Looking back, looking forward—the turn into the New Year
has most of us thinking over the year just past,
contemplating how to make the next year better. Greville
Anders, the hero of this month’s contest book by Julia
Justiss, SOCIETY’S MOST DISREPUTABLE GENTLEMAN, has
made some resolutions of his own. Lazy, arrogant and
profligate, he was duped by the corrupt estate manager he
let run the property he was supposed to be managing for
his cousin (Nicholas Stanhope, Marquess of Englemere from
THE
WEDDING GAMBLE,) then abducted and sold to a press
gang. After a sobering experience as a common sailor on
the deck plates of a Navy frigate, a wounded Greville
returns to England, vowing to turn his life around. Most
especially, he is going to cease his philandering ways.
If only Amanda Neville, daughter of the gentleman who
hosts him as he recovers, weren’t so fetchingly
attractive—and so maddeningly dismissive of this “common
sailor” her father felt obliged to house. Julia's SOCIETY'S MOST DISREPUTABLE GENTLEMAN is a
story that will keep you engaged for hours. Enter now to
win your own copy.
Wounded in action courageously fighting
pirates, the notorious Greville Anders returns to society
with neither the dress nor conduct considered proper for
a gentleman.
Even more scandalous is that well-
brought-up debutante Amanda Neville finds this rogue
irresistibly tempting….
It was her mama's last wish
that her beautiful daughter have a glittering London
Season, shine on society's stage and marry a lord. But
now Amanda's greatest desire is just one more secret
rendezvous—with the most disreputable man in town!
Author Note
I discovered the character of
Greville Anders when I wrote FROM WAIF TO GENTLEMAN'S
WIFE, his sister Joanna's story. In that book, we learn
that Greville, a charming rake and only son much indulged
by his family, has been fired for mismanaging the small
estate given into his care by his cousin, the Marquess of
Englemere. By the end of Joanna's book, we know it is
Greville's farm manager who abused the tenants, embezzled
money, and when Greville finally discovered his crimes,
knocked him unconscious and sold him to a press gang.
Though Joanna's story was over, I remained fascinated by
Greville. What would happen to a landsman and gentleman
of leisure when he is suddenly thrust into working as a
common sailor?
I knew that the Greville who left
England would not be the same man who returned, badly
wounded, nine months later. As I began exploring his
character, I realized that he would have to have suffered
a sea change that turned all his notions of the world and
his place in it upside down.
Enter Amanda Neville ' another minor character from WAIF.
WAIF hero Ned Greaves, an enthusiastic agriculturalist
like Amanda's father, Lord Bronning, met her while
visiting her home and for a time, hoped she might make
him the perfect wife. However, Amanda has no intention of
staying mired in the country; her dream is to become a
great political hostess, like her grandmother's friend
Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.
Having already
turned down Ned's offer, she's less than pleased when,
while she preparing to leave for her London debut, the
man whom her father agrees to house as a favor to the
Marquess turns out to be a common sailor. She's even less
pleased when this quite ineligible person, after changing
his sailor's rags for proper gentlemanly attire, is far
too attractive.
For his part, both amused and piqued by Amanda's
thinly-veiled disdain, Greville decides to beguile his
time by tweaking with some idle flirtation this girl who
yearns to be part of a London Society he no longer
values. Amanda would like to resist Greville'but the more
time she spends in his company, the harder it is to
remind herself that he is nothing like the sort of rich,
powerful, politically-well-connected man she seeks for a
husband.
Watching the two of them try to resist each
other was great fun. I hope you'll enjoy it as well.
© 2003-2024