The Courting Game: A Forbidden Fantasy Romance (The Velvet Inheritance)

By Patrick Reeder

She inherited billions. He was hired to control her. Neither of them expected to break the rules.

When librarian Valerie Kess discovers she's inherited her estranged grandmother's multi-billion-dollar art empire, she also inherits a mansion full of secrets - and a man who shouldn't want her.

Marcus Thorne is security. He's controlled. He's bound by an oath older than either of them understands, assigned to keep the new Keeper compliant, isolated, small. But Valerie isn't what he expected: vulnerable, brilliant, and dangerously capable of undoing ten years of carefully constructed walls.

Forced into proximity at a sprawling Connecticut estate, they discover that the archive isn't just a collection - it's alive, awakening something ancient in Marcus and terrifying the Council. The closer they get, the more forbidden the truth becomes: Keeper and Consort aren't allowed to love. The law is absolute. The cost is everything.

In a world where duty demands separation and desire demands choice, can they find a way to be together without destroying each other - or unraveling the system built to keep them apart?

The Velvet Inheritance, Book One. A slow-burn, forced-proximity fantasy romance.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H7VRN7RH
• ISBN13: 9798185809488
• Release Date: July 2026
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 406 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.9" x 5.0"