Widowed
by the Battle of Waterloo, the ladies of Lyttlefield Park are
returning to London society—with their futures in their own hands.
The
widowed Lady Stephen Tarkington, Fanny to her friends, has finished
mourning her cad of a husband and is ready to enjoy her freedom. The
kind of freedom neither a gently bred miss nor a close-watched wife
is permitted: dressing up as Aphrodite for a masquerade, drawing
gentlemen away from the party, and hinting at late-night assignations
with her dance partners. All is going pleasurably according to
plan—until the Roman god Fanny kisses during a masquerade turns out
to be Matthew, Lord Lathbury, whose proposal she refused years ago.
Lathbury
is charming, passionate, inventive, everything Fanny wants in a
lover—but unfortunately, he’s on the hunt for a wife. He’s more
than willing to use all his wicked skills to persuade her back to the
altar, but he can’t wait forever. And now Fanny’s position is
more precarious than she once thought. If the tongues of the ton set
to wagging, it’s possible no offer in the world will save her from
ruin. But does she want to be saved?
Excerpt
Leaning
into him, she whispered, “We can renew our acquaintance in all ways
that count.”
“So
you’ll agree to bed me but not wed me?”
“For
the moment.” She tapped her fingers lightly on his chest. “Would
that be such a hardship on you?”
Sighing,
he pulled a face. “I suppose not.” A flash of his boyish grin
made her stomach drop. “May I woo you properly, at least?”
“Improperly
would be more to my taste.” Fanny returned his smile with one of
her own, as sultry and seductive as she could make it. “But I
suppose some decorous behavior wouldn’t kill me either.”
“Good.”
He took her hands and raised them to his lips. “I leave for
Brighton at the end of the week. I’d hoped you’d be accompanying
me as my wife, but that—”
“As
your wife?” How arrogant of him to think she’d fall into his arms
at the snap of his fingers.
“Well?
Will you meet me in Brighton?” Matthew’s eager voice brought her
back to the dim room now filled with possibilities.
“I
will be happy to journey to Brighton, my lord. If I find you there, I
do hope you will attend me most earnestly.” In a heart’s beat
she slipped her hands from his, pulled his lips down to hers, and
sealed the pact with a kiss so warm and sweet her resolve slipped a
notch. “And now if you’ll excuse me?” Turning swiftly on her
toes, Fanny raced for the door. As she grasped the handle, she
glanced back at him.
The
victorious grin on his face sent a shiver down her spine. She pulled
the door open and fled into the corridor before she could change her
mind.
About
the Author
Jenna Jaxon is a multi-published author of historical romance in all time periods because, she says, “passion is timeless.” She has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager. A romantic herself, Jenna has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise. She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own stories. She’s a theatre director when she’s not writing and lives in Gloucester, Virginia with her family, including two very vocal cats and one silent one.
Jenna
is a PAN member of Romance Writers of America as well as an active
member of Chesapeake Romance Writers, her local chapter of RWA. She
has four series currently available: The House of Pleasure, set in
Georgian England, Handful of Hearts, set in Regency England, and Time
Enough to Love, set in medieval England and France, and The Widows’
Club series, also set in Regency England and available from
Kensington Publishing in both print and digital.
She
currently writes to support her chocolate habit.
Find
Jenna Jaxon online:
TWITTER:
https://twitter.com/Jenna_Jaxon
AMAZON
AUTHOR PAGE: https://www.amazon.com/Jenna-Jaxon/e/B005CHPBD2/
Buy
the book at
Jenna will be giving away a $20
Amazon/BN GC to one lucky reader.
6 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
I enjoyed the excerpt and learning of this author!
Thank you so much, Lisabet, for hosting me!
Thanks for coming by, Angela! I hope you get to read some of my books!
Welcome to Beyond Romance, Jenna! I hope your tour is hugely successful.
Sounds like a great turn of the tables. Thanks for the fun excerpt!
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