title: A World of Expectations, Book 1: The Alliance
author:  Gayle Lynn Messick 
description: Gayle retired after a 35-year career in the Federal Government in which she managed multi-million dollar contract programs before accepting a position in the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI). There she oversaw the development of training and educational products, and in 1997, with the widespread availability of the internet, created the FAI OnLine University. She has had a life-long admiration for Jane Austen's work and joined several on-line forums for Austen fans, but noted an absence of stories depicting the male point of view. As a result, she wrote the story to depict the social conventions as it impacted men for romance, friendship and business with the emerging Industrial Revolution as the backdrop.
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  SHATTERED EXPECTATIONS
  
  
  Copyright © 2020 by L. Ann.
  
  
  All rights reserved.
  
  
  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
  without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
  critical articles or reviews.
  
  
  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations,
  places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s
  imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons,
  living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
  
  
  Cover design by A.T. Cover Designs
  
  
  Interior Formatting by Crow Fiction Designs
  
  
  Edited by Margot Mostert
  
  
  First Edition: November 2020
  
  
  ASIN: B08MCCQDQV
  
  
  L.Ann Online
  
  
  www.lannauthor.com
  
  
  https://clubdamnation.com
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Contents
  
  
  [PROLOGUE](part0007.html#_idTextAnchor000)
  
  
  [Chapter 1](part0008.html#_idTextAnchor003)
  
  
  [Chapter 2](part0009.html#_idTextAnchor005)
  
  
  [Chapter 3](part0010.html#_idTextAnchor007)
  
  
  [Chapte