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      A Wife of Her Choosing

      Dominic Granville needs a wife—whether he wants one or not! And governess Serena Somerton intends to find one for him. A marriage of convenience would provide the wealthy widower’s five children with a mother’s tender care. And yet none of Dominic’s prospective brides can meet Serena’s increasingly high standards.

      Unconventional, certainly. Outspoken, to be sure. Even so, Miss Somerton’s quirks can’t curb Dominic’s growing interest in the spirited young woman. After his wife’s death, Dominic was sure he couldn’t love again. But faced with the prospect of losing Serena to another, one fact becomes clear. His imperfect governess could be his ideal wife.

      “I will do my best for my children in this matter of my remarriage, Miss Somerton, you may rely on that. I am more than conscious that they depend on me—indeed, I would give my life for any of them.”

      What on earth had possessed him to say something so dramatic? Blame it on the midnight madness. Serena made a little smothered sound. Dominic raised his eyebrows at her, daring her to comment.

      She shook her head. “It’s time I returned to my chamber.” She bent over and kissed Louisa’s forehead. The way she smoothed a lock of his daughter’s hair reminded Dominic of Emily. For one moment, he found himself wanting that touch on his own hair, that tenderness directed at him.

      No.

      Yet instinctively, he drew closer, and as Serena straightened, she bumped into him. Dominic grasped her arms to steady her. Immediately, he released her.

      They stood, staring at each other.

      “Good night,” she blurted. And almost ran from the room.

      ABBY GAINES

      wrote her first romance novel as a teenager, only to have it promptly rejected. A flirtation with a science fiction novel never really got off the ground, so Abby put aside her writing ambitions as she went to college, then began her working life at IBM. When she and her husband had their first baby, Abby worked from home as a freelance business journalist…and soon after that the urge to write romance resurfaced. It was another five long years before Abby sold her first novel to Harlequin Superromance in 2006.

      Abby lives with her husband and children—and a labradoodle and a cat—in a house with enough stairs to keep her semifit and a sun-filled office with a sea view that provides inspiration for the funny, tender romances she loves to write. Visit her at www.abbygaines.com.

      The Governess and Mr. Granville

      Abby Gaines

      MILLS & BOON

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      Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!

      —Isaiah 43:18–19

      For Bridget Latham

      With love and best wishes for your new life with Darrell

      Contents

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Nineteen

       Chapter Twenty

       Chapter Twenty-One

       Chapter Twenty-Two

       Excerpt

      Chapter One

      Woodbridge Hall, Leicestershire, England, 1816

      Dominic Granville seldom troubled himself with the running of his household. He had a spinster sister and a host of servants to take care of that. Besides, he had plenty to occupy him, between his land and its tenants.

      Oh, yes, and his children.

      His assumption that things would continue very much as they had for the past five years had proved correct. Until today.

      Until he’d opened the letter newly arrived from London, fixed with a seal of aristocracy that he remembered from his school days at Eton, but hadn’t had much occasion to see since.

      Blast.

      Dominic reread the letter, penned in a firm, elegant hand. It said exactly what he thought it had on his first reading.

      He tugged the bellpull behind his desk. While he waited for his butler, he

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