New Release!
THE FOLLY AT FALCONBRIDGE HALL
Maggi Andersen
Nominated for the RONE Award!
Review: The author deserves high
praise for her ability to capture the reader's attention and engage one in both
the mystery and the romance of this delightful story!
Margaret
Faria
InD’Tale Magazine
BLURB: Vanessa Ashley felt
herself qualified for a position as governess, until offered the position at
Falconbridge Hall. Left penniless after the deaths of her artist father and
suffragette mother, Vanessa Ashley draws on her knowledge of art, politics, and
history to gain employment as a governess. She discovers that Julian, Lord
Falconbridge, requires a governess for his ten-year-old daughter Blyth at
Falconbridge Hall, in the countryside outside London. Lord Falconbridge is a
scientist and dedicated lepidopterist who is about to embark on an extended
expedition to the Amazon. An enigmatic man, he takes a keen interest in his
daughter's education. As she prepares her young charge, Vanessa finds the girl
detached and aloof. As Vanessa learns more about Falconbridge Hall, more
questions arise. Why doesn't Blythe feel safe in her own home? Why is the death
of her mother, once famed society beauty Clara, never spoken of? And why did
the former governess leave so suddenly without giving notice?
PG EXCERPT:
Vanessa remembered passing the library
on her first day and located it without difficulty. She entered the room,
finding it empty. It was designed for masculine comfort. Bookshelves filled
with tomes covered all available wall space. A tan leather chesterfield and two
chairs were grouped in front of the fireplace, and a tiger skin covered the
floor in front of the hearth. The Times,
The Daily Telegraph and the Penny
Press lay on a table, and the aroma of cigars and pipe smoke lingered in
the air.
A
variety of magazines was stacked in a rack. Vanessa sorted through The Gentleman’s Magazine, Punch, The Strand,
and the London Sunday Journal. She
selected Punch and the Penny Press to take back to her room.
She
roamed the shelves searching for suitable books and found several on botany,
including one by Lord Falconbridge on Lepidoptera. She piled them onto a
mahogany table, along with the books and the notes she’d fetched from her room.
Searching further, she spied Plato’s Symposium
and climbed the ladder. It was just out of reach. Not wishing to climb down,
she leaned across. Her fingers touched the binding, and she leaned farther. She
almost had it.
“You
read Ancient Greek, Miss Ashley?” Lord Falconbridge asked behind her.
Vanessa
jumped, and her foot slipped off the rung. She lost her balance and fell into a
pair of strong arms.
He
set her on her feet. The imprint of his touch remained as her heart beat madly.
She hugged a wisp of hair from her eyes, sure her face was crimson. “Not with
any degree of expertise, my lord.” Available in print & e-book
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