Hey Sunshine!
So you want to know more about my upcoming debut, Courting Scandal? Well you’ve come to the right place!
I’ve mentioned before in my blog that Courting Scandal was not the novel I set out to write. It was intended to be a small piece of an urban fantasy duology. That story may yet see the light of day, but the focus will be on different characters and Michael and Juliet’s replacements would take a backseat to the sassy little demon and massive golden retriever of an angel that were on their way to taking over anyway.
Why did I decide to set that manuscript aside and focus all my energies on Micael and Juliet in 1814? There were a lot of little reasons:
1814 was becoming a massive part of the story in a way it simply could not be to tell the original story.
I’m a trash goblin for Regency romance and I shouldn’t have set out to write in a genre I wasn’t as comfortable in anyway.
Celine. The original chapter with Celine was entirely unnecessary, particularly to the original story I was telling. But I loved her. She made me laugh, she made me cry, she forced me to recall middle school French… She was a delight and she needed her own book. And so did Augie.
Augie, sweet Augie, said a thing… Or rather, Michael quoted a thing Augie said. (Ironically, this didn’t make it into the final manuscript in this exact form.)
“I miss Anna; she knows how to deal with you when you’re soused.”
“You miss Anna because you think her hair is pretty and she smells of pastry.”
“I told you that in confidence.”
“Well, I’m soused; you can’t trust a soused man to keep a confidence.”
Tell me that man didn’t need his own book!
Thus began the saga of the Most Imprudent Matches series. The ideas for the first three books came quickly. Celine’s books took time. She was special, she needed an extraordinary story. I considered a prince or king for her, a pirate ship full of pirates who call her little dog, Cherie, Cherry, a blacksmith (I love a good blacksmith, probably too much Pirates of the Caribbean in my formative years). In the end, I’m happy with where I landed, something you can enjoy when Devil of Mine (Book 4) and Angel of Mine (Book 5) are released.
So what is Courting Scandal actually about?
The novel follows Michael Wayland, owner of a notorious gaming-hell, and Lady Juliet Dalton, only child of an earl.
Michael is the bastard son of a viscount who died before the story begins. His younger brother, Hugh, inherited the title. At 11, Hugh was not prepared for the responsibilities of a failing estate. So 17 year old Michael took on the challenge.
He soon learned the estate is bankrupt. In an attempt to blow off some steam, Augie dragged Michael to a gaming-hell (gambling den) in Temple Bar. There, Michael quickly realized that he had the skills to save the estate from ruin. Eventually, Hugh took over management of the estate and cuts ties with Michael over his plan to open his own gaming-hell.
Our story opens when Michael finds evidence of match fixing by one, Richard Dalton, Earl of Westfield and father to Juliet.
Juliet, on the other hand, is the dutiful daughter to a father whose only wish was for a son. Her mother died in childbirth and she has spent the last few years caring for her ailing stepmother before her death.
Her father is cruel and Juliet’s only desire is to get out from under his thumb. Marriage is her best choice, her only choice. When her father arranges a match between her and the seemingly kind Xander Hasket, Duke of Rosehill, Juliet is shocked. After all, their one meeting was something of a disaster. Even stranger is his determination to have nothing to do with her.
When, one night, she overhears her father talking to a mysterious stranger, she learns the horrifying truth. That her father sold her to Xander to pay off his gambling debts. That mysterious stranger is one, Michael Wayland. Furious with her father, and terrified of her fiance’s motives, Juliet is paralyzed with indecision.
That is when fate, with a little help from Michael’s sister-in-law/Juliet’s best friend, Kate, intervenes. The two are thrown together away from the prying eyes of the ton. Falling in love over a shared love of books, and fascination with each other’s interests. They can’t stay away, no matter how ill-advised.
Juliet will be forced to decide whether to stay on the safe course, or risk it all for a love she never wanted. And Michael will need to face yet another rejection, this time with everything on the line.
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It will be available on Kindle Unlimited and for ebook purchase through Amazon in July. Paperbacks will be released wide at the same time.
You can also request a signed paperback right here once they’re released
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Yes! Please sign up by filling out the form here.
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You can check trigger warnings for this and all my other books before their release here.
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I’ve got you right here.
Thank you all for staying with me through that wild, rambling ride. I hope you’re as excited to read Courting Scandal as I am to show it to you.
Thanks!
<3 Ally