An uncompromising man
Samuel Evans, Principal Officer for Bow Street, carves order from anarchy in London’s violent slums. He has neither the time nor inclination for self-indulgent drivel, and he certainly will not yield to the lust that dogs him every time he sets eyes on Anna Briggs. The madam of the city’s most infamous brothel, she is the very personification of sin—a drop hemlock in every spoonful of honey. She barters secrets as readily as she does her body, and it’s those secrets alone that draw him to her door.
A notorious courtesan
Anna refuses to apologize for who or what she is. She hasn’t reached these insurmountable heights by following the rules, and there’s no reason to start now. Besides, the men who preach morality rarely practice it, and those who do are too busy congratulating themselves to notice the futility of their modest contributions. Worse still, their decency is laced with judgment. Nevertheless, Anna cannot help teasing the strait-laced Bow Street runner who repeatedly comes sniffing at her door, delighting in the tension that gathers through his broad shoulders whenever she steps too close.
A seductive entanglement
When a regular at The Silken Lotus turns up dead, desperation and opportunity collide, bringing the unlikely pair together. What begins as a tenuous alliance soon becomes something far more dangerous, as the lies they each rely upon to carry them through the day begin to unravel in the shadows of the night. Caught between moral certainty and necessary deception, two people on opposite sides of order discover that the truth is seldom simple and often perilous.
*Part of A Society for Scandal, a multi author collaboration celebrating the joy of reading historical romance, experiencing the past through storytelling*
Genre: Historical Romance
Samuel Evans, Principal Officer for Bow Street, carves order from anarchy in London’s violent slums. He has neither the time nor inclination for self-indulgent drivel, and he certainly will not yield to the lust that dogs him every time he sets eyes on Anna Briggs. The madam of the city’s most infamous brothel, she is the very personification of sin—a drop hemlock in every spoonful of honey. She barters secrets as readily as she does her body, and it’s those secrets alone that draw him to her door.
A notorious courtesan
Anna refuses to apologize for who or what she is. She hasn’t reached these insurmountable heights by following the rules, and there’s no reason to start now. Besides, the men who preach morality rarely practice it, and those who do are too busy congratulating themselves to notice the futility of their modest contributions. Worse still, their decency is laced with judgment. Nevertheless, Anna cannot help teasing the strait-laced Bow Street runner who repeatedly comes sniffing at her door, delighting in the tension that gathers through his broad shoulders whenever she steps too close.
A seductive entanglement
When a regular at The Silken Lotus turns up dead, desperation and opportunity collide, bringing the unlikely pair together. What begins as a tenuous alliance soon becomes something far more dangerous, as the lies they each rely upon to carry them through the day begin to unravel in the shadows of the night. Caught between moral certainty and necessary deception, two people on opposite sides of order discover that the truth is seldom simple and often perilous.
*Part of A Society for Scandal, a multi author collaboration celebrating the joy of reading historical romance, experiencing the past through storytelling*
Genre: Historical Romance