Read an exclusive excerpt from Luck is No Lady by Amy Sandas
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About the Book
“You should not have kissed me,” she replied breathlessly.
“I do a lot of things I shouldn’t. It does not mean I won’t do them again.”
Gently bred Emma Chadwick always assumed she’d live and die the daughter of a gentleman. But when her father’s death reveals a world of staggering debt and dangerous moneylenders, she must risk her good name and put her talent for mathematics to use, taking a position as bookkeeper at London’s most notorious gambling hell. Surrounded by vice and corruption on all sides, it is imperative no one discovers Emma’s shameful secret or her reputation—and her life—will be ruined.
But Roderick Bentley, the hell’s sinfully wealthy owner, awakens a hunger Emma cannot deny. Drawn deep into an underworld of high stakes gambling and reckless overindulgence, she soon discovers that in order to win the love of a ruthless scoundrel, she will have to play the game...and give in to the pleasure of falling from grace.
Luck is No Lady Excerpt
In this scene, our hero, Roderick Bentley, is trying to understand why a young lady of the
What he cannot figure out is why a lady of such exalted social standing would risk ruination by stepping foot in a notorious gambling hell.
What the hell was she doing here?
A daughter of the beau monde did not seek employment at a gambling hell.
He studied her in her common garb. He may never have guessed she had been gowned in fine silk and lace of a high society debutante only a week prior. Her dress today was simple and clean, but worn at the hem. Her spencer was quite dull and her bonnet was of a style he hadn’t seen around in years. Nothing about her appearance now would suggest she belonged in the ballrooms of London’s highest society.
She was intentionally practicing a deception. That much was clear. What Roderick needed to know was whether or not her deception involved any threat to his club.
His experience with women of her social standing was limited and unfavorable. Yet she did not behave as those ladies had. Not so far today, and not when they had met in Hawksworth’s darkened study. That night her witty retorts and thinly veiled sarcasm had helped him forget he stood in the enemy’s lair. Her manner had been far more self-assured than he would have expected from a young debutante.
That same self-assurance had lifted her chin defiantly when he suggested the position as club’s bookkeeper might not be suited to a modest lady. He sensed her indignation even before she challenged his implication. She had a sharp tongue tucked behind her even
None of it explained why she was here.
Relaxing his gaze, he made
As he sought to identify what his intuition might be telling him about the young lady before him, he experienced a strange tightness in his chest. It was not a sensation he had felt before and it took him a moment to get past the odd feeling. When he did, he did not notice any rise of trepidation or tremor of caution through his psyche. There was no tug of reluctance or flash of warning.
There was just an intense tightening sensation spreading out in thin rivers of awareness through his person. It was a sort of inner urging.
She may have applied for the position as the club’s bookkeeper under less than honest circumstances, but there was something about her…something that made Roderick wonder if she might be exactly what he needed.
About the Author
Amy andas's love of romance began one summer when she stumbled across one of her mother's Barbara Cartland books. Her affinity for writing began with sappy pre-teen poems and led to a Bachelor's degree with an emphasis on Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She lives with her husband and children near Milwaukee.
