Maggi Andersen's Blog, page 55

Released at a special price on Amazon!

Taming a Gentleman Spy - The Spies of Mayfair Book 2 is released in e-book on Wednesday 4th! Contest on the day! Details following.
Enjoy John Strathairn and Sibella's story. Print book follows on the 11th February.
Pre-order: Amazon


"Will she choose the man of her life by listening to her heart or her reason?" Nicole Laverdure.
Excerpt:

Strathairn smiled down at his partner, her slim waist beneath his hand as they danced. Lady Sibella Winborne looked like a delicate flower in a gauzy pale gown covered in amber blossom. White ostrich feather plumes adorned her luxuriant dark locks. He enjoyed looking at her. Her serene oval face lifted and she smiled at him, her mouth wide and full. Too wide for beauty some might say, but made for kissing. She had inherited her mother’s famous eyes, a delectable mix of blue and green, but her nature was quieter, lacking the vivacity of her mother in her youth, who was said to have had men falling at her feet. He admired Sibella’s calm beauty, but she was oh, so much more: practical, poised and intelligent. Yet still unmarried, which surprised him. 8  “You arrived late tonight. I wasn’t sure you’d come,” she said. “I was tied up with business.” “Not parliament?” “No.” She tilted her head. “Your horses, then?” He grinned at her blatant curiosity. “No.” “You won’t tell me.” “No.” Sibella laughed with good humor. “Very well. Might I find you riding in Hyde Park tomorrow?” “I hope to.” Her delicate brows rose. “If business doesn’t keep you.” He laughed. “Precisely.” The music faded away. Strathairn escorted her back to her chair where her mother, the Dowager Marchioness of Brandreth, sat fanning herself among the other dowagers. He bowed, planning to slip into the rooms set aside for gambling. As much as he might wish to dance with Sibella again, it would place them under scrutiny, and faro was an effective release from the tension he always carried with him. “Don’t rush off, Strathairn,” her sharp-eyed mother said. “We have seen little of you of late. You rarely frequent these affairs.” She waved her fan in an arc to encompass the ballroom. “Where have you been hiding?” “Not hiding, my lady, merely visiting my estates.” Lady Brandreth adjusted the silk shawl over her shoulders. “Did you include that pile of yours in Yorkshire? I enjoyed the hunt ball, but it’s cold as charity in winter up in those parts.” “Not this time, but I miss it. There’s a wild beauty to the dales in winter, quite unlike southern England.” “I daresay.” Her purple turban wobbled as she nodded. “You are a fine figure of a man, Strathairn. What are you now? Six and thirty? You should marry. You should be setting up your nursery.” She gestured toward her daughter sitting beside her. “Sibella will bear you healthy children. The Brandreths come of good stock, and the Wederells even better.” “Mama, please!” He caught Sibella’s apologetic gaze and suppressed a wry smile. Her plea would have little effect; the marchioness was known to be one of the most colorful and outspoken members of the ton.

First review for Taming a Gentleman Spy, the second book in the Spies of Mayfair Series.

My first review for Taming a Gentleman Spy. Nicole Laverdure wrote: "That sweet unforgettable kiss 4.5
I had the chance to receive an ARC of Taming a Gentleman Spy written by Maggi Andersen. This is an intriguing Regency story with loving characters. Sibella is an outspoken young woman who doesn't want to marry and give up her independence and John Haldane, a dashing Earl who loves his solitude and wants to stay free. The intrigue was well developed, believable and well-written. It all started, when an innocent kiss between Sibella and John, ignited a sweet passion. Younger, she had always admired him in secret, but now, several years later, he had returned from war, more handsome but with lots of secrets. Their families were quite aware that they were meant for each other and began to meddle in their affairs. Their friendship gradually evolved to love. Then the fun began! They both played the cat and mouse game. Pretending to be friends only, their families developed a plot to get them together. It is a beautiful historical romance of the lives of the rich and famous during the Regency period. It's sweet, charming and filled with schemes and plots. Will Sibella forget this man who gave her this sweet kiss? Will she choose the man of her life by listening to her heart or her reason? All these questions will be answered when you read this novel. Ms. Andersen's style of writing kept my interest throughout the whole book. I recommend this novel. Expected publication December 4th 2013."
Amazon
Print release 2014.

