The Maid is coming soon!

The Maid is coming soon! The Maid is book one of a 4 book series I’ve written with my friend Jessie Lewis and comes out September 10.  It is a rags to riches, Cinderella-esque, enemies to lovers with a triangle on the side regency romance. Not the usual fare I know but I hope you’ll give it a try anyway!

The following is an excerpt from chapter 10 of the Maid. Hope you enjoy! Release day is September 10th! If you’d like to preorder it, you can do so by clicking HERE.

Want a free ebook telling you how our tribe of orphans came to be? You can get that by clicking HERE.

And last but not least we have a booklet/novelette which contains a preview of all four books in the series. You can get that by clicking HERE.

Ok I promise thats the last of the clicks! Now lets get to that excerpt!

“Shall we ride into Barford today?” Oakley suggested at breakfast. “Now that you are official, so to speak, there is no need to keep you hidden away.”

Adelaide winced. “I have not ridden a horse for above a decade, and I was not what you would call proficient then.”

“Should you like to learn again?”

“I suppose it would be prudent if I am to pass myself off as a woman of high society.”

“There will be no ‘passing off’—you are a Richmond, regardless of how skilled a horsewoman you are.” He gave her an encouraging look and waited for her to acknowledge it before continuing. “But if you should like to learn, I can certainly arrange it. I could even teach you myself.”

“That might be fun,” Adelaide agreed with a heartfelt smile, delighted that Oakley should wish to give her so much of his time. After a short break in the conversation, she ventured, “Lord Kemerton left early this morning. Was that planned?”

“I do not know that he specified his plans. It is not unusual for him to go without saying goodbye, though, for he is always up hours before the rest of us. He is a long-standing friend of the family, you understand. He comes and goes from Chiltern Court as readily as I do from Avonwyke.” He waved his fork in the air and gave the superfluous explanation that Avonwyke was Lord Kemerton’s estate. A moment later, he cast her a querying look. “I did not think you would be sorry to see him go. You did not seem overly fond of his company.”

“No, but then, he did not seem overly fond of mine.”

“Give the man a chance—he has only seen you at one dinner.”

Adelaide did not remind Oakley of their encounters at High Brook, for he had evidently disassociated his new sister from the housemaid she had been then. Neither did she think it wise to admit to eavesdropping on several of his conversations with Lord Kemerton while there.

“Actually, I saw him again before he left this morning. The subject of how it was that I went into service arose, and I might have been unguarded in my responses. When I got back to the house, he had gone. I hope he did not leave on my account. I would not like to think I had offended a family friend.”

Oakley shook his head. “He is not the resentful sort. Perhaps he has gone to call on Lady Sophia. ’Tis about time he came to the point with her.”

“Oh yes, of course.” Adelaide had forgotten about her.

“Well then! Is it riding lessons for us today?”

“Not today, I am afraid. I do not own a riding habit. But I should be happy to walk into town with you.”

Oakley curled his top lip in revulsion. “I shall take us in the curricle.”

“You do not like walking?”

“Not if it can be avoided. Tedious waste of energy. If I cannot arrive at a place by horse or carriage, I should rather not go.”

Adelaide laughed, for he evidently thought this was diverting. Nevertheless, she could not help but think that the Fates had known what they were about when they consigned her to a life in service and handed Oakley into the care of the nobility. If the thought of walking exhausted him, goodness only knew what state a day of laundry would leave him in.

The ride in the curricle was thrilling. The seat was absurdly high off the ground and bounced about precariously the whole time they were in motion. Adelaide clung to the side with one hand and her bonnet with the other, shrieking as much with glee as fright each time they bounced over a rut. Oakley seemed surprised the first time she whooped her pleasure but laughed gaily with her the second and third times. Then he slowed the horses.

“Is something the matter?” she enquired.

“Not at all! It pleases me greatly to see you having so much fun. Only we are nearly there, and I know you would rather not embarrass yourself.”

“Embarrass myself?” she replied weakly.

He glanced at her and seemed concerned by whatever he saw. “I meant no offence. Laughing with you like this is a joy, but you know how people can be. I do not pretend to understand all the rules about ladies’ comportment, but Mother is forever remarking that this girl has laughed too loudly, or that one has shown too many teeth. I cannot see that it matters in what manner one enjoys oneself, but it seems to.”

“No, I did not know either. Thank you. I shall bear it in mind.”

He beamed at her, seemingly pleased with this exchange, though Adelaide could be nothing but mortified. She and Patty had often joked about the lengths to which Lady Grisham and her guests had gone to make themselves appear fashionable. It had not occurred to her that she would now be required to learn the same tricks—or how deficient she presently was in such arts.

She rejoiced at having finally discovered that happiness of which her friend had so often spoken—the sheer joy of being held, of being wanted, but moreover, of being loved.

MISS ADELAIDE BOOKER IS A HOUSEMAID with a secret—a secret so deeply buried that even she doesn’t know about it, until the amiable and familiar-looking Viscount Oakley uncovers her hidden past. She is not who she thought she was but rather Miss Adelaide Richmond, long lost daughter of the estranged son of an earl. And her family wants her back.

THRUST SUDDENLY INTO THE WORLD OF EARLS AND DUKES, Society balls, and the London Season, Adelaide struggles to find her place among the very people whose bed sheets she once changed. Missteps abound, and it will take a stalwart champion and a patient heart to teach her she can be loved again. The only question that remains is, which of her many admirers loves her enough to wait for her to learn?

The Maid is the love story of Miss Adelaide Richmond, relegated to a life in service after her parents’ deaths. THE MAID is the first novel of four in the Rags to Richmonds series. Follow the Richmonds as they rediscover one another and reclaim their rightful place in society where new friends and lovers await them.