The Rake and the Bishop’s Daughter – Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Julia will be awarding a $30 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Society’s beloved wastrel, Sir Harry Collyns, pushes his popularity past the point of acceptability when he poses for a statue that creates a social uproar. People line up for blocks to see Handsome Harry in the nude, sculpted by a female artist! Bored with the fuss and scandal, Harry hitches up his fastest team, heads for the country, and a near fatal curricle accident. When the bandages are removed from his head days later, he discovers the angel-voiced widow who’d cared for him is neither elderly nor as mild as her tone, but a straight-laced do-gooder unimpressed with his flamboyant past and dashing good looks. Head-battered and heading for a broken heart, he falls into love with Widow Olivia St. Clair, who might be the one woman in England that Harry can’t charm into loving him back.

Enjoy an exclusive excerpt:

“I wish you wouldn’t run away, Harry.”

Lying on his back on a blanket spread across the grass on a soft summer day, Sir Harry Collyns looked up at Lady Asterly, who reclined on a nearby chaise lounge wearing a lavender tulle frock and a scowl.

“Nothing else for it, Lizzie.”

Sunlight peeked through the leaves of the towering oak. Bright dots flickered over her disgruntled moue, which made him laugh. It sounded forced, mainly because he didn’t want to talk about why he needed to leave. Disappointment and concern clouded her expressive hazel eyes. He didn’t much like it when she did that. It hurt as much as it made him feel guilty.

In an attempt to change the prickly subject, he said, “It’s been two years and I’m still trying to figure out how my brother managed to catch you. You’re too rich and intelligent for him. The only sensible conclusion is that you would’ve been much better off marrying me.”

“Stuff and nonsense! You know compliments won’t work with me, and I’ll not let you use them to avoid this issue. Fleeing at the height of this scandal will only make matters worse. Especially since it comes so quickly on the heels of the last one.”

“Set it down to the price of popularity. Let’s find a happier subject.”

“Harry, everyone knows she’s a liar, just as everyone knows your only associations are with widows.”

“You mean affairs,” he teased, hoping to dislodge her from the subject.

“My point is that you’d never jilt a girl.”

He stood and looked down into her troubled gaze. She started to say something, then stopped the words with a shake of her head. He tapped the end of her nose and smiled at her worried gaze.

“Don’t fret, love. I’m fine. I just need to get away and rethink things.”

“You are so much more than what you allow the world to see, Harry.”

About the Author: Julia Donner (aka M.L.Rigdon) grew up in historic Galena, IL, USA, and spent most of her time in the museum of her aunt, who encouraged her interest in history and understood the need to cherish a dream. She started writing in secret in her teens and never stopped, merging it with her mother’s encouragement to study theater and music, which led to performing in the Midwest, California and as far away as Austria.

Donner never forgot what it was like to write alone as a girl and is a happy member of Summit City Scribes. Concern for the failing educational system led her to develop Your Futures in Ink, a panel of local and regional authors, who go into to schools to encourage students and answer questions about writing.

THE TIGRESSE AND THE RAVEN, first book in the regency Friendship Series, is an RWA contest finalist. The ninth book in the series, A ROGUE FOR MISS PRIM and the tenth, AN AMERICAN FOR AGNES, are available now. A LAIRD’S PROMISE will be released by Spring 2018.

M.L Rigdon (aka Julia Donner)

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Comments

  1. James Robert says

    Congrats on the tour and thank you for the excerpt and giveaway. I appreciate the opportunity to win.

  2. Thanks for hosting!

  3. Betul E. says

    Sounds like a great read

  4. Thank you LONG AND SHORT REVIEW for hosting this tour. I’m looking forward to the comments but may not be able to start answering until tonight. Good luck to all with the raffle!
    Julia/Mary Lou

  5. Thank you LONG AND SHORT REVIEW for hosting this tour.

  6. kim hansen says

    Sounds like a good read.

  7. Lisa Brown says

    I enjoyed getting to know your book; congrats on the tour and I hope it is a fun one for you 🙂

  8. Another new-to-me author. Nice to meet you and I look forward to following your tour and getting to know more about you and your book.

  9. Diane Sallans says

    is Olivia’s father really a Bishop? that’s a new theme.

  10. Rita Wray says

    I liked the excerpt, thank you.

  11. Good luck with the release!

  12. Gwendolyn Jordan says

    Sounds great

  13. Thanks for the giveaway; I like the excerpt. 🙂

  14. Dale Wilken says

    Sounds great.

  15. I so need to read this book. I’m on a historical kick right now and this book is catnip for me.

    Marika Weber

  16. Victoria says

    Great post, I enjoyed reading it 🙂

  17. Linda Romer says

    The Rake and the bishops daughter sounds like a good read. Thank you

  18. Thanks for the giveaway.

  19. Nikolina Vukelic says

    I really enjoyed reading the entire post today. This is a new author for me so thank you for the reveal!

  20. James Robert says

    Happy Hump Day! I’m here to say thanks again and to let you know I appreciate the chance at winning.

  21. James Robert says

    Hello! It’s snowy day here at home. Hope your day is much better than ours. Have a good one and thanotheranks again for the chance at winning.

  22. James Robert says

    Enjoy this beautiful Saturday and I want you to know I appreciate all you do bringing us this great giveaway to enter.

  23. Bernie Wallace says

    Thanks for hosting the giveaway. I hope that I win. This looks like a fun read.

  24. James Robert says

    Happy Tuesday and thank you so much for the opportunity to win this great giveaway.

  25. James Robert says

    You’re the best! Thanks again for the chance at winning.

  26. James Robert says

    We made it….it’ s Friday! Have a great one and enjoy your weekend also. Thanks for the giveaway.

  27. James Robert says

    I am stopping by to do my daily entry and thanking you again for the opportunity to win. Enjoy your Sunday!

  28. James Robert says

    Happy Monday! Have a great week ahead and thanks again for the chance at winning this giveaway.

  29. James Robert says

    Hello! Stopping by to enter again today and to thank you once again. Please don’t get tired of hearing from me 🙂

  30. James Robert says

    Happy Hump Day! Thanks for all the hard work you put into bringing us such great giveaways. They are fun to enter and I appreciate it.

  31. James Robert says

    Happy Friday! Wishing you a terrific weekend and back to say “thanks again” for giving all of us an opportunity to win.

  32. James Robert says

    Thanks so much for the opportunity to win this giveaway and all the difficult work you put into bringing it to us.

  33. Danielle Merkle says

    Sounds like a great read!

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