A Scandal for Stratford

He has all he could ask for. James Lewis, the Earl of Stratford, has precisely what he wants: a quiet existence on his family estate, a thriving horse trade that leaves him plenty of time to work on the final volume of his anonymously published opus, The Maiden Diaries, and a deeply committed albeit unconventional relationship with his stablemaster, Harold Granger. While the shy, awkward earl can barely manage a word in London society, with Harold, he can share anything.

He wouldn't change a thing. Harold Granger knows what he and James risk by loving one another. James's reputation as an eccentric recluse would be twisted into something far worse if anyone learned he was carrying on an affair with a servant. Worse still if anyone learned that Harold puts the earl on his knees and delivers the welts and bruises James begs for. But when it's just the two of them, everything feels so perfectly right, and Harold is determined to remain a safe harbour to James no matter what.

But a storm is fast approaching. Their determination to protect each other is put to the test when James's volatile younger brother, Frederick, returns from a decade abroad, nursing grudges from the past. When Frederick stumbles upon James's secrets, he sees a means to rid himself of his brother and reclaim his own place in society. His scheming forces James and Harold from their idyllic life and into a web of treachery that can only be untangled by the Bucknall Club circle–if the two can let themselves trust these newfound friendships the way they trust each other.