The de Valery Code (42 page)

The Art of Ruining a Rake (2014)

The Innocents

The Cheer in Charming an Earl (a Christmas novella)

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Books by Erica Ridley

Historical Romance

Too Wicked To Kiss

Too Sinful To Deny

Born To Bite

Dark Surrender

Contemporary Romantic Comedy

Charmed

Midwinter Magic

Contemporary Romantic Fantasy

Let It Snow

To learn more about Erica, her books, or to sign up for her mailing list for contests, freebies, and new releases, visit http://www.ericaridley.com.

Author’s Note

I chose to set this story in and near Wales both because of the subject matter and because my grandmother, Selma Rita King Finney was born in Cardiff in 1916. I still have family there and was fortunate enough to visit several years ago. It’s a beautiful land with charming people, and while the Welsh language is difficult to pronounce, I find it lovely—probably because I can still hear my great-uncle Alec singing it.

The thirteen treasures of Britain are mythical objects that appear in various legends. They have been used in countless stories and in many ways (Harry Potter’s Deathly Hallows are somewhat based on them). I adapted them for Regency Treasure Hunters and added the Heart of Llanllwch for purely narrative purposes. The Silurum Stone is real and though I missed it on my last trip to Wales, I plan to visit the Caerwent Church next time.

The Order of the Round Table is a completely fictional group, but is based on the myriad secret societies that have existed for centuries. Edmund de Valery and Anarawd are fictional characters as are the documents they produced.

Of course there is no proof that King Arthur, his knights, the Round Table or any of Arthurian legend is real. I’d like to think it’s a little bit history, with a dash of embellishment, and a lot of great storytelling.

Acknowledgments

This book was so much fun to write, especially during the epic writing week I spent with Joan Swan/Skye Jordan and Elisabeth Naughton. There was so much good writing mojo that it transformed this book from a novella to a novel! Researching Arthurian legend and creating aspects to enhance the story was great fun and I want to thank Joan, Elisabeth, and Rachel Grant for helping me plotstorm.

I also want to thank Rachel, Elisabeth, and Janice Goodfellow for reading drafts. Your feedback is always spot-on and helpful. And thank you to Joan for your help with the cover typography—could NOT have done that without you! Special thanks to Janice and Emma Locke for their help with blurb-writing. Always a fun task, NOT.

Thanks go to my amazing production team, which includes Martha Trachtenberg’s indispensible copyediting and Trish Schmitt’s gorgeous cover design. I also have to send a shout-out to Kati Rodriguez who’s wrangling skills are better than any ranch hand.

Sending hugs and thanks to Erica Ridley, Lila DiPasqua, and Erica Monroe just because they’re awesome and they make life fun.

Most of all, thank you to my family who inspire me to come up with happily ever afters—it’s easy to do when you’re living one.

Copyright

The de Valery Code

Copyright © 2014 Darcy Burke

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 1939713242

ISBN-13: 978-1-939713-24-7

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Book design
©
Darcy Burke.

Cover design
©
Patricia Schmitt (Pickyme).

Copyediting: Martha Trachtenberg.

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

About the Author

Darcy Burke wrote her first book at age 11, a happily ever after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan who loved him, with exceedingly poor illustrations. Darcy writes hot, action-packed historical and sexy, emotional contemporary romance.

A native Oregonian, Darcy lives on the edge of wine country with her devoted husband, their two great kids, and two Bengal cats. In her “spare” time Darcy is a serial volunteer enrolled in a 12-step program where one learns to say “no,” but she keeps having to start over. She’s also a fair-weather runner, and her happy places are Disneyland and Labor Day weekend at the Gorge. Visit Darcy online at
http://www.darcyburke.com
and sign up for her new releases newsletter, follow her on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/darcyburke
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