The Ruined Marquis excerpt

Hi! Feel like reading a little more about Archie?

“Mister Turner, good evening sir,” she said haughtily, giving Archie a half curtsy.

He bowed low in return. He was a Marquis’ son, but he was a second son and she was a daughter of a duke. Both unmarried, she outranked him.

“I never leave London, it is true, but I would have loved to visit Annabelle.” She repeated, daring him to contradict her again.

Archie would usually have ignored any attempt of hers to bait him, yet tonight she was succeeding without barely trying.

“How can you say that you would have loved to venture to Scotland when you never even visit Hampshire in the off season?” he asked with a raised eye brow.

 “That’s only because...” Victoria began to explain until John cleared his throat, stopping her mid sentence.

Victoria sighed loudly, what could she say? Her father took his long time mistress to their country estate every off Season and her mother and Victoria stayed in London. It was common enough knowledge that he had a mistress but no one knew just how much time their father spent with her. How could she tell Archie why she couldn’t leave London if John didn’t want them to know?

“You are right Mr. Turner, how remiss of me to forget how shallow I am.”

Annabelle gasped but Victoria ignored her, focusing instead on Archie. Although most of the time she hated him, the other small part of her loved their exchanges. No one saw her as more than a wealthy Duke’s daughter, to be caught for marriage and used for her hostess skills and to provide an heir. Those wanting to marry her included false flattery and flummery in their way of talking to her, Archie never did either. Even if he did only see her flaws she liked how he treated her as a person, not as the rich daughter of a Duke.

 “Not shallow Lady Dunford, simply focused on London.” Archie replied, injecting humor into his voice.

Victoria ignored the tone. She got some perverse pleasure out of sparring with Archie in public and she wouldn’t be backing down.

“Oh, self centered now? Even better.” She snorted inelegantly and flushed slightly in response.

Archie just smiled at her as though he was agreeing. That annoyed her even more than a cutting reply.

Victoria opened her mouth for a blistering rejoinder when Annabelle interrupted.

“How is your brother Archie?” Annabelle asked, linking her arm with Victoria’s.

Hi everyone!
Yes, I've been very slack with this blog!
I have sent The Ruined Marquis in to my editor but am still waiting to hear back in regards to release dates, covers, etc.
I need to get back into 'Robert's Lady' which will be the sequel to Ellie's Gentleman, but in the meantime, here is a review i found that is rather lovely :)
Review
Ellie Sommers is twenty years old, beautiful, lively and intelligent. She has finally returned to her family home after another long London season. She wants nothing more than to stay in her beloved country town and ride her horses. Enter Robert Blakely, a widower and a true gentleman. He has come to spend Christmas with his long-time friend William, Ellie’s father. Robert has no wish to marry again and is shocked to discover his own interest in the beautiful daughter of his friend. The only problem is that he is twice her age and a widower who has convinced himself he will never marry again.
Ellie is excited to be home from London. She hates London and after three Seasons she’s happy to be in the country once again. She’s positive now that she really doesn’t want to marry a man from London, or one who will spend any time there. The smell, the materialistic people, the hours they keep – she can do without all of it.
Her father tells her that he has an old friend visiting and when Ellie meets Robert Blakely she’s almost immediately smitten. They get along famously and have much to talk about. They both love the country and soon Ellie is determined to get Robert to propose marriage – even if he is 22 years her senior.
Robert is captivated by Ellie and humor and liveliness but as much as he likes her he won’t be asking for her hand in marriage. After his wife died in childbirth, he decided that he could never care for someone again who might end up dying. Understandable, but he wasn’t prepared for Ellie’s charm.
This was a charming short story. I really liked Ellie’s openness with Robert as well as her determination. It certainly didn’t take her long to decide he was the man for her but as it was a short story I forgave that – it didn’t feel rushed at all even though it all took place within a matter of days.
Robert was wonderful as well. I can just see him getting so flustered by his feelings toward a much younger woman and trying to fight them – especially his friend’s daughter. He was such a nice man and was nothing but kind to Ellie.
Overall a sweet book and one that it was nice to pass a bit of time with.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5