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Zusatztext Praise for the novels of Mary Balogh “One of the best!”—Julia Quinn "Balogh is today’s superstar heir to the marvelous legacy of Georgette Heyer, (except a lot steamier!)”—Susan Elizabeth Phillips "With her brilliant, beautiful and emotionally intense writing Mary Balogh sets the gold standard in historical romance."—Jayne Ann Krentz "When it comes to historical romance, Mary Balogh is one of my favorites!"—Eloisa James “A superb author whose narrative voice comments on the characters and events of her novel in an ironic tone reminiscent of Jane Austen.”— Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “Mary Balogh just keeps getting better and better…interesting characters and great stories to tell...well worth your time.”— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “I loved this book. I read it in one sitting and it made me smile a lot and cry a little.”—Smart Bitches, Trashy Books Informationen zum Autor Mary Balogh Klappentext New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh presents the first historical romance in the Westcott series, where the death of an earl reveals a most scandalous secret. Humphrey Westcott, Earl of Riverdale, has died, leaving behind a fortune that will forever alter the lives of everyone in his family-including the daughter no one knew he had... Anna Snow grew up in an orphanage in Bath knowing nothing of the family she came from. Now she discovers that the late Earl of Riverdale was her father and that she has inherited his fortune. She is also overjoyed to learn she has siblings. However, they want nothing to do with her or her attempts to share her new wealth. But the new earl's guardian is interested in Anna… Avery Archer, Duke of Netherby, keeps others at a distance. Yet something prompts him to aid Anna in her transition from orphan to lady. As London society and her newfound relatives threaten to overwhelm Anna, Avery steps in to rescue her and finds himself vulnerable to feelings and desires he has hidden so well and for so long. Leseprobe ***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected copy proof*** Copyright © 2016 Mary Balogh 1 Despite the fact that the late Earl of Riverdale had died without having made a will, Josiah Brumford, his solicitor, had found enough business to discuss with his son and successor to be granted a face-to-face meeting at Westcott House, the earl’s London residence on South Audley Street. Having arrived promptly and bowed his way through effusive and obsequious greetings, Brumford proceeded to find a great deal of nothing in particular to impart at tedious length and with pompous verbosity. Which would have been all very well, Avery Archer, Duke of Netherby, thought a trifle peevishly as he stood before the library window and took snuff in an effort to ward off the urge to yawn, if he had not been compelled to be here too to endure the tedium. If Harry had only been a year older—he had turned twenty just before his father’s death—then Avery need not be here at all and Brumford could prose on forever and a day as far as he was concerned. By some bizarre and thoroughly irritating twist of fate, however, His Grace had found himself joint guardian of the new earl with the countess, the boy’s mother. It was all remarkably ridiculous in light of Avery’s notoriety for indolence and the studied avoidance of anything that might be dubbed work or the performance of duty. He had a secretary and numerous other servants to deal with all the tedious business of life for him. And there was also the fact that he was a mere eleven years older than his ward. When one heard the word guardian, one conjured a mental image of a gravely dignified graybeard. However, it seemed he had inherited the guardianship to which his father had apparently agreed—in writing—at some time in the dim distant past when the late Riverdale had m...
