The Rake's Dark Secret: A Regency Romance of Rakes and Redemption

A rake who knows everyone's secrets. A composer hiding one of her own. And two weeks at a house party to discover exactly how dangerous the truth can be. Lord Nicholas Harcourt has spent thirty-one years noticing what other people would rather he didn't. A glance held too long. A story that doesn't quite add up. A secret mentioned years ago and foolishly assumed forgotten. Knowing things has made him very good at cards, exceptionally dangerous in society, and careful never to give anyone the same advantage over him. Sophia Bellamy has spent six years building a life of her own as a London music teacher. But teaching other people's daughters was never the dream. Sophia is a composer-and when an invitation to a Derbyshire house party puts her music within reach of the one man who might help her be heard, she intends to make the most of it. >The reputation that opened the door for Sophia was built on a lie. Nicholas notices far too much. Sophia is far too interested in the things he refuses to tell her. And somewhere between a country fair, a masked ball, late-night arguments and a pianoforte in a cold drawing room, curiosity becomes attraction-and attraction becomes something considerably more dangerous. Because Sophia has built her future on a secret that could destroy it. And Nicholas has spent three years protecting a secret that could destroy him. Neither of them intends to confess. Neither of them intends to fall in love. And when the truth finally comes out, they may discover that seeing each other clearly is the easy part. The Rake's Dark Secret is a witty, passionate Regency romance about ambition, trust, inconvenient honesty, and two people who really should have minded their own business.Heat Level 2: Slow burn, fade-to-black. All the tension. None of the explicit.