Shunned No More
Shunned
No More
A
Lady Forsaken
Book
1
Christina
McKnight
Genre:
Historical Romance, Regency
Publisher: La
Loma Elite Publishing
Date of
Publication: May 30, 2014
ISBN:
9780988261723
Number of pages:
300 Approximate
Word Count:
75,000 Approximate
Cover Artist:
LFD Designs for Authors
Book
Description:
A
Lady Shunned by All…
Lady Viola
Oberbrook only wanted to forget the ill-fated early morning duel that took the
lives of two young, wealthy, promising men of the ton and sent her fleeing for
her father’s country estate. Eight years later, she has her life in order: a
fulfilling business, a few trusted friends, and no plans to return to London
society. What she doesn’t expect is to come face to face with her past.
A
Lord Betrayed by One…
Brock Spencer,
Earl of Haversham, only wants vengeance. Recently returned from his military
service to the King, his plans include repairing his family estate, finding a
bride, and destroying the girl responsible for the untimely death of his twin
brothers. What he doesn’t anticipate is falling in love with the only woman who
should never be part of his future.
An
Impossible Match, Destined to Be…
Add Shunned No
More to your Goodreads
Shelf
Excerpt
PROLOGUE
Hyde Park
April 1806
8 years ago…
Viola
clutched the handle of her pink parasol to her chest tightly in anticipation of
the spectacle to come. Her gaze fixed on the two figures shrouded in the early
morning fog of Hyde Park. The men, really only boys, began to count as they
paced away from each other. Shiny, pearl-handled pistols positioned in their
right hands were at the ready.
She
clamped her lips tight to suppress the giggle that threatened to escape.
Who
would have thought that she, Lady Viola Oberbrook, would have two men seeking her
hand in marriage...and in the first week of her very first season, no less?
That they were the twin sons of Lord Haversham was an even greater coup de
grǎce for her. She’d be the envy of every debutante. The talk of the town.
As well she should be! Her father was the Duke of Liperton, after all.
If
only she’d found a way to get all of London here to witness the duel. She’d
done what she could by leaving word with Mrs. Tenchard. The old gossipmonger
was sure to spread the word more quickly than Vi could spend her monthly
allowance at the milliner’s shop.
And
Vi prided herself on her ability to spend her father’s money.
“Miss
Viola, beg’n yer pardon, but it be wise to don ye wool kid gloves,” her lady’s
maid, Sarah, whispered beside her.
“Shhhh,”
Vi hissed in return, raising her hand for Sarah to hold her tongue. She didn’t
want to miss a single moment of what was to come. She would remember this for
the rest of her existence. The day two men of the haute ton
battled in her honor. She sighed.
The
twins—Cody, with his hair cut longer than the current fashion permitted, and
sporting a determined glint in his eye, and Winston, with his smartly trimmed
blond hair falling respectfully above his collar—reached the required
twenty-pace distance and turned.
Their
pistols fired in unison. Vi’s heart soared. Her first duel...and certainly not
her last, if she had anything to say in the matter.
The
swift morning breeze pushed the smoke from the scene as both men dropped to the
ground, soggy with morning dew. Shouts of urgency rang out in the air. Men
rushed in to assist the twins.
A
cold chill inched up her spine; her breath caught in her lungs.
Neither
man moved.
A
sharp inhale of breath sounded next to her, but Vi was hesitant to remove her
attention from the scene as the pungent smell of a spent firearm reached her.
“Call
Doc Durpentire. Post haste!” bellowed Mr. Rodney Swiftenberg. As a distant
relative of the Havershams’, Swiftenberg stood as Cody’s second during the
duel. Others, vaguely familiar, knelt over both fallen men.
The
gossip rags would have much to write about this day. Vi could hardly wait to
see her name in print. Maybe her father would increase her dowry, seeing as she
would be in high demand by the day’s end.
“Miss,”
Sarah called. “I think it best we be head’n home. Ye Pa is going to be right
mad when he finds you snuck out and now these poor men be lying dead at ye very
feet.”
“Surely
you jest. They are simply play acting for dramatics...in my honor, I do
suppose.” Viola eyed the two groups of men where they stood, their heads
shaking in turn. One took his coat off and laid it gently over Cody’s still
body. Vi’s glare snapped to Winston, where another man shook out a horse
blanket. The thick, coarse material drifted on the morning breeze and settled
on the second body.
She
studied the scene in front of her. It had the potential to be ever so romantic.
A story she would regale her grandchildren with. It was a shame neither twin
was the first born and, therefore, unworthy of her hand. But she’d seen no
reason to inform them of this minor issue and spoil her fun. They’d find out
soon enough.
Slowly,
the eyes of every person present settled on her. She took a step back at the
harshness of their stares. Her chilled hand rose to cover her mouth. She wanted
to tell them to avert their eyes; she was the daughter of a Duke. They need
show the respect due her. None of these men held a title higher than Baron. How
dare they look at her thus?
A
tall, slender man carrying a large cloth bag rushed to Winston. She assumed
this was Doc Durpentire. He would have both men patched up in no time. But with
both Cody and Winston taking a bullet, their feud would not be resolved. Viola
imagined what the pair would think up next to prove one deserved her hand over
the other. Perhaps a curricle race through Mayfair District. She knew she would
be able to convince Cody to let her ride along on the adventure. She could
practically feel the wind against her face as the carriage took the corners at
a high speed, shifting across the seat so that her soft body might come to rest
against Cody’s hard one.
