With desire inflamed by erotic poetry and the peril of a magician's wager, an innocent girl gropes blindly between illicit love and respectable matrimony.
Magic is the most powerful force in the world. It can make a marriage -- or break it.
In the hands of two magicians, magic masquerades as fate, pushing Katherine Scoville into the Earl of Shelton's arms, playing his stubbornness against her inexperience, obscuring truth and exposing lies. Magic forges a marriage that pleases no one.
Heedless of the scandal which could rock the Regency world, Shelton brings his fantasies of the perfect mistress to life, charring Katherine's dreams of a conventional marriage.She rebels.
With irresistible magic guiding his very thoughts, will Shelton offer his heart to his wife -- or his body to his mistress?
Excerpt
"For Merlin's sake," Elvira exploded. "No, that will not be all. You know very well I rang for you to view the spell, not bring a tea tray. I have completed it. I did it without your assistance, and I succeeded, without your assistance."
"Really?"
"Take a look." Elvira's finger, sore from pulling ribbons and tired from tapping her thumb with irritation, shook as she pointed at the weaving stretched across the worktable.
Impassive, Briggs folded his arms behind his back and stood at the bottom of the table. His eyes went over every inch of the weaving as if he checked critically for flaws in an underling's work, inspecting and noting every wrinkle, every crimp in the scarlet ribbons. Then he moved to the east, north and west of the table, searching out snags. It took forever; by the time he was back at the south end of the table, Elvira was again tapping toes and fingers.
"So?" she demanded in the tone that wilted debutantes and shriveled chaperones.
"So if you have finished, the maids can lift the rug and beat it. It has been too long since this room was cleaned."
"Briggs." He did not respond and Elvira stalked forward until they were nose to nose. "Say something, you old goat. Well?"
"Well, nothing. Where did you get that?" Briggs pointed to the ring.
"Don't be obtuse. That is the culmination of the spell."
"And you believe it shows that your son will wed?"
"Of course. At long last, despite his obduracy, Alexander will marry. Within the month, if I read the weaving correctly. But it won't last. The irregularities prove it."
Briggs shook his head disparagingly. "I don't agree. He will wed, and it will last."
"Look at the diamond, man. There, look in the center of the stone. It is blood. Not Alex's--his bride's. She can bleed from the heart, for all I care. The omen is she will not last as Alexander's wife and omens do not lie."
"I don't read the weaving the same way. A bit of red buried in the stone means the heart. They will develop a passion to rival that of Guinevere and Lancelot. The marriage will last." He turned from the table with a dismissive nod. "At last you will have an heir to continue the line. That is what you want, after all, Stanton blood flowing in a new generation."
"Not from that girl." Elvira slapped her hand on the table.
"Why not?"
"Look at her hair."
"It's dark. So?"
"So I want grandchildren with Alex's hair. It is the distinguishing feature of every Earl of Shelton from the time of Arthur. His father had it. It may have warmed an empty brain in his case, but the hair breeds true, generation after generation. Alex has it along with my intelligence, a fitting memorial to the alliance of Denhardham and Stanton. Glorious, guinea gold hair, not weak flax, not common brown. If he marries her," Elvira's fingernail stabbed a ribbon, "the color may dilute."
"Your son's hair is yellow, not gold."
Elvira drew up, a poker straight aristocrat from the tip of her Brussels' lace day cap to the cramped toes in her too small satin slippers. "You are a daft old man," she said, biting off the words. "His hair is golden. And this marriage will not last."
"You have such faith in your magic." The butler’s words complimented, but the tone was caustic.
Elvira seethed. "I wager you won't lay your words on the line."
His eyes narrowed. "A wager?"
"Yes. Your assessment against mine."
"And what shall be the stake?"
"That which you have always wanted." Briggs stilled and Elvira smiled. "Yes, old man. If you win; if Alex marries and remains wed, producing an heir from that dirty haired chit, I will buy that piece of property you want. What is it called?"
