Tempting Fate
Cover art by Anna Spies
Cover copyright© 2017 Soul Mate Publishing
TEMPTING FATE
May 31, 2017
SoulMate Publishing
4 Five-star reviews on Amazon!
A 2018 July Top Read at Uncaged Reviews
2018 EPIC eBook Awards Finalist!
A Woman Ruined
Scorned by society for past indiscretions, Lady Alanna Clayton instead dedicates her time to improving the lives of orphans at the workhouse. When Alanna realizes their futures are in danger, she vows to protect them, no matter the means.
A Man Wounded
Lieutenant-Colonel Kellen Harrington, Marquess of Aldwich and future Duke of Wilkesbury, abandoned his responsibility for a career in the cavalry. He flees a life of abuse for a life of war. A dire summons brings him back to London and the estate he swore to never set foot on again.
A Secret Shared
Childhood friends, Alanna and Kellen are bonded by an old secret and fate reunites them to keep another. But in trying to save others’ lives, have they put their own in danger? Deceit, blackmail, and revenge challenge their every step as they navigate the dark alleys of London. And traverse the corners of their hearts.
Can Alanna tempt fate and save Kellen from his biggest danger – himself?
“Betrayal, accusations, kidnapping, secrets, danger, revenge and other challenges face both the reader and the characters in this book. I loved even the supporting cast, and hated the ones I was supposed to hate. This book doesn’t slow down and there are laugh out loud moments and times you will be reading as fast as you can to get to the next page. Highly recommended. (Reviewed by Cyrene, Uncaged Book Reviews)
“”Tempting Fate” is a joy to read. From the first page, I was captivated with the lives of the characters and their times. So many twists and turns kept me rooting for the characters until a very satisfying ending. Made me aware of the challenges faced by an intelligent socially aware woman of her time. Beautiful descriptive writing had me present in each scene. Historical detail was precise and informative. An altogether wonderful read.” (Amazon review)
“Loved this book! Michelle does a wonderful job developing her characters, keeping her setting historically accurate, and making her reader want to keep turning the pages. I cannot wait until her next book is available. I hope to see some of the characters from Tempting Fate return in future stories.” (Amazon review)
“This is a good story. Plenty of angst, intrigue, banter between the scarred hero and the feisty heroine.” (Goodreads review)
Chapter One
London, 1851
Tendrils of fog swirled around the two figures slinking through the shadowy streets. The gas lamps opposite the rowhouses did little to alleviate the murkiness of the enveloping mist. Sounds echoed off the buildings—dogs barking, drunkards yelling, hooves clacking on cobblestones.
The damp air made it difficult for Alanna to determine exactly where the noises were coming from. She crept forward, carefully guiding her young companion through the squalid alley. She clasped Timmy’s hand tighter and skirted the puddles, uncertain what fetid matter might be mixed with the evening’s rain.
“Come along,” she urged the youth. A sliver of light penetrated the buildings. “We’re almost there.”
“I’m cold.” His feet slipped on the uneven surface of the alley. “An’ scared.”
“It won’t be long,” she assured him, glancing at his threadbare jacket and ragged trousers. They were meager protection against the damp spring air. Against his bleak future if she didn’t succeed in hiding him. A pang of guilt stabbed her as she gathered her cashmere cloak closer around her shoulders.
She wished she could provide more necessities for him and the other orphans at the workhouse, but her allowance only went so far. She also wished she could buy them a secure hereafter. If she were successful tonight, Timmy would be safe. But there were so many others.
Lost in thought, Alanna realized her feet had guided her halfway across the street toward the adjoining alley. She continued on, until a clatter of hooves exploded out of the mist. She looked toward the disturbance. Two massive grays rounded the corner, a formidable black carriage in their wake.
The horses careened down the narrow thoroughfare, the ensuing brougham rocking with the force. Alanna’s heartbeat quickened. Choking down a cry of alarm, she snatched Timmy by the collar.
She dashed forward, heading for a protective recess. Her feet slipped on loose cobblestones. Bulky petticoats weighed her down. As did a flailing Timmy. But a doorway loomed several feet ahead. Safety.
Just then, Timmy stumbled and lurched from her grip.
“No!” she screamed, spinning around.
He sat in a puddle, terror paralyzing him.
Alanna looked back. The horses were closing in, their frenzied eyes glinting in the amber glow of the gaslight. Distance was no longer her benefactor.
She lunged toward the motionless child, pulling him down and pinning his small frame beneath her. Her face collided with the street, knocking aside her bonnet. The bricks scraped her cheek, the sting sudden and biting. But it was nothing compared to what the horses’ hooves could do. Would do.
She gripped Timmy tighter. Then held her breath.
#
“What in hell?” Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Aldwich mumbled as his body slammed against the tufted leather of the carriage. Pain fired up his leg and through his lower back. He gripped his left thigh, breathing deeply to relieve the pain. “Dash this London traffic!”
He had not missed the insanity these past ten and one half years. Regaining his posture, he snapped the window down. He leaned out, hearing his coachman shouting at the apparent cause of the disruption. It wasn’t traffic.
He peered into the haze, watching two slight figures rise unsteadily. A young woman stood first, answering the coachman’s admonition with a frigid stare. She seemed to be in her early twenties, and better outfitted than the scruffy lad with her. Bonnet askew, she quickly put it aright.
When his coachman ceased his tirade, she launched one of her own. “Are ya daft? Could ya no’ see us?” She switched her attention to the boy, brushing tears off his face with the corner of her cape. “Wha’ are ya doin’ goin’ so fast on a night like this ‘un?”
Aldwich winced at her dreadful cockney accent, an apparent, but poor, attempt to hide her upbringing. He squinted, trying to see her better. Not that he would recognize anyone after all these years.
He studied the young woman and her small companion. A more ill-matched pair, he’d rarely seen. Her wool cloak and velvet bonnet bespoke quality, yet the ragamuffin didn’t seem old or refined enough to act as her escort.
“Are you hurt?” Aldwich asked.
The girl’s head spun toward him. She shoved the boy behind her and inched backward. “No, guv’nor.”
Yet even as she said that, the lad cried out. “You’re bleeding!”
The colonel barely heard the words as the brougham pulled abreast of the near-victims. The vision in the street had engrossed him. A pair of clear blue eyes, framed in a heart-shaped face, stared back at him from the gloom. A flicker of a distant memory passed across his mind, and with it, the pain of the past. He forced the recollection down. “You might take more care in crossing the street next time,” he said as he handed her his handkerchief.
“As yah mi’ take care ta slow down,” she retorted as she touched the kerchief to her cheek. Then turning, she hastened her retreat.
The colonel bristled and sat back. The impudent chit disappeared into the shadows of the alley. As she vanished, a lock of silvery-blonde hair escaped her bonnet. Inhaling sharply, he connected that unmistakable hair with two cerulean eyes. And a lifetime ago. Starting, he signaled for the coachman to proceed. “Your imagination is running away with you, Aldwich,” he muttered to himself.