Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I must admit, I read quite a heap of stories set during and round the ‘London Season’ as it is when all the key players of the aristocracy come to towne to see about their chances at the marriage market as it is generally referenced and known as for those who participate. There is always wicked good folly about the London Season – from the conspiring girls’ who are trying to increase their chances of a winning match (or the acts of their Mums!) to the men who are duly regarded as the best of the best in regards to whose still single and available whilst at the same time – you generally have the ‘others’ who have been out for more than one season and have become disillusioned with the whole gambit of chance altogether.
The keen appreciation I have for Historical Romances set during the London Season is inspired by each new writer I discover who has taken her pen to craft a story set round such a well-known rite of passage for certain girls of a certain age who are members of the ton. Even Jane Austen herself was coy about the season and she dappled in highlighting what the dances & engagements were like in the country outside of London proper whilst giving all of us a chance to see how cheeky some of these engagements were and how others were mindlessly consumed by the artful approach they took to securing a winning match themselves.
Other writes approach it with humour, others with drama and some with suspense – wherein you never know whose going to survive the Season and at what costs to them or their families, friends or even their potential suitors! I never tire of reading stories like these because each young woman who goes to the Season itself has a different back-story, a different reason for seeking a gentleman to marry whilst at the same time, the best stories I feel also tuck close to the men – to their own reasons for wanting to seek out marriage and the type of women they are interested in finding themselves.
A few times I felt the writers focused too much on the rogues and the scandalous way some preferred to seek out the Season whereas my favourite stories are the ones where you have this winsome romance erupting out of unexpected hours of the Season, wherein both chaperones and the girls’ themselves are a bit swept into the folds of the courtship whilst trying to decipher if the bloke in question is both honourable and available!
Thus, I am happy to welcome a new author on my radar to Jorie Loves A Story – whose written such a romance set during one of my favourite periods of the historic past which delves into relationships, friendships, alliances and the curious folly of chasing after singletons as they find their way in the world!
Fliration and Folly
Subtitle: A Season in London : Book One
by Elizabeth Rasche
Marianne Mowbrey is a responsible country rector’s daughter who longs for the novelty and excitement she reads about in novels. When her crusty Aunt Harriet agrees to give her a Season in London, Marianne vows to dazzle the world, win a husband, and never go home again. But the Londoners who determine social success are inclined to pass over plain Marianne in favor of her beautiful, reckless younger sister.
In a world of ambition, fashion, flattery, and deceit, how can Marianne stay true to her real self—when she is not even sure what that real self is?
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1951033583
Published by Quills and Quartos Publishing
on 4th September, 2020
Published by: Quills and Quartos Publishing (@QuillsQuartos)
This is first Historical Fiction novel by the author!
The paperback released ahead of the ebook – which drops on 9th November!
Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook
Converse via: #HistoricalRomance or #HistRom as well as #Regency or #RegencyRomance
+ #FlirationAndFolly, #ElizabethRasche and #HFVBTBlogTours
[ after reading a chapter sampler online ]
I do not need too much encouragement to travel back in time to either the Regency or the Victorian eras of English History as those are the corridors of joy I love to entangle inside a romance even Jane Austen would appreciate herself! Similar to the fondness as mentioned on Austenprose during this book blast, I too, echo those sentiments about how Austen helped shaped my keen awareness for Regency Romances as much as I shaped them myself before I dipped my toes into Pride and Prejudice and found myself wholly enthused for the journey therein! It was the Christmas Regencies I fell for so dearly hard as a child reading Historical Romances for the first time – as they were broken into novellas or short stories, collected in omnibus editions and set out for Christmastide! How could any nine year old resist that tempting fair!? That was the auspicious beginning for me as a reader of Historical Romances – as it would be several decades lateron before I’d pick up Austen in full.
I am uncertain how anyone fared well knowing they had to breathe in both coal dust and the rotting decay of foods – lest anyone broach the differences in the rubbish collections between then and now or even the sanitation practices! It is a wonder how anyone could appreciate any kind aroma not foul during those years – as Rasche reveals a very important footnote in this Regency Romance as she first sets us to meet her Marianne. She isn’t our typical lady to grace the Season, as she’s come up from country origins and is at the mercy of her Aunt Harriet, which in of itself gave me a few chuckles I must admit, as she is both unabashedly confident in her chances to win a gentleman’s hand at marriage and equally bold in believing her Aunt can show mercy in her circumstances. If anything she isn’t wont for bold actions in a time where being bold could go against a girl’s reputation!
Ooh! The ire of this Aunt Harriet is delightful because it shows a stark contrast against Marianne! Marianne was hoping for a light holiday away from the chaos of her family environ but I think she put too much weight on being received well by an Aunt who judged her sisters and brothers quite harshly against each other! You can tell Marianne is going to be in for a very long Season – if she has to contend with her Aunt Harriet the whole time! It will be interesting to see how it goes from here and I am thankful to help give a signal boost to the story others who appreciate these might not have found it otherwise!
I suspect Aunt Harriet might prove much more than Marianne felt she could take-on!
Folly is afoot!
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NOTE: Similar to blog tours wherein I feature book reviews, book spotlights (with or without extracts), book announcements (or Cover Reveals) – I may elect to feature an author, editor, narrator, publisher or other creative person connected to the book, audiobook, Indie film project or otherwise creative publishing medium being featured wherein the supplemental content on my blog is never compensated monetarily nor am I ever obligated to feature this kind of content. I provide (98.5%) of all questions and guest topics regularly featured on Jorie Loves A Story. I receive direct responses back to those enquiries by publicists, literary agents, authors, blog tour companies, etc of whom I am working with to bring these supplemental features and showcases to my blog. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them: I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers. Whenever there is a conflict of connection I do disclose those connections per post and disclose the connection as it applies.
{SOURCES: Book cover for “Flirtation and Folly”, book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Elizabeth Rasche, the tour host badge and HFVBTs badge were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers and My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Book Spotlight banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2020.
I am a social reader | I share my bookish life on Twitter
.@joriestory NEW #BookSpotlight??
?For readers who love #JaneAusten
?Regency #HistRom set during the Season
?pub'd by @QuillsQuartosI suspect Aunt Harriet might prove much more than Marianne felt she could take-on! Folly is afoot!?#ElizabethRasche via #HFVBTBlogTours pic.twitter.com/4jkmYqsN6h
— Spooktastically Jorie ??? (@joriestory) September 29, 2020
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