"Whole Place," Briggs said hoarsely. He cleared his throat. "And if you win, my lady--if your son manages to shed himself of this brown haired wife, what will you claim?"
"Your seat on the Council."
Briggs studied the conjunction of ribbons holding the standish and spoon in the weaving as if they held the answer to the question of Merlin's existence."And the terms?"
"No holds barred. We may each influence the situation as we like."
"No holds barred short of physical harm," Briggs warned. "You can't hurt the girl. Gambling with magic is reprehensible enough. If you indirectly--or shall I say inadvertently--create a spell that puts her in danger, I won't have a Council seat for you to win. I'll be stuffed in the crystal cave. If you are lucky, you will also. The least the Council of Mages will do is strip you of your powers and banish you till eternity."
Elvira nodded. If the nod was reluctant and her mind was whirling, looking for loopholes in the promise, she did agree. She would not split a hair on the girl's head.
They bickered, shook hands. The wager was set. Her son, Alexander Stanton, Earl of Shelton, was going to acquire a wife. Once he did, Lady Shelton would do her damnedest to see the marriage ended. The butler, Briggs, would do everything in his power to see the marriage succeed.
She sat to drink stone cold tea and he departed to chivvy the footmen on setting a proper dining table, both knowing that whatever happened, the magic was going to fly.
Professional Reviews
www.daniellethorne.jimdo.com
Katherine Scoville is ready for Society. A ward of her greedy, gambling uncle, she's been prepared to take on the Ton, but a mix-up at an inn leaves her dazed and compromised. Her new husband, who accidently climbed into her bed, is determined to rid himself of her by stripping her of everything dignified. Lord Shelton's mother, the villainous Countess, agrees. She will use everything at her disposal, including magic, to rid herself of a daughter-in-law who will never be good enough for the Shelton Legacy.
Marr has a natural voice with a Regency confidence that is not overbearing. Her setting and wordplay are intelligently crafted. The writing rules the writer, and the reader finds nothing but romantic adventure.
A pleasure to the finish, To His Mistress intertwines the legacy of Merlin with the poetic, yet often garish atmosphere of the Regency period. With entertaining sequences of draconian behavior and laugh-out-loud scenes of family dysfunction, poor Katherine must weather abuse from a man she can not help loving and the mother-in-law from Hell. Seeing goodness in her husband's heart, only her innocence can change the appalling behavior of the beautiful, spoiled man. Aided by those with powers beyond her understanding, Katherine finds that endurance has it limits, independence is freedom, and true love doesn't just disappear.
Highly recommended.
Maura Frankman, www.romancesstudio.com
Katherine Scoville has lived a retired life on her uncle's shabby estate since the death of her parents. She is finally seventeen and on her way to London for the Season and the future looks so bright. That is until a mix-up at their first overnight stop leads to her being compromised by the very handsome but equally unpleasant Earl of Shelton. She is disowned by her uncle and forced to marry a man who thinks that she is a light skirt. Shelton has other plans for his married life; he plans to marry Clarissa, the beauty of the Season and sees his marriage as a temporary inconvenience, though he plans to make her his mistress after the divorce, a word Katherine does not understand. Shelton's mother and butler are powerful magicians whose new hobby seems to be manipulating the newly married pair.
I always enjoy Ms. Marr's Arthurian twist on Regency England. Her alternate reality includes Knights of the Round Table, magicians, and the Napoleonic wars as a quest for the Ark of the Covenant. The characters are colorful and interesting and the plot is full of inventive twists and turns. I particularly liked the Green Man character. I really disliked Shelton and his mother. They both treated Katherine abominably, especially Shelton. Katherine was a sheltered seventeen year old and after imprisoning her for a year; he divorces her and turns her into a courtesan. I failed to see why she fell in love with him other than his looks; he really has nothing else going for him. I hope his mother finds her future tasks very difficult; I look forward to reading about them. I am becoming more and more intrigued by Sir Hurst; he seems to have many different facets. This is becoming one of my favorite series.
Overall rating: 4 hearts
Sensuality rating: Very sensual
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