historical romance. Eight years and eight books later, Elizabeth joined the Harlequin Mills & Boon stable, fuelling her writing with a secondary career teaching and directing drama, and writing plays into the bargain. With 18 historicals published, Elizabeth turned to other genres, producing two titles (Fly the Wild Echoes and For One More Tomorrow) in the cross-genre literary/paranormal field as well as a suspense novella (Silence of a Stranger). She has several short stories available too and a guide for writers on editing. Continuing her foray into other genres, but returning to her favourite historical period, Elizabeth turned to mystery. She placed her female sleuth in the late Georgian world of intrigue, elegance, aristocrats and rogues, where privilege rubbed shoulders with the harsh realities of making ends meet. While Ottilia moves in the upper echelon of Society, she is thoroughly at ease in the lower, which allows Elizabeth to cross boundaries with impunity. These novels are now published with Sapere Books and the list continues to grow. Sapere also publish her Brides by Chance Regency Adventures, a series dedicated to the countless women who could not ordinarily hope for romance and marriage: poor relations, dowerless females, those who did not "take", orphans. In a word, the classic Cinderella heroine. Now retired from teaching, Elizabeth concentrates on writing and promotion, with a sideline in running an assessment critique service for writers.
