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Merry Men #2
Miss Seton's Sonata
It is only at the pianoforte with beautiful music flowing from her fingertips that Teresa Seton is happy. New to English society, she feels awkward and unsure of herself. Only the attentions of her handsome neighbor can convince her that she is where she belongs—a stolen kiss proves that he means what he says. But the kiss is witnessed and the pair are forced to marry for propriety’s sake.
Once known as the “Merry Marquis”, Richard, the Marquis of Merrick, now lives the life of a recluse. Finding a beautiful stranger at his pianoforte strikes a chord within him, bringing back feelings he thought were lost with the passing of his wife. He is mesmerized by Teresa and her beautiful music, but can he convince her, and himself, that he can live and love again?
Once known as the “Merry Marquis”, Richard, the Marquis of Merrick, now lives the life of a recluse. Finding a beautiful stranger at his pianoforte strikes a chord within him, bringing back feelings he thought were lost with the passing of his wife. He is mesmerized by Teresa and her beautiful music, but can he convince her, and himself, that he can live and love again?
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
30 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Meredith Bond
70 books204 followersMeredith Bond's books straddle that beautiful line between historical romance and fantasy. An award-winning author, she writes fun traditional Regency romances, medieval Arthurian romances, and Regency romances with a touch of magic. Known for her characters “who slip readily into one’s heart,” Meredith loves to take her readers on a journey they won't soon forget. She is currently living in Europe enjoying the Bohemian life. I write a blog on writing and self-publishing that is published every Sunday at www.meredithbond.com/blog/posts
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April 14, 2024okay .......so HER OWN MOTHER wanted to sleep with her husband and tried to seduce him and her reason to help them !!!!!!!
I am speechless.
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FIRST THE MOTHER AND H
Doña Isabella looked stunning. This fact caused Richard some discomfort since she was not only in his private library, but they were entirely alone.
“My lord, Doña Isabella is…”
“Gracias, Samuel, I told you I do not need to be announced.” Trailing perfume that was unmistakably French and unmistakably expensive, Doña Isabella slipped into the room, closing the door firmly behind her.
Richard raised an eyebrow as he stood up. “Doña, what a pleasant surprise,” he said smoothly. “Unfortunately, Teresa is not here just at the moment.”
“Yes. We will make the best of it.” Doña Isabella smiled at Richard.
It was then that he fully noticed her appearance. Her low-cut crimson dress clung softly to her curving figure, showing just enough for Richard’s mind to imagine what was underneath. And as always, he was amazed at how young she looked. There was hardly a hint of wrinkles around her beautiful blue eyes or her full red lips.
She made a great show of looking around his study. Then she walked slowly up to the desk where he was still standing, giving him plenty of time to admire her.
Carelessly, she pushed Richard’s papers aside and sat down on the edge of the desk next to him. Ill-at-ease at her proximity, Richard picked up his work and tried to put it into an organized pile away from his mother-in-law.
“You have a very nice library, Merrick. Very masculine,” Doña Isabella said slowly.
“Thank you, it is where I feel most comfortable.”
“Mmmm, yes. I also like that you are very comfortable in society. We are very similar, no?”
“Well, yes, I suppose. Like you, I have always been a rather social creature.”
“I like English society and I have always enjoyed English men. English soldiers… they are such charming company. In Spain, I hosted them frequently.”
“Teresa told me you held drawing rooms for them.”
“Yes. Poor Teresa. She never enjoyed their company like I did. She was always rather… shy.” She shook her head regretfully, “I would surround my daughter with attractive, eligible men and she would either be tongue-tied or would begin to stammer. She never knew what to say to them.” Doña Isabella lowered her eyes and then looked up at Richard through her long black lashes. “She never appreciated men, like I do.”
Richard found himself being drawn to her. She was so soft and feminine, so alluring.
“You can always tell what a man is like by the things he surrounds himself with,” she said, softly. She ran her hand across the desk, leaning forward so that Richard had a very clear view down the neckline of her dress.
He could not help but admire the unmistakable charms of the voluptuous woman before him. She was quite unique.
“Your English wood, it is so smooth and hard,” she said, gazing at him with a calculated frankness.
Smiling at her innuendo, he decided to parry in kind. “Surely Spanish wood has the same qualities, but perhaps not quite the same… durability?”
Doña Isabella laughed a deep throaty laugh. “Hmmm… perhaps. Have you ever been to Spain, Merrick?”
“No, I haven’t. It is very warm there, I suppose.”
