Weekend Writing Warriors ~ 09/16/18 Heart of a Scoundrel–An Auspicious Introduction

 

I am continuing on with Heart of a Scoundrel. It is Book 4 in my Regency novella series Handful of Hearts, where we once again meet Richard, Lord Somersby (a not very nice gentleman from the first book of the series Hearts Beneath the Mistletoe).

Richard, Lord Somersby has just been told he’s to marry Lady Edith,  a young bluestocking he’s never met before in a marriage arranged by his father to gain valuable property. The rakish Richard is not enthusiastic about the arrangement–until his father offers to make the deal a bit sweeter by way of a wager that Richard can hardly resist to earn him a racing stable. His father wagers Richard he cannot break three young ladies’ hearts before his betrothal contracts are signed in about three weeks.

This week I’m skipping ahead to find Richard in a bit of a pickle. He’s managed to break two young ladies’ hearts, but the third has just been whisked away for a funeral. Now Lady Hamilton appears with a young woman to introduce to them.

(Creative punctuation utilized to conform to WWW rules and snippet may therefore be slightly different from published version.)

“How do you do?” Bowing deeply, Richard couldn’t help but smile at the look of awe on the young lady’s face. “I hope you are enjoying yourself this evening, Miss Sharpe?”

“Oh, yes, my lord.” Miss Sharpe’s bright blue eyes quite sparkled in the candlelight.

So much the better.

“Miss Sharpe is new to Town, so I trust you gentlemen will take care she has a partner for the next set?” Her ladyship looked pointedly at Eric.

Subtly shifting forward, shutting out the girl’s clear view of Eric, Richard gazed warmly into her eyes and said, “It would be my greatest honor, Miss Sharpe, if you would dance the next set with me.”

God, and Lady Hamilton, had just given him the means to win his wager.

BLURB:  

Recent heiress, Miss Amanda Sharp, is out in Society for the first time and enjoying the social whirl, especially when she dances her first dance with the handsome Lord Somersby. She’s aware of his bad reputation with ladies, but she’s confident she can lead him down the aisle to the altar without raising a scandal. Headstrong, and determined to reform Lord Somersby, Amanda finds herself in danger of losing more than a hand of cards to the scandalous lord.

Richard, Lord Somersby, has another wager to win. He must woo and jilt three young ladies in a month’s time in order to win his racing stable before donning the leg shackle of marriage with a duke’s daughter. His third victim is Miss Amanda Sharpe, a refreshingly determined young woman who makes her interest in him well known. It should be child’s play for the villainous Richard to woo her, make her think he’s in love with her, then spurn her. A plan that might work if he can keep his mind on winning rather than on the lady’s entrancing form and fiery spirit.

Heart of a Scoundrel will release on Amazon in late September.

 

Books in The Handful of Hearts series:

 

 

 

 

 

And don’t forget to check out the rest of the Warriors here.  There’s some fantastic snippets to be read.