New Release! Giveaway, prize and Book Tour! TAMING A GENTLEMAN SPY

TAMING A GENTLEMAN SPY - The Spies of Mayfair Series, Book Two is released in e-book! Print book released in February.

AMAZONMAGGI ANDERSEN'S WEBSITE

Blurb: John Haldane, Earl of Strathairn, is on an urgent mission to find the killer of his fellow spy. Has the treasonous Frenchman, Count Forney, returned to England to wreak havoc? Or has someone new landed on English shores to stir up rebellion in the Midlands? After visiting the young widow of one of his agents, Strathairn strengthens his resolve. A spy should never marry. And most certainly not to Lady Sibella Winborne, with her romantic ideas of love and marriage. Unable to give Sibella up entirely, he has kept her close as a friend. And then weak fool that he is he kissed her... Lady Sibella Winborne has refused several offers of marriage since her first Season years ago -- when she first set eyes on the handsome Earl of Strathairn. Sibella's many siblings always rush to her aid to discourage an ardent suitor, but not this time. Her elder brother, Chaloner, Marquess of Brandreth, has approved Lord Coombe's suit. Sibella yearns to set up her own household. She is known to be the sensible member of the family. But she doesn't feel at all sensible about Lord Strathairn. If only she could forget that kiss...

Enjoy an excerpt!

Summer, 1819

Chapter One

          A gunshot exploded into the quiet night. Strathairn dropped into a crouch as another ball whistled overhead, followed by a thud as lead bit into the wall above him, showering him with fragments of brick. A bead of sweat trickled into his brow. Hell’s teeth—not the first time he had been shot at, but he’d expected this to be a fool’s errand. The moon sailed free of the clouds. It cast the new dock in silver light, revealing it empty. Where was Nesbit?

Breath held against the stench of low tide, he listened. Nothing but the surge of waves and the creak of ships moored out in the middle of London Pool waiting to unload their wares. The faint voices of the sailors aboard carried over the water.

At the slap of running feet echoing into the distance, Strathairn gripped his pistol. Keeping low, he rushed forward, leapt a pile of crates, then flattened himself against a wall. He edged around the corner, his pulse a drumbeat in his ears. Nesbit lay spread-eagled on his back. Strathairn stumbled toward his stricken friend, fell to his knees and groaned. Blood seeped from his partner’s head gleaming black in the dim light. Nesbit’s wide-open eyes, lively brown only moments before, looked blank. A prickle of foreboding climbed his spine. Had Nesbit been as surprised as he was by this attack, or had he recognized his killer?

Knowing it to be futile, he placed his fingers against Nesbit’s throat searching for a pulse, and cursed effusively under his breath when he found none. He had witnessed the death of too many good men. He rose to his feet determined not to let emotions weaken him now. His mind focused on the business at hand, he went to confirm whoever had done this had gone, moving stealthily through the shadows.

Apart from the scamper of rats, the rest of the dock stood empty. The moonlight picked out something shiny on the ground. Strathairn stooped to pick up a finely wrought gold cravat pin in the shape of an eagle just like the one Count Forney favored. A familiar restless energy and heightened alertness caused blood to pump through his veins.

A calling card? Word had come that Forney was dead. But was he? A flowery scent lingered in the air. Strathairn held the pin to his nose. Parisian, and a lady’s fragrance, if he was any judge.