My review of The Cater Street Hangman

 
 ****
The first book in Perry’s bestselling Victorian crime series, bringing together Inspector Thomas Pitt and Charlotte Ellison Panic and fear strike the Ellison household when one of their own falls prey to the Cater Street murderer. While Mrs. Ellison and her three daughters are out, their maid becomes the third victim of a killer who strangles young women with cheese wire, leaving their swollen-faced bodies on the dark streets of this genteel neighborhood. Inspector Pitt, assigned to the case, must break through the walls of upper-class society to get at the truth. His in-depth investigation gradually peels away the proper veneer of the elite world, exposing secrets and desires until suspicion becomes more frightening than truth. Outspoken Charlotte Ellison, struggling to remain within the confining boundaries of Victorian manners, has no trouble expressing herself to the irritating policeman. As their relationship shifts from antagonistic sparring to a romantic connection, the socially inappropriate pair must solve the mystery before the hangman strikes again. 
Review: Always nice to discover a new writer. I did enjoy Anne Perry's first detective novel for Charlotte and Thomas Pitt. Perry is on sure ground with this era. Her knowledge of the mores of the times works well to reveal a family in crisis. The murder mystery seems like a subplot to the family themselves as they are rocked and fractured by what is happening very close to home. The women accept the limitations that society places on them which we today would consider frightful. They answer to the man of the house and spend their days with household duties and charity work. Although they are somewhat subdued by societal expectations, they do want something better from their relationships. The different generations are shown here with the grandmother, a homeless and sour woman shuttled from family member to family member, while attempting to forget the disappointment of her own marriage. But the men aren't completely content either. Although they are allowed much more freedom without censure, this seems to work against their own happiness while destroying the intimacy of family life. Perry shows them as rendered lonely and confused by their actions. No one character is painted as perfect. Pitt is a good character, he shows a vulnerability which contrasts him with the snobbish gentleman he must deal with, and especially as he falls in love with Charlotte. While obviously aware he is of a lower social order than she, which gives him pause, he is very much his own man. He takes every snub she deals out on the chin with a smile. Life has taught him a thing or two. He reveals a more realistic and pragmatic attitude. Charlotte isn't particularly likeable as an outspoken young woman with very definite ideas, but we see her develop here from a snobbish green girl to a compassionate woman. Very well done.

Taming a Gentleman Spy - The Spies of Mayfair, Book #2 is released in e-book on the 4th December.

 Here's a taste: AmazonBeneath glistening chandeliers, the dancers spun to the strains of a Handel waltz. Strathairn smiled down at his partner, her slim waist beneath his hand as they danced. Lady Sibella Winborne looked like a delicate flower in a gauzy pale gown covered in amber blossom. White ostrich feather plumes adorned her luxuriant dark locks. He enjoyed looking at her. Her serene oval face lifted and she smiled at him, her mouth wide and full. Too wide for beauty some might say, but made for kissing. She had inherited her mother’s famous eyes, a delectable mix of blue and green, but her nature was quieter, lacking the vivacity of her mother in her youth, who was said to have had men falling at her feet. He admired Sibella’s calm beauty, but she was oh, so much more: practical, poised and intelligent. Yet still unmarried, which surprised him.“You arrived late tonight. I wasn’t sure you’d come,” she said.“I was tied up with business.”“Not parliament?”“No.”She tilted her head. “Your horses, then?”He grinned at her blatant curiosity. “No.”“You won’t tell me.”“No.”Sibella laughed with good humor. “Very well. Might I find you riding in Hyde Park tomorrow?”“I hope to.”Her delicate brows rose. “If business doesn’t keep you.”He laughed. “Precisely.”The music faded away. Strathairn escorted her back to her chair where her mother, the Dowager Marchioness of Brandreth, sat fanning herself among the other dowagers. He bowed, planning to slip into the rooms set aside for gambling. As much as he might wish to dance with Sibella again, it would place them under scrutiny, and faro was an effective release from the tension he always carried with him.  “Don’t rush off, Strathairn,” her sharp-eyed mother said. “We have seen little of you of late. You rarely frequent these affairs.” She waved her fan in an arc to encompass the ballroom. “Where have you been hiding?”“Not hiding, my lady, merely visiting my estates.”Lady Brandreth adjusted the silk shawl over her shoulders. “Did you include that pile of yours in Yorkshire? I enjoyed the hunt ball, but it’s cold as charity in winter up in those parts.” “Not this time, but I miss it. There’s a wild beauty to the dales in winter, quite unlike southern England.”“I daresay.” Her purple turban wobbled as she nodded. “You are a fine figure of a man, Strathairn. What are you now? Six and thirty? You should marry. You should be setting up your nursery.” She gestured toward her daughter sitting beside her. “Sibella will bear you healthy children. The Brandreths come of good stock, and the Wederells even better.” “Mama, please!” He caught Sibella’s apologetic gaze and suppressed a wry smile. Her plea would have little effect; the marchioness was known to be one of the most colorful and outspoken members of the ton. The dowager batted her daughter’s protest away with her fan. “I am merely speaking the truth, Sibella.”

Image for Monday

Wilhelm Dreesen photograph, taken in 1893. A young woman in a one piece bathing costume exits a bathing machine on a North Sea beach. (From Pinterest)

Sorry for being absent of late, but I've been suffering from the flu. The one good thing about it is I caught up on reading! Here's the first of my reviews:

