Lovers Ransom

by Faye Hall, Rhiannon Poli, MageWorks .ink

Genres: Victorian Romance; Romantic Suspense; Erotic & Steamy Romance; Historical Romance; Small-town Romance; Enemies to Lovers; friends to lovers; historical romance; small town romance; steamy romance; bounty hunter; hidden identity; australian romance

Synopsis

Phoebe Toulouse ran away from her family…from her fiancé…from her life.

Upon arriving in the dusty outback town of Millchester, Queensland, Australia, Phoebe is certain she is finally safe from the bastard who wants to rob her of everything she has…including her life. Being swept up in the strong arms of a stranger, she finds herself tempted with pleasures she couldn’t refuse, and must face the uncertainty surrounding what was to become of her.

This wasn’t a job Raymond MacAllester wanted to do, but he had no choice. If he didn’t take Phoebe back east to Inkerman, he’d be risking his sister’s life. Given that she was Gordon Marriot’s half-sister, he doubted it would be easy to find her, but he would not allow himself to feel guilt for any member of that heartless, corrupt family.
When he meets Phoebe running for her life in the streets of Millchester, he couldn’t believe this beauty was any family of Gordon’s. When he finally took her into custody, he assumed she’d reluctantly agree to go back home. Never could he imagine that she would fight him as if her life depended on it.

When Phoebe learns the true reason for Raymond coming after her, and his relationship with her brother, she is heartbroken and betrayed. Returning to Inkerman with Gordon, she resumes her place in his corrupt company.
Desperate to find her and make her believe she was more than a business transaction, Raymond follows her to Inkerman and reluctantly reinstates himself into a life he hoped never to see again.

Reunited with Phoebe, and desperate to save her from Gordon’s overbearingness, Raymond risks everything to try and get her to safety. Will she let him play at being her knight in shining armour though, or has he left it too late?

Content Warning: contains sex, strong language, and some violence

 

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Release date: January 19, 2023

Publisher: 4th Avenue Press

Print pages: 229

Content advisory: contains sex, strong language, and some violence.

Sample

Needing to understand what was driving his actions, Phoebe followed Raymond at a distance.  Perhaps his need to push her away had more to do with his life rather than her own.  For all she knew, he could be married with children waiting for him back home.  Her gaze narrowed as she studied him at a distance.  Raymond didn’t look like the type to be a floundering snake.  If anything, he looked more like the type of man who needed to be possessed by a woman, his every movement governed by hers, expecting the same loyalty in return.  Even the thought of such devotion made her heart skip a beat.

The sound of splashing water up ahead dragged her from her musings and her steps slowed as she nestled in amongst the thick scrub surrounding the creek.  Peering through the branches, she stifled a gasp as her stare rested on Raymond moving about in the water.  Her gaze shifted to the moving fabric hanging from the tree, and her eyes widened.  She’d never seen a naked man before, certainly never watched one bathing.  Part of her wanted to be brave and walk out and join him, but her cowardliness kept her firmly in her hiding place.  He’d pushed her away so many times already, she couldn’t bear for him to dismiss her should she try to join him.

Phoebe should go back to the camp, but she couldn’t force herself to turn away from the man swimming in the creek.  Watching him stand, his torso leaving the water, droplets covering his skin, she ached to wipe them from him even if just to feel his firm skin beneath her fingers once more.  Though she called herself a fool for allowing such thoughts to enter her mind, she couldn’t deny she wanted more than his skin against hers.  She wanted to be wrapped in his embrace, his soft voice begging to share unspeakable passions with her, quenching the hunger he stirred inside her that she could no longer ignore.

“I seem to remember you calling me a bastard for watching you bathe,” Raymond yelled, turning toward where she was hiding in the bushes.