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Jane shook out her wet skirts. The thin muslin clung to her body, which was as slender and delicate as ever, and just as alluring to him. But what caught his avid attention was the look on her face. She appeared so alive, so happy and free as she laughed. Her eyes sparkled.
He remembered how it had felt that first time he took her hand, as if her warmth and innocence could be his. As if the life he had always led, the only life he knew, wasn’t the only way he had to be. That he could find another path—with her.
Maybe it was this place, this strange, ramshackle, warm-hearted place, that had given his wife that air of laughing, welcoming life. Because here she bloomed. With him she had faded, and he had faded with her. Yet here she was his Jane again.
His hope. And he had never, ever wanted to hope again.
BANCROFTS OF BARTON PARK
Two sisters, two scandals, two sizzling love affairs
Country girls at heart, Jane and Emma Bancroft are a far cry from the perfectly coiffed, glossy debutantes that grace most of Society.
But soon they come to realise that, country girl and debutante alike, no lady is immune to the charms of a dashing rogue!
Don’t miss this enthralling new duet from Amanda McCabe
starting with Jane’s story
THE RUNAWAY COUNTESS
Look for Emma’s story
coming in December 2013
RUNNING FROM SCANDAL
About the Author
AMANDA MCCABE wrote her first romance at the age of sixteen—a vast epic, starring all her friends as the characters, written secretly during algebra class. She’s never since used algebra, but her books have been nominated for many awards, including the RITA®, RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Booksellers Best, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the Holt Medallion. She lives in Oklahoma, with a menagerie of two cats, a pug and a bossy miniature poodle, and loves dance classes, collecting cheesy travel souvenirs, and watching the Food Network—even though she doesn’t cook.
Visit her at http://ammandamccabe.tripod.com and www.riskyregencies.blogspot.com
Previous novels by the same author:
TO CATCH A ROGUE*
TO DECEIVE A DUKE*
TO KISS A COUNT*
CHARLOTTE AND THE WICKED LORD
(in Regency Summer Scandals)
A NOTORIOUS WOMAN†
A SINFUL ALLIANCE†
HIGH SEAS STOWAWAY†
THE WINTER QUEEN
(in Christmas Betrothals)
THE SHY DUCHESS
SNOWBOUND AND SEDUCED
(in Regency Christmas Proposals)
THE TAMING OF THE ROGUE
A STRANGER AT CASTONBURY**
TARNISHED ROSE OF THE COURT
And in Mills & Boon ® Historical Undone! eBooks:
SHIPWRECKED AND SEDUCED†
TO BED A LIBERTINE
THE MAID’S LOVER
TO COURT, CAPTURE AND CONQUER
GIRL IN THE BEADED MASK
UNLACING THE LADY IN WAITING
ONE WICKED CHRISTMAS
AN IMPROPER DUCHESS
*The Chase Muses trilogy
†linked by character
**Castonbury Park Regency mini-series
Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk
AUTHOR NOTE
I was so excited to find out this year is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice! It was discovering the world of Jane Austen that introduced me to the wonders of the Regency period. I found a battered paperback copy of Emma tucked away on a shelf in my grandmother’s house when I was about ten and, after reading it, immediately ran to the library to see what else this mysterious Jane Austen had written. The librarian gave me all the other novels, as well as two Austen biographies and a book called Life in Regency England. I was hooked.
I’ve always loved the settings and themes of Austen’s timeless stories—family, community, characters struggling to find ways to stay true to themselves and still meet the expectations of the society around them. And heroines determined to marry for love and find happiness in the face of overwhelming pressure to find stability at all costs. It’s been so much fun to explore the same ideas with the Bancroft sisters, Jane and Emma, and their handsome heroes! That’s the best part of writing historical romance—exploring a world so different from my own, but also so very similar in our emotions and dreams (just with better clothes!).
And I have Jane Austen—and the wonderful librarian who recognised a new Austen mania and helped me make it grow—to thank for all those hours of delight and joy. Happy anniversary, Lizzie and Darcy!
The Runaway Countess
Amanda
