Former butler Mae Valentine accepted the risk-filled life Major Hamish Kitt led when she married him. Mae isn’t sure what to believe after a spy loves says, ‘I love you,’ and everything, including her own life, is nothing but a ruse.Ī secret marriage to a not-so-secret agent. Spies come back from the dead in movies and books, but this isn’t film or fiction. Reproduction wines, counterfeit handbags, forged art, and sham relationships trap Mae in a web of phonies, frauds, and liars-with Kitt the greatest charlatan of them all. It’s the origin of how a retired butler met the surly spy.Ī heartbroken butler. It’s clear neither one of them suffer fools, and soon these two professionals find surprising common ground, a service arrangement that suits them both, and changes their lives forever. She’s half a mind to turn around with the Chelsea buns she baked, but that would be impolite. Mae Valentine knows her new tenant is a tad mysterious-turns out he’s also a bit of a prick.

Trapped in his new home by a healing serious injury that could end his career, Major Kitt’s more surly than usual, and his moodiness doesn’t shift when his landlady drops by expecting a favour. Your Sterling Service (In Service 1.5-short story) If he can’t protect Mae, he’ll lose the best butler-and scrambled eggs-a spy ever loved. To keep her safe from women in ugly shoes, homicidal bankers, and Mafia henchmen, Kitt risks exposing his true profession, which doesn’t trouble him as much as being in love with a woman who’s still in love with a dead man. Soon, a volcano, a hand roasting in an oven, and a fish named Shirley accentuate sinister machinations that involve Mae and the missing money.

Their easy bond is tested the day Mae kills the man sent to murder her and the trust fund vanishes.

Kitt knows of Mae’s fondness for order, her beloved dead husband, and the millions the man left her in trust. It’s Charade meets Remains of the Day.Īfter three years in the employ of a former British army officer turned Risk Assessment Specialist, widowed butler Mae Valentine is familiar with Major Kitt’s taste for scrambled eggs, bourbon, and brawling. A romantic suspense cosy spy-thriller-mystery with a dash of grittiness and humour.

A Basic Renovation by Sandra Antonelli