📖 Blog Tour ~ What the Lady Wants by Emma Orchard

Boldwood
19 August 2024
The Runaway Heiress #3

My thanks to the publishers and Rachel's Random resources for the invitation to the tour

Autumn, 1816...

Lady Ashby is grieving the death of her beloved husband, just two years earlier. Although still young and beautiful, Isabella is resolved never to marry again, and plans to leave London, return to her parents’ Yorkshire house, and resign from society before the year is over. But first, she wants one more taste of life…

Isabella has written a list, the contents of which, if discovered, would create a scandal that neither she nor her family would recover from. A list of things she would like to experience, just once more, before she surrenders herself to the life of a widow. And she knows just the man to help her friend, handsome and honourable Captain Leo Winterton.

But Captain Winterton has a secret of his own. He is in love with Isabella – and when she makes her most improper proposal to him, he is powerless to resist her, even if she is resolved never to love again. Can he persuade her they are destined to be together? Or will their impropriety be discovered, to the ruin of both?

My Review..

Lady Isabella Ashby is grieving the loss of her husband and whilst determined to remain a widow she can't help but want just one more taste of the spicier things of life and the man she chooses to help her achieve her desire is the handsome Captain Leo Winterton. There is no doubt that Isabella would be totally ostracised from polite society if her connection to Leo Winterton were ever discovered as what is deemed acceptable for a gentle young lady in Regency England is certainly not included in  the contents of Isabella's rather risqué list of  experiences. 

What the Lady Wants doesn't stop at the bedroom door but pushes us firmly inside to witness every intimate detail between Isabella and Leo and there's no denying the sexual chemistry between them however, that's not all the story gives us. It's also a gently unfolding love story between two characters who steal their way into your heart. As we have come to expect from this author the Regency setting is done well, all the constraints placed on women during this time in history is well known, so it was good to have a woman who set about getting what she wanted albeit in a way which ultimately would see her have make some difficult choices. 

I have enjoyed travelling back to this world which the author recreates with a fine eye for detail and a fun sense of style.  What the Lady Wants is now the third book in this series and whilst it is perfectly possible to read as a standalone story there are characters from previous books making an appearance which adds a nice sense of continuity. Perfect escapism from start to finish.

About the Author

Emma was born in Salford and studied English Literature at the universities of Edinburgh and York. Her first job after graduating was as a Copy-Editor at Mills & Boon, where she met her husband in a classic enemies-to-lovers romance. Emma has worked behind the scenes in television and as a Literary Agent, and in 2020 started writing Georgette Heyer fan-fiction.

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