Jo Beverley - [Malloren]
Read Jo Beverley - [Malloren] Online
Authors: Secrets of the Night
Praise for the novels of
New York Times
bestselling author
Jo Beverley
The Malloren Series
“Beverley beautifully captures the flavor of Georgian England…. Her fast-paced, violent, and exquisitely sensual story is one that readers won’t soon forget.”
—
Library Journal
“Delightfully spicy … skillfully plotted and fast-paced … captivating.”
—
Booklist
“Delicious…. [a] sensual delight.”
—
New York Times
bestselling author Teresa Medeiros
“A fast-paced adventure with strong, vividly portrayed characters…. Wickedly, wonderfully sensual and gloriously romantic.”
—
New York Times
bestselling author Mary Balogh
“Romance at its best.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“A fantasic novel. Jo Beverley shows again why she is considered one of the genre’s brightest stars.”
—
Affaire de Coeur
Don’t miss these Malloren romances!
Winter Fire
Devilish
Something Wicked
My Lady Notorious
Dark Champion
“Jo Beverley swept me back to medieval times. I was compelled to keep turning the pages. Her
Dark Champion
provides the most unholy deflowering I’ve enjoyed in years!”
—Virginia Henley
“A glorious reading experience with everything a lover of romance could possibly ask for … compulsive and marvelously satisfying.”
—Mary Balogh
“Passionate…. One of the finest writers of medieval romance.”
—Mary Jo Putney
Lord of My Heart
“A delightful book with warm, lively characters—an exciting pleasure to read.”
—Roberta Gellis
“A tapestry of historical detail, filled with so much depth and beauty that it not only stirs the heart but stimulates the intellect as well.”
—
The Anastasia Gazette
My Lady Notorious
“Lively characters … delicious.”
—
Ottawa Citizen
“Storytelling at its best!”
—
Rendezvous
Hazard
“Engaging…. Fans will appreciate the spicy chemistry between [Anne] and Race.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“Fans of Beverley’s Company of Rogues series will truly enjoy this delightful adventure.”
—
Booklist
The Devil’s Heiress
“[A] deftly woven tale of romantic intrigue…. Head and shoulders above the usual Regency fare, this novel’s sensitive prose, charismatic characters, and expert plotting will keep readers enthralled from first page to last.”
—
Publishers Weekly
The Dragon’s Bride
“A must read.”
—
Affaire de Coeur
“This is Ms. Beverley at her best.”
—
Midwest Book Review
Devilish
“Jo [Beverley] has truly brought to life a fascinating, glittering, and sometimes dangerous world.”
—
New York Times
bestselling author Mary Jo Putney
ALSO BY JO BEVERLEY
St. Raven
Dark Champion
Lord of My Heart
My Lady Notorious
Hazard
The Devil’s Heiress
The Dragon’s Bride
“The Demon’s Mistress” in
In
Praise of Younger Men
Devilish
Secrets of the Night
Forbidden Magic
Lord of Midnight
Something Wicked
Secrets of the
Night
Jo Beverley
A SIGNET BOOK
SIGNET
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Published by Signet, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Previously published in a Topaz edition.
First Signet Printing, March 2004
10 9 8 7 6
Copyright © Jo Beverley, 1999
All rights reserved
ISBN: 978-1-101-56489-9
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA
Printed in the United States of America
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would not have taken full form without my husband’s willingness to drive me round and round the Yorkshire dales; without my critique group making me keep focus; and without the generous advice of fellow writer Sue Stewart, who knows so much about the intimate life of horses.
And, of course, without my editor, Audrey LaFehr, who can always see ways to make a novel stronger.
Thanks to all the above, and to old friends Glyn and Jeff Dobson, whose hospitality helped me get back under the skin of the north of England after so many years away.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
North Yorkshire, August 1762
I
t was a simple matter to sin, wasn’t it? Didn’t they call it the “primrose path of dalliance”?
In the swaying, rumbling coach, Rosamunde Overton sat at equal distance from all panes of glass, fleeing back home, cowardly virtue still intact.
She’d been afraid of coach windows since the accident that had scarred her face, but she hadn’t realized how afraid of everything she had become. A person confined to bed loses the strength in their legs. She, huddled away for eight years in the quiet of Wensleydale, had lost all strength when it came to meeting strangers.
Especially when it came to sinning with them!
Sagging in her seat, she gazed at a landscape that seemed to reflect her mood. Scrubby sheep runs on rising ground were hung over by dismal clouds, remnants of the storm that had slowed her journey. Daylight was only a crimson memory, moonlight a pale promise, so she moved ponderously in the corpse-gray time between.
Sin had seemed straightforward enough when she and Diana had planned it. Her husband, her home, and all the people at Wenscote needed a child, but her husband couldn’t give her one. So, she would wear a mask and surrender to the anonymous wildness of a Harrogate masquerade. As Diana had promised, there had been men interested in sinning with her. Interested—though none realized it—in helping her get with child without the man involved knowing who she was.
She closed her eyes. It should have been so
easy
!
Yet instead of encouraging any of them, she’d flitted from partner to partner, nervously seeking a seducer more to her liking. What on earth had she expected?
A handsome prince?