_Balinor_

Lady Rhea Montgomery, Countess of Riverian has the perfect life.
A wonderful, powerful husband who rules his county with dignity and honour. Enough wealth to keep her dressed in the finest of silks and decked in jewels to enhance her radiant beauty. And people who love her as their beloved Countess.
Life is perfect, until suddenly it isn't and Rhea loses everything to a woman younger and more capable.
Becoming no one after being someone is almost too much to bear and just when Rhea resigns herself to her fate, along comes Lord Augustus Holloway, Duke of Ravenholm.
Everything she has heard about the powerful and dangerous man says to stay away but his sweet fondness for her says otherwise.
Augustus seduces Rhea into his frightening yet exciting world and leaves her questioning whether she could be someone without Lanon, and if her connection to him is worth the chaos it brings into her once peaceful life.
Rhea had once been a merchant's daughter and then a Countess. If she played the game right, and she damn well will, she could become a Duchess or maybe even Queen.

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Note: There is some confusion because of the language I use and the setting but please be aware that THIS IS NOT A HISTORICAL NOVEL.
It's a mix between 19th/20th century society and values and modern day technological advances.
Please keep that in mind so you don't go in with expectations that will not be met.
If you're cool with that, go right ahead and enjoy.

Lord Holloway's Adored Lady: Climbing The Ranks After Divorce

On her very first day in Holloway Palace Miss Rhea Wellman had already began making changes to her new home.

A sudden brust of creativity led her to have a lounging area made on her balcony, something simple to ensure the large space could be efficiently enjoyed.

With the eager help of the Palace servants she succesfullly found a spare set of chairs and a low table, cream-coloured to match the colour scheme of her suite, and her new escape from Palace politics was successfully created.

It was there that the Grand Duke's mistress gathered with her Ladies-In-Waiting to indulge in a favourite pastime of most courtesans: gossip.

"She is serpentine, that Lady Burnett," Calida concluded as Rhea's tale of the morning's events came to an end.

The Start of Something Beautiful and The Palace Has A Guest