**Happy Book Birthday to Heart’s Desire**
I knew from the first moment Percival Stanley, Lord Markham appeared on the page (paragraph one, Scandal in Spades), that when Markham fell, he would fall hard. He did not disappoint! Today, I’m thrilled to finally share Markham and Clarissa’s story with you.
In Hearts Desire, Markham breaks up a bet meant to tarnish his sister’s friend Clarissa–a woman who happens to be both his nemesis, and his secret crush. As a consequence, he finds himself trapped in a fake courtship…a ‘fake’ courtship, he quickly realizes, that will test his control in very real ways. Take this excerpt which takes place following their first “chaste” kiss:
What in hell’s name had happened?
They’d barely kissed.
Their mouths had been closed, for goodness’ sake. He’d kept the brush of skin against skin properly brief. She’d demanded a chaste kiss, and he’d complied.
But that kiss…that kiss…
He groaned.
That kiss had been anything but chaste.
It wasn’t that he’d gone rutting hard—he hadn’t. Something worse had happened.
Before now, he would have sworn nothing more painful could be the result of a fully clothed parlor kiss than the tight pressure-ache of a cockstand denied.
He’d been wrong.
He stopped, allowing the rain to spatter his raised face.
His senses had come alive as his lips had touched hers—all his senses. Alive and alert as if newly awakened. He’d attuned to her—like a panting pointer, waiting his master’s—or mistress’s—call.
People rushing to get out of the rain jostled Markham this way and that, but he did not move. It was as if he’d been transported back to the warmth of the Darlington parlor, straight into the moment he’d pulled back from their kiss.
She’d opened her eyes slowly. He’d been absorbed by June-sky blue.
No secrets. No artifice. No rules.
Just wide-open possibility and a woman he craved to explore.
He had desired many women, but he wanted Clarissa Laithe. Not just naked—although naked would be plenty pleasant—but wanted her in whole, with nothing held back in reserve.
A raindrop splattered against his nose. He opened his eyes, just in time to dodge a yellow hackney carriage.
The coachman’s expletives faded as the hack carried on.
Markham’s blood ran cold. He’d needed that reminder. Needed to be brought back to sense—to be shown the disaster barreling his way.
Whatever he’d just experienced, he could not risk experiencing again. Excess of sentiment, indeed.
He stood neck-deep in a muddle of his own making. And there’d be nowhere out but through.
He set his lips in a grim line and headed into his house.
He’d given his word. As a result, he anticipated many more walks in the rain in the near future.
Meanwhile, Clarissa, no simpering miss (#KickAssHeroine), knows what she wants (independence), knows the price she needs to pay to get it (expulsion form High Society), and is not at all happy about Markham’s efforts to ‘save’ her reputation. Until, that is, she realizes an infamous rake is just what she needs to obtain the carnal knowledge she craves.
She spidered her fingers upward beneath his cravat. She loosened the knot, just as she’d been wanting to do all night long.
He made a funny, strangled sound.
She stilled. “Do you object?”
He sent her a look she could not decipher. “What is happening?”
“Seduction.” She glanced through her lashes. “I intend to bed you, not the other way around.”
His eyes turned drowsy. “I…I’ve never seen this side of you.”
“Neither have I…and I like this side of me.” She lowered her voice. “I think you do, too.”
“You said you didn’t wish to marry.”
She blinked. “Did I propose?”
“Ah…” A sound of warning more than indecision. He removed her hand from his chest. “I’m afraid your seduction contains an implied proposal.”
“Does it?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Absolutely.”
“And yet, just a few nights ago, weren’t you and Mrs. Sartin coupling like—”
“As a matter of fact,” he interrupted, “we were not. I haven’t been with Mrs. Sartin, or anyone else, since spring. But let’s leave everyone out of this but us, shall we?”
“Gladly,” she replied. “But when you say everyone, I want you to mean everyone. Society. Our friends. My brother. Your lovers.”
“Former,” he clipped.
She frowned.
“Former lovers. That much must be clear.”
So gallant. “Is that your rule? Only one lover at a time?”
A guilty flush returned to his cheeks. “One of the few rules I’ve yet to break.”
“Markham.” She caressed his face with the back of her hand. “What rules have you broken lately?”
When Markham and Clarissa discover explosive passion (of course…it’s a romance!), Clarissa must decide–how much is she willing to put on the line for Heart’s?
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Review Quotes
“Definitely swoon-worthy!” -S.H., Goodreads
“I absolutely loved Clarissa and Markham’s story!! I think it is probably my favorite of the year!!” -Amy A., NetGalley
“When I pick up one of Wendy La Capra’s book I’m never disappointed, her writing is so descriptive so passionate and emotionally stimulating , I can’t get enough.” – Maggie W., NetGalley
“A deeply captivating tale with a refreshingly dominant heroine.” -Pages Book Blog
“When I pick up one of Wendy La Capra’s book I’m never disappointed, her writing is so descriptive so passionate and emotionally stimulating , I can’t get enough.” – Maggie W., NetGalley “A deeply captivating tale with a refreshingly dominant heroine.” -Pages Book Blog
Sounds wonderful. Congrats
Thank you, Mery!!