“Not only is the weather warm, the people there are hot-blooded as well. Not like many of the English.” Doña Isabella looked at Richard intently, and then edged closer to him across the desk. “You are hot-blooded, Merrick, like me, no? You are not like the typical Englishman, like perhaps my daughter is—cold, frigid.”
Doña Isabella’s hand had begun to run up Richard’s chest, slipping under his coat.
Richard’s amusement faded abruptly as he grabbed her hand to stop its progress. Their flirting had been enjoyable, but now she was going beyond the limits of what was acceptable behavior. Enough was enough. Doña Isabella was an extremely enticing, sensuous woman, but he could not forget that he was married, and moreover, married to her daughter!
“Doña, I think, perhaps you should await Teresa in the drawing room,” he said in his most stern baritone, returning her hand to her.
He had almost lost control of the situation, but he would make sure that it did not get out of hand. He had never had a woman be so forward who was not one of the demimonde. The fact that it was his own mother-in-law made the situation even more ridiculous.
Doña Isabella moved her body closer to Richard’s, smiling suggestively up at him.
“But I would like to get to know you better. We are still such strangers, Merrick, or may I call you Merry?” Her voice was so soft that Richard was forced to move his head closer to hear her.
“You may, but only because you are like a mother to me.” He smiled as a momentary expression of unease flitted across her face. Her confident look returned, however, as she stood up and took another step nearer to him.
“Oh, no, I am like no mother you have ever had, Merry. And I want you to have me.”
With her fingers, she traced the line of Richard’s chin. And at the same time, he felt the unmistakable pressure of her soft hips against him.
Richard tried to back away, but he was trapped between his chair, which pressed against the window sill, and his desk. His only recourse was to physically move the woman in front of him. He had gently taken her by the shoulders to move her backward when his worst fear came to life.
Teresa walked in.
--------------
SECOND THE MOTHER AND h
“Mother, you may not play your games with Richard.”
“Games? What games are you speaking of, querida?” her mother asked, innocently.
Teresa was not fooled, not for one moment. “You know very well, Mother. Do not try to deny it. I saw you. I saw the way you were looking at him. I saw the way you were standing there, touching him.”
Teresa glared at her mother. It took a great deal of self-control to contain her anger, to keep her voice steady and low. But she was that angry—so angry she could barely speak at all.
Her mother gave an uncomfortable little laugh. “We were just having a little fun. There was really nothing going on.”
“Have your fun with someone else,” Teresa said slowly, in a clipped voice.
“But, querida, Merry is so enjoyable. I take pleasure in speaking with him—”
“Flirting with him is what you mean to say,” Teresa interrupted.
Her mother conceded the point. “All right, flirting with him. He is amusing. I do not mean anything by it, you know that.” Her mother reached out to touch her shoulder, but Teresa moved out of her reach.
“I do not know that. Mother, I will only say this once more. Use your wiles on someone else. Leave Richard alone.”
“Oh, but he is so… so masculine, so powerful…”
“And my husband!” Teresa was now beginning to lose her tenuous hold on her self-control.
Teresa saw her mother’s expression change subtly, from a mixture of mischief and guilt to a rueful sadness. “Querida,” Doña Isabella said, “if he were truly your husband, I would not have touched him, I assure you. The fact of the matter is, he is not your husband.”
“What do you mean?” Teresa was incredulous.
“He is not your husband until you consummate your marriage.”
“How do you know?” Teresa asked, as much to herself as her mother.
Her mother had sat down on the sofa. She leaned back and made herself comfortable. “I am a woman of the world, querida. I can tell when a man needs a woman—and I have never seen a man more in need than Merry. Honestly, mi amor, I only want to help you, and Merry. And if you are not going to sleep with him, well… someone must ease his desires.”
The seriousness in her mother’s voice, as much as her words, stopped Teresa. She thought about this as she slowly walked over to the sofa and sat down next to her mother.
Teresa supposed she was right. But she wanted it to be herself, not Doña Isabella, who sated her husband’s desires. “Why? And why must it be you?”
“It need not be me, querida. It should be you. As you say, he is your husband.”
Teresa swallowed hard. “And I want to be Richard’s wife.” Her voice came out as a whisper.
“Then you must consummate your marriage.” Her mother said it in such a matter of fact way, as if there was nothing to it. Teresa nearly laughed.
Her mother sat up and turned toward her. “Teresa, do you love him?"
“I think he is the most wonderful man I know,” she said, deliberately not revealing her true emotions.
“Then I say again, Teresa, you must bring him to your bed. It is the only way you are going to maintain your marriage. Otherwise, there is nothing to stop him from seeking out other women. It is only a matter of time, querida.”
