A Harmless Deception

Love under mistaken identity
Lady Maria, or Sweet Maria as the ton calls her, cannot abide the hypocritical ways of Polite Society. She knows that if not for her wealth and family connections, she may not have ever been received, for her mother was not nobly born, and an American to boot.

Maria means to sail away to America upon reaching her majority. To realize her dream, she secretly runs the most successful bonnet shop in London.

She agrees to an arranged match to ward off her persistent suitors, treating the engagement as a sham to be ended at her convenience.

Then, most unexpectedly, she finds love with a commoner.

Only, he is not a commoner, but the Earl of Daventon.

Gareth, Earl of Daventon, does not believe in love. His parents made a love match that ended in heartbreak, and he will not be likewise fooled. So when a mysterious young woman who dresses like a shop girl but behaves like a lady captures his interest, he takes measures to safeguard his heart. He accepts an arranged match to steer himself away from her. His betrothed is Lady Maria, whom he has not met – or thinks he has not met.

A delightful tangle of affairs awaits both as they unravel the truth of each other's identity.

A Harmless Deception was previously published in June 2017 as Not So Sweet Maria under the pen name Jessica Spencer.