The Princess Plan. Julia London

      

      Princes have pomp and glory—not crushes on commoners

      Nothing gets the tongues of London’s high society wagging like a good scandal. And when the personal secretary of the visiting Prince Sebastian of Alucia is found murdered, it’s all anyone can talk about, including Eliza Tricklebank. Her unapologetic gossip gazette has benefited from an anonymous tip about the crime, prompting Sebastian to take an interest in playing detective—and an even greater interest in Eliza.

      With a trade deal on the line and mounting pressure to secure a noble bride, there’s nothing more salacious than a prince dallying with a commoner. Sebastian finds Eliza’s contrary manner as frustrating as it is seductive, but they’ll have to work together if they’re going to catch the culprit. And when things heat up behind closed doors, it’s the prince who’ll have to decide what comes first—his country or his heart.

      JULIA LONDON is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than fifty romantic fiction novels. She is the author of the best-selling Highland Grooms historical romance series, and the Lake Haven contemporary romance series. Julia is the recipient of the RT Bookclub Award for Best Historical Romance and a six-time finalist for the prestigious RITA^® award for excellence in romantic fiction. She lives in Austin, Texas.

       Also by Julia London and Mills & Boon

       Highland Grooms

      Wild Wicked Scot

      Seduced by a Scot

      Tempting the Laird,

      Devil in Tartan

      Hard-Hearted Highlander

      Sinful Scottish Laird

       The Cabot Sisters

      The Trouble with Honour

      The Devil Takes a Bride

      The Scoundrel and the Debutante

      The Princess Plan

      Julia London

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      ISBN: 978-1-474-09902-8

      THE PRINCESS PLAN

      © 2019 Dinah Dinwiddie

      Published in Great Britain 2019

      by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

      All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

      By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

      ® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

       Note to Readers

      This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:

       Change of font size and line height

       Change of background and font colours

       Change of font

       Change justification

       Text to speech

       Praise for New York Times bestselling author Julia London

      ‘There is such an emotional depth to the book…The gorgeous characters and the wit and charm made this a book I simply didn’t want to put down. I was willing Eliza and Sebastian on to their fairtytale happy ending!’

      —Nicola Cornick, on The Princess Plan

      ‘Charming, witty and warm. This is the perfect historical romance.’

      —Sunday Times bestselling author

      Sarah Morgan, on The Princess Plan

      ‘Julia London writes vibrant, emotional stories and sexy, richly drawn characters.’

      —Madeline Hunter,

      New York Times bestselling author

      ‘London is at the top of her game in this thrilling tale of political intrigue and second chances.’

      —Booklist, on Wild Wicked Scot

      ‘London’s new Highland Grooms series will be well worth following if this first novel is any indication…. An absorbing read from a novelist at the top of her game.’

      —Kirkus Reviews on Wild Wicked Scot

      ‘Expert storytelling and believable characters make the romance between Arran and Margot come alive in this compelling novel packed with characters whom readers will be sad to leave behind.’

      —Publishers Weekly on Wild Wicked Scot

      ‘Warm, witty and decidedly wicked—great entertainment.’

      —#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens on Hard-Hearted Highlander

      Dear Reader,

      I am so excited to introduce a new historical series to you. A Royal Wedding series was inspired by the very real fairy tale we all saw unfold when Meghan Markle married Prince Harry.

      The fairytale of a prince and a commoner has endured as the ultimate romantic fantasy—a handsome man of considerable means plucks an unassuming woman (us) from obscurity, puts a crown on our head, sets us up in a big beautiful home with lots of servants to do the washing and cleaning and, bonus, he worships the ground we walk on. You can’t look at the way Prince Harry looks at Meghan and imagine any less.

      I wanted to capture that magical thinking after the recent spate of royal weddings. I thought it would be fun to set the fairy tale in London in the Victorian era. But