Teresa could not stand the idea of Richard being with another woman. Just the thought of it made her stomach tighten into knots. Very reluctantly, she agreed with her mother. “But I do not know how, Mama.”
Her mother’s eyes narrowed and her mouth curved up into that secret smile that had so confused Teresa the night before her wedding.
“You must take the initiative. You must be the one to seduce him. To entice him to your bed. He will come willingly, I am sure.”
-------------
How in the world any sane person would rate this book after that.
I am speechless.
------------
FIRST THE MOTHER AND H
Doña Isabella looked stunning. This fact caused Richard some discomfort since she was not only in his private library, but they were entirely alone.
“My lord, Doña Isabella is…”
“Gracias, Samuel, I told you I do not need to be announced.” Trailing perfume that was unmistakably French and unmistakably expensive, Doña Isabella slipped into the room, closing the door firmly behind her.
Richard raised an eyebrow as he stood up. “Doña, what a pleasant surprise,” he said smoothly. “Unfortunately, Teresa is not here just at the moment.”
“Yes. We will make the best of it.” Doña Isabella smiled at Richard.
It was then that he fully noticed her appearance. Her low-cut crimson dress clung softly to her curving figure, showing just enough for Richard’s mind to imagine what was underneath. And as always, he was amazed at how young she looked. There was hardly a hint of wrinkles around her beautiful blue eyes or her full red lips.
She made a great show of looking around his study. Then she walked slowly up to the desk where he was still standing, giving him plenty of time to admire her.
Carelessly, she pushed Richard’s papers aside and sat down on the edge of the desk next to him. Ill-at-ease at her proximity, Richard picked up his work and tried to put it into an organized pile away from his mother-in-law.
“You have a very nice library, Merrick. Very masculine,” Doña Isabella said slowly.
“Thank you, it is where I feel most comfortable.”
“Mmmm, yes. I also like that you are very comfortable in society. We are very similar, no?”
“Well, yes, I suppose. Like you, I have always been a rather social creature.”
“I like English society and I have always enjoyed English men. English soldiers… they are such charming company. In Spain, I hosted them frequently.”
“Teresa told me you held drawing rooms for them.”
“Yes. Poor Teresa. She never enjoyed their company like I did. She was always rather… shy.” She shook her head regretfully, “I would surround my daughter with attractive, eligible men and she would either be tongue-tied or would begin to stammer. She never knew what to say to them.” Doña Isabella lowered her eyes and then looked up at Richard through her long black lashes. “She never appreciated men, like I do.”
Richard found himself being drawn to her. She was so soft and feminine, so alluring.
“You can always tell what a man is like by the things he surrounds himself with,” she said, softly. She ran her hand across the desk, leaning forward so that Richard had a very clear view down the neckline of her dress.
He could not help but admire the unmistakable charms of the voluptuous woman before him. She was quite unique.
“Your English wood, it is so smooth and hard,” she said, gazing at him with a calculated frankness.
Smiling at her innuendo, he decided to parry in kind. “Surely Spanish wood has the same qualities, but perhaps not quite the same… durability?”
Doña Isabella laughed a deep throaty laugh. “Hmmm… perhaps. Have you ever been to Spain, Merrick?”
“No, I haven’t. It is very warm there, I suppose.”
“Not only is the weather warm, the people there are hot-blooded as well. Not like many of the English.” Doña Isabella looked at Richard intently, and then edged closer to him across the desk. “You are hot-blooded, Merrick, like me, no? You are not like the typical Englishman, like perhaps my daughter is—cold, frigid.”
Doña Isabella’s hand had begun to run up Richard’s chest, slipping under his coat.
Richard’s amusement faded abruptly as he grabbed her hand to stop its progress. Their flirting had been enjoyable, but now she was going beyond the limits of what was acceptable behavior. Enough was enough. Doña Isabella was an extremely enticing, sensuous woman, but he could not forget that he was married, and moreover, married to her daughter!
“Doña, I think, perhaps you should await Teresa in the drawing room,” he said in his most stern baritone, returning her hand to her.
He had almost lost control of the situation, but he would make sure that it did not get out of hand. He had never had a woman be so forward who was not one of the demimonde. The fact that it was his own mother-in-law made the situation even more ridiculous.
Doña Isabella moved her body closer to Richard’s, smiling suggestively up at him.
“But I would like to get to know you better. We are still such strangers, Merrick, or may I call you Merry?” Her voice was so soft that Richard was forced to move his head closer to hear her.
