Determined to Make Her Escape #MFRWHooks #Regency #HistoricalRomance

This is my first time participating in the Marketing for Romance Writers Book Hooks. For this week’s Book Hooks, I’m sharing an excerpt from my work in progress, An Eye for Love. You can visit other authors participating in the blog hop by clicking on the links below.

Excerpt

Olivia snapped her fan open and began to flutter it. Anne was just as headstrong and there was no point in continuing the conversation when they would keep disagreeing without either one giving in. “I’m going to find Cressida.” She jerked the fan closed. Their youngest sister would provide the perfect cover to make her escape from the ballroom.

She took a step forward but Anne tapped her arm, halting her departure. “You don’t need to search for her. She is coming this way with Papa and Lady Felicity.”

“Indeed.” Her stomach clenched. She’d have to wait until another opportunity presented itself to sneak away.

“Hmm, come to think of it, you could ask Lady Felicity.”

Olivia shook her head. “What would that accomplish? She’s loyal to Comstock and she wouldn’t keep something like this from him.”

Anne wrinkled her nose. “I believe you’re right on that point. They’re even closer now since her near debacle with the detestable Mr. Davidson.”

“At least, she seems to have forgiven you for snitching on her to Comstock.”

“Yes, but our friendship isn’t the same.” Anne let out a weary sigh. “However, I have no regrets. The man was only after her dowry.”

Olivia placed a hand against her roiling stomach. She too had been deceived and lived with the humiliation of her lapse in judgment. She’d been fortunate she hadn’t been discovered and that no child had resulted from her indiscretion. “Men can be deceptively charming when they want something.”

Anne looked at her askance. “What do you know of—”

“Olivia, why are standing here having a tittle tattle with your sister instead of trying to find Lord Vinadine for a dance?” He narrowed his eyes. “You know I expect you to wed this season.”

Relieved at her father’s interruption because it meant avoiding answering Anne’s question, she looked in the direction she’d last seen Philip, Lord Vinadine, and was glad to find him absent. Her father was keen on a match between her and the gentleman for it meant solidifying an alliance with Philip’s father, Lord Trullver. Her father didn’t care for Olivia’s wishes on the matter of marriage or that the young man in question was a known reprobate. “I don’t see him in the ballroom. Perhaps he’s gone to the card room.”

She clenched her hands. Lord Vinadine was the least of her worries. Her priority was to locate her missing brooch [Add importance of the brooch] and as soon as she was able, she would make her escape.

Blurb

A missing heirloom. A search for the thief. An unexpected romance.

Lady Olivia Thorne’s beloved eye miniature has gone missing. She’s sure she knows who took it, but she can’t accuse an earl without proof. Instead, she makes a deal with the devil—or, rather, the earl’s cousin.

Henry Branson is a poor relation to the Earl of Comstock, and makes his living by investigating for members of the ton. When Lady Olivia hires him to find her heirloom, he’s determined to prove his cousin innocent.

But there’s more at stake than either of them realize. When late-night searches and admissions of guilt turn into feelings both are too frightened to reveal, decisions must be made.

Will Olivia and Henry risk everything for love? Or will they let passion pass them by?

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