Hello, lovely readers!

Happy book birthday to First Comes Courtship! Book 4 in the Gentleman's Guide to Courtship series is a little break from the Merriweather sisters to see how their friend, Miss Cora Eastwood, now Viscountess Norton, finds her happily ever after with her rather impulsive husband. Last week I shared a look at the prologue, and this week, I wanted to share a look at chapter 1, which gives us insight into Liam's thick skull. 🤣

***

He’d made a mistake. Nothing new about that. What was new? The number of mistakes he’d made in such a short period of time. He’d stopped counting, in fact. Had to at some point, and apparently that point, for Liam Fletcher, Viscount Norton, was walking over the threshold of London’s most exclusive brothel.

He paused in the gold and marble foyer, the brawny and bald butler who’d let him in, raking his gaze down his frame. And finding him wanting.

“Have you visited our establishment before, Lord…?”

“No.” He should not be here now. He had a wife. A wife he rather… liked. A wife he wished to please. And wasn’t that why he’d come here to begin with? Why he’d galloped away from his wife’s house party in a rage of determination and… humiliation.

He ducked his head, hiding the heat spreading across his cheeks. More humiliation.

“I… I think I’m in the wrong place. Apologies.” He nodded and stepped backward through the doorway.

A hand fluttered on the nape of his neck, and a whisper purred at his ear. “And who are you, good sir?” A woman curved around his side and slunk between him and the doorframe, stepping inside to face him. Red hair and painted lips. Kohl lining her large brown eyes. No way to tell how old or young she was. She grinned, flashing white teeth with a slight gap between the top front two.

Liam took another step backward and away from her. “I was just leaving.”

“But you’ve only just arrived. Do come in.” She stepped to the side, allowing him entrance. When he didn’t move, she grasped his wrist, tugged him in. “You look positively ill, good sir. Let me offer you refreshment.”

He felt rather ill, and he soon found himself in an elegant sitting room on the ground floor of the house.

The brothel.

Hell. His father must be spinning in his grave. If he were an apparition somewhere, he’d surely make haunting Liam his priority after this.

“I must leave,” he said, refusing to take the seat she gestured to. “I should not have come.”

She untied her bonnet and tilted her head to the side. “Then why did you? Come?” The way she said that last word, wrapping her lips around it, stretching it out. Left no doubt—she enjoyed saying it.

“I’m a virgin.” Damnation. He’d not meant to say that. Not even true. He and Cora had consummated the marriage. He strode for the door.

“My good, still-nameless sir.” The woman chuckled. “If that is true, then you are in the perfect place to rid yourself of such an affliction. Let me assign a lady to you. Do you have any preferences?”

He whipped around, panic lacing through him. “Yes. No! I mean no preferences I can satisfy here. Hell.” He ground his teeth together to stop the inane flood of words. “I am not a virgin. And I have a wife, and…” Well, why not have out with it? “I came here for information, education. Not of the experiential sort, either. No touching. I simply wished to… speak to… an… expert. On matters of… pleasure.” Oh hell, why wouldn’t the ground open up and swallow him? Why couldn’t God strike him down on the spot? He deserved to be smote this very moment.

He had no idea how to pleasure a wife who possessed more knowledge of the amorous arts than he did. Men were supposed to know, supposed to have the sort of experience denied women. And he had none. Not that he hadn’t tried.

More humiliation, that.

Divine retribution would not save him.

Why had he thought a brothel would?

***

So... Liam has made better decisions in his life, and he's aware of it. 🤣 And the brothel comes back into play later in the book.

You can grab First Comes Courtship exclusively at the Wolf Store right now!

And I have a takeover in the Wolf Readers and Authors group on Facebook tonight! Come join me tonight between 7 and 9 pm eastern for games and giveaways!

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It's time for the monthly free book! This month I've got Melanie Rose Clark's At the Duke's Command for ya!

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Finally, you can get a ton of Regency goodness with this Jane Austen anthology featuring an amazing story from Cecilia Rene and many others! This is a charity anthology, so part of the proceeds go to fund breast cancer research! It will also be in in Kindle Unlimited.

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Do you like to read complete collections and box sets? I love it. So binge-able! And usually such a good deal if you compare it to buying the entire series book by book. Check out this promo for your choice of boxsets available both in KU and at retailers other than Amazon.

Don't you just love enemies to lovers? I do. The sparks. The banter. Gah! Here's a collection of books (both in KU and available at a variety of online retailers) feature this beloved trope!

Happy reading!

Charlie

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Read the entire series now!