It’s such a pleasure today to share my publication day review of The Major And The Scandalous Widow by Sarah Mallory. Published today (28th September) by Mills & Boon/Harlequin Historical, it’s now available via Amazon in the UK and US for kindle and in paperback, on other major e-book platforms, and also through the publishers’ websites. My thanks to the author for providing an e-copy to allow me to write an early review.
The last time I read and reviewed one of Sarah’s lovely books – The Night She Met The Duke, back in April (you’ll find my review here – and it’s a book I’d highly recommend!) – I declared myself a total convert to the world of Regency fiction, and vowed to read rather more. Despite my good intentions, you’ll have noticed I’m still reading considerably more contemporary fiction – but when Sarah asked me if I’d like to try her latest, previously published (without fanfare, and with limited availability) in 2010 as Disgrace and Desire, I was delighted to sign up once more. Yes, there’s the usual slightly over-excited blurb that used to put me off a little, and I’ll readily admit that I think I might just prefer the original title – but I really love her story-telling, the Regency world she creates so well, the frequently edge-of-the-seat moments, and her rather special touch with the relationships between her characters.
Let’s take a closer look…
The infamous lady…
He must resist!
Major Jack Clifton must fulfil his military friend’s dying wish by returning his wedding ring to his widow. But when honourable Jack finds Eloise she’s nothing like the woman he was told to expect…
In fact, the ton view her as utterly scandalous! However, Jack quickly learns that Eloise’s reputation has been wrongfully imposed upon her. And that he has forbidden feelings for the real Eloise…
When Lord Tony Allyngham is fatally injured on the battlefield at Waterloo, he entrusts a locket and his ring to his comrade-in-arms Major Jack Clifton, asking him to return them to his young wife Eloise. A year or so later, he finally has the opportunity – but far from finding a grieving and fragile widow, Eloise’s company is highly sought after in society circles, where she has acquired something of a scandalous reputation. Her childhood friend Alex Mortimer is always at her side, their true relationship the subject of much speculation – but that’s something she’s not over concerned about, rather enjoying the attention, as she focuses on continuing her husband’s charitable endeavours by attempting to set up a foundling hospital.
As the predatory men circle, Jack finds himself becoming another of her protectors – because of a promise to his dying friend, but also finding himself falling for her considerable charms. But their lives become increasingly complicated by a blackmail plot – a stolen journal containing unknown secrets with the potential for immense damage that must be recovered, and a dangerous villain with an agenda all of his own.
The developing romance in this book was, I thought, simply wonderful – both Jack and Eloise are such well-drawn and sympathetic characters, far more complex than you might be expecting, and there’s a real sizzle to the chemistry between them. Theirs was a relationship I entirely believed in and felt completely invested in the outcome – all those wrong turns and misunderstandings, the palpable tension as they tried to resist the strong attraction between them, but inexorably building in a way I thoroughly enjoyed. But I equally loved the blackmail plot, with its exciting and unexpected twists and turns – the many layers of deceit, the moments of danger, the strong sense of loyalty underpinning some of the more questionable decisions along the way, with elements to the story that certainly came as a surprise but were so cleverly woven into the story’s fabric.
The storytelling is exceptional, the whole pacing of the story just perfect, the romance tender and totally convincing, and the Regency world its engaging characters inhabit absolutely real – this was one of those rather special books that I found totally impossible to set aside, the pages turning ever faster as the danger level rose and Eloise’s ultimate fate became increasingly uncertain. If you think Regency romance might not be something you’d enjoy, this book really would be the most perfect introduction – I couldn’t recommend it more highly.
About the author
I write under the names of Melinda Hammond and Sarah Mallory: I am a proud patron of the Lancashire Authors Association and a long-time member of the Romantic Novelists Association.
I have been telling stories for as long as I can remember – many of them born of frustration when I was stuck in a classroom longing to be rescued! I love anything romantic, whether it is a grand opera or a beautiful painting. It doesn’t necessarily have to be happy, as long as it is inspiring.
I was born in Bristol and grew up on Barton Hill, an area of small terraced houses built in the nineteenth century between the mills and the railway. I think my love of adventure stories is due to the fact that I grew up with three older brothers and lived in a street full of boys! My love of history and the English language was fostered at grammar school, where I soon discovered the delights of Georgian and Regency fiction, first of all with the works of Jane Austen and then Georgette Heyer.
I left school at sixteen to work in companies as varied as stockbrokers, marine engineers, biscuit manufacturers and even a quarrying company, but I never lost my love of history, and when I wasn’t reading and researching the Georgian and Regency period I was writing stories about it.
When I was at home with my first child, I decided to try my hand at writing seriously, and my first historical novel, Fortune’s Lady, was published by Robert Hale in 1980. I have now published more than twenty novels, over a dozen of them as Melinda Hammond, winning the Reviewers Choice award in 2005 from Singletitles.com for Dance for a Diamond and the Historical Novel Society’s Editors Choice in 2006 for Gentlemen in Question. Writing as Sarah Mallory for Harlequin Mills & Boon, The Earl’s Runaway Bride won a coveted CataNetwork Reviewers Choice award for 2010 and I have won the the RNA’s RoNA Rose Award in 2012 and 2013.
After many years living on the West Yorkshire moors, I have now moved to the remote Scottish Highlands. The new house overlooks the sea, where the stunning scenery inspires me to write even more!
Ooh, I like Sarah’s books, I shall look out for this one.