Imagine
what the silly, empty-brained young females would think. They’d envy her
further. An unbidden smile played across her lips.
The
doctor drew the heavy blanket aside and his hands moved over Winston’s body.
Then, they stilled. His head dropped forward. He spoke to the men around him,
but Vi was too far to hear their conversation.
Rodney,
hands shoved deep in his pockets, moved in her direction.
“Whatever
is the matter with them?” she asked when he was close enough to hear.
“I
think you should go, Lady Viola. This is not a scene any innocent maiden should
witness,” Rodney replied. His blond hair was so much like Cody and Winston’s,
but his attitude had always struck her as arrogant for a man with no title or
wealth to speak of.
“Who
are you to order me about?” Viola closed her parasol with a swift click and
handed it to Sarah, her hands coming to rest on her rounded hips.
“It
is not the time for this. My cousins...they are both dead.” Rodney paused. “I
must alert my uncle to his misfortune.”
“You
are mistaken.”
“I
assure you, no mistakes have been made this day.” He abruptly turned, stalking
back to the crowd gathering between the fallen men.
He
must be jesting, Viola thought. She looked between the fallen pair again, their
motionless bodies so at odds with the twins she’d come to know in recent days. The
heat of exhilaration drained from her as a hand settled at her elbow. Viola
felt the calloused fingertips through her thin morning cloak.
“We should be going, Miss.”
Vi shook Sarah’s imploring
touch from her arm and tried to focus her gaze on something—anything—other than
the lifeless men on the ground.
“Well,” Viola stated. “This
was…” Dread clawed at her insides, and her spirit shattered as she stared at
the two men lying prone and unmoving before her. “…unexpected.” Her entire life
had been leading up to this moment—a life of societal demands and the rigors
one had to follow to be accepted. A life that had just stopped, as quickly as
those of the two men who now lay dead. Dead.
She had murdered these men—the realization came at her all at once, even as her
mind rebelled. Cody and Winston, the silly twins who had entertained her so,
were no more. Yet, she continued to breathe. With each breath, standing in the
chill of early morning in Hyde Park, she felt the obligations of her station,
its standards and protocols too powerful for a seventeen-year-old girl to
overcome.
She glanced around her for
help, for someone to tell her what to do, but all focus was on the boys on the
ground. Years of being taught how to behave hadn’t prepared her for anything
like this.
“Miss, what should we do?”
“I suppose we should…” She
cleared her throat. “I suppose it is time to start over.” She sensed, somehow,
that starting over might be impossible.
“Start over, Miss?” Her
maid’s dark brow pulled low over her eyes.
Viola straightened her already
impeccably postured back and forced her prized smile before continuing. “To
find another suitor, you silly girl! This time, I intend to set my sights a bit
higher.” She spun on her heels, determined not to stumble, to not falter before
so many. She started back towards her carriage, moving through the men without
meeting anyone’s eye, feeling the weight
of their stares as she passed. It didn’t matter. She had the evening’s
entertainments to prepare for and an image to uphold—no matter the cost to her
soul.
historical romance, book one of a series
ARC provided by Bewitching Book Tours in exchange for an honest review
Summary
Lady Viola is filled with guilty and regrets. She runs away and hides from society because she doesn't want to face her actions as an immature teenage girl.
Lord Brock Spencer is filled with anger. He has run away in the past from the foolish life of the court, but now he has came back to fulfill his duties.
Viola must face her past, Brock must face his present. Will there be a future for them?
cover 4 stars
I really like. I would buy this book in a bookstore. I would have understood by looking at it that it was a historical romance. I enjoy the color and the woman's expression.
characters 4 stars
I like Viola, at least the Viola she has become, and I can understand how foolish a seventeen years old can be.
I like Brock and I understood all the emotions he was faced with.
Some great secondary characters such as Ruby and Harold.
Characters were easy to relate, connect and love.
plot 3.5 stars
Ms. McKinight has created a good plot filled with emotions. The characters are faced with consequences of rushed decisions in a fast-paced plot packed with mystery, deceptions, guilty, rage and all sort of feelings.
The book was easy to follow and it kept me guessing until the end. The romance intertwined was breathtaking in it's purity of emotions.
My one complain is that I wanted more of their relationship and less of their history, so I could have seen more of them together.
heat2 stars
The characters have good chemistry but there isn't many scenes of them together as a couple.
freshness 4 stars
I have really enjoy the idea of the lady being in the wrong. Is not often that we read a heroine as being wrong and not being offered excuses for her behavior. The story is one of redemption, but never of taking the blame away from the character. Really well crafted!
Impressions and Opinion
What I really liked the best about this book was it's strong plot and the author being able to perfectly executed her ideas. It was not the conventional historical plot, on which the lord is a rake and the lady is a damsel in distress.
This book is a journey of redemption, of second chances, of making it better, of making it work.
It did really work for me.
I wish the author would have added a few more scenes of the couple together, a little bit more of the romance per se.
I'm looking forward to reading more from the author.
"It didn't matter. She had the evening's entertainments to prepare for and an image to uphold- no matter the cost to her soul."
Review by:
Giveaway
About the Author
Christina
McKnight is a book lover turned writer. From a young age, her mother encouraged
her to tell her own stories. She’s been writing ever since. Currently, she
focuses on Historical Romance, Urban Fantasy, and Paranormal Romance.
Christina enjoys
a quiet life in Northern California with her family, her wine, and lots of
coffee. Oh, and her books…don’t forget her books! Most days she can be found
writing, reading, or traveling the great state of California.
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