The Beloved Escapade

A dead painter’s journals. A hidden library chamber. And a woman with the audacity to propose marriage to the scholar who unlocked it.
In this steamy Regency romance, a bold heiress and a passionate Florentine art historian find themselves bound by a bargain neither expected … and a desire neither can deny. But can two people chasing three centuries of secrets trust each other enough to find what they’re truly searching for?

He is so close to learning the truth …
Lorenzo di Bianchi has spent years chasing the silence of his ancestor, the Renaissance painter Matteo di Bianchi. Arriving at Grey House in Gloucestershire, he expects polite refusals and dusty ledgers. Instead he finds a vibrant young woman who guards her uncle’s secrets as fiercely as her independence. And she’s just made him the most outrageous offer of his life. The quest is dangerous, but the woman might be more so.

She craves adventures …
Lucy Carroway has spent seven years mourning her beloved uncle. Now, as the new mistress of Grey House, a hidden room has cracked open her carefully ordered world and with it the chance at the adventure she has always craved. The Florentine scholar who discovered it is inconveniently handsome, inconveniently fascinating, and entirely too willing to consider her mad proposal. The arrangement is merely practical. Merely temporary. Merely the most thrilling thing that has ever happened to her.

As the search for secrets draws them from English libraries into deeper waters, and closer together, Lorenzo must decide whether to guard his family’s ancient secrets or let this fearless woman into his heart, and Lucy must choose whether the life she has always wanted is worth the price of risking her heart.

The Beloved Escapade is the delightful fifth book in the Inconvenient Ventures Regency adventure romance series, set within Nina Jarrett’s bestselling Inconvenient Brides world. Each sub-series can be enjoyed on its own, with a new romance in every volume. If you enjoy clever clues, secret societies, daring heroines who take matters into their own hands, and heart-stopping kisses against the backdrop of hidden treasures, then you’ll adore Nina Jarrett’s charming novel. Can be read as a standalone book or as part of the series.