Book Title: The Schoolmaster’s Spy
Author: Ruby Moone
Publisher: Self-Published
Cover Artist: Meredith Russell
Release Date: October 28, 2021
Genre: Regency MM
Tropes: School Crushes / King’s spy with trust issues & geeky school master
Themes: Trust, love, finding a family, self-acceptance
Length: 93 000 words
It is book three in the Winsford Green Series and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Book 1 – Dances Long Forgotten
Book 2 – People Like Us
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Mark Dexter was the one boy that schoolmaster, Felix Brook, never forgot. Ten years later, he’s back…
Blurb
With Bonaparte defeated, King’s spy, Captain Mark Dexter is furious at being sent to investigate the latest headmaster of his old school, rather than a smuggling ring on the south coast. Things look up considerably when he realises that the schoolmaster he admired above all others, Felix Brook, is still there. The man who listened to him, the man who cared about him, the man who is still out of bounds. With only half an eye on the job, Dexter puts Felix in a compromising position. The mission goes catastrophically wrong, leaving Felix to bear the brunt of the repercussions. With his commanding officer after his blood, and Felix running from him, Dexter is desperate to put things right.
Felix Brook, schoolmaster, is devoted to Hestingley’s school and its pupils. His life is quiet and unremarkable, but When Mark Dexter turns up at an Old Boys’ dinner, he turns Felix’s life inside out. In the decade since he last saw him, the wild, unpredictable schoolboy has become a devastatingly handsome man. Felix can scarcely believe it when Dexter makes his attraction clear, it’s like a dream come true. Until it all goes wrong.
Reluctantly thrown together at the Winsford Green annual Summer Fete, Felix and Dexter attempt to piece together what happened, rebuild trust, and deal with the searing passion that still burns between them. When the truth is finally revealed, Felix must not only prove his innocence, but hold tightly to love as Dexter’s world crumbles beneath him.
The last time he’d seen Dexter, he’d been a wild, fearless young man vibrating with energy. Bold and charming in equal measure, fiercely intelligent though entirely lacking in any desire to do well, impress, or succeed. He’d sailed through school relying on raw talent and charisma, only engaging with the things that interested him, and escaping expulsion on numerous occasions. He was one of those rare beasts that had the ability to embrace both sport and intellectual pursuits. The only real effort he made was when worrying at a mathematical problem or over a chess game. When he wasn’t thus engaged, he flung himself with abandon into anything that involved physical effort with enormous success and talked endlessly either about Mr. Jackson’s boxing academy in London, or Verdoni’s chess games at Parsloe’s Coffee House. When Felix established a club for mathematics, and a club for chess (he drew the line at pugilism) Dexter had joined surprisingly readily, bringing all that energy and charm with him. It infected the others, and for a schoolmaster in his first year at the job, he’d been bowled over with his success and felt like he was doing something helpful.
Trying to engage Dexter had been like approaching one of the feral cats that populated the nearby fields. Holding out a tentative hand and waiting to see if it sniffed and accepted a touch or hissed, scratched, and bit. One never knew if Dexter would bite. Looking at him now, Felix realised he wasn’t entirely certain that wasn’t still the case.
Jules came to stand with him and interrupted his pondering. “Decent meal,” was all he said before taking a long drink of brandy.
“Not bad at all.”
“Decent company?” Jules slanted him a glance and Felix was certain he flushed.
“Very.”
“You seemed to get on terribly well with Captain Dexter.”
“I remember him well. He was one of the wild ones.”
“He’s turned into a stunningly handsome young man.”
Felix sighed involuntarily, bringing to mind the riot of dark curls, blade-like nose, and shimmering greenish eyes that were actually made up of any number of colours when one had the opportunity to look closely. Added to that, the sheer presence of the man and the sense of incipient danger about him meant that he was most definitely stunning.
“He is, rather.”
“Darling, leave him be. I’d wager he’s not yet house trained.”
“Jules!” Felix spluttered. “What on earth are you suggesting?” Jules knew of his preferences, shared them, and understood. Although there had never been anything between them, it had been comforting to know he wasn’t entirely alone and occasionally could talk to someone who wouldn’t be horrified and hand him over to a magistrate for his thoughts.
Jules arched an eyebrow. “Have a care, love.”
Mortification made it difficult for Felix to speak for a while. He had to admit he was completely bowled over by Dexter the man, but he thought he’d been discreet in his reaction. Besides, it wasn’t something that he could ever act on. As if someone like Mark Dexter would be remotely interested in a bookish schoolmaster with ink stains on his fingers.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Ruby Moone lives in the wilds of Lancashire with her husband and writes historical and contemporary romance. At school, her teachers said that she lived with her head in the clouds and if she didn’t stop daydreaming she would never get anywhere. She never did stop daydreaming, and after years of happily living in the clouds, decided to write the stories down.
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