Please welcome Christy Carlyle to the blog! Christy is here to tell us about her new book, One Scandalous Kiss! She will also be giving away a copy to one of you who tells her you want it!
P.S. If you don’t see your comment, please be patient. It is probably in moderation.
As always, we begin with the lovely cover.
Now the blurb.
Can one kiss change everything?
When a scheming marquess’s daughter offers her one hundred pounds to publicly kiss a nobleman, a desperate Jessamin Wright agrees. She believes the money will save her failing bookstore and finally free her from her father’s debts. But when Jess bursts into an aristocratic party and shocks the entire ton, she never expects to enjoy the outrageous embrace she shares with a grim viscount.
Lucius Crawford, Viscount Grimsby, has never met, or kissed, anyone like the beautiful suffragette who unsettles him with a single touch. He has always strived for control and avoided passion at all costs. Lucius is determined to protect his title and restore the estate he’s unexpectedly inherited, but Jess’s appearance in his life poses a threat to his plans and his heart. After a country house party brings them together once more, neither can resist temptation, and both find that one scandalous kiss just isn’t enough.
And last, but not least, the excerpt.
“Will this cause you a great deal of scandal, my lord?”
He opened his mouth and then caught himself on the verge of reassuring her. What power did this woman wield? In the space of seconds she’d once again turned his—quite justified—ire into an urge to put her mind at ease. And was he truly to believe the effect of her actions concerned her now? She should have thought of that before letting him taste the sweetness of her mouth.
No, this bluestocking wasn’t at all what she seemed. Lucius’s desire to suss her out grew with every moment that passed between them.
“No, Miss Wright. I’ll be returning to the country soon. I haven’t a care for what they say about me in London.”
It wasn’t true, but he wished it was.
He’d spent the last two years attempting to put Hartwell’s finances in order and secure the future of the estate. Preferring the rational, logical rows of figures and facts in his ledger books to London society didn’t mean he was immune from scandal. Though he could easily ignore what the gossips might say, he couldn’t deny that any kind of ignominy would reflect on the earldom, and his own future heirs. He did not yet hold the title of Earl of Dunthorpe, but protecting the family name had now fallen to him.
She didn’t look like she believed his lie anyway. He’d never mastered the art of falsehood.
“What of you? What will your family have to say about your behavior this evening?”
She swallowed hard, dipping her head, and then blinked up at him. She seemed confused, as if she didn’t take his meaning. Or perhaps it was too difficult to contemplate. Shouldn’t she have considered her family before behaving in such a shocking manner?
“Come now. Your family. Your father. Perhaps an older brother. Tell me I won’t be receiving a call from them demanding I marry you to save your reputation?”
“No, of course not!”
Her exclamation bounced off the carriage walls, and it was Lucius’s turn to blink. He’d meant the comment as a jest, infusing his tone with as much mirth and irony as he could muster. But he joked and teased rarely. Apparently he was as ghastly at it as he was at acknowledging beady-eyed women in a crowd.
“My father and mother are dead. I have no brothers or sisters.”
The words were plain, simple. Perfectly understandable. Yet there was more behind them, a well of loneliness and need that resonated in Lucius, as familiar to him as his own name.
“You’re an orphan.” Lucius rarely spoke words with the sort of care he took in stating the truth of Miss Wright’s circumstances. A foolish impulse made him wish to confess that he was an orphan too. Not in the same way, of course. His father was alive. But if your mother was dead and you’d been estranged from your father most of your life, did that not qualify you as an orphan?
Miss Wright seemed to take his words as gently as he’d intended. She glanced down at her hands before reaching out to run a long, slender finger over the beveled glass of a pocket watch she’d pulled from her skirt. When she finally met his gaze, she seemed as resolved as she’d been the moment she’d walked up to him in the gallery.
“Yes, I suppose I am, though I’m not a child. And my father only died a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t pity me.”
The fury in her gaze was familiar. He’d stared back at it in his own looking glass for years.
“I require no one’s pity, my lord.”
No. When you’d lost everything, pity was the last thing you desired. He’d learned that truth at nine when his mother ventured out on a trip, leaving him behind because he was ill, and a carriage accident took her life. His world became bleak, colorless, and in his child’s mind he believed fate had dealt him its worst. But being banished to Scotland two months later because his father could not bear the sight of him—that had been worse. And the pity he’d seen in the faces of his mother’s family, worse still.
The carriage slowed to a stop too soon for Lucius’s taste. He’d asked the coachman to take the longest route to the address Miss Wright had offered before returning him to his sister’s house in Belgrave Square.
As soon as the carriage stopped moving, Miss Wright looked about her like a wary bird, just landed on a foreign branch. She leaned forward to get a glimpse out the carriage window.
“This is the address you gave, Miss Wright. But there is still the matter of providing the explanation I require.”
