A Spinster's Last Stand — Cara Maxwell

The gentlemen of the ton may have returned from war, but the Lady Knights of England are just beginning...

Disaster. Disgrace. Despair. Ethelreda McGovern has failed the Lady Knights, the Queen, and herself. Her punishment? Banishment would be appropriate. Forced retirement seems inevitable. But what actually happens is so much worse.

The least maternal of the Lady Knights, Ethelreda is dreading her new governess to the children of Sir George Caldwell. Ethelreda has never turned her back on her Queen and she shall not do so now-even if it means wiping noses and reading children's fairytales. Unlike her fellow Lady Knights, Red has never wielded seduction as a tool. But when she meets her new employer she is sorely tempted...

The horrors of Waterloo ought to be behind him. Instead, the ghosts of his past follow him back to England and join forces with the painful memories awaiting at home. This wounded soldier's body has healed, but his soul is another story entirely.

Sir George loves his children and has done his best, but the situation has gotten out of hand. The governess who arrives on his doorstep might be a self-declared spinster, but she's not the gray-haired, traditional type of help he expected. Red's spirit is as wild and free as her crown of fiery hair. And George is attracted to her with the intensity of the honeybees he studies seeking out nectar. But he's already seen one wife to the grave... can he bring himself to be vulnerable to another?

Before long, Red is struggling to remember why she's held herself apart for so long. She is finally ready to give in to the pleasure George offers in every embrace. Until her mission falls apart and the situation takes a turn for the deadly.