Pride & Prohibition!
New York socialite Evie McKenzie is happy. At least, she tells herself that she must be since she has a ring on her finger from the man of her dreams and the city’s hottest speakeasy named in her honour. But a secret job as a gossip columnist brings the elusive and sinfully seductive Jack Taylor back into her orbit, and resisting him is twice as hard the second time around.
For speakeasy manager Tug Hadley, the roar of the twenties is practically deafening – her eyes and ears are full of opportunity, and she’s ready to grab life with both hands. If only the man she loves wasn’t engaged to her best friend…
Beneath the bootlegged booze and beaded flapper dresses, Evie and Tug must decide how much they’re willing to risk to get what they want in this most decadent era of high-stakes hedonism.
Also available by Delancey Stewart
Prohibited!
The Glittering Life of Evie McKenzie
Delancey Stewart
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2015
Copyright © Delancey Stewart 2015
Delancey Stewart asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
E-book Edition © June 2015 ISBN: 9781474032568
Version date: 2018-07-23
DELANCEY STEWART
writes contemporary romance and romantic comedy.
Stewart has lived on both coasts of the United States, in big cities and small towns. She’s been a pharmaceutical rep, a fitness trainer and a direct sales representative for a wine importer, but she has always been a writer first.
A military spouse and the mother of two small boys, her current job titles include pirate captain, monster hunter, Lego assembler, homework helper, and story reader. She tackles all these efforts at her current home outside Washington D.C.
Find her at www.delanceystewart.com
Contents
Book List
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
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Evie
‘Miss Evie, you’re doing it again. Breathe, sweetheart.’ Buck was guiding the small car through the narrow streets as he spoke, staring at Evie seated next to him.
A woman with a baby in a carriage was crossing the street up ahead. Evelyn’s eyes widened as they accelerated toward the woman, and she turned her head to find Buck still looking at her, concern spread across his gentle face. She found that Buck was right, she had been holding her breath. But she let it out to scream, ‘Buckie, look out!’
Buck hit the brakes, and the woman crossed, shooting a look of fear toward the little coupe as she disappeared between parked cars and back up onto the sidewalk. ‘Oh for Pete’s sake,’ Buck said.
‘It doesn’t help my nerves one little bit when you drive like a maniac!’ Evie pulled herself straighter and forced a deep breath in and out. ‘There, see? I’m breathing, okay?’ She smoothed her dark skirt and fidgeted with the little hat that covered her dark curls.
‘I don’t know why you’re lettin’ yer nerves get to you, Miss Evie. You’ll knock ‘em dead, I know it.’
Evie smiled at Buck. He was so much more than her family’s driver and butler. Buck had been with her since she was born, and as she was an only child, he had been her most faithful playmate when she was young. Now that she was a young woman, he seemed happy to be her co-conspirator, helping her manage things that her parents would certainly never approve of. Buck was nothing if not devoted to his charge. Sometimes Evie worried that her antics might