Weekend Writing Warriors ~ 08/28/22 ~ Pride of Lyon’s ~ “Anything Your Heart Desires”

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors !

This week I’m continuing with snippets from Pride of Lyon’s, which released in June.

BLURB:

Enter the world of the most notorious gambling den in London, where matches are made… unusually. Welcome to the world of THE LYON’S DEN: The Black Widow of Whitehall Connected World, where the underground of Regency London thrives… and loves.

What’s a young lady to do when a powerful lord tries to abscond with her and make her his mistress?

When you’re Miss Honoria Quinn, you leap from his carriage and run like the wind to find some place to hide. Trouble is, Honoria mistakenly chooses The Lyon’s Den, a disreputable gambling house as her sanctuary, a move that ends up with her having to make another choice at the hands of the Den’s match-making proprietor Mrs. Dove-Lyons: wed a complete stranger or become the lord’s mistress.

No good deed goes unpunished…

Thomas, Lord Braeton agrees to attend a wager at The Lyon’s Den only to keep his brother-in-law out of trouble. What he doesn’t count on is becoming embroiled in one of Mrs. Dove-Lyons’s schemes to marry him off. But when he tries to come to the aid of another peer, Thomas finds the only honorable thing he can do to save Miss Quinn’s reputation is put aside his hopes for a love match for himself and instead offer to marry her.

As Thomas and Honoria set out on a wary journey to matrimony, can they learn to live together and hope love will grow between them? Or are they doomed to a loveless marriage of convenience from which one or both will want to escape?

I’m continuing with the meeting of Miss Honoria Quinn and Thomas, Lord Braeton in Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s office. (I’ve skipped ahead a few paragraphs.)

EXCERPT:

“There will be servants, clothes, jewels. Anything your heart desires.” Eyes blazing with a strange light, he kissed her hand. “I assure you, I plan to be very generous with you, if you are generous with me.”

The touch of his lips made the skin want to crawl off her bones. She bounded up, drew her hand back, and slapped him across the cheek. Whirling around, to put the chaise between them, she glanced toward the door, but Mrs. Dove-Lyon stood between her and it. Honoria wasn’t completely certain the woman would let her leave. She turned to face Danford, careful to remain out of his reach. “I don’t care what you say in London. Shout it from the rafters for all I care, I will go home and remain there, where no one will know or care what lies you have spread.”

And a little more for good measure…

“Oh, but they will know, Honoria.” Lord Danford stalked around the chaise and she scooted back until she bumped into Mrs. Dove-Lyon. “I know where your father’s parish is. And I will make certain everyone in the village knows that I have asked you to be my mistress. Knowing the village mindset, they will believe it has already happened.” He shook his head, his lips set in a rueful smile. “I somehow think neither your parents nor your neighbors will welcome such a notorious figure with open arms. In fact, the bishop might even revoke your father’s living for having raised such a depraved daughter.”

He couldn’t do this. How could he boast of ruining her and her family so thoroughly and no one come to their aid? “You are a wicked, wicked man.” She burst into tears. “You cannot do this to me.”

“I can and I will, Honoria.” He cupped her chin and drew her face up to his. “If you wish to save your family, you have no choice, my dear.”

A sudden commotion in the corner of the room, where Lord Longford and Mr. Braeton had retired, drew all their attention to the two other gentlemen. Mr. Braeton had pulled away from Lord Longford and now stalked toward them, his frown darkening his otherwise handsome face. “You do have a choice, Miss Quinn.”

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the Warriors here. There are some fantastic snippets to be read.

Pride of Lyon’s is available on Amazon and on KU for free.

I also wanted to let you know that my House of Pleasure series is now available for pre-order in a boxset format on Amazon. All five House of Pleasure novels in one volume! Grab your copy today! It releases on Tuesday, August 30!

 

 

The House of Pleasure series