Playing the villain isn't always easy. Afraid of an uncertain future, she tries to be cold and calculating...
Between a mother who shuts herself away and a father who is cruel rather than kind, she is desperate for escape. With neither a fortune nor a good family name to recommend her; Victoria Glousen must rely on herself to make her way in the world. She knows her best chance is to make a comfortable marriage, so she puts up with self-absorbed suitors and the gossip of the ballroom.
But then Victoria finds a friend in the new family doctor: Jasper Brooke. She can't help but be charmed by his calm yet assertive personality. Too bad he would make a most unsuitable match.
...But it's getting harder to deny her attraction for those dark eyes. As their friendship blossoms into something more, she is tempted to forsake fortune for love. The only question is: will she do it? Will the villainess become the heroine?
---
"Doctor Brooke, could I trouble you to help me turn the pages of the sheet music as I play?" she asked.
He was about to say no; she could tell from the thin line of his mouth. She pressed. "Please, do me the honour."
"I cannot turn down such a request," he said at last. She sat down at the piano, and he stood beside her turning each page as she played to the bottom. Victoria was shielded from view by the bulk of his frame.
"I am sorry for last night," she said. "If I hurt your feelings."
[...]
"There's nothing to forgive or forget. I overstepped our friendship," he said. "You may blame the strong punch, if you'd like."
The notes of the song took on a different tone.
"Seems like you don't need me to turn the pages any longer," he said, noticing that she had played on well past the current page.
A flush spread over her, the heat travelling past her collarbone, up the side of her neck. "Well, sometimes I like to find excuses to talk to you in private, don't I?" She gave him a half-smile.
---
Book 2 of the Bluehaven Series, which can be read as a standalone.
Slow burn Romance. Friends to Lovers. Redemption. A Sweet Regency Romance.
Written in Canadian English.
