Sally Orr | When a Rake Falls

Hi Fresh Fiction followers!

The second book in my Rake’s Handbook series, WHEN A RAKE FALLS, is released on April 7th. The first half of the story takes place in a balloon over southeast England in 1824. Here’s a quick brush-up on the story and the characters.

The Hero: Lord Boyce Parker

The youngest of eleven children, Boyce is an optimistic, happy gentleman. He even likes to sing when he is feeling especially happy. Boyce helped his two friends publish their book, The Rake’s Handbook: Including Field Guide. The handbook caused a scandal and Boyce’s father gave him the “cut direct” in public. Now all Boyce wants is to do something famous and remarkable to restore his father’s respect.

The Heroine: Miss Eve Mountfloy

Eve is a dutiful daughter and assists her aeronaut father on atmospheric research. She does what she is told; yet she yearns for the day when women can be recognized for their scientific achievements.

Boyce enters a race to Parish hoping to win fame and fortune. So he hires Mr. Mountfloy’s balloon to take him to Paris. The understanding is that Eve will complete the experiments already planned for the flight. Boyce kindly offers to help her out. Of course, he teaches her about a number of other things like: the heat generated by chafing, etc.

I really had fun with this book. It’s set in 1824 because it is around that time that aeronauts used the first coal gas of London’s main illuminating gas lines to fill their balloons. Before they had used acid poured on iron filings to generate hydrogen gas, but it is this coal gas that will usher in the great age of British ballooning in the next fifty or so years.

What I like about ballooning around this time is that the novelty of ascensions just for the fun of it had waned. Yet, many still had hopes of balloons being used for all sorts of applications. Here’s an excerpt when the hero describes his interest in balloons to his best friend, Drexel:

A large balloon half-filled with the newly discovered inflammable air, created during the manufacture of illuminating gas, fixed everyone’s attention. A silver-blue monster of over forty feet in diameter, the silk balloon swayed with every little puff of wind.

Drexel whistled softly. “You have more courage than I if you go up in that thing.” Brimming with confidence, Boyce straightened in the saddle. “Now you understand the brilliance of my plan. I’ll win both the courage and intelligence challenge. Courage, because no other challenger will journey to Paris by balloon. Intelligence, because this balloon represents a new technology that will lead the way in transportation. My successful flight may one day prove that ordinary people can travel great distances by air.”

“I’ll give you courage, but not intelligence. It’s too dangerous to travel far. Balloons are only used for paid ascensions or to observe troop movements.”

“No, no, expand your imagination. The prince—I mean that sorry fellow that is now our king—has gone on hundreds of ascensions, so they’re not dangerous at all. Think of the balloon’s future on a grand scale, a way to cross deserts, find the source of the Amazon, or lift heavy cargo. Perhaps one day you will reach for your wings in the morning instead of your riding boots."

The hero’s viewpoint represents the optimism about the future that pervaded the greater “Regency-era” (Wikipedia describes the era as 1795-1837). Their lives were quickly being changed by steam engines, machines, and science, so many were excited and looked forward to the future with anticipation.

Of course, I can’t help but think that with the more information we have today at our fingertips, do we look forward to the future with the same optimism? Thanks for having me today, and I hope you all having fun reading WHEN A RAKE FALLS.

About WHEN A RAKE FALLS

He's racing to win back his reputation

Having hired a balloon to get him to Paris in a daring race, Lord Boyce Parker is simultaneously exhilarated and unnerved by the wonders and dangers of flight, and most of all by the beautiful, stubborn, intelligent lady operating the balloon.

She's curious about the science of love

Eve Mountfloy is in the process of conducting weather experiments when she finds herself spirited away to France by a notorious rake. She's only slightly dismayed-the rake seems to respect her work-but she is frequently distracted by his windblown physical magnificence and buoyant spirits.

What happens when they descend from the clouds? As risky as aeronautics may be, once their feet touch the ground, Eve and Boyce learn the real danger of a very different type of falling...

Check out our review double feature for WHEN A RAKE FALLS

About Sally Orr

Sally Orr worked for thirty years in medical research, specializing in the discovery of gene function. After joining an English history message board, she posted many, many examples of absolute tomfoolery. As a result, a cyber-friend challenged her to write a novel. Since she is a hopeless Anglophile, it’s not surprising that her first book is a Regency-era romance. Sally lives with her husband in San Diego, surrounded by too many nonfiction books and not enough old English cars.

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