Promo Stop: The Folly at Falconbridge Hall by Maggi Andersen
I'm delighted to showcase another fabulous read by author Maggi Andersen. You might want to check out her latest release, historical romance The Folly at Falconbridge Hall.
Welcome again, Maggi!
Blurb:
Vanessa Ashley felt herself qualified for a position as governess, until offered the position at Falconbridge Hall.
Left penniless after the deaths of her artist father and suffragette mother, Vanessa Ashley draws on her knowledge of art, politics and history to gain employment as a governess. She discovers that Julian, Lord Falconbridge, requires a governess for his ten-year-old daughter Blyth at Falconbridge Hall, a huge rambling mansion in the countryside outside London.
Lord Falconbridge is a scientist and dedicated lepidopterist who is about to embark on an extended expedition to the Amazon in search of exotic butterflies. An enigmatic man, he takes a keen interest in his daughter’s education, but Vanessa feels that he may disapprove of her modern methods.
As she prepares her young charge to enter into the modern world, Vanessa finds the girl detached and aloof. As Vanessa learns more about Falconbridge Hall, more questions arise. Why doesn’t Blythe feel safe in her own home? Why is the death of her mother, once famed society beauty Clara, never spoken of? And why did the former governess leave so suddenly without giving notice?
“Do you have a particular skill, Miss Ashley, which you can impart to my daughter?”
“No, my lord.” She drew in a breath. She had not expected such a question. “Sadly, I did not inherit my father’s artistic talent, but I have my mother’s enquiring mind and her interest in history and politics.”
“Politics?” He stared at her rather long, and she wished again that she’d had time to tidy herself. “We shall see how you get on. The rest of the day is your own. We will discuss your duties in the library tomorrow at ten. Mrs. Royce, my housekeeper, will show you to your room.” With an abstracted glance at his desk, he rose and went to pull the bell.
The mahogany desktop was completely covered with pens and papers, a microscope, a probe of some kind, a set of long-handled tweezers, a large magnifying glass and a small hand-held one, tomes stacked one on top of the other in danger of toppling, and the butterfly in its glass prison, its beautiful wings pinned down, never to soar again. Caught by its beauty and premature death, Keats’s poem Ode to a Grecian Urn, rushed into her head. “Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought…As doth eternity.”
The viscount swiveled, and his eyebrows shot up. “Pardon?”
Vanessa jumped to her feet as heat flooded her cheeks. She'd said the words aloud. She must have had too much sun. “Keats, my lord.”
“Are you a devotee of the Romantics?”
“Not especially.” Annoyed with herself and, irrationally, with him for pursuing it, she said, “Forgive me, it was a random thought.”
He folded his arms and studied her. “You are given to spouting random philosophical thoughts?”
She tugged at her damp collar. “Not usually. I’m a little tired, and it’s been so hot.”
About the Author:
Maggi Andersen and her lawyer husband are empty nesters, living in the countryside outside Sydney with their cat and the demanding wildlife. Parrots demand seed, possums fruit, ducks swim in the stream at the bottom of the garden, and the neighbors' chickens roam their yard providing wonderful eggs. She began writing adventure stories at age eight. Three children, a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts in Creative Writing degree later, her novels are still filled with adventure and suspense, but are also passionate romances. Georgette Heyer among others, brought inspiration to her seductive Regencies and she also writes darker, Victorian novels, contemporary romantic suspense and young adult.
She supports the RSPCA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals) and animals often feature in her books.
Buy links:
Author website: http://www.maggiandersenauthor.com
Blog: http://www.maggiandersen.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/maggiandersen
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggi-Andersen-Author/372854959805
Publisher's Website:
Knox Robinson Publishing: http://www.knoxrobinsonpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=123
Welcome again, Maggi!
Blurb:
Vanessa Ashley felt herself qualified for a position as governess, until offered the position at Falconbridge Hall.
Left penniless after the deaths of her artist father and suffragette mother, Vanessa Ashley draws on her knowledge of art, politics and history to gain employment as a governess. She discovers that Julian, Lord Falconbridge, requires a governess for his ten-year-old daughter Blyth at Falconbridge Hall, a huge rambling mansion in the countryside outside London.
Lord Falconbridge is a scientist and dedicated lepidopterist who is about to embark on an extended expedition to the Amazon in search of exotic butterflies. An enigmatic man, he takes a keen interest in his daughter’s education, but Vanessa feels that he may disapprove of her modern methods.
