Welcome to this week’s MFRW Book Hooks blog hop!
Today I have an exclusive excerpt from my brand new release. The Ruination of Ramona Stone hit the virtual shelves last Friday, and I am doing everything I can to get the word out.
Today’s hook comes from the first chapter, where the conflicts first get explored. I hope you enjoy it.
Blurb
To Victorian London, they were childhood friends reunited by tragedy. Behind closed doors, they were each other’s undoing.
Ramona Stone survived the bleak years at boarding school because of bright-eyed Juliet—her childhood anchor and her dearest confidante. While Juliet marries for love, Ramona accepts the husband her father has arranged, an ambitious barrister twice her age.
When an accident leaves Juliet a penniless widow, Ramona persuades her husband to grant her friend shelter. Proximity kindles unexpected passion; sympathy turns to illicit desire. What begins as solace quickly transforms into a force that neither woman can resist or deny.
Trapped with a domineering husband, living in a society eager for scandal, Ramona understands that every touch is a gamble and every glance a betrayal. If their secret comes to light, she won't just lose her place in society—she will lose the only love that she’s ever known
The Hook
As if summoned by my thoughts, a hansom cab rounded the corner and came to a halt in front of our building. A slight figure swathed in black clambered down without waiting for assistance. After the driver extracted her luggage from inside the carriage, the passenger dropped some coins into his hand. He climbed back onto his seat, flicked his whip over the horse’s back and they trotted away, leaving Juliet standing on the pavement, a suitcase on either side.
For long minutes, she stood unmoving before our home. As her face was veiled, I could not see her expression, but her overall demeanour suggested an unwillingness to take the next step. I could appreciate her reluctance. She and I were as close as sisters, but I sensed how difficult it must be, still, to rely on my charity.
I would do my best to make it easier for her, I vowed. I’d love and support her in her time of need, as she had so often done for me.
Stepping away from the window before she noticed she was being observed, I returned to my seat near the hearth, where a fire had been laid but not yet lit. At least ten minutes passed before I heard the chime of the bell in the downstairs hallway.
The ginger-haired maid knocked on the parlour door soon after. “Your guest has arrived, ma’am.”
“Thank you, Lucy. Show her in. Then bring us some tea, please.”
“Of course, ma’am.”
The girl backed out to make way for Juliet. My friend shuffled into the room, dragging her feet as though she hadn’t enough energy to take proper steps.
I leapt up, raced over and flung my arms around her. “Dear, dear Juliet! Thank the heavens you’re finally here.”
She trembled in my embrace, seeming frail and off-balance. “Ro... please, forgive me...”
“There’s nothing to forgive! Here, sit down, rest—let me take your cloak.” I pulled her over to an armchair, where she crumpled as though the last shred of strength had left her. Lifting the damp woollen wrap from her thin shoulders, I tossed it onto a chaise nearby. Her hat and veil followed. Now I could see her pale, drawn features. I could scarcely believe this was the gorgeous, vivacious butterfly of a woman she’d been when we’d last met, at a midsummer’s garden party at her home in Hampstead.
Sharp pain twisted under my breastbone. For a moment, I found it difficult to breathe. I’d known George’s death would be difficult for her, but I had not realized my bold, brave, devil-may-care Juliet could be reduced to this—a black-clad wraith seemingly ready to dissolve in a fog of grief.
Staring down at her gloved hands, she refused to meet my gaze. A deep sigh shuddered through her. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured once more.
I had two simultaneous urges: to kiss her and to slap her. “Stop it, you silly woman! You are not responsible for the tragic weaknesses of your husband!”
“Ah, but I chose him! I insisted that I wanted him, that I’d have him despite everyone’s objections and warnings.” She looked up at last, her face a mask of anguish, her sapphire-blue eyes rimmed in red. “I should have listened.”
“I never objected. I found George intelligent and charming, and thought that the two of you made a fine match. Your brother’s resistance was mostly snobbery.” I sniffed. “Harry and his pretensions to nobility!” Taking one of her hands, I started to strip off her glove. “To be honest, I was a bit jealous of you, marrying for love.”
Her mouth curled into wry half-grin, the first hint of a smile I’d seen since she arrived. “Ah, yes. Love. I did love him, or thought I did. Even after it became clear that he’d deceived me about his prospects, and that money ran through his fingers like water.”
“You always seemed so happy together—lively, gay and prosperous as well, dressed according to the latest fashion, entertaining in style at that fine brick house of yours.”
“All bought with other people’s money.” My friend shook her head ruefully, then extricated her hand from mine and removed her other glove. “George always had more charm than sense, abundant ideas but not the slightest clue as to how to implement them. His self-confidence was contagious, though. He could convince even normally cautious men that he’d make them rich.”
“And none of his schemes bore fruit?”
“Not a single one.” She rested a palm on her breast, as if her heart pained her. “His so-called partners wasted no time in calling in his debts, however, when they learned about his fatal accident.”
November 9: Tina Donahue Books - Heat with Heart
November 10: Books to Light Your Fire II
November 11: Sandra's Book Club
November 12: A Wonderful World of Words
November 13: Long and Short Reviews
November 16: The Key Of Love
November 17: Alana Lorens, Author review
November 17: Author C.A.Milson
November 18: Dawn's Reading Nook
November 19: Sarcastically Yours, Jen
November 20: Author Deborah A. Bailey Blog
Find all the buy links here: https://books2read.com/u/mKa2wy
Be sure to visit the other authors participating in today’s Book Hooks!
