As the eldest, Viscount Anthony Bridgerton has long accepted his duty to marry-yet has vowed to avoid the trap of love. Cynical about romance and burdened by expectations, he is certain he can fulfill his role without ever losing his heart.
Enter Miss Clara Everly: intelligent, fiercely independent, and utterly unimpressed by his title or reputation. A woman who defies the conventions of the ton, Clara would rather lose herself in books than in a gentleman's empty promises. When the two meet, she sees past his charm, challenging him in ways no other woman has dared. Their minds spark like kindling, igniting a connection that's as exhilarating as it is unexpected.
But as they match wits, Anthony finds himself drawn to more than her beauty-he is captivated by her intellect, her laughter, her guarded warmth. With his heart on the line, he faces a new challenge: to convince the woman who trusts in little that she can trust in him.
*I do not own any rights to the Bridgerton franchise or characters*
When bubbly Emerson Kachi Smith starts working for the handsome Lucas Hendrix, she quickly discovers there's something hot and untamed behind his cold exterior...
*****
When bubbly Emerson Kachi Smith is offered a job as the personal assistant to the cold and handsome Lucas Hendrix, she's left wondering why. After all, she has no credentials to speak of, and working for a paranoid billionaire CEO who's impossible to please is far from easy. But a few weeks into her job, she begins to realize that she can't judge a book by its cover. Left alone to discover the mystery behind Lucas's cold exterior and to tame her uncontrollable desire to comfort him, she learns they have a lot more in common than she ever thought possible. Could their two lonely hearts share the same dream for happiness?
[[word count: 150,000-200,000 words]]
Cover designed by April Alforque
Former title 'Coffee And Papers'