Beguile Me Not

Mr Ivanovsky disturbed her. She felt like an explorer who had suddenly found themselves face-to-face with a strange, never-before-seen creature.

It happened one night. One hot, moonlit midsummer night at a ball in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1884. Miss Anna Brown walks out onto the terrace and into arrestingly beautiful Russian artist Sasha Ivanovsky. He is unconventional, unfettered, adventurous, dangerously bohemian-everything she is not, everything she fears. But she is bewitched. His eyes-dark, mysterious, smoulderingly passionate- burn into her mind, into her heart, into her very soul. Unthinkingly, she dances the night away with him.

But when dawn breaks, it brings with it the cold light of reality. Anna's carefree exhibition on the dance floor has set the tongues of society wagging, and she cannot bear it. Ivanovsky is dangerous, unsuitable, forbidden. She is determined not to be consumed by fire. She must do the only sensible thing-cut herself from him. She must extinguish the only warmth that had ever touched her and let cold, lonely unhappiness once more be her world. Respect and duty done-they were the things that would define her life. With one glance from his dark eyes, he stole her heart away on that fateful midsummer night. She is desperately determined that he will not steal away her body and soul too. A resistance must be mounted. Her rebel heart must be subdued, and all thoughts of doomed, dangerous loves locked away.

But how cold and bleak it is; so cold that she cannot make herself kill the last remaining spark, the ember that still smoulders deep inside her soul... Drop by drop, she feels herself melting away. Soon there might be nothing left of her. But she will not yield. Nothing will prevent her living the life her family and her society demand, however much it hurts, of that she is certain.

But the sea has something for Anna. Something dangerous and forbidden. Something she does not want. Something she loves and fears above all things. It is coming closer-closer to tempting her, closer to burning her, closer to shattering her. A storm that cannot be weathered unchanged. A storm that could wreck her... Length: 62,000 words Content: No strong language, some mild, non-graphic adult content In a book from the 19th Century Love Stories series you will find: A swoon-worthy hero who knows how to treat a woman right Real woman with real issues Truly meaningful romance Atmospheric, enticing settings lovingly rendered in poetic, image-rich language Fresh, original writing, plots and characters A rich and zesty mix of wit, irony and slightly quirky humour, contrasted with poignant, heartfelt emotion and involved drama A lively, dialogue-focused narrative style An uplifting and entertaining read which will also leave you satisfied on a deeper level