Ripe for Seduction
Book Three, The League of Second Sons

Coming December 18th, 2012

Starred review from PW!

“Carr is sure to balance her characters' roguish antics with genuine heart, making the double love story a delightful and erotic page-turner.”

4-Stars (RT Book Reviews)

"For her third in the League of the Second Sons, Carr delivers not one, but two love stories that will charm and titillate readers. It's intriguing that, at times, the more mature romance overshadows the younger couples love story, but it is the underlying passion in both, as well as the marvelously crafted backdrop, that holds readers' attention. You will be easily drawn into the naught and bawdy era through Carr's deft prose."

After the scandalous demise of her marriage, Lady Olivia Carlow knows the rakes of the ton will think her fair game. So when a letter arrives bearing an indecent offer from the incorrigible Roland Devere, she seizes the opportunity. Turning the tables on the notorious rogue, she blackmails him into playing her betrothed for the season. But no matter how broad his shoulders or chiseled his features, she will never fall prey to his suave charm.

When Roland boasted he'd be the first into Lady Olivia's bed, he couldn't have imagined that behind those brilliant blue eyes lurked a vixen with a scheme of her own. Still, Roland is not about to abandon his original wager. If anything, learning that the lovely Olivia is as bold as she is beautiful makes him more determined to seduce her into never saying "never" again.

Read the first 3 chapters...
  

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I'm lucky enough to have a good girlfriend who's also a professional illustrator. Jess not only did my header for me, but she did portraits of all my heroes. Roland is my jokester. He rarely takes anything seriously, unless it's actually do-or-die, an attitude that comes back to bite him in the ass when he finally goes too far ...

Mr. Roland Devere
by Jessica Cohen

Five Fun Facts

After you’ve finished RIPE FOR SEDUCTION, you can read the reconciliation scene for the secondary couple in the next column (or download it if you prefer). I deleted it from the novel to keep Margo and Philip from taking over, but it's a scene I really love, so I kept it as a bonus for readers.

The indecent offer my hero, Roland, makes to my heroine was based on one a real one made to Lady Mary Coke. The real-life lord got off easier than my hero, LOL!

Giant dogs, this time Scottish Deerhounds, once again put in an appearance. Deerhounds were a very rare breed by this point in history. It’s doubtful that most people had ever even seen one, but luckily for us all, a few people kept the breed alive. I am lucky enough to know several Deerhounds, as they frequent my local dog park. Watching them run across the field is truely a sight to behold. The Wolfhounds and Great Danes can't keep up with them, and the Greyhounds are simply dwarfed by them.

RIPE FOR SEDUCTION features a shallop race on the Thames. The Queen’s Jubilee, with its display of historical boats, couldn’t have been more timely.

I based the house they all end up at in Paris on one that I stayed at in the Marais. Just down the street is my favorite Parisian café, Le Bouledogue, where you can meet Didier and his adorable French Bulldogs. Order the duck. You won't be sorry.

Philip & Margo's
Reconciliation

Philip found the door Devere had directed him to easily enough. With every step he was half afraid one of her servants would appear to say the comtesse had commanded them to send him away.
     He pushed the door open. Margo lay in her bath. The long tub was draped in linen to protect her from splinters, but she wasn’t wearing a bathing shift as a Frenchwoman would have done.
     She opened her eyes at the sound of his boots on the floor. Philip shut the door behind him and stood waiting to see what would happen. From across the room he heard the thump of Maldon’s tail and then the hound’s low-pitched whine of greeting.
     “It seems a long way to come for an ancient, one-eyed dog,” Margo said.
     Philip nodded as he tossed his hat aside and shrugged off his surtout. He draped the loose overcoat over the back of the chair that he dragged to the side of the tub. He dangled his fingers in the water. “It’s a very special dog, though.”
     Margo made no attempt to cover herself. She put out one hand, water spiraling down her arm and over her breast.   
     “Hand me the sponge.”
     Philip did as he was bid, then watched with great appreciation as she wet the large sponge and sluiced it over her limbs. One dark curl slipped from the wrap that held her hair up. It spread itself over her breast, the tip curling around her nipple, like the hair of an undine.
     “Apparently Paxton will not be returning with the promised towels. Could you bring me my dressing gown? I hate a tepid bath.”
     Philip crossed the room to fetch the dressing gown that was spread across the foot of the bed. Maldon padded over demanding to be greeted, and Philip gave the hound a scratch.
     Margo stood up as he approached with her dressing gown and his jaw dropped. He’d never really seen her naked. Not like this. Just furtively in dark rooms as they tumbled into beds, and even it wasn’t like this. She looked like the statue of Venus he’d seen in Florence as a boy making the grand tour: rounded perfection, with long legs and two dimples where her hips met her back. 

 

The earl helped her out of the tub and held the robe while Margo slipped her arms into it. In truth, her bath wasn’t yet cold, but she couldn’t stand to have the conversation she feared they were about to have naked. She wanted enough on to be able to storm out if the situation called for it. 
     Arlington looked as though he’d swallowed his tongue. Good. Margo tugged the small linen towel from her head and let her hair fall. She used it to dry her face and hands.
     The earl simply stood and watched. She didn’t want to talk, or explain. She wanted to drag him to the bed. What would he do if she tried? Margo tossed the towel aside, stepped into the earl so they were chest to chest, and kissed him.
     His hand knotted in her robe, pinning her to him. Margo felt a surge of wickedness lick though her. He kissed her roughly, hungrily, but when she attempted to steer him toward the bed, he stiffened and stopped her.
     “Stop trying to distract me,” he said.
     Margo draped her arms about his neck and leaned back just enough to see his face. His mouth was serious, but his eyes were smiling. “As you wish, my lord.”     
     Her dressing gown hung open. He twitched it shut. “I didn’t come all the way to Paris to bed you.”
     Margo wrinkled her nose at him. His cock was hard against her belly. Whatever his intention, bedding her was most certainly on his mind.
     “Or not just to bed you,” he added. His hands slid around her waist, fingers fluttering over her hips. 
     “No,” Margo said, “You also came for your dog.”
     “Damn the dog.”
     She raised one brow. “I wasn’t going to give him back anyway.”
     “Consider him a wedding present,” the earl said.
     Margo shook her head. “Think of the scandal.”
     “Which you’ll love.” He cupped her cheek with one hand, his thumb sliding over her lips.
     “And your daughter?” 
     “Who do you think sent me?” he said before kissing her.

19thC etching of a Deerhound vs. a modern picture

Hafed, a celebrated Scottish deerhound
by Sir Edwin Landseer

Scottish Deerhound

The AKC website says: “The origin of the breed is of such antiquity, and the earliest descriptive names so mixed that it is unclear as to whether the Deerhound was at one time identical with the ancient Irish Wolfdog. Very early descriptive names were used to identify the purpose of the dog rather than to identify a species. We find such names as Irish Wolf Dog, Scotch Greyhound, Rough Greyhound and Highland Deerhound.”

What is known is that they have definitely identified the breed as Deerhounds as early as the 16th century, at which time no one of rank lower than earl was allowed to possess them. By the mid 18th century the breed had become extremely rare, and it wasn’t until the 1825 that someone (notably Archibald and Duncan McNeill) undertook the restoration of the breed.

 The Scottish Deerhound Club of America website says:  The grace, dignity and beauty of the Deerhound have been faithfully depicted in many of Landseer's paintings and drawings, and Sir Walter Scott, who owned the famous Deerhound Maida, makes many enthusiastic allusions to the breed, which he describes as "The most perfect creature of Heaven."