“You may, but only because you are like a mother to me.” He smiled as a momentary expression of unease flitted across her face. Her confident look returned, however, as she stood up and took another step nearer to him.
“Oh, no, I am like no mother you have ever had, Merry. And I want you to have me.”
With her fingers, she traced the line of Richard’s chin. And at the same time, he felt the unmistakable pressure of her soft hips against him.
Richard tried to back away, but he was trapped between his chair, which pressed against the window sill, and his desk. His only recourse was to physically move the woman in front of him. He had gently taken her by the shoulders to move her backward when his worst fear came to life.
Teresa walked in.
--------------
SECOND THE MOTHER AND h
“Mother, you may not play your games with Richard.”
“Games? What games are you speaking of, querida?” her mother asked, innocently.
Teresa was not fooled, not for one moment. “You know very well, Mother. Do not try to deny it. I saw you. I saw the way you were looking at him. I saw the way you were standing there, touching him.”
Teresa glared at her mother. It took a great deal of self-control to contain her anger, to keep her voice steady and low. But she was that angry—so angry she could barely speak at all.
Her mother gave an uncomfortable little laugh. “We were just having a little fun. There was really nothing going on.”
“Have your fun with someone else,” Teresa said slowly, in a clipped voice.
“But, querida, Merry is so enjoyable. I take pleasure in speaking with him—”
“Flirting with him is what you mean to say,” Teresa interrupted.
Her mother conceded the point. “All right, flirting with him. He is amusing. I do not mean anything by it, you know that.” Her mother reached out to touch her shoulder, but Teresa moved out of her reach.
“I do not know that. Mother, I will only say this once more. Use your wiles on someone else. Leave Richard alone.”
“Oh, but he is so… so masculine, so powerful…”
“And my husband!” Teresa was now beginning to lose her tenuous hold on her self-control.
Teresa saw her mother’s expression change subtly, from a mixture of mischief and guilt to a rueful sadness. “Querida,” Doña Isabella said, “if he were truly your husband, I would not have touched him, I assure you. The fact of the matter is, he is not your husband.”
“What do you mean?” Teresa was incredulous.
“He is not your husband until you consummate your marriage.”
“How do you know?” Teresa asked, as much to herself as her mother.
Her mother had sat down on the sofa. She leaned back and made herself comfortable. “I am a woman of the world, querida. I can tell when a man needs a woman—and I have never seen a man more in need than Merry. Honestly, mi amor, I only want to help you, and Merry. And if you are not going to sleep with him, well… someone must ease his desires.”
The seriousness in her mother’s voice, as much as her words, stopped Teresa. She thought about this as she slowly walked over to the sofa and sat down next to her mother.
Teresa supposed she was right. But she wanted it to be herself, not Doña Isabella, who sated her husband’s desires. “Why? And why must it be you?”
“It need not be me, querida. It should be you. As you say, he is your husband.”
Teresa swallowed hard. “And I want to be Richard’s wife.” Her voice came out as a whisper.
“Then you must consummate your marriage.” Her mother said it in such a matter of fact way, as if there was nothing to it. Teresa nearly laughed.
Her mother sat up and turned toward her. “Teresa, do you love him?"
“I think he is the most wonderful man I know,” she said, deliberately not revealing her true emotions.
“Then I say again, Teresa, you must bring him to your bed. It is the only way you are going to maintain your marriage. Otherwise, there is nothing to stop him from seeking out other women. It is only a matter of time, querida.”
Teresa could not stand the idea of Richard being with another woman. Just the thought of it made her stomach tighten into knots. Very reluctantly, she agreed with her mother. “But I do not know how, Mama.”
Her mother’s eyes narrowed and her mouth curved up into that secret smile that had so confused Teresa the night before her wedding.
“You must take the initiative. You must be the one to seduce him. To entice him to your bed. He will come willingly, I am sure.”
-------------
How in the world any sane person would rate this book after that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 14, 2014
This book was quite a joy to read. The story pulls you in at the beginning, when Richard, the Merry Marquis, returns home to find music being played in his house and he thinks it is the ghost of his deceased wife. It turns out, it is the niece of his neighbor, there to practice on the pianoforte. He continues to allow her to practice in his home, just for their attraction to grow and for them to be caught in a compromising position. I found myself wishing Richard would let go of his deceased wife's memory and willing him to move on with Teresa. I felt that the story flowed well and was easy to follow. The characters were likable. Teresa was easy to relate to, with her discomfort with societal functions. She had been sent to England for the season and to find a husband, and since she was not brought up in the ton, she is unsure how to act and often finding herself speaking inappropriately. Her resulting stammering and discomfort are endearing, and you find you want her to be herself, regardless of what her mother or the ton expect. I also loved her love of returning soldiers and wishing to help them. Richard is a little frustrating at times, but his love of children and his orphanage make him a man worthy of the lovely Teresa. I greatly enjoyed the story. It was engaging, well written, and I would recommend it to historical lovers. I would definitely read others in this series.