As she prepares her young charge to enter into the modern world, Vanessa finds the girl detached and aloof. As Vanessa learns more about Falconbridge Hall, more questions arise. Why doesn’t Blythe feel safe in her own home? Why is the death of her mother, once famed society beauty Clara, never spoken of? And why did the former governess leave so suddenly without giving notice?
~~~
Excerpt:“Do you have a particular skill, Miss Ashley, which you can impart to my daughter?”
“No, my lord.” She drew in a breath. She had not expected such a question. “Sadly, I did not inherit my father’s artistic talent, but I have my mother’s enquiring mind and her interest in history and politics.”
“Politics?” He stared at her rather long, and she wished again that she’d had time to tidy herself. “We shall see how you get on. The rest of the day is your own. We will discuss your duties in the library tomorrow at ten. Mrs. Royce, my housekeeper, will show you to your room.” With an abstracted glance at his desk, he rose and went to pull the bell.
The mahogany desktop was completely covered with pens and papers, a microscope, a probe of some kind, a set of long-handled tweezers, a large magnifying glass and a small hand-held one, tomes stacked one on top of the other in danger of toppling, and the butterfly in its glass prison, its beautiful wings pinned down, never to soar again. Caught by its beauty and premature death, Keats’s poem Ode to a Grecian Urn, rushed into her head. “Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought…As doth eternity.”
The viscount swiveled, and his eyebrows shot up. “Pardon?”
Vanessa jumped to her feet as heat flooded her cheeks. She'd said the words aloud. She must have had too much sun. “Keats, my lord.”
“Are you a devotee of the Romantics?”
“Not especially.” Annoyed with herself and, irrationally, with him for pursuing it, she said, “Forgive me, it was a random thought.”
He folded his arms and studied her. “You are given to spouting random philosophical thoughts?”
She tugged at her damp collar. “Not usually. I’m a little tired, and it’s been so hot.”
~~~
About the Author:
Maggi Andersen and her lawyer husband are empty nesters, living in the countryside outside Sydney with their cat and the demanding wildlife. Parrots demand seed, possums fruit, ducks swim in the stream at the bottom of the garden, and the neighbors' chickens roam their yard providing wonderful eggs. She began writing adventure stories at age eight. Three children, a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts in Creative Writing degree later, her novels are still filled with adventure and suspense, but are also passionate romances. Georgette Heyer among others, brought inspiration to her seductive Regencies and she also writes darker, Victorian novels, contemporary romantic suspense and young adult.
She supports the RSPCA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals) and animals often feature in her books.
Buy links:
Author website: http://www.maggiandersenauthor.com
Blog: http://www.maggiandersen.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/maggiandersen
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggi-Andersen-Author/372854959805
Publisher's Website:
Knox Robinson Publishing: http://www.knoxrobinsonpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=123
~~~
Maggi will be awarding a backlist eBook to one randomly drawn commenter
and a $30 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
~~~
Follow the tour for a better chance of winning: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/03/virtual-tour-folly-at-falconbridge-hall.html
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Thank you for hosting today.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! :-)
DeleteHi again Maggie! So you seem to have a lot of different genres and types of stories that you have written. What is your favorite to write, and are there any genres you are afraid or have no interest to attempt?
ReplyDeleteandralynn7 AT gmail DOT com
Hi Andra, I'm not interested in writing paranormals. I like to base my stories in reality. For the same reason, I don't wish to write historical stories based in eras earlier than the Georgians, it's too remote from the way we live now.
DeleteI really enjoyed the excerpt. This sounds like a really good story.
ReplyDeleteHi MomJan! Nice to see you here.
DeleteAnother great excerpt! Is there another genre you haven't yet written in that you would like to?
ReplyDeletekareninnc at gmail dot com
Hi Karen, I have my eye on the Edwardian era - something like Downton Abbey with a romantic mystery. With a new film version of The Great Gatsby, the twenties are becoming popular also. I still like to write contemporary romantic suspense novels too.
DeleteIt sounds like you have a full house. Does the wildlife ever make its way into your stories?
ReplyDeletefencingromein at hotmail dot com
Not as yet, but it's not a bad idea! I have written about a fox cub in my novella, How to Tame a Rake. Mostly cats and dogs though. We had a chicken pecking at the backdoor yesterday, I might write about that!
DeleteThanks for hosting me, Cathie!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome, Maggi.
DeleteYour description of your setting outside Sydney sounds lovely. Are the parrots wild?
ReplyDeleteYes we have flocks of them, Catherine. Some are wonderful vivid colors and we also have huge white sulphur crested cockatoos.
DeleteI think that Lord Falconbridge would make me feel most inadequate.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
He's an alpha male, Mary. They appear pretty tough, at first.
ReplyDelete