EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT: The Last Lord Standing by Diana Lloyd

If you love scandal, you’ll love The Last Lord Standing by Diana Lloyd, which releases May 15th, 2023! While you wait for the release, enjoy this exclusive excerpt!

More brash than subtle, she insinuated herself at his side, jostling him with her elbow to get his attention. Not one to let the opportunity slip by, Kerr flashed his most charming smile. Ah, his smile was returned, and it appeared genuine. He’d take whatever encouragement he could get. It was time for a bolder move.

Wiser patrons had gone mysteriously missing during the break, making it easier to find a seat next to her. Facing down bad musicians cheek to jowl in the front row wasn’t his idea of an enjoyable afternoon, but he’d be a fool to let this opportunity pass him by.

Reining in his impulse to make conversation, he started attracting her attention slowly. A shared smile over the awkwardness, a comical grimace over a particularly tortured note. Side by side in companionable silence, he tried hard not to stare at her lips…and dream.

When an opportunity for conversation presented itself, thanks to a broken E-string, he spoke the words he’d spent the last quarter hour planning. They weren’t particularly clever words, but they would get a response. He’d often been told he had a golden tongue. Now was the time to test its usefulness.

“Good afternoon, Lady Olivia,” he said. “What a delightful surprise to see you again.” Watching for any minute changes in her face as she contemplated her response, he noted amusement and curiosity along with something else he had a hard time putting a name to. Could it be determination? Now he was curious.

“Hardly a surprise,” she said. “I wondered if you’d make an appearance, Mr. Northam. Are you enjoying the performance?”

“Immensely,” he lied.

“Liar,” she leaned in and whispered. “I needed to test your dedication,” she said with a laugh as she leaned back in her seat. “You passed.”

“I should have known Prestwick’s sister wouldn’t be able to keep her mouth shut,” he said, dangling out a dose of truth to see how she’d respond.

“But did you, really?”

“No,” he offered a little more truth. “Knowing the girl, I had to at least consider the possibility. What’s your game, Lady Olivia?”

“It’s not a game. It’s my life.”

Always the rogue and never the gentleman, Kerrigan Northam doesn’t worry about anything beyond his own pleasures. But lately, his noble friends have been considering marriage—specifically, the charms (and generous fortune) of the refreshingly pert Lady Olivia Liberty Chalford. Now they want Kerr to keep her from considering any other eligible suitors…by courting her himself! Libby is averse to the very idea of marriage. Why be auctioned off when she has a far more enticing—if scandalously modern—plan for her future? So when she’s rescued by a wickedly dashing gentleman who claims to be something of a scoundrel, Libby thinks she’s found the perfect partner in crime… It’s the perfect ruse. Libby gets a secret accomplice and Kerr’s in the uniquely coveted position of being able to kiss the comely, spirited Libby as thoroughly—and as often—as possible. But as their courting charade continues, Kerr’s gone from wondering how long until she discovers his secret…to how long until he’s madly in love with her.

Diana Lloyd, mother of gingers, first of her name, is a stay-at-home wife, a hockey mom, and writer of stories with kissing in them. Diana defends her writing time like a rabid goalie while simultaneously volunteering for things she doesn’t really have time for. Diana is a member of Hearts Through History chapter of Romance Writers of America and was a 2017 RWA Golden Heart Finalist. Her Regency romp, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR BARON, the first book in the “What Happens In the Ballroom” series, is scheduled for publication in July 2018.