I always love it when I discover a new author who writes the kind of interesting, high stakes, informative stories that I love to read. When I came across His Enterprising Duchess, the first in this series, I loved it, and I preordered the second. Well. Let me tell you I am not disappointed. His Spirited Lady is even better. I’m hooked, and am already waiting for the third book. Peri tells me there’ll be more to follow. Woo hoo!
His Spirited Lady
Book 2 in The Enterprising Women
By Peri Maxwell
Mix two fake lovers, age over a disastrous house party, distill the romance, and savor the happily ever after.
Richard Ferrand arrives in Thetford to visit his family and to seek advice on a recent inheritance. He’s expecting it to be a brief visit. His former brother-in-law has a new family, and Richard is eager to return to his familiar bachelor businessman routine. That all changes when he comes to the rescue of a young lady with plans of her own.
Amelia Chitester has spent her life being the perfect society Miss—at least when people are watching. When they’re not, she’s busy creating the county’s best whiskey. That all changes when her gravely ill father insists she marry so that she will have a protector after he dies.
When Richard helps Amelia avoid a persistent suitor, she sees an answer to several of her problems. He needs a British distributor for his newly acquired French wine, and she needs a fake fiancé to take her off the marriage market. Richard thinks she’s daft—irresistibly beautiful, totally disarming, and completely daft–but he agrees to help because he admires her commitment to her family and her home.
As they work to fool their families and the entire village, it grows difficult to live out their lie. Amelia didn’t figure on the soft side of her convenient rake, and Richard wasn’t prepared for the stubborn charm of his fake conquest.
Soon they’re both faced with the choice of keeping their businesses or losing their hearts.
Excerpt
“It is nice to see you again, Mr. Ferrand.”
Amelia Chitester’s dress matched her eyes, and the gold lace complemented her hair. Not for the first time, Richard wondered if dressmakers and their clients understood how a high waist and a perfectly placed bow made it impossible for men to ignore a low neckline. All but the most small-breasted young women benefited from the design.
“Miss Chitester.” Richard dipped his head. Other than the color, the dress was simple. This wasn’t a ball gown meant to be seen and admired. She, like her parents, was dressed for an evening at home.
Amelia wasn’t small breasted, something her riding habit had concealed. She was also shorter than he’d expected, given her parents’ heights. Her head stopped a few inches below his shoulder, which gave him a chance to admire her braids as he escorted her into dinner. She smelled of apples and cinnamon.
Dinner was laid out on the sideboard, allowing them to help themselves. Footmen helped them into their chairs and then retreated.
“Father can’t bear the fuss,” Amelia whispered as she placed her napkin in her lap. “He says it gives him indigestion when people watch him eat.”
No wonder Augustus and Oliver were good friends. “I’m sure the servants don’t mind escaping. I wouldn’t want to watch someone eat mutton and then go below for cold ham.” At least, that’s what he’d overheard aboard ship.
“Our staff has the same meal we do,” Amelia said. “Unless there’s a party, which, thankfully, we rarely do at home.”
“You don’t enjoy parties?” Didn’t all young women long for the Season in London and the social whirl? The ladies in Quebec were forever trying to recreate it.
“Why would anyone enjoy a mass of people traipsing about their home spilling punch on the carpet while judging their decorating choices?” She paused with her spoon in her soup. “My apologies. Of course I didn’t mean this evening; this is—”
“No offense taken.” Richard used his napkin to hide his smile. He enjoyed the decorations at Oakdale Manor, especially the lively one beside him. “I loathe punch. Unless it’s liberally mixed with whiskey, of course.”
“Whiskey makes everything better.” Amelia paused again. “At least that’s what Father says.”
The pause made Richard wonder if her knowledge wasn’t more first-hand, but one didn’t ask a young lady if she drank when no one was looking. In his experience, the only women who drank whiskey didn’t care if they were seen doing so.
“No Mr. Raymond today?” he asked, willing to change the subject to something she might find more agreeable.
“He left yesterday, back to London.” Her sigh sounded more satisfied than regretful.
“You didn’t enjoy his visit?”
“Have you ever had a puppy follow you home?” She looked up at him, and a pretty blush stained her cheeks. “That’s unfair. He is pleasant company, but we didn’t expect him to visit and we had…things to do.”
Richard was set to ask what she did when she wasn’t entertaining unwanted guests, but laughter caught his attention. Oliver was regaling Augustus with a tale of a childhood adventure, one he’d apparently undertaken with Thea given her objections to the retelling.
“I remember them like that,” Amelia murmured. “When they were younger.”
“They are difficult to ignore.” Not that their behavior was inappropriate, or even rude. It was just so clear that they were happy together. That they had always been happy together. Oliver even seemed younger.
“Gossip dogged them everywhere, especially after Oliver sailed for Canada.”
And found a wife there.
“It’s difficult, isn’t it?” Amelia’s hand closed over his, her gentle touch contrasting with his tight grip on his soup spoon. “Moving forward sounds better than it feels.” She smiled when Richard met her gaze. “I remember when Father brought Mother home. I enjoyed hearing him laugh again, but part of me was angry that he was going to replace my first mother, as though she’d never been there or hadn’t been important.”
Richard looked from the young woman next to him to her mother—stepmother—at the end of the table. “What changed?”
“It got easier with time.”
Richard grasped her fingers as they slid from his. Squeezed. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She freed her fingers as her mother went to the sideboard for the main course. “Now, would you tell me about Canada? We always intend to travel there, but the Season prevents us from going until fall, which Father has heard is a poor time to visit.”
Buy Links
Amazon: https://a.co/d/0OabOFR
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/his-spirited-lady-peri-maxwell/1143350454?ean=9781960184696
Meet Peri Maxwell
Peri Maxwell has lost herself in reading romances all her life. She began writing as a challenge to herself and wrote her first historical romance on a dare, and now, she’s hooked. She prefers to write heroines who can stand toe-to-toe with a hero, challenge society’s rules for good reasons, and find love with heroes who admire an equal (even if it’s a little reluctantly).
She enjoys history, humor, and a good mystery. An armchair historian, she also has a background in women’s studies.
Peri lives in Arkansas with her husband and the two cats who rescued them. When she’s not writing or reading, she’s working her day job or spending time with her family and friends (the same ones who dared her to write a historical romance).
Social links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22406672.Peri_Maxwell
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorperi/