Please welcome Celeste Jones who has come to talk to us about her new book Lady Katherine’s Comeuppance.
Until now, all of my books and short stories were contemporary. I liked writing about modern career women who craved submission. Writing about women in Regency Era England was about as far from that as you can get. And maybe that was part of the fun. I always like to try new things. In the Regency era a woman’s primary goal was to find a husband. A good marriage was one that provided for financial security and social standing. If you happened to love each other, that was a bonus. If a woman didn’t marry, she had to rely on either an inheritance (which would usually be administered by a male relative) or the kindness of her family.
In many ways, marriage gave a woman more freedom than being single. A married woman ran her own household, had the freedom to spend at least a small amount of money, and could move about in society with a bit more freedom than a single woman who was always chaperoned.
In Lady Katherine’s Comeuppance, Lady Katherine is a dowager countess. What’s that mean? Well, if I got it right, it means that she was married to an earl and he died. But, the estate is entailed upon the male line, which means that even though she was married she did not inherit her husband’s estate. This puts her in a precarious position, indeed.
She could live out her days in the role of dowager countess, but even the mere sound of it was too dreary and uninspired to consider. Life was meant to be experienced and enjoyed. There were balls and concerts to attend. Gossip to be shared. How she longed to promenade along Hyde Park in a fine new dress and hat. She had performed the requisite period of mourning for her husband and the social season was just beginning. She had no intention of sitting on the sidelines.
Her best option was to find a new husband, no small task, even for her. For one, although still beautiful, she was no longer a maiden. Secondly, her inability to conceive had not gone unnoticed by the eligible gentlemen of her acquaintance.
Beauty, without fertility, would only get her so far. And finally, now that she had experienced life as Lady Katherine Winchester, how could she possibly be satisfied with any other existence?
She had flirted her way into the good graces of the most desirable men of the ton. One silly American ought to be wrapped around her finger in no time.
When a scandal erupts and forces them to marry, Thomas uses both tenderness and discipline to prepare his wife to face society and regain her good name. Will this fine English Lady surrender to the American?
She could live out her days in the role of dowager countess, but even the mere sound of it was too dreary and uninspired to consider. Life was meant to be experienced and enjoyed. There were balls and concerts to attend. Gossip to be shared. How she longed to promenade along Hyde Park in a fine new dress and hat. She had performed the requisite period of mourning for her husband and the social season was just beginning. She had no intention of sitting on the sidelines.
Her best option was to find a new husband, no small task, even for her. For one, although still beautiful, she was no longer a maiden. Secondly, her inability to conceive had not gone unnoticed by the eligible gentlemen of her acquaintance.
Beauty, without fertility, would only get her so far. And finally, now that she had experienced life as Lady Katherine Winchester, how could she possibly be satisfied with any other existence?
She had flirted her way into the good graces of the most desirable men of the ton. One silly American ought to be wrapped around her finger in no time.
When a scandal erupts and forces them to marry, Thomas uses both tenderness and discipline to prepare his wife to face society and regain her good name. Will this fine English Lady surrender to the American?
The only daughter of an earl, she had grown up in luxury and indulgence. Her brother had inherited the title, but soon gambled away most of the assets set aside for the care of Katherine and her mother, which left Katherine’s unsurpassed beauty as the only real asset she and her mother had to support themselves. Her mother had guarded her daughter’s virtue like the treasure it was until Charles, the Earl of Winchester, had fallen madly in love with Katherine.
Charles had been an attentive and kind husband and Katherine found that over time she had grown to care for him very much. Her deepest regret was her inability to conceive an heir.
Not only had it saddened both Charles and Katherine to be childless, but because the estate was entailed upon the male line, sudden widowhood had thrust Katherine into the role of dowager, though without any relationship or affinity with the new earl, she assumed he would consider her as simply an extra responsibility to be dealt with as expediently and thriftily as possible.
Her fate, over which she had no control, rested upon the whims of an uncultured American.
Blurb: The House of Winchester is set on its ear when Thomas, a distant cousin of the recently deceased earl, arrives to assume his role as Lord Winchester. In addition to an elegant London home and a luxurious country estate, Thomas "inherits" Lady Katherine, the widow of the former earl. Lady Katherine, herself the daughter of an earl, is horrified that a barbaric American will not only be the new lord of the manor, but also responsible for her future support and livelihood. Lady Katherine is determined to maintain her position in society and equally determined to ignore the brash American. That is, until their passions override their good judgment.
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