Scheming for Her

I'm preparing a new historical romance, Golden Crow. Please add it to your collection. Thank you! Blurb: A scheme at the Hundred Flowers Banquet leaves Gu Nian married before she knows what's happening. She mistakenly drinks spiked sweet tea, loses her senses, and falls into Xie Yan's arms. The situation becomes impossible to undo. Xie Yan, heir to the Marquis of Zhennan, is a dashing, accomplished young man. Countless noblewomen are smitten with him, and Gu Nian knows she is marrying above her station. She doesn't ask for mutual love, only that they treat one another with respect. But the more she tries to please him and endure, the more certain Xie Yan becomes that she has ulterior motives. Gu Nian thinks that in time, he will see her sincerity. Until one night at a palace banquet, she wanders into the garden and overhears half a sentence: "Wouldn't it be unfair to make you a secondary wife?" She turns and sees her husband lifting a hand to wipe the tears from another woman's face. Gu Nian finally comes to her senses. She returns the wedding token and asks for a divorce. Xie Yan silently accepts it. He thinks they will never cross paths again, but days later, he hears that Gu Nian is dead. * Years pass. Xie Yan is sent south on an imperial inspection, and local officials bring their wives to pay their respects. Seated on the dais, Xie Yan sweeps a cool gaze across the hall. The wife of Deputy Constable Cui Yunchi keeps her head bowed very low. For a moment, he is lost in thought, remembering their brief marriage. The beauty mark beneath her collarbone often appears in his dreams. He had assumed Gu Nian had never changed, and that her second marriage, concealed from him, must have been part of some scheme. Gradually, he grows curious about what happened to her and cannot help caring about his "deceased" wife. Before long, he wants to become someone she can rely on and is determined to start over with her. But Gu Nian only says, "My lord, some things cannot be forced." * Xie Yan has always prided himself on being proper, composed, and disciplined. Until the day he can no longer resist pulling Gu Nian close and pinning her behind a rockery. Gu Nian looks at him timidly, rouge blooming on her lips. Only then does he understand what it means to be consumed by desire. [Come check out my completed novels!] Historical romance: Xiao Xiao, a groveling-to-win-her-back story. Modern romance: This Love Wasn't Meant to Be, a rekindled romance. Theme: You have to fight for your own happiness.