Earl of Tempest by Annabelle Anders

WHEN A DUKE’S DAUGHTER FALLS FOR A GRUMPY EARL, ALL WAGERS ARE OFF.

Just when Lady Lydia Cockfield is expecting an offer from the earl who lives next door, he turns his back on her. And it doesn’t make sense. She believed they were in love, and then… He suddenly hates her entire family? In the wake of his rejection, hoping to mend her broken heart, she travels to London to work alongside the Countess of Baxter in opening a dockside orphanage.

While drumming up funds, she stumbles on him months later, at London’s Wicked Earls Club, looking bitter and sarcastic, also seeking investors but without her same altruistic motives. Lydia, however, sees beyond his hardened mask and realizes she will never stop loving him. And upon recognizing the unhappiness in his wounded gaze, an idea takes root.

She will save him and hundreds of lost children at the same time. And in saving the children, Lord Tempest can save himself. He can believe in goodness again–believe in himself. All is threatened, however, when a secret betrayal comes to light. Will the truth extinguish his hope forever or will it release him from his shame, allowing him to grasp the happiness he’s deserved all along?

The Earl of Tempest is a standalone Wicked Earls Book AND a Regency Cocky Gents Book, but best when read in tandem with Ruined, by Annabelle Anders.