His Darling Friend: A Touches of Austen Novella - Touches of Austen

He's known her for her whole life, but he's never thought of her like this until now.

House parties are notoriously dangerous for the gentleman who wishes to remain single, and Roger Shelton would be avoiding the one at the Abernathys' if it wasn't his best friend's birthday.

Victoria Hamilton is only attending the Abernathys' house party to please her mother. She has no thought of finding a husband amongst the hopeful gentlemen in attendance. In fact, she expects that the party will be rather dull. However, when her friend arrives, boredom becomes the least of her worries.

While Roger is not ready to give up his bachelor ways just yet, he's not opposed to helping others find their way to marital bliss -- especially, if that someone is a marriage-minded miss who seems to be fond of him. Therefore, when Roger enlists Victoria's help in his matchmaking scheme, he only means to keep himself safe from being caught in the parson's trap.

However, his intentions change along the way, when he discovers that avoiding marriage is the last thing he wants to do for there is a lady who has long held his heart. It is a realization that has been a long time coming, but with schemers playing their games, is it a realization which is made too late?

His Darling Friend is book 2 in Leenie Brown's Touches of Austen series of sweet Regency romances. If you like stories featuring roguish heroes with a flair for being shocking and heroines who blush and scold as a result, you'll enjoy this tale about best friends discovering that sometimes the perfect match is as close as boy or girl next door.

So, put the kettle on, grab your copy of His Darling Friend, and join Roger and Victoria at the Abernathy's house party where scheming gone wrong is the entertainment of choice.

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Book Length:

• Just over 32,000 words
• 213 paperback pages

Heat level: Sweet

Books in this series:

1. His Beautiful Bea (Graeme and Bea's story)
2. His Darling Friend (Roger and Victoria's story)
3. Her Secret Beau (Walter and Grace's story)
4. His Irreplaceable Belle (Fritz and Belle's story)
5. Her Convenient Forever (Boyd and Felicity's story)
6. His Sensible Heart (Miles and Charlotte's story)