Most ladies dream of finding a husband, but Etta Wilding-Marsh dreams of the law. Establishing a law school for women is the determined firebrand’s dearest ambition and she has no time for distraction—and certainly no time for the wickedly handsome antagonist from her youth.

After years of annoying her from afar, Lord Christopher Hiddleston leaps at the chance to return to Cambridge and the fiery girl he has never forgotten. Now a successful Gothic novelist, Christopher will use his notoriety to support the school...and drive Etta wild.

A chance meeting leads to another, and then the firebrand and the antagonist find a passion of a different sort. But can a woman who dreams too much and a man who never does truly find a happily ever after?

Excerpt

Looking at him now, resting exhausted in a chair, that same feeling rushed over her, threaded with concern and a desire to care for him, to make it so the exhaustion left his features and he again turned that wicked grin upon her. “I will work with you.”

Christopher opened one eye.

Etta lifted her chin. Uncertainty made her falter, and she despised faltering. “I will work with you. On your lady detective.”

Both eyes snapped open. “You will?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

The most glorious smile lit his face.

Quickly, she averted her gaze. You have no call to think his smile glorious, Etta Wilding-Marsh. Get your mind back where it belongs. Crossing her arms, she affected a glare. “It had better not be claptrap.”

“It won’t.” He straightened in the chair, the tiredness falling away. “It will be the very best I can make it. And it will be even better with you to ensure I don’t fall to lazy habits.”

He truly did esteem her opinion. He spoke and his lips formed words, the upper thin and well-defined, the points forming a sharp bow. His lower lip was full, generous and…and she shouldn’t be thinking of his lips.

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About the Author

Cassandra Dean is the author of historical romance ranging from sweet to steamy, playing about in the eras, roaming from Ancient Rome to Victorian to the Old West and beyond. Her books take readers on an emotional rollercoaster, from the lowest of lows to the joyous of highs. And, of course, her characters fall into the forever kind of love.

Cassandra is proud to call South Australia her home, where she regularly cheers on her AFL football team and creates her next tale.