Invitation by Burke, Darcy (book club reads txt) 📗

I know how to obtain them.” He pinned Lucien with a desperate stare. “Who is going to sponsor a ward of mine?”

Lucien’s lips spread into an easy smile. “Leave that to me. I’ve just the lady in mind. And, as it happens, I have the perfect chaperone and lady’s companion. You just encountered her, in fact.”

Tobias glanced toward the door. “The woman who practically ran away when I arrived?”

“I promise she is more than equal to the task. When have I ever led you astray?”

Tobias thought about that. While Lucien had been, as was his nature, an always helpful participant in Tobias’s debauchery over the past two years, he hadn’t led him anywhere Tobias hadn’t tried to go first.

Taking a long drink, Tobias let the heat of the brandy calm him. It had been a trying month since his father’s death, and the news that he now had a ward wasn’t even the worst of it.

“There’s something else,” Lucien said softly. “Is it about this ward?”

Tobias shook his head. “No, it’s about me. If I don’t wed within three months of my father’s death, I will forfeit my mother’s holdings.” The thought of losing her house in Wiltshire, the very center of every bit of happiness in his youth, stole his breath. His father was far more cruel than Tobias had ever imagined. That, or he had no idea how much the house meant to Tobias. Either way, Tobias felt as though he hadn’t known the man at all.

“I’m so sorry.” Lucien’s brow creased as he regarded him over his raised glass. “I suppose your father has the last word when it comes to his demands that you wed.”

“So it seems,” Tobias muttered. He took another drink before looking resolutely to his friend. “You can wave your magic wand and present me with a chaperone and a sponsor. Any chance you can find me a tolerable wife?”

Don’t miss the first full-length novel in THE PHOENIX CLUB, IMPROPER! Read on for a sneak peek at chapter one!

Find out what happens when a dissolute guardian (that’s Tobias!) must rehabilitate his reputation to launch his very proper young ward in Society only to discover she’s a hellion in disguise…

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Need more Regency romance? Check out my other historical series:

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The Untouchables: The Spitfire Society

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The Untouchables: The Pretenders

Set in the captivating world of The Untouchables, follow the saga of a trio of siblings who excel at being something they’re not. Can a dauntless Bow Street Runner, a devastated viscount, and a disillusioned Society miss unravel their secrets?

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If you like contemporary romance, I hope you’ll check out my Ribbon Ridge series available from Avon Impulse, and the continuation of Ribbon Ridge in So Hot.

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Improper

Chapter One

London, February, 1815

Tobias Powell, fifth Earl of Overton, smiled faintly at the brush of his mistress’s fingertips along his shoulder. He didn’t open his eyes and instead pressed himself into the bedclothes, as if he could hug the cozy softness of the bed. He was particularly tired today, but then it had been a viciously late night.

“What time is your ward arriving?” Barbara, his soon-to-be-former mistress asked from behind him.

Bloody hell, his ward. His eyes shot open as he pushed himself to a sitting position, the bedclothes falling away from his nude body. “What time is it?”

“Three.”

“In the afternoon?” Of course in the afternoon. They hadn’t even come back to Barbara’s lodgings until the sun was rising over London.

Tobias scrambled from the bed and ran about plucking up his carelessly tossed clothing. Foregoing the smallclothes since he couldn’t seem to find them, he pulled his breeches on. He threw his shirt over his head and haphazardly tucked the ends into his waistband.

From the bed, Barbara held up the missing smallclothes, her wide, red lips parting in a teasing smile. “Don’t you need these?”

“You kept those from me on purpose.”

She shrugged, her elegant shoulders arching, which made her rather large breasts also move.

Tobias groaned. “I have to go. My ward could already have arrived.” This was not how he’d intended things to happen. He was supposed to be on his best, non-scandalous behavior, both to support his ward’s debut and to find his own wife. “You are far too tempting, Barbara.” He narrowed his eyes at her as he tugged his waistcoat on.

“Your buttons are not aligned.” She laughed softly as she leaned back against the head of the bed, making no attempt to cover her exposed upper half.

Tobias looked down and saw that she was right. Cursing softly, he started over. “This is your fault. You’re a terrible distraction.”

She stretched one arm up over her head, which again accentuated