Bewitching Benedict by C E Murphy

Bewitching Benedict by C E Murphy

Benedict Fairburn does not quite need his ailing great-aunt's fortune, especially since he'll have to marry to get it. His family, however, thinks otherwise - as do many of the eligible ladies in London - and the pressure is mounting. An embarrassment of attentions fill Benny's time, but the young lady he prefers roundly dislikes him.

Claire Dalton, cousin to one of Benedict's oldest friends, is too busy debuting in Society to pay much attention to the Fairburn boy who once insulted her past bearing. He doesn't recognize her, but that's hardly upsetting, especially with the fetching Mr. Graham offering his arm.

Unfortunately, Mr. Graham is not all he seems, and each week brings a fresh disaster for Claire's first Season. It's enough to drive a young woman to distraction, especially since Benny Fairburn keeps behaving so very oddly. Concealed tragedy, poor orphans, a dotty great-aunt, deception and misunderstanding whirl in every direction, ready to explode.

Benedict and Claire are perfect for each other. Unfortunately, it may take catastrophe to make them realize as much.

The Lovelorn Lads: A man needs manners, if he is to marry.

Zina Hutton once leapt out of a window to avoid ballet class in the Virgin Islands when she was a child. She's now a speculative fiction author who, whenever inspiration hits, dives headfirst into new stories and universes. Zina lives in sweltering South Florida, where she never leaves home without a notebook and her prized Kindles. Zina works as a marketing assistant, but she's also a published author, with non-fiction in Fireside Fiction, Anathema Magazine, The Mary Sue, Strange Horizons, ComicsAlliance, and Women Write About Comics, as well as many short tales in other publications.