My Fake Mistress - Heartbeats of History: Steamy Historical Romance Shorts, #4

Lord Julian Ashford, Baron Moncrief, detests London. Detests society. Since his wife died over a decade ago, he has had little thought for anything other than his own grief. Filling his life with work and duty, he exists as a shell of his former self. And while he can think of nothing worse than entertaining a hoard of freeloading guests, the weekend house party is his daughter's celebration, and while happiness eludes him, he would do anything for her.
Blythe Flintwood knows a thing or two about the hard knocks life can throw at a girl. Orphaned, alone, and reliant on her skills as an art conservator to pay her way, she appreciates the small things. A beautiful painting. A special friendship. A weekend house party at a country estate to celebrate her best friend's birthday. She takes nothing for granted. If only the grubby old lords in attendance would stop propositioning her at every opportunity.
If only they would listen to her when she tells them she's not interested. But they are powerful men, accustomed to getting what they want, especially when it comes to women like herself. So, to keep them at a distance, she tells a lie. Just a little lie. She tells them she is mistress to her best friend's father. And when she tells Julian what she has done, he, unbelievably, agrees toplay along. My Fake Mistress was previously released as part of the Love for Maui anthology.
My Fake Mistress is a steamy novella set in the late Victorian era. Its main tropes are best friend's father, age gap, blue stocking and widower baron. With a guaranteed HEA, My Fake Mistress has HOT consensual scenes. It includes strong language and sexy times. This novel also contains themes of parental death, spouse loss, grief and misogyny that some audiences may find confronting.