Acquaintances become something more when they each discover the other's true self. Can they find a way to navigate the perils of polite society and their feelings for each other?
A lady by birth, Margaret Maitland was the toast of the
ton
until she gave birth to an illegitimate child and raised him without the help of his father. Twenty years later she is received in a few drawing rooms as a favor to her cousin the duke, but misses the friendships and camaraderie she'd enjoyed in her youth.
A gentleman by circumstance, Stephen Eddington is the son of a tradesman who scrimped and saved to give his children every advantage. Twenty years after making influential friends at Cambridge, doors are open to Stephen that his father never imagined, but there are few people in the world that truly understand him...or want to.
When Stephen's nephew invites Margaret's son to visit for the summer holiday, the two families join together to give the boys a care-free month before they return to their studies. And while the younger crowd makes merry, Margaret and Stephen's companionable affection for each other begins to deepen... until their budding relationship becomes the talk of the town. How can they be together without damaging Stephen's tenuous place in society?
This short (1-2 hour read) novel is a sweet, kisses-only/closed door Regency romance with a happily ever after, no cliffhangers, and is part of a series that can be read in any order.