When the Lady Must Wed

The Secret Matchmaker Series Book 3

On Sale January 26, 2023

Lady Winnaretta Lowe felt sick to her stomach when people praised her, as they often did, for helping her sister appear at her best in society.

Because she wasn’t helping her sister out of the goodness of her heart. Not at all.

Lady Winnaretta Lowe was paying for her sins.

Sins that would have sent any proper society matron to her knees. Sins that had tarnished her family’s reputation so badly it was all Winnie could do to prop it back up again.

Sins that required a penance so great she was giving her life for it.

In the form of marriage.

To the vilest man in society.

“Is Chichester coming today?” her mother said as if listening to the litany of Winnie’s disparaging thoughts.

“Yes, Mother,” she said, her eyes never straying from the spectacle on the Thames below. “I believe he had some gentlemen he wished to see here.”

When Miles Creedmoor, the Marquess of Chichester, had first suggested they attend today’s presentation, he had not mentioned a desire to see her. He had only mentioned a group of gentlemen he had been considering as potential investors for one of his real estate endeavors. It was no surprise that she hadn’t seen him yet.

Her mother lazily fanned herself and pressed the backs of her fingers of her free hand to her forehead. It wasn’t overly warm as it was only the middle of June, but the viewing platform on which they stood was crowded, verging on uncomfortable.

“Oh, that’s lovely,” her mother said without feeling. “He was so kind to secure us our places here.” The older woman slid her a weighty look as it was no secret what Winnie was doing. Well, not the intent of it anyway. Her own reasons for doing it were very much a secret.

No, her family understood her pursuit of the Marquess of Chichester even if her father disagreed with it entirely, and her mother condoned it only so far as it aided the other Lowe daughter in securing a match. The same Lowe daughter who gave a soft snort to her left.

Winnie finally looked away from the parade of boats below them to find her sister hiding a derisive expression behind her own fan.

“Is it really so awful he’s not here yet?” she murmured. Judging by the stricken look that came over her little sister’s features when she found Winnie gazing at her, Ingrid had probably thought the comment would be lost in the cacophony of celebration.

Winnie frowned firmly enough to correct her sister, even though Winnie agreed with her comment. It was rather a relief that Chichester was not there yet. Perhaps for a little while longer Winnie wouldn’t be reminded of her impending life sentence as Lady Winnaretta Creedmoor, the Marchioness of Chichester.

“Why is it that they’re calling it the Strand Bridge? I thought we were commemorating our victory at Waterloo.”

Winnie turned back to her mother. “You know how it is, Mother. The government does what it can to bolster morale.”

Her mother turned then, and Winnie caught the line of perspiration burrowed in the rivets of face powder still visible across her forehead. Her mother still wore the stuff, in effusive layers no less, even when it had become less fashionable. “Bolster morale? We won, didn’t we?”

Her mother meant no harm, but Winnie couldn’t stop the sharp stab of memory that pierced her.

“Mother,” Ingrid said sharply, leaning forward to peer around Winnie to give their mother a scathing glare.

“What?” her mother asked innocently enough, and Ingrid did little more than move her eyes in Winnie’s direction.

Winnie shifted from foot to foot, curling her toes in her slippers as the wooden boards beneath her feet grew tiresome, hoping the movement would distract her from the exchange taking place in front of her.

Her mother made a dismissive snort. “It’s been five years since he died. She can’t possibly—”

“William.” The name sprang from her lips no matter how she tried to blank her mind against it, to steel herself from the torment it brought with it, but it couldn’t be stopped. The turmoil that brewed inside of her, the turmoil stoked by her sins, would not let William’s death go unmarked even when it cost her to speak his name.

Because when she spoke the name of her dead lover, her heart beat with the name of someone else.

Philip.

When the lady Must Wed

The Secret Matchmaker Series Book 3

On Sale January 26, 2023

Lady Winnaretta Lowe has a terrible secret, one that could ruin her sister’s chance at happiness and love, but it’s not the secret every thinks it might be. When Winnie was young and unattached, she found herself with child when her lover was killed in battle on the Continent. But that wasn’t the worst of it.

It was that she fell in love with the man who offered to save her.

Fatally faithful, Philip Hodge, the Earl of Greylock, promised his best friend he would save Lady Winnaretta, but only the worse kind of tragedy made marriage unnecessary, and Winnie released him from his promise to wed her. Philip, ever the gentleman, has been forced to live with that loss for five long years in order to respect Winnie’s wishes.

Now Winnie once again must marry, but this time it’s for far more precarious reasons. She must marry a marquess to secure her place among the upper echelons of society and win her sister the engagement she desires. It’s a simple plan and one she’s sure to fulfill.

Except her only mistake is in not realizing that five years ago, she wasn’t the only one who fell in love.

