In the Arms of the Heiress
Look at the gorgeous cover for my July book from Berkley Sensation! Squee!
Free Christmas Read
I was asked to participate in the fun “A Romantic Proposal on Christmas Eve” event sponsored by two romance blogs, Not Another Romance Blog and Ramblings from this Chick. Here’s my contribution, with best wishes for a happy holiday season and a spectacular New Year!
My November book, Lord Gray’s List, revolves around a Regency newspaper that serves as a clearinghouse for gossip, employment and matchmaking. Who better than Lord and Lady Gray to help another couple become as happy as they are?
December 24, 1821
“I don’t like it, Evie,” Lord Benton Gray said to his wife.
“You never like anything if I’ve thought of it first,” Lady Gray replied, spreading letters out on her desk. Well, their desk. Ben had bought a huge new partners desk for the London List’s office since he now owned the newspaper.
But he didn’t own her. Maybe her heart, perhaps, but she had a perfectly good mind of her own. And right now it was whirring with the intricacies of bringing the young Marquess of Portland up to scratch.
He and Miss Fernanda Abernathy would be married by the New Year, or her name was not Evangeline Ramsey Gray.
“Give the poor boy a few more years of freedom,” Ben begged.
“What good did your freedom do you? Courtesan races. Dancing in the nude in graveyards. I ask you,” Evie sniffed with disdain. “No, when Fernanda and Portland arrive, I shall lock them in the storage room. That should do it.”
“Those methods seem awfully crude for a woman of your intellect, Evie.”
“Well, Portland has been awfully slow. He’s known Fernanda since they were in leading strings. She’s turned down sixteen perfectly decent proposals in the past three years. It’s past time, even if a bit of compromise is involved. You’re on your way to pick up her aunt?”
Ben shuddered. As much as Evie would like to take all the credit, the idea for this ruse came from Augusta Abernathy, Fernanda’s indomitable aunt.
“All right then. Give me a kiss. The happy couple should be here any minute, and one look at you will convince Portland we’re up to something.”
Evie was always up to something.
***
Robert Humphrey, Marquess of Portland, threw his body up against the locked door. Nothing happened except a jolting pain from his shoulder to his pinky finger.
“Devil take it! Where is that newspaperwoman? I thought we were here to deliver Christmas baskets to orphans.”
“Well, at least we won’t starve to death. Cook made quite a lot of figgy puddings,” Fernanda replied. It was rather dark in the closet, but she was sure Robert rolled his eyes.
“You seem unnaturally calm, Fern. Did you plan this?” Robert asked. “Saying your aunt had the grippe and your maid the ague and your footman a toothache, and you had nobody to take you to the poor orphans’ party. A plague on you if you did!”
“Why would I do that? I don’t want to spend Christmas Eve in a closet with the likes of you!” True, Fernanda had been a bit suspicious at the sudden illnesses and her aunt’s suggestion she ask Robert to escort her. This entire affair smacked of Aunt Augusta’s manipulation. In a little while the woman herself would probably be pounding on the door and accusing Robert of compromising her favorite niece.
Robert had not compromised her. Robert was all the way over in the far corner. He hadn’t even tried to kiss her.
He hadn’t kissed her in two years. But when he had, he had ruined her completely.
She would never forget the look on his face afterward—the glazed eyes, the slack jaw, the sudden flush of color on his chiseled cheekbones. Yes, she had had a certain effect on him, and he’d been running from her ever since.
“I suppose you think I’ll have to marry you now that we’ve been trapped together.” Robert didn’t sound quite so belligerent.
“Is that a proposal?” Fernanda asked. “If it is, I’ve had better.”
“Why haven’t you married any of your dozen swains?”
“Sixteen,” Fernanda corrected. “I guess I’m hard to please.”
“You’ve always seemed perfectly agreeable to me.”
It was time for her to roll her eyes. “How you flatter me, my lord.”
“If I was ever in the mood to marry, I might not do any better than you. We’ve known each other all our lives.”
“Familiarity breeds contempt.”
“You hold me in contempt?” Robert took a step toward her.
Fernanda’s heart raced just a little. “I didn’t say that.”
“Do you like me, then?”
“You’re all right, I suppose. For a boy.”
“A boy? I’m four and twenty! I’m man enough for any woman.”
“Prove it.”
“What?”
She enjoyed the crack in his voice. “Kiss me. See if you can improve on the last one you gave me. Let’s see—I think it was the occasion of my thirteenth birthday party.”
“It was two years ago, you witch, and I’ve dreamed about it every night since then. I’m not only going to kiss you now, Fern, but kiss you every night from now on. You’re going to marry me.”
Fernanda smiled in the dark. “I am?”
“You are.”
Neither one of them much cared when the closet door opened some time later and Aunt Augusta gave a practiced, ear-splitting shriek.
