A New Dawn is a captivating regency historical romance novel of passion and intrigue.
As a young girl, Elisabeth dreamed of belonging to the hustle and bustle of the city of London. Now her passion for design and fashion grows daily. With the aid of her grandmother’s finances she is able to purchase her own dress shop: the House of Camille, and begins creating wonderful detailed gowns and dresses for the elite of the city.
Her first assignment is for a young lady's coming out ball. The dress she creates is exquisite and Elisabeth soon finds that she is a well sought-after seamstress with enough money to keep her shop and hire a staff.
Adelaide is learning how to be an adult in society. Her family is well-off and she is presented to those in their social circle as a lady finally ready to mix with the likes of Earls and Countesses. It is here that she meets Robert, Earl of Lovelace, who sweeps her off her feet and makes her forget all her previous desires in life. He draws her into a world of the physical where she is head over heels devoured by it, and him.
Little do the three know that soon their worlds will be so intertwined that none will know up from down as they delve deeper into desires, control, romance & deceit.
Elisabeth is welcomed into the beautiful Lovelace chateau by that very woman who has become her dearest friend and lover: the Countess Adelaide. While they are attending balls, tea parties and soirées, Lady Lovelace’s husband is drinking himself into a stupor every night and being led home by his close companion, Thomas. Thomas has, by this time, also taken up residence at the chateau, leaving the foursome to be seen as a solid group out and amongst the socialites of the metropolis.
Little do any of them realize that their innermost secrets are not so secret after all and word begins to spread that the Lovelace marriage is not as solid as it may seem.
As things unfold, Elisabeth and Countess Adelaide Lovelace make a decision – they can no longer be anything more than friends. The sexual nature of their relationship has run its course and, for now, they are happy to remain platonic associates and business partners in Elisabeth’s wildly successful dress shop.
Elisabeth and Thomas decide to move out of the Lovelace’s property and charming Thomas sweeps in with an offer of a room that Elisabeth accepts. Elisabeth can't help feeling a delicious shiver of excitement at occupying the same house as Thomas. Moving into that space it's clear Thomas is a man's man, and has no intention of changing. Nor, to Elisabeth’s secret chagrin, will his intentions of marrying well within his class.
Yet, when winter comes, something begins to warm between Thomas and Elizabeth and even they can’t deny their changing feelings. Can Thomas overcome his pride and accept a once poor girl as his wife? Will Elisabeth, for her part, be forced to choose between his love and her reputation?
We travel with these four through their ups and downs in an array of fashion and dancing, drinking and assumptions, sex and love and all the emotional turbulence such entails. Until the end, when a marriage is saved, a friendship is kept, and a man comes to own his truest desire for a woman who is not of his social standing.