Book excerpt: When Ellie and Lou fall in love it is with great abandon. And Ellie and Lou— they have grand ideas. A small cottage, a garden, a goat to manage the weeds, sheep for wool to knit. But the truth of the matter lies in the reality. Louisa must marry, to the satisfaction of her father and so must Ellie— whose family hopes for a title to add legitimacy to their status, opening doors in the ton. And when Louisa's father discovers- A friend rescues Louisa from a horrible fate, sending her into hiding for her own protection. For three long years Louisa remains in exile out of fear of what her father could do. Necessity returns Louisa to London, and as soon as she does the memories of her beautiful Ellie haunt her. But Louisa has no idea if Ellie is even here, or unmarried, or still in want of her as Louisa is and has been since that first moment she saw her across the shimmering ballroom. Louisa fears discovering the truth of it all, that she was but a passing fancy born of the excitement of the heat of a first season.Will she find her? Will she still want her? And even if so, what can they do now, that they couldn't do before? Nothing has changed- but everything is different. •><•>•<•><• The Lady and Her Secret Lover is the seventh full - length illustrated historical romance in the Lords of Time series and is a companion novel to The Duke and The Baron. Books in the LORDS OF TIME SERIES: THE RAKE AND THE RECLUSE THE DUKE AND THE BARON THE DUKE AND THE DOMINA THE TROUBLE WITH GRACE THE SPARE AND THE HEIR THE SADIST AND THE STOLEN PRINCESS THE LADY AND HER SECRET LOVER