Excerpt & Giveaway: The Daring Exploits of a Runaway Heiress by Victoria Alexander
The
Daring Exploits of a Runaway Heiress
Millworth Manor # 5
Millworth Manor # 5
By:
Victoria Alexander
Releasing
April 28th, 2015
Zebra
Blurb
To Do:
To Do:
Swim
naked in the moonlight
Play
in a high stakes card game
Ride
an elephant
Be
painted sans clothing.
Take
a lover…
Lucy
Merryweather has inherited a fortune—and her great-aunt’s list of
unfulfilled wishes. What better way to honor her memory than by
accomplishing as many of them as possible? And with Lucy’s family
an ocean away in New York, nothing stands in her way—if one ignores
the private investigator hired to spy on her.
Yet
Cameron Effington is infuriatingly difficult to ignore…
As a
reporter, Cameron is always looking for a good story. An American
heiress running rampant between Millworth Manor and Mayfair is the
perfect subject. Not to mention captivating. And extremely kissable.
And if Lucy believes he’s a detective? Well, the truth should never
get in the way of a good story—or hinder delicious, impetuous
passion…
Excerpt
January
4, 1888
Millworth
Manor
“You
want to do what?” Jackson Channing stared at Lucinda Merryweather
as if she had suddenly grown two heads. Which would have been most
curious even here at Millworth Manor. Although from what Lucy had
gathered during her stay thus far, it might not have been the oddest
thing ever to have occurred at Jackson’s father’s ancestral
estate.
“No,
Jackson,” Lucy said firmly, resisting the urge to heave a
long-suffering sigh. She had known he would not take this well.
Apparently, it was one thing for Jackson to head toward the unknown
and a life of grand adventures and quite another for Lucy to do so.
Regardless, he no longer had any say in what she did or did not do.
She settled into one of the chairs in front of the desk and cast him
her most pleasant smile. “I don’t merely want
to
do this. I fully intend
to do this.”
“You
intend to somehow set right the regrets of a woman you never met.”
Disbelief rang in his voice.
“That’s
not entirely true. I did meet my Great-aunt Lucinda, but I was very
young and simply don’t remember. She died when I was five.”
“Nonetheless—”
“There
is no nonetheless, Jackson.” Goodness, the man made her want to
stamp her foot in frustration. Fortunately she had given up such
childish behavior years ago. Still, it would have been most
satisfying. “I was named for my great-aunt and she left me her
fortune, which I received on my twenty-first birthday.”
“Yes,
I know that but—”
“There
were no stipulations on the inheritance, if you recall. However, I
also received a letter from Lucinda as well as a thin journal. A book
of regrets, if you will.”
“Just
because she had regrets does not mean that you are under any
obligation—”
“I
know exactly what it does and doesn’t mean, Jackson. And I do wish
you would stop being so . . . so disapproving.” She glanced around
the Millworth library and the numerous family portraits interspersed
between endless shelves of books. Each and every portrait glowered
with disapproval. “Although this does seem to be the place for it.”
“Lucy,
I—”
“And
do sit down.” She rolled her gaze at the ceiling. “I hate the way
you’re standing behind that desk glaring at me.”
“I
like standing. It gives me the advantage.”
“Not
really.” She smiled sweetly.
He
huffed, took his seat, and leaned forward over the desk. “I have
known you for all of your life and I have always felt, well,
responsible for you.” He paused. “Just because our circumstances
have changed does not negate that responsibility.”
“Actually,
Jackson,” she said in as kind a voice as she could manage. “It
does.”
For
years Lucy and Jackson, as well as their respective families, had
assumed they would one day marry. But whenever the time had come to
officially announce their engagement, there had always been some
perfectly legitimate reason to put it off. It had slowly dawned on
Lucy that perhaps they were not meant to be together. And perhaps
deep down inside, both of them knew it. The realization had brought
with it a great deal of relief. She truly loved Jackson and suspected
she always would, but the affection she felt for him was not unlike
that she had for her brothers. And it did seem to her if one was
going to marry a man, the feelings one had for him shouldn’t be
anything remotely brotherly.
