Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings

Proper Scoundrels | Allie Therin

A Magic in Manhattan Spin-off

Release Date: December 28th, 2021

Buy Link: https://www.carinapress.com/shop/books/9780369704818_proper-scoundrels.html

Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57831165-proper-scoundrels

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Blurb

Their scandalous pasts have left them wounded and unworthy—and hopelessly perfect together.

London, 1925

Sebastian de Leon is adjusting to life after three years spent enthralled by blood magic. The atrocities he committed under its control still weigh heavily on his conscience, but when he’s asked to investigate a series of mysterious murders, it feels like an opportunity to make amends. Until he realizes the killer’s next likely target is a man who witnessed Sebastian at his worst—the Viscount Fine.

Lord Fine—known as Wesley to his friends, if he had any—is haunted by ghosts of his own after serving as a British army captain during the Great War. Jaded and untrusting, he’s tempted to turn Sebastian in, but there’s something undeniably captivating about the reformed paranormal, and after Sebastian risks his own life to save Wesley’s, they find common ground.

Seeking sanctuary together at Wesley’s country estate in Yorkshire, the unlikely pair begins to unravel a mystery steeped in legend and folklore, the close quarters emboldening them to see past the other’s trauma to the person worth loving beneath. But with growing targets on their backs, they’ll have to move quickly if they want to catch a killer—and discover whether two wounded souls can help each other heal.

Excerpt

From Chapter 2

After breakfast and several increasingly tiresome telephone calls, Wesley had Marcus, his driver, bring the car around front to take him to his first appointment. As Wesley strode down the front steps, he glanced each way down the quiet street.

An absolutely foolish moment of weakness, and Wesley ought to know better. But yesterday, he’d been in the backseat of his Bentley, and he’d caught a glimpse of someone walking on the street across from his house. Not one of his neighbors—old-fashioned, upper-class English like himself, top hats and crisp suits paired with walking sticks—but a younger man, his well-tailored clothes stylishly casual in the modern trend, bundled in a coat and scarf despite it only being September.

Wesley hadn’t been able to see most of his face—farsightedness didn’t let him see beneath a flat cap—and he’d blinked and the man had gone. But the fleeting impression of handsome man had stuck in Wesley’s head, the glimpse fusing itself to his memories and refusing to be shaken like one of those American jazz tunes one heard everywhere nowadays.

Granted, Wesley was cursed with remembering things too well; he’d never been able to live in cushiony forgetfulness the way others did. The man probably hadn’t been anything special. More likely, Wesley hadn’t bedded a man in so long that his flytrap mind was cataloging mirages as if they were memories worth keeping.

Ugh, this was exactly why he didn’t like handsome men. Hadn’t he learned anything from the travesty he’d made of things with Arthur? Six months he’d slept with the man and he’d barely known who Arthur really was, because every time they tried to talk they fought like bucks on a proving ground. But Arthur was outrageously beautiful, and Wesley had convinced himself that maybe, with enough time, he could learn to like him, that his own unfeeling heart might have hidden a single soft spot that could belong to another person.

More the fool him, then. It turned out Wesley was just another shallow idiot who thought with his cock. His heart of stone was impregnable, and he’d discovered he was an inattentive and self-absorbed partner, to boot. The handsome mirage had good sense to keep his distance.

Start with the original trilogy

Magic In Manhattan

Spellbound: In 1925 New York, relic hunter Arthur and psychometric Rory team up to retrieve a dangerous amulet–only to awaken feelings neither of them expected! “An exciting plot paired with fascinating magic… Solid and enjoyable” (Library Journal)

Starcrossed: In 1920s New York, Rory and Arthur have joined forces to save the city from a ruthless group of paranormals. As the pair grows closer, will their magic be enough to protect them from a terrible fate? A spellbinding adventure!

Wonderstruck: New York, 1925: When a powerful supernatural force threatens Manhattan, Arthur and Rory set off on a mission to save humanity. As they journey to Paris to destroy an ancient magic relic before it falls into the wrong hands, their love will be tested like never before…

https://www.harlequin.com/shop/authors/27550_allie-therin.html

Also available in audiobook

About The Author

Allie Therin is a writer and avid reader of sci-fi, fantasy, and romance. She also is, or has been, a bookseller, an attorney, a Parks & Rec assistant, a boom operator, and a barista for one (embarrassing) day.

She grew up in a tiny Pacific Northwest town with more bears than people, although the bears sadly would not practice Spanish with her.

Allie loves to hear from readers!

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Email: allietherinbooks @ gmail.com

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