LGL Gets 4 1/2 Stars from the Romance Dish
“Robinson has crafted a charming romance; fast-paced and fun, with snappy dialogue between the heroine and hero that reminded me of old Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn movies. Evie is starchy and uptight while Ben is easy-going and fun and both have Thin film deposition histories that have molded them into the people they are today. I adored Ben from the beginning though Evie was harder to warm up to. I did understand, though, why she initially withheld her heart and her trust even while indulging in the red-hot desire between them. Watching Ben slowly win her over while, at the same time, realizing some truths about himself was immensely gratifying. And fun. Did I mention fun? This was one of the most fun couples I’ve read in a while. Smart, sassy, sexy, snappy and fun. I highly recommend Lord Gray’s List and look forward to more stories in this new series from Maggie Robinson.” Read the whole review here. Thank you, PJ!
Cover & Copy for Captain Durant’s Countess!
Coming January 29, 2013, a full-length e-book in the London List series! To pre-order, click here.
Tucked amid the pages of The London List, a newspaper that touts the city’s scandals, is a vaguely-worded ad for an intriguing job—one that requires a most wickedly uncommon candidate…
Maris has always been grateful that her marriage to the aging Earl of Kelby saved her from spinsterhood. Though their union has been more peaceful than passionate, she and the earl have spent ten happy years together. But his health is quickly failing, and unless Maris produces an heir, Kelby’s conniving nephew will inherit his estate. And if the earl can’t get the job done himself, he’ll find another man who can…
Captain Reynold Durant is known for both his loyalty to the Crown and an infamous record of ribaldry. Yet despite a financial worry of his own, even he is reluctant to accept Kelby’s lascivious assignment—until he meets the beautiful, beguiling Maris. Incited by duty and desire, the captain may be just the man they are looking for. But while he skillfully takes Maris to the heights of ecstasy she has longed for, she teaches him something even more valuable and unexpected…
Eloisa James’s B & N Column!
“A brilliant escape”–that’s what she calls five books this month in her romance column, including Lord Gray’s List!
“Maggie Robinson’s Lord Gray’s List is a charming foray into equally dreamlike territory. Baron Benton Gray is sick of finding himself the main topic of conversation in the gossip rag The London List. But when Ben goes to confront R. Ramsey, Publisher, intending to defend his honor, he’s shocked to find himself face-to-face with a young gentleman — who happens to be a dead ringer for his “lost and unlamented love,” Evangeline Ramsey. Evangeline tries to uphold her masquerade, but Ben sees through her — as he says, “I’ve seen your bottom before, Evangeline.” And he had, when he took her virginity years earlier. Ben sets out to buy and shut down the newspaper, but finds himself aiding the publisher instead. Lord Gray’s List is a combustible story of a lady in disguise and a lord who ably takes up the newspaper business in order to stay at her side. Evie and Ben are a hilarious pair who can’t stop making love, even as they break tables, and (finally) consummate their marriage on the parlor floor.”
I owe my writing start to Eloisa James and her bulletin board. It was there I met my critique partners and other writing friends who support me to this day. To have her acknowledge my work is “dreamlike territory” indeed. Thank you, Eloisa!
Kirkus Review of Lord Gray’s List
From Kirkus:
“Tired of London’s most infamous tabloid reporting his every vagary, Baron Benton Gray sets out to buy the paper in order to shut it down, but his plans are foiled, and his passions piqued, when he learns the brains behind the paper belong to none other than his first love, Evangeline Ramsey.
What’s a gentleman to do? All of London is laughing behind his back—and much of it straight to his face—since that wretched paper, the London List, started relentlessly reporting on his wayward ways. Determined to shut the rag down by buying it outright, Ben’s best laid plans are checked and mated when the editor turns out to be the woman he fell in love with years ago who’d unceremoniously dumped him and who is now determined to save her beloved paper. Focused only on the surface gossipmongering of the List, Ben misses the important behind-the-scenes services the paper provides, like romantic and professional matchmaking. Realizing how devoted Evie is to every aspect of the paper, but especially to helping those in danger and need, Ben reconsiders—particularly given the facts that the paper is actually a profitable business venture and that he finds he enjoys the intellectual and physical stimulation of running a press. Little by little, Evie softens to his charm, while Ben distances himself from his rakish ways, and the two just might find a happy forever in the middle. Lord Gray’s List, the first in Robinson’s new series The London List, is a sexy Regency charmer, with unique, intriguing characters and the refreshingly original backdrop of the List. The romance is sensual and conflicted, with tight sexual tension and snappy, vivid dialogue. Subplots add hints of dangerous intrigue and offer a host of well-developed, engaging secondary characters. Notably, Evie’s penchant for dressing in men’s clothing and passing herself off as the male editor of the London List leads to some amusing—if slightly outlandish—Victor/Victoria situations.
A charming, fun Regency romp that combines an innovative, compelling plot with characters that jump off the page and a hot, captivating romance that will tug at heartstrings.”