Weddings! Pink and frothy, full of flowers and jewels - what was there not to like? Every new wedding Sophie Harlow had to cover for her newspaper column was different, but each had the same result. Every wedding evoked the memory of having been jilted right at the alter and each one made her sick with the emotional memories.
Yet, she loved her job and the bantering interaction between her and the other society writers at The London Weekly. They were widely known as the scandalous "Writing Girls" as many in London were still not as modern as they could be in 1832. Sophie relished the respectability, as well as the safe guards the four scribbling women used to protect their privacy. Being a journalist was better than the alternatives, as Sophie would remind herself at every wedding.
Knowing that her best friend, Julianna, would get the details, Sophie rushes from the wedding at St. George's, before her nerves make her a spectacle. Distracted, Sophie doesn't immediately notice that she is headed for a worse disaster, but fortunately, Henry William Cameron Hamilton, the 10th Duke of Hamilton and Brandon does. After rescuing the luscious brunette with the delightful pink lips, Mr. Brandon offers to escort Sophie home after making it clear he is not married.
Truer words were never spoken, but he just happened to neglect to mention that he is engaged! To make it worse, his upcoming wedding is the big exclusive Sophie has been commanded to cover. Sophie is appalled to discover her Mr. Brandon is set to marry the beautiful Lady Clarissa Richmond in less than a month. Sophie is dismayed, but is she dismayed enough to give up hope? After a lifetime of being a proper Duke, can Brandon give up his honor to follow his heart?
Maya Rodale has hit upon a winner of an idea with her new series, The Writing Girls. It provides a strikingly different means to write about the regency period while still being true to the era. I particularly enjoyed the interspersion of newspaper columns within and between the chapters. This device was a great vehicle to keep the plot moving and to highlight the stress and pretension that Sophie has to endure. This is a delightful read with its witty dialogue and strong secondary characters. Given that, some readers may find Sophie a little too brazen with her outrageous flirting with Brandon before his perspective in-laws and Brandon too dithering to be a hero you would want to dream about. Still, very glad it is a series! Enjoy!
Miss Harlowβs Marriage In High Life
London, 1823
A handsome duke. His beautiful soon-to-be duchess. A
whirlwind courtship. It is this authorβs privilege to
report on the event all of London is talking about: the
upcoming wedding of the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon to
the only daughter of the Duke of Richmond. Every details
of the βWedding of the Yearβ will be reported in these
pages as a London Weekly exclusive.
But I, Miss Sophie Harlow, must confess to a secret
infatuation with this βdouble dukeβ that can only lead to
trouble. It is impossible that this notoriously upstanding
gentleman would ever jilt his bride for a scandalous
female newspaper writer. And yet...the arrival of a
foreign prince, the discovery of a shocking secret, and
one passionate kiss could change everything. Will this
perfect duke risk the scandal of the year to marry the
woman his heart desires?
There are only just three more weeks until the weddingβ¦
βNewssheets! Only seven pence!β cried a young man standing
at the corner with a stack of newspapers.
βGet yer copy of The London Weekly!β he hollered, this
time to the captive audience of dozens of people waiting
to cross the street, including Sophie and Brandon.
βDo you read such rubbish, Miss Harlow? Or are you
particular to The Times?β Brand asked. Sophie managed a
tight smile while thinking Oh, hell and damnation.
Not only did she read The Weekly, but she wrote for it.
She could not admit to that, nor could pride allow her to
acknowledge The Times, archrival to her own paper, as
worthy of her attentions. Nor did she wish to lie and said
she did not read a paper at all. It would be horrible for
Mr. Brandon to think her uninformed, or a fool. She so
wanted to impress him.
βI believe most of London reads that rubbish,β she said.
When the path was clear, he pressed his hand at the small
of her back to guide her through the crowds, and she
experienced a shiver of pleasure.
βThat is the truth. The Weekly is the one with those
scandalous Writing Girls, writing about yet more
scandals?β
βThe very one,β Sophie answered, thinking that Mr.
Knightly, proprietor of the paper, would love that
description. βAnd what is your opinion of those scribbling
women?β
Everyone in town had something to say on the matter. Sheβd
never been so keen to know what anyone thought until now.
βI think it is scandalous, but far preferable to some of
the other options available to a woman,β Brandon answered
and Sophie smiled broadly. He would understand her chant
of Seamstress or servant; governess or mistress. She was
about to tell him that she was one of those scandalous
women writing about scandal, but thenβ
βOf course,β he continued. βIβd probably feel differently
if the woman in question was one of my sisters, or my
wife.β
Sophie was, unfortunately, reacquainted with the sensation
of hopes crashing and oneβs heart sinking.
βDo you have a wife?β
βNo,β he said, and she waited for him to say βhowever,β
or βbutβ or to anything to send her hopes and heart into a
tailspin, but he did not, and she dared to dream and
entertain thoughts of This One.
© 2003-2026