Indignation wasn’t there when Lucius searched his heart and mind. He didn’t pity Miss Jessamin Wright. He’d abide her command on that count. But her honesty and unfortunate circumstances called to him, triggering emotions that had nothing to do with discovering why she’d approached him, why she’d given him the most singular experience of his life.
His desire to hear her explanation came from a different impulse now, a curiosity about her life and history.
“I have already explained, my lord. It was a mistake. I behaved rashly. Abominably. I’ve apologized and you’ve accepted. Will that not suffice?” Her uniquely appealing voice turned petulant for a moment, and Lucius had the distinct sense it was not a manner she often assumed.
“No.” It gave him a perverse satisfaction to see her eyes widen again, and then something like fire begin to kindle there.
“Well, I beg your pardon, my lord, but it must. I can offer no further explanation for my actions.” She turned away from him to emphasize her refusal.
He expected her to grasp the knob on the carriage door and disappear from his life just as abruptly as she’d entered it. But then she turned back and leaned toward him, her voice quiet and pleading.
“Can you not forget this night, my lord? Or if not the night, just that moment. That …” She struggled to form the word. “That kiss. Can you not forget?”
He moved toward her, their bodies inches apart in the confines of the carriage. He felt her breath whisper across his face, just as he had in the gallery.
“I am not certain I can, Miss Wright. Can you?”
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About Christy.
Fueled by Pacific Northwest coffee and inspired by multiple viewings of every British costume drama she can get her hands on, Christy Carlyle writes sensual historical romance set in the Victorian era. She loves heroes who struggle against all odds and heroines who are ahead of their time. A former teacher with a degree in history, she finds there’s nothing better than being able to combine her love of the past with a die-hard belief in happy endings.
I would love to find out what happens to Miss Wright and Lucius! Intriguing tidbit!
Thanks, Bonnie! 🙂
Great cover. Sounds like a fun story. Congrats on your new book, Christy.
Thanks, Jennifer!
The first time I saw that this novel was being released, I was very intrigued. I’m looking forward to reading your book, Christy! The cover is beautiful and the excerpt just draws the reader right in. Congratulations!
Thanks so much, Connie! I’m so excited to be writing for Avon, and they’ve been as supportive of my little story as I could have wished. Thanks for stopping by!
Great excerpt! I’ll be reading this series, for sure.
love the excerpt!
Denise
Thanks, Denise. It’s always hard to grab enough and yet not give too much away. 🙂
Hello my Avon author! Super excited to be reading your little story~ wen hear I g great things about it 🙂
Thank you! I’m so excited about this series and so thrilled to be writing for Avon.
Reblogged this on NEVA BROWN & BOOKS.
Thank you, Neva! xo
Thank you so much for reblogging, Neva!
Yummy! A bluestocking heroine who has a bookshop?! I’d love a copy please.
🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Linda!
Two of my most favorite ladies in one place! Super congrats, Christy!!
*waving from nearby* Hi, Collette! Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks for the congrats. You’re actually in the acknowledgements of this book! It’s one you helped me with many moons ago.
I’m hooked! Congrats on the release!
Oh, that’s music to a writer’s ears, Alanna. 🙂 Thanks so much!
Hi Christy! That cover is gorgeous 🙂
Thanks, Aleen! Wait until you see the next cover. 🙂 It’s so pretty! I’m going reveal it at my FB party on Sept 13 – https://www.facebook.com/events/515862891897877/
Love Christy’s books (& it looks like this one will be no exception)! Great blurb. Makes me want to read it NOW!
I’d love a copy!!
Beautiful cover! The excerpt rely makes me want to read this book!
Oh, thank you, Glenda! That’s wonderful to hear. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting. 🙂
Great excerpt! Ella – I was super excited to see Christy on your blog today (Geeks out, I’m such a fan girl sometimes!).
Aww, great to see you here, Jessica! 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Christy’s visit!
I would love to win a copy of this interesting book! The cover is intriguing!! I have enjoy all the books of yours I have read!!
I want it! lol
I love all of your books and I can’t wait to read this one.
That’s so lovely to hear, Molly! You’ve made my day. 🙂
Before I get offline for the night, I want to offer my sincerest thanks to Ella for hosting me today. Thank you, Ella!
I would love to read your book.
Thank you! 🙂 And thanks for stopping by and commenting.
That cover is quite the scandal in itself! Better the guy in disarray then the woman! I haven’t had the opportunity to read this author, another great find on Ella Quinn’s blog. Thanks for the intro, Ella, and I would love to receive a copy.
Thanks, Eileen! Its is a bit scandalous, eh? When I was asked for input on the cover, I didn’t request that his shirt be half off, but I didn’t complain when I saw it either. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
My pleasure, Eileen! You’ll find quite a few new authors visiting me this autumn.
I would do just that to save y book store! O’ so love the cover, green is always a favorite! Congratulations to you, Christy! Ella great interview!
Thank you, Juanita. 🙂 It’s lovely to see you here! And I love your avatar. Ingres is a favorite artist of mine and I have a print of that very painting!
Thank you, Juanita!!