Category: Romance Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
ISBN-10: 9781941260
Pages: 120
Copyright: April 25, 2014
ISBN-13: 9781941260159
Price: $2.99 (eBook)
Her uncle’s timely offer of a London season temporarily saves Jenny Longtree from a forced marriage but into a scandalous dance at Almack’s.
What can Jenny Longtree do to escape her fate? She is expected to do her duty for her family and accept the marriage proposal of a man she abhors, Calvin Hazeldeck, a rich mortician older than her father and who has offered a huge settlement that will save the family from the threat of poverty brought about by her father’s bad investments.
Then salvation comes from a most unexpected place. Jenny’s dear uncle, Sir Roger Addington, offers Jenny a London social season and Jenny’s mother, against her father’s wishes, insists that Jenny should be given a last chance to find a husband on her own.
Wrapped in the social whirl of the London social season, Jenny comes to realize that her father’s predictions are coming true, without a dowry her chances of obtaining a marriage proposal that will save her from marriage to Hazeldeck are practically non-existent. Then on the last ball at Almack’s Jenny is introduced by Lady Jersey to Sebastian Bennington, Lord Corville.
As they dance the waltz, Lord Corville, who had been drinking before coming to the ball, places his hand on Jenny’s left breast and draws circles with his index finger around a little mole on her right breast. Startled, Jenny collapses at Lord Corville’s feet and comes to from having passed out to find a crowd around her. Lady Jersey, who had introduced her to Lord Corville, asks her what happened. Jenny dazedly replies that Lord Corville touched her inappropriately. Lord Corville abruptly leaves the ballroom. A scandal erupts and her uncle’s wife, Maultra, who despises Jenny, thinks Jenny made it up in order to trap Lord Corville.
Jenny, who has instantly become the subject of gossip columns and wagers at gentlemen’s clubs, finds to her delight that Lord Corville's sister, Lady Camille, has become her powerful ally.
Sir Roger schedules a secret meeting with Lord Corville in which Corville accepts Jenny’s word as the truth, although he has no recollection of the incident, as he has had such black-outs in the past. Since they must first obtain Jenny’s father’s permission the engagement remains a tight secret known only to select few that excludes Sir Roger’s wife, Maultra.
But Maultra, Hazeldeck and Lady Wenty, Lord Corville's old flame, is not about to allow Jenny out of their grasp...
Excerpt
Lord Corville was surprised that Lady Jersey had led him directly into a vision of lovely youth. Usually wallflower duty was how it sounded, giving an opportunity to dance a few sets to girls who were in their first season and not likely to obtain dancing partners on their own because they lacked pedigree or were pretty enough but lacked an attractive dowry. The Almack’s patronesses took their duty to young girls in their first or second season very seriously, and in every ball the two in charge could be seen walking about, matching young ladies to reluctant young men.
Sebastian seldom if ever glanced toward the wallflower area, but now he regretted it. The moment he gave his gloved hand to this girl and led her to the dance floor, it was all he could do to keep his balance until they began their waltz.
Her touch was so sensual, he felt her hand not on his but directly on his groin. A hot frisson coursed along his nerve endings, and his whole body shuddered in anticipation. If he felt so much with only the soft touch of her hand on his, what would he feel with her in his arms?
Suddenly realizing where his mind was going, he shook off such outlandish thoughts. He was a bit foxed and couldn’t even remember what Lady Jersey said the girl’s name was during the introduction. He should have skipped that stop Rothyn’s townhouse, as they’d dipped into bottles of claret before coming here.
Of course, it was turning out amazingly easy to keep his promise to his sister Camie. One dance with a wallflower debutante? Why this beautiful girl lacked dance partners was beyond his understanding. She was as lovely and as rare as an orchid, and her scent intoxicated him even more than the claret.
He had never felt such jumping sensations as he was now feeling while waltzing with her. Her eyes as she looked at him were sparkling blue aquamarines, and the tingling ripple the mere touch of her hand had started now throbbed along his groin so that his hand tightened on hers even as his breeches tightened. He quickly forced his eyes away from her lithe form, for just a quick glance at her curves unhinged him.
