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seriously romantic: a gentleman never surrenders by lauren smith


picking up soon after an earl by any other name, a gentleman never surrenders continues the story of owen hadley. he's in desperate need of a wife with a fortune and has reached the point where trapping a woman into marriage is his only option. his actions here and in the previous novella are less than gentlemanly, but over the course of the story he does redeem himself.

owen isn't a bad guy. he's just a guy who has no other recourse. when he accidentally creeps into milly pepperworth's bed he doesn't expect to end up with a happy marriage. but milly surprises him. she'd been holding out for love, and is horrified by the turn of events that force her into marriage. but she does give owen a chance to make things right. and he surprises her by being more progressive than she could have expected.

he trapped her into marriage, but he doesn't want a cold marriage filled with contempt and he goes a long way to find ways to connect with milly and make their marriage work. even in the short format of the novella, this story works and i don't feel like anything got short shrift. owen and milly improve from their initial first impressions in the first novella, and they are well-suited here.

**a gentleman never surrenders will publish on september 12, 2017. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/grand central publishing (forever yours) in exchange for my honest review. keep reading for more information and an excerpt...



ABOUT THE BOOK
TItle: A GENTLEMAN NEVER SURRENDERS
Author: Lauren Smith
Series: Sins and Scandals #2
Publication Date: September 12, 2017
Imprint: Forever Yours
Price: $1.99 (eBook)
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Love is worth a little scandal.

Owen Hadley needs a wife. Preferably a wealthy one. Alas, there aren't a great number of heiresses willing to marry a rogue of no particular fortune---luckily, if there is ever a gentleman capable of melting a lady's chilly heart, it's Owen.

Milly has had enough of the marriage mart. If matrimony means giving up her freedom for a foppish husband, then society can take their idea of marital bliss and toss it. But when the ton's most notorious rogue mistakenly makes his way into her bedchambers, Milly finds herself unexpectedly and unwillingly at the altar . . .

Yet the more time she spends with her new husband, the more Milly starts to wonder if the marriage she never wanted may be the best thing that's ever happened to her. Now it's up to Owen to convince Milly that what started as a mistake is anything but—and that every night with him will be more wonderfully scandalous than the last.

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EXCERPT

Milly climbed onto the bed and pulled the bedclothes up around her chest and sighed. The bed was so large, and rather lonely. Usually she didn’t let such a melancholy thought bother her, but tonight for some reason, it did. There was a dull ache in her chest and she rubbed the spot with her hand. Somewhere tonight, Mr. Hadley was likely climbing into bed, dreaming of all the young ladies’ hearts he would steal and break. A treacherous little flutter in her chest made Milly wince. She ought not to think of Hadley, certainly not while she was in bed…yet thinking of him, as frustrating and maddeningly irritating as he was, flushed her with a welcome heat in the chilly room.

The oil lamp beside her bed was the only light left in the room and it burned steadily. Often she read late into the night and forgot to turn it off, but tonight she was too tired to read. She reached over and gently twisted the brass knob to kill the little flame. Darkness absorbed the dying light and Milly flipped onto her back. The cold of the sheets almost stung her bare toes and legs when her nightdress rode up to her knees. A cold bed, an empty bed. It shouldn’t have upset her, but after Mr. Hadley’s talk of heat and summer, she was off balance and bothered.

The mere thought of him and the way his eyes had darkened and seemed to shimmer with inner flames brought on another rush of warmth. His eyes, like honeyed fire, and his lips, the way he’d smiled sardonically, almost mockingly, in a way she rather liked, irritated her, yet fascinated her. There was no reason to like a man’s mouth or to imagine what it might be like to have that mouth pressed to hers in a kiss that caused the heat he was so fond of discussing. She knew his kiss would be hot, because when she thought of it, her body blossomed with a swelling of heat in her belly. His mouth is wicked…sinful…and I hate that I wish to know how he tastes. It was a forbidden thought, but one she couldn’t deny. She rolled over onto her stomach, fluffed her pillow, and squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to will herself to sleep. It was going to be a long night.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lauren Smith, winner of the 2014 Historical International Digital Award, attended Oklahoma State University, where she earned a B.A. in both history and political science. Drawn to paintings and museums, Lauren is obsessed with antiques and satisfies her fascination with history by writing and exploring exotic, ancient lands. She is currently an attorney in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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