The Rake and the Bishop's Daughter Excerpt Tour

Blurb:

Society’s beloved wastrel, Sir Harry Collyns, pushes his popularity past the point of acceptability when he poses for a statue that creates a social uproar. People line up for blocks to see Handsome Harry in the nude, sculpted by a female artist! Bored with the fuss and scandal, Harry hitches up his fastest team, heads for the country, and a near fatal curricle accident. When the bandages are removed from his head days later, he discovers the angel-voiced widow who’d cared for him is neither elderly nor as mild as her tone, but a straight-laced do-gooder unimpressed with his flamboyant past and dashing good looks. Head-battered and heading for a broken heart, he falls into love with Widow Olivia St. Clair, who might be the one woman in England that Harry can’t charm into loving him back.

Exclusive Excerpt:

“You make it sound as if you have no part in this, but since you’ve introduced the topic, if you have no objection, I should like it if the ceremony could take place as quickly as possible.”

Her heart began to thump.  “But the engagement notices haven’t yet been announced in the newspapers.”

“A friend suggested this avenue of surprise suited my style, and in truth, Olivia, it should be done quickly. The sooner the better. For the child’s sake.”

“You are right, of course. Your friend seems to understand you very well.”

“All of my friends know me perfectly well. I cannot wait for them to meet you.”

Olivia couldn’t fathom why. She was so ordinary and had so little to recommend herself. Harry’s friends, an elite cadre once known as The Eligibles, were all so unique, sought-after and extraordinary; their names littered the society sections of every newspaper. Perhaps their brilliance would provide an avenue for her survival. Being average and plain, she could submerge into the background of their radiance. Who noticed a grouse amid the splendor of peacocks?

She peeked a sideways glance at Harry, London’s favorite scamp. Arbiter. Raffiné. Her lover. A flush scorched her skin as she remembered. Soon, he would expect more of that. Wouldn’t he? What if he didn’t? Her stomach sank. Percy refused to touch her while she was pregnant. But then, he never cared for that sort of thing.

“Olivia, is everything all right?”

His question jerked her thoughts back to the present.  “Sorry. Wool-gathering.”

“You looked distressed.”

With a tiny head shake, she admitted, “I confess to some concern when it comes to meeting your brother and sister-by-marriage.”

“Don’t be silly. They’re going to take you up and dote on you, just as I will.”

Yes, he’d spoil her and act the gallant but would he ever love her? Would having the comfort of his child be enough? Would she end up ignored, sent off to the country for her dullness, too plain to fit in with his friends and a society that always considered her odd?

When she didn’t speak, he gently said, “There’s no need for worrying any more, Livie.”

Frustration replaced her lapse into pathetic despair. She shouldn’t worry about meeting one of the cleverest women in London—a female Harry worshiped and admired—a brother, whose family her father had so crudely insulted?

Honestly, Harry could be as annoyingly dense as he was adorable. His family and friends were famous, as much for their uniqueness and brilliance, as they were for their fierce loyalty to each other. And into this cage of flamboyant personalities, she, a bland, uninspiring, aging matron, was to be thrown, like a chunk of raw meat into the den of tigers.

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Author Bio and Links:

Julia Donner (aka M.L.Rigdon) grew up in historic Galena, IL, USA, and spent most of her time in the museum of her aunt, who encouraged her interest in history and understood the need to cherish a dream. She started writing in secret in her teens and never stopped, merging it with her mother's encouragement to study theater and music, which led to performing in the Midwest, California and as far away as Austria.

Donner never forgot what it was like to write alone as a girl and is a happy member of Summit City Scribes. Concern for the failing educational system led her to develop Your Futures in Ink, a panel of local and regional authors, who go into to schools to encourage students and answer questions about writing.

THE TIGRESSE AND THE RAVEN, first book in the regency Friendship Series, is an RWA contest finalist. The ninth book in the series, A ROGUE FOR MISS PRIM and the tenth, AN AMERICAN FOR AGNES, are available now. A LAIRD’S PROMISE will be released by Spring 2018.

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