Both
their lives had changed when Jackson discovered the father he had
long thought was dead was not merely alive but had no knowledge of
his son’s existence. And discovered as well he was heir to an
English title. When Jackson came to England with his newfound father
to meet his family, it did seem that fate had handed Lucy the chance
she had assumed lost forever. She had freed him from any obligation
to her and set her own plan for her life in motion, at least
tentatively. It was the specifics that were vague. But again fate
stepped in and Lucy had jumped at the chance to accompany Jackson’s
mother, Elizabeth, to England. Now that she was here, she had no
intention of returning home to New York anytime soon. No intention of
becoming once again the placid, well-behaved daughter of a director
of Graham, Merryweather, and Lockwood Banking and Trust.
“You
will always be my dearest friend,” Jackson said staunchly.
“As
you will be mine.”
Poor,
dear Jackson had fallen head over heels for a friend of his family’s.
Unfortunately, she was as independent as she was lovely, and a few
days ago both their hearts had been broken. Lucy had tried to talk to
Jackson, to encourage him to go after the lady, but it was to no
avail. He was as stubborn as the woman he loved. Still, Lucy firmly
believed in the notion of true love and soul mates and destiny. And
wasn’t the mere fact that she and Jackson were not together proof
of that? Lucy was confident Jackson and Lady Theodosia would
eventually find their way back to each other.
However,
as there seemed to be nothing Lucy could do about Jackson’s life at
the moment, it was time to turn her attention to her own.
“I
am well aware that I am under no obligation to Great-aunt Lucinda, at
least not legally, but I feel a, well, a moral obligation if you
will. I was quite moved by the letter she left for me and by her
regrets, but there was nothing I could do about it when you and I had
our lives planned out for us. Now, everything has changed.” She
shook her head. “I do not want to reach the end of my life and have
a list of those things I wanted to do but failed to so much as try.
The very idea terrifies me. I don’t want regrets of my own.” She
met his gaze directly. “And if I don’t do this for her—for me—
I know I will.”
“Perhaps
. . .” He settled back in his chair and chose his words carefully.
A deceptively casual note sounded in his voice. “You should do
those things you’ve always wanted rather than those someone else
wished to do.”
“Excellent,
Jackson.” She fixed him with a firm look. “And just what do you
suggest those might be?”
He
shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Unfortunately,
neither do I.” She crossed her arms over her chest and drew her
brows together. “Every bit of my life has been planned and expected
up until now. I’ve never veered from the course set out for me.
Why, I never even questioned whether you and I should marry. At least
not aloud.”
“Nor
did I,” Jackson said under his breath.
“But
as I am no longer expected to marry you, I’m not sure what I want
to do.”
“Surely
you wish to marry someone someday?”
“Oh,
probably someday, but at the moment . . .” She shook her head. “I
feel very much like a bird who has at long last been released from
its cage.”
“Thank
you,” he said wryly.
“Come
now, you know what I mean.” She waved off his comment. “Now that
I am free, I have no idea what I want to do with my freedom. Until I
determine that, it seems the best course is to do those things my
great-aunt never had the opportunity to do.”
“I’m
not sure that is indeed the best course. Still . . .” He studied
her for a moment. “You haven’t told me what these regrets of your
aunt’s are. I’m assuming the worst, you know. That they are all
improper or scandalous or dangerous.” “Not all of them.” She
had no intention of telling him everything on Lucinda’s long list,
but she could tell him one or two items. “Some of them are a little
silly and some are really rather sweet. For one thing, she always
wanted to have a dog but was never able to have one as dogs made
Great-uncle Charles sneeze. There are quite a few that are as
innocent as that.”
His
eyes narrowed. “But not all of them?”
“Well,
some are a bit more daring.” She cast him an innocent smile. “But
not substantially so.”
“I
don’t believe you for a moment.” He shook his head. “I don’t
think this is the least bit advisable, Lucy.”
“Why
not? You’re going off to do exactly what you want. Aside from the
notion of following in your father’s adventurous footsteps, your
plans are even less definitive than mine. Why shouldn’t I do what I
want?”
Author
Info
New
York Times bestselling author Victoria Alexander was an award-winning
television reporter until she discovered fiction was much more fun
than real life. She turned to writing full time and has never looked
back. Victoria grew up traveling the country as an Air Force brat and
is now settled in a very old house in Omaha, Nebraska, with her
husband, two allegedly grown children and two bearded collies. She
firmly believes housework is a four-letter word, there are no
calories in anything eaten standing up, procrastination is an art
form, and it's never too soon to panic.
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This sounds fun. I haven't read her for a while!
ReplyDeleteMe either. I need to get back to her.
DeleteThank you for hosting THE DARING EXPLOITS!
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