The Ruse, Book One, Andrews Brothers
Luke Andrews, Baron of Stockport, is in trouble. He needs a wealthy bride to secure future funds for his financially shaky estate, but the belle of the London season is a spoiled terror with an arrogant father. They’d try the nerves of a saint and Luke can’t quite bring himself to make an offer he knows he’d regret.
Meanwhile, Luke’s half-brother Chadwick never could resist a good game of Faro, or anything else, for that matter. With the baron away, Chadwick will play — gambling the estate’s remaining funds into oblivion. He needs to devise his own scheme to replace the money he’s lost, before his brother returns.
In Stockport village, Brigitta Blackburn doesn’t have two sticks to rub together — literally. With the estate in financial distress and rents high, food and wood are scarce. When she sneaks onto the baron’s land to steal some firewood, she’s caught, hauled before the play-acting “baron,” Chadwick, and offered a solution to her plight… and his.
But Chadwick’s ruse embroils them all. How can Brigitta accept what she thinks to be true, when she really yearns to follow her heart?
-- a traditional Regency novel
Available at Amazon.
Meanwhile, Luke’s half-brother Chadwick never could resist a good game of Faro, or anything else, for that matter. With the baron away, Chadwick will play — gambling the estate’s remaining funds into oblivion. He needs to devise his own scheme to replace the money he’s lost, before his brother returns.
In Stockport village, Brigitta Blackburn doesn’t have two sticks to rub together — literally. With the estate in financial distress and rents high, food and wood are scarce. When she sneaks onto the baron’s land to steal some firewood, she’s caught, hauled before the play-acting “baron,” Chadwick, and offered a solution to her plight… and his.
But Chadwick’s ruse embroils them all. How can Brigitta accept what she thinks to be true, when she really yearns to follow her heart?
-- a traditional Regency novel
Available at Amazon.
Danielle Pinzon with Readers' Favorite says:
"The Ruse is definitely not your run-of-the-mill Regency read. Filled with the elements of a historical romance novel, Felicia Rogers wrote a darling piece that is filled with adventure and anticipation that will make you want to turn page after page in hopes of finding out what will happen next. Brigitta as a heroine is as independent as she could be, but realistically written as a helpless woman in a time where marriage was the only way for females to escape poverty with dignity. The rest of the characters are also well written; the relationship between the brothers is still quite a mystery (hopefully the author will reveal it in the next book) and I find myself eagerly waiting for the sequel."
"The Ruse is definitely not your run-of-the-mill Regency read. Filled with the elements of a historical romance novel, Felicia Rogers wrote a darling piece that is filled with adventure and anticipation that will make you want to turn page after page in hopes of finding out what will happen next. Brigitta as a heroine is as independent as she could be, but realistically written as a helpless woman in a time where marriage was the only way for females to escape poverty with dignity. The rest of the characters are also well written; the relationship between the brothers is still quite a mystery (hopefully the author will reveal it in the next book) and I find myself eagerly waiting for the sequel."