Unmasked

Unmasked
Nicola Cornick

Can innocent young widow Mari Osborne really be a murderess and the notorious leader of the Glory Girls highwaywomen?Wickedly handsome Nick Falconer would stake his life on it! He's been sent from London to the tranquil English village of Peacock Oak to solve the murder of his cousin Rashleigh and unmask this female Robin Hood. But Nick never expected that Mari would be so intoxicatingly beautiful or so disturbingly luscious.Determined to have her–body, soul and secrets–at any cost, Nick sets out to seduce her with a passion that inflames them both. But Mari holds much deeper, darker truths than Nick could ever imagine. Despite her fierce resistance, she can't stop her body from yearning for his touch.Can she hide her sinister past from him much longer? Or will trusting the one man she so desperately wants lead her straight to the hangman's noose?

Nicola Cornick

is an international bestselling author and a

RITA

Award finalist, and her novels have received acclaim the world over

“A rising star of the Regency arena.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Nicola Cornick’s historical romances bring the sensual and elegant world of the Regency to vivid life.”

—Anna Campbell, author of Untouched

“Ms. Cornick has a brilliant talent for bringing her characters to life, and embracing the reader into her stories.”

—RomanceJunkies

Praise for Nicola’s previous HQN titles

“A powerful story, rich, witty and sensual—a divinely delicious treat.”

—Marilyn Rondeau, Reviewers International Organization, on Deceived

“Cornick masterfully blends misconceptions, vengeance, powerful emotions and the realization of great love into a touching story.”

—Romantic Times BOOKreviews, 4½ stars, on Deceived

“Cornick expertly spices her latest Regency historical with danger, while the sizzle she cooks up between her sinfully sexy hero and delightfully resourceful heroine is simply spectacular.”

—John Charles, Booklist, on Lord of Scandal

Nicola Cornick

Unmasked

Dear Reader,

From the Scarlet Pimpernel to Zorro, Robin Hood to William Wallace, the real-life legends and fictional stories of those who fight for freedom and justice have always inspired me. In Unmasked I have written an outlaw story of my own! Over the wild heather-clad hills and dales of Yorkshire ride a band of highwaywomen, taking from the rich to give to the poor, protecting the weak and setting right the injustices of society in true Robin Hood style. But the Glory Girls who ride in Unmasked are no ordinary outlaws. These are women who defy convention because they cannot bear to sit at home, confined by the traditional role of the Regency wife or widow, who see injustice and feel a burning need to take action.

Nick Falconer, the hero of Unmasked, is a man of honor, sworn to uphold the law, and when he is sent to bring the Glory Girls down he is determined to do his duty. But in Mari Osborne, the woman he suspects to be Glory, he finds someone very different from the criminal he is expecting, someone whose principles equal his own…. I loved writing my story of those dashing Regency outlaws the Glory Girls, and I hope you enjoy it, too!

Love from

This book is dedicated to Yorkshire,

county of my birth, for all the wild and

wonderful places that inspired me.

Unmasked

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

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

AUTHOR NOTE

PROLOGUE

London—April 1805