Gentlemen in Question

by Melinda Hammond

In the closing months of 1792, the terror of the French Revolution forces Camille, the young Comte du Viviere, to flee his homeland and seek refuge with his relatives in England. For Madeleine, the arrival of her handsome French cousin marks a change in her so-far uneventful existence, and soon she finds herself caught up in a dangerous web of intrigue that also entangles Camille. But is he victim or villain? The author weaves a tale of romance, adventure, and intrigue set during the final years of Georgian England.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2006

About the author

I write under the names of Melinda Hammond and Sarah Mallory.

I have been telling stories for as long as I can remember - many of them born of frustration when I was stuck in a classroom longing to be rescued! I love anything romantic, whether it is a grand opera or a beautiful painting. It doesn't necessarily have to be happy, as long as it is inspiring.

I was born in Bristol and grew up on Barton Hill, an area of small terraced houses built in the nineteenth century between the mills and the railway. I think my love of adventure stories is due to the fact that I grew up with three older brothers and lived in a street full of boys! My love of history and the English language was fostered at grammar school, where I soon discovered the delights of Georgian and Regency fiction, first of all with the works of Jane Austen and then Georgette Heyer.

I left school at sixteen to work in companies as varied as stockbrokers, marine engineers, biscuit manufacturers and even a quarrying company, but I never lost my love of history, and when I wasn't reading and researching the Georgian and Regency period I was writing stories about it.

When I was at home with my first child, I decided to try my hand at writing seriously, and my first historical novel, Fortune's Lady, was published by Robert Hale in 1980. I have now published more than twenty novels, over a dozen of them as Melinda Hammond, winning the Reviewers Choice award in 2005 from Singletitles.com for Dance for a Diamond and the Historical Novel Society's Editors Choice in 2006 for Gentlemen in Question. Writing as Sarah Mallory for Harlequin Mills & Boon, The Earl's Runaway Bride won a coveted CataNetwork Reviewers Choice award for 2010 and the RNA's RoNA Rose Award in 2012 and 2013.

For many years I lived in an old farmhouse on the edge of the Pennines in West Yorkshire, literally a stone's throw from open moorland. Now I live by the sea in the wild Highlands of Scotland. I love walking to think up my latest plot, or just to clear my head ready for another session of writing.

Reviews

[Rachel Knowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gentlemen in Question is a charming traditional romance set in the closing decade of the 18th century. It tells the story of Madeleine Sedgewick and her French cousin Camille, who arrives in England to escape the terrors of the guillotine. The dandified Andrew Hauxwell seems to take Madeleine's cousin in dislike. But is it jealousy or something more sinister?

A nice, easy read with a good plot and a satisfactory happy ending.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book as much as the other eighteenth century stories but though the hero and heroine were enjoyable as characters the storyline didn't hold my interest quite as much.

The Revolution and the appearance of cousin Camille didn't really give it the edge of danger it somehow needed with a side romance from friends of the heroine was a little far fetched and silly.

It had a satisfying end however, even with the irascible old gentleman.