Spotlight: A Rake Like You by Becky Michaels
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Publication Date: August 31, 2021
Mildred Press
Series: Linfield Hall, Book #2
Genre: Historical Romance/Regency
About to turn thirty, Charles Finch finally realizes his luck has run out. He’s twenty thousand pounds in debt, his entire family hates him, and the powerful Duke of Rutley is watching his every move. So Charles sets out to do what any handsome but impoverished earl would: find a young lady with an impressive dowry to marry him and replenish his coffers.
Louisa Strickland much prefers managing the successful estate her father left her to the company of society. But now that her younger sister has come of age, Louisa finds herself in Mayfair, forced to protect her family from desperate fortune hunters like her neighbor, Charles Finch. And when Charles sets his sights on Louisa’s sister, Louisa will do anything to avert his attention elsewhere.
As Charles and Louisa find themselves rekindling an old friendship that once went up in flames, Charles begins to wonder if there could be something more between them. He only needs to prove he’s not the man he once was. But unfortunately for Charles, it will take much more than passionate kisses and giving up brandy to convince independent Louisa to marry a rake like him.
Excerpt
Chapter Nine
Charles walked swiftly down the street toward the coffeehouse where the duke was drinking that evening, Louisa’s list in hand, still smiling over some of the little things she said that afternoon. From her horror over Hayward sending her flowers to the way she crossed out names she thought might be unsuitable for him, Louisa was just the way he remembered her. Despite her somewhat hard exterior, Louisa was still the same sweet, innocent girl he knew seven years ago. Looking at the list, he wondered if she even realized she was looking out for him like a friend might—like the friends they used to be.
When he reached the coffeehouse, Charles immediately looked for Rutley, hoping the duke wasn’t too far into his cups already. Charles didn’t plan on staying for long, and their conversation would be much easier if Rutley were at least somewhat sober. Charles found the man sitting at a small table by himself, nursing a glass of brandy and looking as dark and broody as ever.
They had not spoken in a while, not since the morning after Charles’s dinner party with his family. Although Charles apologized for not telling Rutley about the party ahead of time, the duke would hear nothing of it, preferring to pretend it hadn’t happened at all. After all, Rutley was the one who had shown up at Finch Place acting like a drunken fool. He only had himself to blame for Rosamund’s increasingly low opinion of him.
“If it makes you feel any better, she still thinks no more highly of me,” Charles begrudgingly told him at the time. Not much had changed since then. Even after attending the Talbot ball and behaving admirably, Rosamund still wasn’t impressed with her brother. She would probably be even less impressed if she knew Charles was sitting down with the duke that evening, but Charles didn’t have much of a choice when he owed Rutley so much money.
The duke seemed to have his wits about him because he shot Charles a suspicious look, knowing he did not come to places like this anymore. “Charles,” he said, leaning back in his chair and finishing his drink in one gulp. He placed the empty glass on the table, and Charles looked at it, feeling envious for a brief moment. “What brings you here? Shouldn’t you be at a ball or dinner party wooing a certain young lady?”
Instead of answering him, Charles sat down and placed the list that Louisa and his sisters had drawn up for him on the table. Rutley looked down at it, confused, just as one of the serving girls dropped another brandy on their table. She turned to Charles, waiting for him to order something, but the earl only shook his head. Looking around the coffeehouse, he knew he wasn’t wholly immune to the temptations of his old life. He wondered if he knew any of the blokes playing cards in one of the secret back rooms.
“What is this?” the duke asked. He picked up the list, turning it over as he waited for Charles’s response.
“A list of eligible heiresses other than Flora Strickland,” Charles said.
Rutley appeared confused. “Why are some of the names crossed out?”
Charles hesitated. “Miss Strickland didn’t think they were as suitable as the others,” he said, not wishing to mention Rosamund’s name. The earl never knew how it might set Rutley off when he did. Nevertheless, the duke’s eyebrows shot upwards.
“Miss Strickland?” he asked incredulously. “As in Miss Louisa Strickland? This was her idea, wasn’t it?”
After a moment of hesitation, Charles nodded. The duke appeared dismayed by the discovery. “She still doesn’t want me courting her sister, so she presented a list of alternatives. Do you know any of them?”
Rutley furrowed his brow, reaching inside his jacket as he did so and procuring a pair of spectacles. He gingerly placed them on the bridge of his nose after putting the list back down on the table. When he picked it up again, Rutley peered at it carefully.
“I have heard of some of their fathers,” the duke said as his eyes scanned the list. “They have generous dowries, no doubt. Any one of them would be more than suitable for your needs.”
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About the Author
Becky Michaels is a historical romance author and self-proclaimed Anglophile. After graduating from Boston University with a degree in English, she reluctantly decided to get a day job but never stopped writing—or dreaming. THE LAND STEWARD’S DAUGHTER, a Regency romance set in 1815 England, is her debut novel. Despite the cold winters and high rent, she still lives in the Boston area with her boyfriend and cat.
