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#1 Amazon Bestseller in Regency romance "Prolific author G.G. Vandagriff creates a world full of intrigue, suspense, and romance that fans of the Regency Period will adore. Vandagriff writes in a style reminiscent of Georgette Heyer."--Deseret News. When frigate Captain Buckingham Kernow-Smith encounters a sprite in a topiary garden he pulls off her stocking cap, revealing the character of “Rosalind” from As You Like It, played, in this case, by the appealing Fanny Edwards. Three years pass. The War over, Buck encounters his Rosalind at a ball, where she has developed into a notable beauty. However, her guardian confides to him that she is dancing on the very edge of propriety. Buck, who has been fighting the French since he was twelve, also finds the ton confining and sympathizes with Fanny/Rosalind’s plight as a properly reared young lady. Together, they make a dangerous pair, toeing the line between propriety and scandal. When they push their fun too far, Fanny faces ruin and the demimonde. Will Buck confide his own secrets and overcome his life-long aversion to marriage? Can there be a happily ever after for someone as headstrong and impetuous as Fanny?
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It had been many years since Captain Buckingham Kernow-Charles, Marquis of Deal, had strolled in the formal Ruisdell Palace gardens. The topiary animals that had so delighted him when he was twelve were now rendered even more magical by a frosting of snow. The last time he had seen them was that summer before he first went to sea. The giraffe, the boar, the jaguar, and . . . what was that? Before him in the freezing mist appeared a slender, small youth dressed in tights, a belted tunic, and a comical hat that resembled nothing so much as a blue and red striped stocking. “Marry, kind sir, how com’st thou here?” He blinked his eyes, but the youth remained. His comely, almost feminine features had a puzzled look. Upon closer inspection, Buck saw signs of a bosom and smothered a grin. “I am a guest of the duke. My name is Captain Kernow-Charles,” he said, forgetting his new title. The apparition bowed from the waist. “And I, kind sir, am Gannymede. Welcome to the Forest of Arden.” Buck’s forehead bunched in a frown. Gannymede? Shakespeare? As You Like It? Striding forward, he took hold of the end of the stocking hat and pulled. Out tumbled waves of thick auburn hair, descending to Gannymede’s waist. “Thou art Rosalind, I think?” “Thou dost not play fair, sir.” He chuckled. “You are, quite obviously, a girl. Your disguise was futile. Does your mother know you are cavorting about dressed as a boy, boldly addressing strangers?” “Rosalind” blushed a fiery red that clashed with her bounteous hair. “My mother is nothing to do with you, sir. She lives in Shropshire. I am sister to the duchess and may do as I please.” “How old are you?” he asked with the sternness for which he was known aboard ship. “I do not see that that is any of your business, sir.” Her eyes, an unusual shade of turquoise, snapped with annoyance. “You may address me as Captain. My guess places you at sixteen. Am I wrong?” “Quite wrong, Captain. I am to make my curtsey to the Queen in the spring. I am a great many months older than seventeen.” He saw that she was beginning to shiver in her scant clothing. “It is too cold for you to be out in this weather dressed as you are. Come back to the house.” Looking mulish, she said, “I am not cold. Besides which, I am meeting Jacques.” “If I know Jacques, he will not come out in such weather.” “He wishes to write a poem about it.” “A lament, you mean.” “Possibly. May I say, you are quite overbearing, Captain? But at least you know your Shakespeare.”
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