Louise Allen - Practical Widow to Passionate Mistress

Meet Meg, Bella and Celina—

three loving sisters, desperate to escape

the iron rule of their fanatical rector father…

One by one they flee the vicarage—

only to discover that the real world holds its

own surprises for the now-disgraced Shelley

sisters! How will they get themselves out of the

scandalous situations they find themselves in?

Can betrayed widow Meglearn to love again?

Will pregnant and abandoned Bellafind the man to turn her blush of shame to the flush of pleasure?

And how will virginal courtesan-in-training Linadiscover the meaning of true passion?

Find out in…

The Transformation of the Shelley Sisters

Three sisters, three escapades,three very different destinies!

Welcome to the world of Margaret, Arabella and Celina Shelley. Brought up by a harsh and repressive father, all the sisters wanted from life was love—and by looking for it they found themselves branded as sinners and parted from each other.

Early nineteenth-century England was an unforgiving place for fallen women. Dreamy Meg, practical Bella and innocent Lina fought back against Society, and their own fears, to rebuild their lives and find their true loves, transforming themselves in the process.

This is the story of Meg, the middle sister. Dreamily romantic, she eloped with her childhood soldier sweetheart and found herself learning to be practical and realistic in the brutal world of the war-torn Iberian Peninsula. Now, alone and virtually penniless, she must find her way back to England—and her only hope is dark and brooding Ross Brandon, a man wounded in body and soul.

I hope you enjoy Meg and Ross’s journey as much as I enjoyed discovering it, and that you will rejoin the Shelley sisters to meet Bella in the next book in the trilogy.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Louise Allenhas been immersing herself in history, real and fictional, for as long as she can remember, and finds landscapes and places evoke powerful images of the past. Louise lives in Bedfordshire, and works as a property manager, but spends as much time as possible with her husband at the cottage they are renovating on the north Norfolk coast, or travelling abroad. Venice, Burgundy and the Greek islands are favourite atmospheric destinations. Please visit Louise’s website—www.louiseallenregency.co.uk—for the latest news!

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Recent novels by the same author:

VIRGIN SLAVE, BARBARIAN KING

THE DANGEROUS MR RYDER *

THE OUTRAGEOUS LADY FELSHAM *

THE SHOCKING LORD STANDON *

THE DISGRACEFUL MR RAVENHURST *

THE NOTORIOUS MR HURST *

THE PIRATICAL MISS RAVENHURST *

* Those Scandalous Ravenhursts

Praise for Louise Allen’s

Those Scandalous Ravenhursts

THE DANGEROUS MR RYDER

‘Allen’s latest adventure romance

is a roller-coaster ride that sweeps readers

through Europe and into the relationship

between a very proper baroness and a

very improper spy. The quick pace and

hold-your-breath escape plans turn this love story

into a one-night read that will have you

cheering for the appealing characters.’

— RT Book Reviews

THE OUTRAGEOUS LADY FELSHAM

‘Allen’s daring, sexy and, yes, outrageous

spin-off of THE DANGEROUS MR RYDER

gently borders on erotic romance because of the

manner in which she plays out her characters’

fantasies (including a marvellous bear rug!) without ever losing sight of Regency mores.’

— RT Book Reviews

THE SHOCKING LORD STANDON

‘Allen continues her collection of novels

centring on the ton’s scandalous activities

with another delightful and charming

Ravenhurst story of love and mayhem.’

— RT Book Reviews

July 1808

‘North Wales?’ Celina repeated blankly as Meg finished pouring out her news. ‘But that’s hundreds of miles away. We will never see you.’

‘That wouldn’t be so bad if we knew you were happy,’ Arabella ventured, ‘But Great-Aunt Caroline? She’s a recluse—’

‘She is mad as a hatter,’ Meg Shelley retorted, biting back the tears. ‘You only have to listen to those horrible letters she sends Papa. She is worse than he is.’ She reached out and took her sisters’ hands, wincing and letting go as the grip tightened on the livid weals across her palms. ‘I would rather be here with you both and be whipped every day, than go there.’

‘Perhaps if you promised Papa you would not read novels again?’Arabella suggested, picking up the worn shirt she was darning for the poor box and then dropping it back into the basket with a sigh. Meg felt the affection surge through her; at nineteen, her elder sister tried so hard to be dutiful, to do what was expected, despite constant carping and coldness from their father. How did she manage it? Meg wondered. Could she ever be as good, as submissive?

‘Or anything else but the Bible?’ she demanded. ‘If it is not books, it is going for walks, or trying to grow flowers, or talking to people or singing—I cannot do it. I cannot promise to stop thinking, stop doing everything that gives me any pleasure. I will go as mad as Great-Aunt Caroline. I don’t mind the housework and the laundry and the mending and the praying. I don’t mind working hard, but to be punished for wanting joy and beauty…’

‘And I don’t understand what he said about Mama,’ Celina said with a frown. ‘How can he say we all carry her bad, sinful, blood? Mama wasn’t a sinner.’

‘He has not been right since she died.’ Arabella glanced towards the door, as though expecting the Reverend Shelley, switch in hand, to stalk in at any moment. Meg shook her head impatiently. They had discussed this so many times, and still could not fathom what, beyond natural grief, had turned a naturally serious and strict father into an embittered and suspicious domestic tyrant.

‘He says Great-Aunt Caroline’s health is deteriorating and I must go and nurse her and be a companion. She could perfectly well hire a dozen nurses and companions, she is wealthy enough,’ Meg said. ‘It is just an excuse to punish me. We would all be better off in a nunnery.

‘You, Bella, are to look after him in his old age, you, Celina, will marry the curate—if he ever finds one dour and puritanical enough to suit him—but I am just a nuisance and, this way, he will be rid of me.’

‘But what can we do?’ Celina whispered. Meg shook her head. Celina was too sweet and too pretty for coldness and drudgery, but her seventeen-year-old sister always seemed unable to rebel.

All three glanced at the sampler hanging over the cold grate. Arabella had worked the first line, Margaret had stitched the second and Celina had managed the plain cross-stitch border. It was a favourite saying of the Reverend Shelley, one he fervently believed to be true.