I received a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.
I received a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.
November 28, 2014
Teresa Seton is newly arrived in England from Spain; to live with her aunt & have her come out. She finds it a terrible trial to be out in society finding it hard at times not to speak out at the hypocrisy she finds among the privileged of the ton. Her only solace is her music & she escapes to play the pianoforte in the house next door where she meets Richard who doesn’t divulge that he is actually the Marquis of Merrick.
Richard is newly widowed after his beloved wife is killed after a fall from a horse a year ago & cannot reconcile himself with his loss; withdrawing from society.
Teresa is socially awkward but only because she is intelligent, honest & passionate in her support of the soldiers back from the war who find themselves without jobs. Her need of Richard to help her through her shyness in turn helped him to come out of his moroseness from his wife’s death.
This was quite a quick read (~180 pgs on my Nook), quite enjoyable with likable characters in the hero/heroine.
Copy gifted in exchange for an honest review
Richard is newly widowed after his beloved wife is killed after a fall from a horse a year ago & cannot reconcile himself with his loss; withdrawing from society.
Teresa is socially awkward but only because she is intelligent, honest & passionate in her support of the soldiers back from the war who find themselves without jobs. Her need of Richard to help her through her shyness in turn helped him to come out of his moroseness from his wife’s death.
This was quite a quick read (~180 pgs on my Nook), quite enjoyable with likable characters in the hero/heroine.
Copy gifted in exchange for an honest review
November 16, 2020
DNF at 50%
July 25, 2018
As I read the whole series I found that each story pulled into reading more
I choose this rating for this story due to its characters and their emotions the way it reached out to me
I choose this rating for this story due to its characters and their emotions the way it reached out to me
December 9, 2014
I really liked this book. Teresa Seton is in her first year in the Ton. Teresa has a lot of personal conflicts to overcome including the recent death of her father, a very self-absorbed mother and the fact she is very shy. She feels best playing music and has a passion to help destitute war heroes. She encounters Richard the Merry Marquis, who he himself has many issues to resolve. Having lost his wife and other family members in the past year, he has cut himself off from Society. Due to a compromising situation, they marry. With each other's help they overcome these issues and are both better for them. A story of how two people can come together and be better as one than alone.
December 30, 2014
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. That said this story was set in regency period. It was about a young woman who's first time as debutant. She was very shy but could play the pianforte elegenatly. She would go next door to play. SInce her aunt did not have the instrament. She unknowingly meet the Merry Marquis who was had lost his wife the year before. He hid his identity from her. Of course they were found out and he asked her to marry him. Just a marriage of convience. It was a lovely romance story of how they both came to depend on each other. Not much angst or many twists. I will look forward to more books by Meredfith Bond.
September 21, 2014
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review of this book, which in no way influenced my opinion. I admit this novel is quite different from most of the romance novels I read. I found myself a bit lost at first. I had to look up several words to learn their meaning. I was soon drawn into Richard and Teresa's story. I found this book to be a very charming read. I really enjoyed how the relationship between Richard and Teresa evolve. I am glad I was given the opportunity to read and review this book. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
December 7, 2014
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Teresa Seton is happiest and most at ease when she is playing the piano. Although normally quiet and reserved, she comes alive when playing music. After being caught in a compromising situation with the Marquis of Merrick, the two of them marry, agreeing that sex will not be part of the arrangement. The couple lives together without genuine communication and neither is very happy. Eventually Teresa falls in love with the Marquis and convinces him to love her in return.
Teresa Seton is happiest and most at ease when she is playing the piano. Although normally quiet and reserved, she comes alive when playing music. After being caught in a compromising situation with the Marquis of Merrick, the two of them marry, agreeing that sex will not be part of the arrangement. The couple lives together without genuine communication and neither is very happy. Eventually Teresa falls in love with the Marquis and convinces him to love her in return.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2008
Considering this book contains one of my bulletproof narrative kinks, it didn't really engage me all that much. I liked Teresa a lot, and I liked Richard, and their romance had its moments, but the writing was clunky and the pacing was weird.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews