Harriet "Hattie" French speaks over a dozen languages—but none of them prepared her for this.

Seven years ago, Dowager Baroness Selwyn vanished without a trace. Now she's been declared dead, and her will is a masterpiece of meddling: Hattie, the first of the seven prodigies the baroness took under her wing during her prime, inherits Starling’s Rest, the manor where they were honed from wayward fledglings into world-renowned talents.

That would be well and fine, but for the baron. The dowager baroness’s taciturn and stormy nephew owns the land the house stands on.

The solution? Marriage. Orchestrated from beyond the grave by a woman who never met a prodigy she couldn't manipulate.

Elias Selwyn spent years proving he wasn't useless.

Elias fled Starling’s Rest as soon as he was old enough and hasn’t been back since. He left behind the pudgy, unremarkable child, with only a title to hold up against the sparkling genius of his foster siblings. In the years since, he forged himself into a disciplined cavalry officer, building a life far from the manor full of brilliant wards who made him feel invisible. The last thing he wants is to be dragged back to Brighton and shackled to the girl who once made him feel small—no matter how brilliant, beautiful, or infuriatingly fluent she's become.

But his aunt’s will has one final demand: a reunion carnival showcase, performed under the pavilion where the Starling prodigies once dazzled crowds. It's meant to be her funeral. Instead, it becomes the stage where Hattie and Elias must reconcile years of rivalry, resentment, and feelings neither wants to name.

As old wounds resurface and buried secrets spark to life, the pair discovers that some inheritances can't be divided—and that together, they might just be stronger than they are apart.

Fluently Speaking Baron is a Regency romance full of forced proximity, childhood rivalry turned heat, and two people who never stopped mattering to each other. It's the first book in The Starling Legacy series and can be read as a standalone. If you love marriages of convenience, reunions that ache, witty banter, and love stories that build from bruised hearts to breathless joy—this one's for you.

Tropes You'll Love:

• Forced marriage
• Childhood crush
• Grumpy/Sunshine
• Inheritance scheme
• Found family
• Class difference
• Enemies to lovers
• Regency Brighton
• Neuro-divergent heroine
• Demi-monde

The Starling Legacy Series

Book 1 - Fluently Speaking Baron

Book 2 - Little Miss Nobody

Book 3 - The Trick of It

Book 4 - Between the Seams

Book 5 - Against All Odds

Book 6 - As Nature Intended