 BITTERSWEET by COLLEEN MCCULLOUGH

I have to give Bittersweet 5 stars because it ranks so highly among all the books I've read this year. It is not without flaws though.  Despite this, I enjoyed reading it so much I was sorry to reach the end. It is a fascinating sweeping epic set in a fictional Australian country town during the depression years. Four sisters, two sets of twins all with different dreams. McCullough brings to this her own medical knowledge having trained to be a doctor but foiled by an allergy to disinfectant. She creates a wonderfully authentic world into which she sets this story of four sisters who become trainee nurses at the country hospital. Tufts wants to bring order to the world she inhabits, Edda wants to be a doctor, a seemingly impossible dream in those times, Kitty hates her beauty and yearns to be seen as something more. The fourth sister, Grace's character didn't work so well for me. I found her confusing and less approachable than the others.
Great that these women weren't fading violets who merely suffered the constraints of their times, but I would have liked them to be a bit more forgiving. They were very tough on Charles who did invoke my sympathy. As Australians they had difficulty understanding the English stiff upper lip, and while I don't think the outcome should have been different, they might have made some allowances. Perhaps McCullough failed to make him unpleasant enough, I was often on his side.
Same again with the woman's mother/step-mother, who was a silly misguided woman, but she didn't come across as quite as unforgivable as McCullough painted her and might have in the end engendered more sympathy too.
Perhaps the familial ties which bind this book just didn't seem to  go deep enough for me.   
But what a joy was the writing! McCullough's descriptive prose borders on the poetic at times and her intelligent observations and chronicling of the depression years, the medical profession and Australian political history, make this a must read for those who like sagas of this sort.

Here's a Saturday snippet from Taming a Gentleman Spy

Once the family returned to Brandreth Court, their townhouse in Eaton Place, Sibella faced another dizzying round of social events. She and Maria took an afternoon off from social calls to view the Parthenon sculptures at the British museum.
They were returning home in a hackney cab when Maria grabbed her arm. “Look, there’s Lord Strathairn.”
“Strathairn?” Sibella said. Her heart raced as the tall fair-haired man crossed the road just as their cab drew up behind a town coach.
Maria pulled down the window. “Lord Strathairn!”
“Maria!” Sibella hissed as her cheeks began to burn. He turned his head and changed direction, coming to their carriage where they’d stopped in traffic.
Strathairn removed his hat and bowed. “Visiting Regent Street, ladies?”
“Really, Lord Strathairn, do you think shopping is all we ladies do?” Maria asked in a teasing voice.
His smiling gaze sought Sibella’s. “Not at all. I have two sisters who have made me fully aware of the importance of shopping.”
Maria laughed. “We have been to the museum to view the Elgin Marbles.”
“Aah. Then I apologize. What say you, Lady Sibella? Did you enjoy the museum?”
Strangely divorced from the conversation, Sibella’s mind still dwelled on their last encounter. Startled, she whipped her gaze away when she discovered herself staring at his mouth, recalling the salty-sweet taste of his kiss. “It was quite edifying. Such antiquities are awe inspiring.”
“Indeed. I confess I haven’t yet seen them.”
“Then you are as negligent as we are, my lord,” Maria said. “Elgin brought them from Greece three years ago.”
He laughed. “I have not seen you riding of late, Lady Sibella. Your brother Vaughn told me you were down at Brandreth Park.”
“Mama came back for the opera.” Sibella placed a hand to her cheek. It felt warm even through her kid glove and she hoped he could not see what his presence did to her. “And my mare has developed shin splints and must rest.”
The traffic cleared ahead and their carriage jerked forward. “I trust we’ll see you again soon, my lord?” Maria cast a quick glance at her. “Although we are off to the country again next week. Mama intends to visit our brother Bartholomew in York.”
“I’m traveling north myself,” Strathairn said. “We might meet at the York assembly.”
“We plan to be there. I do hope you come. It’s a remarkably dull affair.” Maria stared at Sibella. “Don’t you agree, Sib?”
“Yes, it certainly can be,” Sibella said.
He bowed again. “Then I look forward to seeing you there.” At a shout from a drayman, he dodged a wagon and ran to the pavement.
Maria turned to her. “Well!”
Sibella wrinkled her nose, trying to adopt a casual pose. “Well, what?”
“You are in a brown study. I’m sure Strathairn was enthralled by your scintillating conversation.”
“Oh, do stop, Maria.”
“What on earth is the matter with you? You two generally talk for ages. Had you nothing to say to him?”
“He kissed me.”
Maria’s eyes went from owlish to accusatory. “Why didn’t you tell me? And when was this?”
“I’m sorry, dearest. It was of no consequence. At Lady Gladwin’s ball. You remained at home that night with a sore throat, remember?”
Maria stared at her. “Of no consequence? Are you mad? Where? Surely not in the ballroom.”
“It was in the garden. We went for a walk.”
Maria sniggered. “Well indeed! I suspected his feelings for you ran far deeper than he confessed.”
Sibella shook her head, heat rushing to every part of her body. “That’s just it. He made light of it afterwards. An impulse which meant nothing to him.”
“Oh. The wretch!”
She gave a choked, desperate laugh. “He doesn’t wish to marry, Maria.”
“Many men think they do not. They must be persuaded.”
“And did you have to persuade Harry?”
Maria stroked her throat with a dreamy smile. “No.”
“Exactly. I shan’t spend my time yearning after a man who doesn’t want me.”

Changes to the release of Taming a Gentleman Spy

The e-book for TAMING A GENTLEMAN SPY is available on 4th December. The print release has been delayed until 2014.

This is our kookaburra family. Aren't they cute?

They're Kingfishers. We feed them by hand.

Here's my new video for Taming a Gentleman Spy. Created by the talented Marly Mathews