A Novel Miss by Elizabeth Bramwell

Trix would rather be writing a book than searching for romance – at least, that’s the pretty fiction she likes to tell everyone. Well liked in the Ton and with many influential friends, Trix is well aware that her many attributes will never outweigh the fact that she is the penniless cousin of the Beau Monde’s darling, Lady Cordelia. With employment options for unmarried ladies of quality being extremely limited, Trix knows that establishing herself as a successful author will give her a way to an independent life. However, her plans quickly fall to ruin when the first instalments of her novels appear in print to the acclaim of the Ton – only Trix had no hand in publishing them.

Forced to confront the publisher directly, Trix finds herself up against the honourable Felix Drake- the most irritating, block-headed, annoying and frustrating man she has ever had the misfortune to meet. The fact that he makes her giggle at the most inopportune moments is quite irrelevant – someone has broken her trust, and she is determined to have things put right. Felix Drake is the youngest son of a youngest son, and as such is determined to make his own way in the world. His career as a publisher is still in its early days, but when a witty novel that caricatures many of the Ton drops into his lap from an unknown Gentlewoman, he senses his own fortunes are about to change.

That is, right up until a whirlwind of muslin and curls comes storming into his life, claiming to be the author of the work and not the lady he has been corresponding with. On the one hand, it’s bad business to upset a lady as well connected as Beatrix Manning and he should pull the books from circulation then and there, but on the other, he needs the sales for his small business to survive. Of course, if continuing to publish means that his path will continue to cross that of the enigmatic Trix, then perhaps he should let this story play out just a little longer – or better yet, perhaps he could find himself cast as the hero of the piece.