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The Elusive Lord Everhart on March 24, 2015 Pages: 336
Format: eARC
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Vivienne Lorret, the USA Today bestselling author of Winning Miss Wakefield, returns with a new series featuring the three roguish bachelors of Fallow Hall.
Gabriel Ludlow, Viscount Everhart, will never marry, and thus is sure to win the bachelors' wager amongst his friends. Assuming, of course, that his deepest secret—a certain letter containing a marriage proposal made in a moment of passion—doesn't surface. After all, without Calliope Croft to tempt him, there's no danger of losing. Or of falling in love.
Calliope wants revenge. Five years ago, an anonymous love letter stole her heart and ultimately broke it. Now Casanova has struck again, and Calliope vows to unmask the scoundrel, stopping him from breaking any more hearts. Yet, time and again, Gabriel distracts her from her task, until she can no longer deny that something about him calls to her…
Gabriel was a fool to ignore the depth of his feelings for Calliope, but the threat that kept him from her five years ago remains. Now he must choose between two paths: break her heart all over again or finally succumb to loving her… at the risk of losing everything.
In writing romance, I know it will end with happily ever after. As for the final scene in the story, however, no, I don’t usually know. Most of the time, I have a vague impression of the characters, and the setting before I even start the writing process. But a story really takes shape when I figure out the dark moment between the hero and heroine.
It may seem a little morbid to get a thrill out of discovering how to rip your characters’ world to shreds, but I have the best of intentions. In THE ELUSIVE LORD EVERHART there are two dark moments. While writing those scenes, even I wondered if Gabriel and Calliope would ever work things out and find a way to happily ever after. And did they? Well, I don’t want to spoil the ending…
Excerpt #1:
Feeling like a voyeur, she pretended a sudden desire to check the state of the coals inside the brass foot warmer. No rise of warmth penetrated her limerick gloves. Regardless, she lifted the lid only to find a bed of finely sifted ash. Closing the lid, she sat back. Then, adjusting the heavy woolen blanket over her lap, she reached for the fur muff on the seat beside her. Beyond the fogged carriage windows, heavy gray clouds shrouded the snow-covered countryside. The scenery should have appeared picturesque. Not bleak and desolate. But suddenly that was how she felt. Bleak, desolate… alone. In fact, if she were the lead character in one of the novels she read, she might expect castle ruins looming in the distance. Although, much the same, barren trees and scraggily shrubs marked the rutted landscape like scars along the Great North Road. Since the copses of evergreens did not suit a bout of melancholy she chose to ignore their beauty and wallow for a moment longer. Because if one thought about snow-laden boughs, one naturally thought of sleigh rides. And no one could be unhappy while whisking through the brisk winter air with snowflakes kissing one’s cheeks. Calliope’s sigh fogged up the glass, obscuring her view completely. Perhaps, she never should have refused Brightwell’s proposal. She’d genuinely liked his company. When he’d begun to court her all those years ago, she’d known the likely outcome.
The Elusive Lord Everhart by Vivienne Lorret is the first book in The Rakes of Fallow Hall series. I was absolutely delighted with this story. You know it is going to be a good book when you find yourself feverishly highlighting passage after passage on your Kindle…while thinking that you could likely highlight from the first word to the last, since every one is exquisite.
The author has created an amazing world with meaningful interactions among characters that truly have chemistry. I was rooting for Calliope the whole time. Right away, you are able to feel an easy kinship with her and you want her to be happy. Gabriel is a rake that you love to love and love to despise at times. The Elusive Lord Everhart by Vivienne Lorret was a fun, well-written, historical romance that had my heart going pitter-patter. I loved it!
Thank you for hosting! Can’t wait to find a hidden moment to devour this one!