When the Lady Must Wed is the third book in the steamy, heart-stopping historical romance series, The Secret Matchmaker Series. If you love sexy, spellbinding romance and heartwarming humor, don’t miss this captivating series from bestselling author Jessie Clever. Discover adventure and romance when you download When the Lady Must Wed today.

When the Lady Takes a Lover

by Jessie Clever

It was while she was drowning that she realized how much she hated Hawkins Savage, the Earl of Stonegate. Because just then, confronted with imminent death, she knew she’d rather die than face a lifetime of having to be grateful to the man for saving her.

But as her mouth and nose were full of water, she could not voice these concerns as he seemed to do little more than pluck her from the water. She heaved as soon as her head was free of the pond, her body rejecting the liquid as she struggled to draw a breath. It did little good.

The storm that had caused her current predicament had strengthened in the few seconds she had been in the water, and when she opened her mouth to suck in air, a gust of wind shot more water into it. She choked and coughed, spluttering to catch her breath as Hawk set her down on the bank, her feet slipping in the mud that had caused her perilous spill into the water feature in the first place.

He didn’t relinquish his hold on her as she stood on unsteady feet, but worse, she gripped the front of his shirt as though it held her to this earth.

It was only then she realized how terrified she was. Still. The memory of the water closing over her was just as fresh as when it was happening seconds earlier. Only now, her traitorous brain wondered what would have happened had Hawk not seen her deadly plunge.

She’d slipped sideways into the pond, and her skirts had tangled about her legs. She was disoriented and trapped and would have drowned in four feet of water had he not seen her and plucked her from danger.

Vaguely she wondered what Hawk was even doing there, out in the storm. She had been caught in it on her way back to the house after touring the gardens with the rest of the house-party guests, traipsing after an overeager Lady Sherrill, Hawk’s grandmother. She hadn’t wanted to leave the house in the first place, wishing to stay where she could keep an eye on her brother and Hawk. But Audrey had insisted, and so they had gone.

Oh God, Audrey. Her cousin was still out there somewhere in the storm.

With the battering rush of wind and rain, she couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like Hawk swore then, a guttural sound that cut through the disturbance around her. She’d never heard Hawk swear. His choice of weapon against her was always flattery and teasing. 

She blamed this momentary confusion for what happened next. Hawk picked her up unceremoniously and strode in the direction of the house, his long legs devouring the distance and the stairs up to the terrace as if it were little more than a stroll in the gardens. She didn’t even protest, and blast if she didn’t hang on to the man like some simpering debutante.

When the Lady Takes a Lover

The Secret Matchmaker Series Book 2

On sale: January 20, 2022

Lady Caroline Hodge has no interest in finding a husband, which can make a season on the marriage mart rather difficult. Her only goal is to stop her brother’s deplorable friend, the Earl of Stonegate, from further ruining her brother’s life.

Hawkins Savage has no plans to wed either. He has no plans at all as he fully expects to die before his thirtieth birthday just as his father did. So when he finds himself attracted to his best friend’s little sister, he goes along with Caroline’s idea that he is a scoundrel and solely responsible for her brother’s near ruin, anything to keep her at arm’s length.

But when they find themselves unexpectedly alone at a house party, their mutual attraction is too great to ignore. With neither wanting long-term entanglements, they strike a bargain. Lovers only. But they’ll soon discover love will not be stopped by a simple arrangement.

When the Lady Takes a Lover is the second book in the steamy, heart-stopping historical romance series, The Secret Matchmaker Series. If you love sexy, spellbinding romance and heartwarming humor, don’t miss this captivating series from bestselling author Jessie Clever. Discover adventure and romance when you download When the Lady Takes a Lover today.

Allow me to introduce you to the cousins from the family hodge.

When the Earl Falls in Love

On Sale: October 21, 2021

As a confirmed wallflower, Lady Audrey D’Arcy dreams of the day she’ll officially be on the shelf and out from under society’s, and her mother’s, critical eye. But when she encounters a handsome stranger in a cloakroom, her dreams for the future are suddenly not so clear.

Dashiell Evers, the Earl of Amberley, has lived a life meant for his dead brother. So when he encounters a bold wallflower in the dark confines of a cloakroom, he knows he’s found the one person who is meant for him and only him.

But when she refuses his attentions, the two strike a bargain instead. He will not pursue courtship with her if she will allow him to teach her the freedoms afforded a spinster.

Except what neither of them bargain for is love.

When the Earl Falls in Love is the first book in the steamy, heart-stopping historical romance series, The Secret Matchmaker Series. If you love sexy, spellbinding romance and heartwarming humor, don’t miss this captivating series from bestselling author Jessie Clever. Discover adventure and romance when you download When the Earl Falls in Love today.