They swayed around the vast ballroom, and the lights from a thousand candles and the twirling couples confused him. The lovely girl in his arms became three identical girls who twirled round and round like the racing dials of a mad clock. He heard the waning notes of the waltz as it was coming to its end and felt so dizzy that, had he not held her, he would have lost his balance. He looked into the girl’s beautiful eyes and his gaze drifted downward. Her breasts, the tops of them peeking alluringly from her filmy gown, were so fetching that he wondered when he had ever seen a better pair. There was a small dark mole on her left breast, and a tiny rosebud by it, and so compelling was the tiny beauty mark that he was hypnotized.
The music had stopped. He looked into the girl’s lovely blue eyes and wondered why they were wide with alarm, and her voice was loud and clear in the silence that followed the conclusion of the waltz.
“Oh!” she exclaimed.
Her hand on his shoulder slipped away as she fell to the floor, her crumpling body settling softly on his feet. Sebastian leaned down toward her prone body.
After a few seconds, the girl opened her eyes. A crowd had rushed forward, and there was a large circle of people around her and Sebastian, three or four deep looking down with concern. And silence, as everyone just stared.
The girl was helped up by two gentlemen while Lord Corville continued to stare, speechless.
Lady Jersey broke the silence. “What happened to you, my dear?”
A twittering of exclamations rose like a deafening wave, and then sudden silence fell again as the crowd waited in suspense for the girl’s reply.
The girl spoke slowly but clearly, so that everyone heard her words. She looked directly into Lord Corville’s eyes and said, “Lord Corville touched me inappropriately.”
Professional Reviews
Scandal at Almack's
By
M. Rondeau (West Springfield, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Scandal at Almack's (Kindle Edition)
Salvation! Thought Jenny Longtree hearing of her uncle’s timely offer of a social season for his favorite niece. Her uncle’s offer came in just in time before Jenny would be forced to marry a man, older than her own father, who literally made her skin crawl. It almost didn’t matter that her uncle’s wife wasn’t overly welcoming, didn’t care for Jenny at all, and let her know in no uncertain terms when her uncle was not around.
Introduced to Lord Corville, one of the most eligible bachelors in the ton, at Almacks, Jenny was half-aware that he was foxed, but because one of the patronesses had brought him over and gave permission for a waltz, she dare not refuse. And even though he appeared ‘foxed’ Jenny had never met a more handsome man. He obviously wasn’t able to tear his eyes from her, or let his hands wander where they certainly shouldn’t!
*** If you are looking for an absolutely lovely little Regency romance look no further than SCANDAL AT ALMACKS by Gloria Gay. This was so good and I literally found myself laughing out loud at some of the antics.
SCANDAL AT ALMACKS had all of the required elements I expect in a sweet Regency Historical - including a sweet and demure virginal heroine; a handsome and noble hero; a wickedly evil step-aunt; and a loathsome oily villain looking to get his hands on an innocent!
What was interesting was the fact that our hero was sooooo foxed - he had actually blacked out and had no knowledge of what he had been accused of, insofar as inappropriately touching Jenny. However, he was honorable enough that he was willing to take Jenny’s word for it even as the ton all thought Jenny was making the whole tale up to snare a wealthy titled husband.
The writing and the plotting of those wishing to break up what appeared to be a lovely new romance was very well done. I found it refreshing as well to see a sweet romance that didn’t include a lot of hot and sweaty sex scenes.
Bottom line: A really sweet and wholesome Regency Romance.
The Matchmaker:
Angela Calminetti, mother of five, New Age practitioner and gifted psychic and telepath, is proud of her family ties and does everything she can to make sure that all of her younger siblings are as happy in love and marriage
Angela Calminetti, mother of five, New Age practitioner and gifted psychic and telepath, is proud of her family ties and does everything she can to make sure that all of her younger siblings are as happy in love and marriage as she is…whether they wa
