Excerpt/Promo & Giveaway: The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy
The
Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy
Smythe-Smith Quartet # 4
Smythe-Smith Quartet # 4
By:
Julia Quinn
Releasing
January 27th,
2015
Avon
Romance
Blurb
Sir
Richard Kenworthy has less than a month to find a bride. He knows he
can’t be too picky, but when he sees Iris Smythe-Smith hiding
behind her cello at her family’s infamous musicale, he thinks he
might have struck gold. She’s the type of girl you don’t notice
until the second-or third-look, but there’s something about her,
something simmering under the surface, and he knows she’s the one.
Iris
Smythe-Smith is used to being underestimated. With her pale hair and
quiet, sly wit she tends to blend into the background, and she likes
it that way. So when Richard Kenworthy demands an introduction, she
is suspicious. He flirts, he charms, he gives every impression of a
man falling in love, but she can’t quite believe it’s all true.
And when his proposal of marriage turns into a compromising position
that forces the issue, she can’t help thinking that he’s hiding
something...even as her heart tells her to say yes.
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Excerpt
Except that Miss Smythe-Smith knew that she was a better musician than her cousins. He’d seen it in her eyes as she reacted to his statement. “We have all studied since we were quite young,” she said.
Except that Miss Smythe-Smith knew that she was a better musician than her cousins. He’d seen it in her eyes as she reacted to his statement. “We have all studied since we were quite young,” she said.
“Of course,” he replied. Of
course that would be what she’d say. She wasn’t about to insult
her family in front of a stranger.
An awkward silence descended upon
the trio, and Miss Smythe-Smith made that polite smile again, with
the clear intention of excusing herself.
“The violinist is your sister?”
Richard asked, before she could speak.
Winston shot him a curious look.
“One of them, yes,” she replied.
“The blond one.”
“Your younger sister?”
“By four years, yes,” she said,
her voice sharpening. “This is her first season, although she did
play in the quartet last year.”
“Speaking of that,” Winston put
in, thankfully saving Richard from having to think up another
exit-preventing question, “why was Lady Sarah seated at the
pianoforte? I thought the quartet was for unmarried ladies only.”
“We lack a pianist,” she
answered. “If Sarah had not stepped up, the concert would have been
canceled.”
The obvious question hung in the
air. Would that have been such a bad thing?
“It would have broken my mother’s
heart,” Miss Smythe-Smith said, and it was impossible to tell just
what emotion colored her voice. “And those of my aunts.”
“How very kind of her to lend her
talents,” Richard said.
And then Miss Smythe-Smith said the
most astonishing thing. She muttered, “She owed us.”
Richard started. “I beg your
pardon?”
“Nothing,” she said, smiling
brightly … and falsely.
“No, I must insist,” Richard
said, intrigued. “You cannot make such a statement and leave it
unclarified.”
Her eyes flitted to the left. Maybe
she was making sure her family could not hear. Or maybe she was
simply trying not to roll her eyes completely. “It is nothing,
really. She did not play last year. She withdrew on the day of the
performance.”
“Was the concert canceled?”
Winston asked, brow furrowed as he tried to recall.
“No. Her sisters’ governess
stepped in.”
“Oh, right,” Winston said with a
nod. “I remember. Jolly good of her. Remarkable, really, that she
knew the piece.”
“Was your cousin ill?” Richard
inquired.
Miss Smythe-Smith opened her mouth
to speak, and then at the last moment changed her mind about what she
was going to say. Richard was sure of it.
“Yes,” she said simply. “She
was quite ill. Now if you will excuse me, I’m afraid there is a
matter I must attend to.”
She curtsied, they bowed, and she
departed.
Author
Info
JULIA
QUINN started writing her first book one month after finishing
college and has been tapping away at her keyboard ever since. The New
York Times bestselling author of twenty-four novels for Avon Books,
she is a graduate of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges and is one of
only fifteen authors ever to be inducted in the Romance Writers of
America Hall of Fame. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her
family.
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I will be reading this soon!
ReplyDeleteI love the title!
DeleteThis lovely excerpt merely whetted my appetite even more for this story! One of the reasons I love the romances in this era is that conversation and repartee is so central to the writing style. And Julia does it soooo well!! :-) I think Richard is going to find himself in quicksand with Iris. Ha! Love it. Thanks for the post. jdh2690@gmail.com
ReplyDelete