Your Wicked Heart, That Scandalous Summer, and The Luckiest Lady in London

It has recently come to my attention that no mentions have been made here of Meredith’s recent releases!  Which is a terrible lapse.  I’m not sure whom to blame so I’ll blame Meredith for her oversight.  🙂

Anyway, we are looking at the start of her new RULES FOR THE RECKLESS series, which has a lead-in novella, YOUR WICKED HEART.

Amanda Thomas is stranded a thousand miles from home. Jilted by a viscount and abandoned without a penny, she’ll do whatever it takes to secure a berth on an England-bound ship. But when the anchor lifts, she’s not the only impostor on board—for the stranger in her bed claims to be the real viscount. Can she trust this devastatingly attractive scoundrel? Or is his offer of friendship only a pretext for seduction…and revenge?

That tempting morsel is followed by the first full-length entry in the RULES FOR THE RECKLESS series, THAT SCANDALOUS SUMMER.

In the social whirl of Regency England, Elizabeth Chudderley is at the top of every guest list, the life of every party, and the belle of every ball. But her friends and admirers would be stunned to know the truth: that the merriest widow in London is also the loneliest. Behind the gaiety and smiles lies a secret longing—for something, or someone, to whisk her away…

Raised in scandal, Lord Michael de Grey is convinced that love is a losing gamble—and seduction the only game worth playing. But when duty threatens to trump everything he desires, the only way out is marriage to a woman of his brother’s choosing. Elizabeth Chudderley is delightful, delicious—and distressingly attractive. With such a captivating opponent, Michael isn’t quite sure who is winning the game. How can such passionate players negotiate a marriage of necessity—when their hearts have needs of their own?

You’ll find excerpt and purchase links on the side bar.  And of course, you’ll find everything you need at Meredith’s website.

(The name of Meredith’s new book, THAT SCANDALOUS SUMMER, reminds me that I have an old, old manuscript named One Wild Summer.  And it was so bad that after my then-agent read it for the second time, she pretty much–and rightly so–heaved me to the curb.  Some of us require more than a kick in the pants; I, for instance, needed a door slammed in my face in addition.) 🙂

Now a quick change of gear.

Thanks to author Theresa Romain, I just learned that my next historical romance, THE LUCKIEST LADY IN LONDON is available for pre-order at Amazon.  (And wouldn’t you know, THE BURNING SKY, my YA fantasy, is also for pre-order at Amazon and B&N.)

I had thought I really wouldn’t have anything to say about THE LUCKIEST LADY–formerly known as THE IDEAL GENTLEMAN, though not quite in that way–until I’m done with a proper revision, since I tend to gut my first drafts pretty thoroughly.  But then I remembered that I gut the how, not the what of the story, so the back blurb that has already been prepared for the book is still perfectly valid.

Felix Rivendale, the Marquess of Wrenworth, is The Ideal Gentleman, a man all men want to be and all women want to possess. Felix himself almost believes this golden image. But underneath is a damaged soul soothed only by public adulation.

Louisa Cantwell needs to marry well to support her sisters. She does not, however, want Lord Wrenworth—though he seems inexplicably interested in her.  She mistrusts his outward perfection and the praise he garners everywhere he goes. But when he is the only man to propose at the end of the London season, she reluctantly accepts.

Louisa does not understand her husband’s mysterious purposes, but she cannot deny the pleasure her body takes in his touch.  Nor can she deny the pull this magnetic man exerts upon her. But does she dare to fall in love with a man so full of dark secrets, anyone of which could devastate her, if she were to get any closer?

There, now you know exactly what the story is.  🙂

On the fun<==>angst scale, this one leans more toward fun (but bear in mind I’m not a good judge of fun vs angst, as in, I consider Private Arrangements a romp).  It’s not going to rip your guts out but I am hoping it might turn out to be a rather delicious psychosexual battle-of-the-sexes.  Cuz no reader has ever thought to herself, I’ve had enough of these delicious psychosexual battle-of-the-sexes romances.

Or maybe when I say reader, I mean me.  🙂