A
Kiss for Lady Mary
The Marriage Game # 6
The Marriage Game # 6
By: Ella Quinn
Releasing May 26th, 2015
Kensington Books
Ella Quinn’s bachelors do as they like and take what they want. But when the objects of their desire are bold, beautiful women, the rules of the game always seem to change…
Handsome,
charming, and heir to a powerful Viscount, Christopher “Kit” Featherton is
everything a woman could want—except interested in marriage. So when he hears
that someone on his estate near the Scottish border is claiming to be his wife,
Kit sets off to investigate.
Since
her parents’ death, Lady Mary Tolliver has been hounded by her cousin, a
fortune-hunting fool after her inheritance. Refusing to settle for anything
less than love, Mary escapes to the isolated estate of rakish bachelor, Kit
Featherton. Knowing he prefers Court to the country, she believes she will be
safe. But when Kit unexpectedly returns, her pretend marriage begins to feel
seductively real…
Link to
Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/03/a-kiss-for-lady-mary-marriage-game-6-by.html
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24980059-a-kiss-for-lady-mary?from_search=true
Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/106521-the-marriage-game
Ella Quinn lived all over the United States, the Pacific, Canada, England and Europe before finally discovering the Caribbean. She lives in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands with her wonderful husband, three bossy cats and a loveable Great Dane.
Excerpt
Lady Mary
Tolliver heaved a sigh of relief. She’d been at her brother, the Earl of
Barham’s, dower house with her grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Bridgewater,
and her widowed aunt, Lady Eunice Phipson, for two weeks now. Thankfully there
was still no sign of her cousin, Gawain Tolliver. Perhaps he’d finally given up
attempting to compromise her. She’d been taking her regular walks after
breakfast for the past week. But this morning she had remembered advice given
to her by a friend to vary her schedule as long as Gawain was after her and had
decided to go earlier.
She was
about a half mile from the house when a familiar male voice asked, “How much
longer?”
Mary
stopped and scanned the woods. Suddenly, the dark green she’d taken for leaves
ruffling in the slight breeze moved revealing a jacket.
Blast it
all! It was Gawain, and she’d almost stepped into his trap. She’d known her
luck wouldn’t hold. She slipped behind a tree, and listened.
“About
another half hour,” a man with a rougher voice answered.
“Have the
coach ready,” Gawain ordered. “I want to get away as soon as we grab her.”
She backed
up carefully, keeping the dense foliage between herself and her cousin, until
she could no longer see Gawain clearly.
“Did you
hear something?”
Mary
stifled a groan. How far was it to the house, and could she outmaneuver them?
She glanced around. It was eight, maybe nine, feet to the old oak tree where,
as a child, she’d won many a game of hide and seek. Gathering her skirts, she
dashed to it and hid in the hollow part of the trunk. Gawain would have to know
exactly where to look to see her. Still, she could not remain in the tree all
day. She would have to hope they gave up waiting for her and left, planning to
return another day.
“Nah, sir,
just a deer or something.”
Several
minutes later, Mary shifted and dirt fell around her. This space had been far
more commodious when she’d been younger. Something landed on her arm and began
to crawl. Stifling a scream, she swatted at it, dislodging more debris. Her
heart thudded, making it hard for her to breathe. It was certain her cousin
wouldn’t leave until at least the time when she normally passed by. She would
just have to run. As they began to converse again, she picked up her skirts and
dashed out of the home wood. Once she reached the outer part of the curtilage
she raced through the rose garden, staying off the flagstone and gravel paths
to the nearest door and darted in.
“My lady,”
Cook exclaimed. “You look like the devil hisself is after you.” The old woman
narrowed her eyes. “What have you got into? Shake out your skirts before you
come in any farther. Is that a dead spider on your arm?”
Mary
leaned back against the door, sucking in great gulps of air as she caught her
breath. “That might be an apt description.” She briefly considered asking Cook
not to tell Grandmamma, but that would only insure her grandmother heard about
it sooner. “I’ll be down for breakfast as soon as I wash my hands.”
Thank you so much for hosting A KISS FOR LADY MARY!
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