Jenna Petersen update

Got an email update from Jenna Petersen, though she says there isn't much new to report. Her next book, What the Duke Desires, comes out on October 27 and is the kickoff to her new series, "Billingham Bastards." A preview/excerpt is available on her website and from what I've read I think it looks good! (My first post about What the Duke Desires is available here and includes the book summary).

Petersen also talks about the rest of the series:

1. The second book in the Billingham Bastards series is called The Unclaimed Duchess and due out September 2010 ... which, less face it, seems eons away! Oh well, hopefully What the Duke Desires will be good enough to tide us over until the sequel comes out.
2. The third one features Caleb Talbot who was a character in Petersen's Lessons From a Courtesan, which I haven't read and don't plan to since the plot sounds sketchy and unappealing and the reviews only reinforced this impression.

PETERSEN BOOKS I'VE READ
The only book that I've read by her was Her Notorious Viscount, but it was very good and put her on my "watch-for" list. I gave it four stars and found it highly enjoyable; both the hero and heroine were wonderful and were they types I loved - outcast and loner hero (bad-boy type all the way) with the prim and proper, down-on-her-luck heroine. You can read my review here.

New information about Jenna Petersen's October 2009 book, What the Duke Desires

Jenna Petersen has posted new information about her latest book that is due out October 27, 2009. It's entitled What the Duke Desires and is Book 1 in her new series, The Billingham Bastards. A summary (repasted below) and excerpt are provided and from that the book seems very promising!!

I hadn't heard of Petersen before stumbling onto her book Her Notorious Viscount (which I reviewed in a past blog entry and gave four stars to), but she has now been added to my watch-for authors list and I'm really looking forward to seeing what she comes out with in the future.

SUMMARY FOR What the Duke Desires (from Petersen's website)

Simon Crathorne has never felt quite "right" in his own life. Even with his own friends, he never fit. But now his father is dead and he has inherited the Dukedom, and all the responsibility that goes with it. And since his father was always known as a highly moral, upstanding man, Simon has big shoes to fill.

Lillian Mayhew doesn't buy the late Duke's exalted reputation one bit. A lifetime of hearing her father talk about the man's sins and seeing the torment her family endured at his hands has made her bitter and a final secret she discovered as her father lay dying has turned her bitterness to a drive to destroy the good name of the man she feels wronged her. No matter the price.

But when Simon and Lillian meet, sparks fly and passion erupts, leaving Lillian with an ugly choice. Can she abandon her quest for revenge, just as she is on the cusp of fulfilling her duty? Or will she betray a man whose past turns out to be a murky sea of lies and betrayals netiher one could have ever anticipated? A man whose kiss could change her life forever.

Jenna Petersen: Her Notorious Viscount

MY REVIEW

Title: Her Notorious Viscount
Author: Jenna Petersen
Release Date: March 31, 2009
List Price: $6.99

Read: June 16-18, 2009
My Rating:


Author Website | Book Page | Excerpt | Amazon.com

Setting: April 1816, London, England

Her Notorious Viscount is my first historical romance by Jenna Petersen and I greatly enjoyed it. Starting a new HR author is always loaded with risk (IMO), but I was extremely relieved to see that Petersen doesn't employ any of those annoying story ploys that drive me crazy: NO major misunderstandings, NO ridiculous fights and obstacles that only exist to make the book longer, NO saboteurs who are in love with either the H/H and do everything they can to keep them apart (and of course, always almost succeed).

Summary (from back cover):

Beauty and her beast ...

Viscount Nicholas Stoneworth is infamous - even being mentioned in the same breath with him is enough to ruin a lady's reputation. Why, the man's spent years in London's underworld pursuing every sort of vice while parlaying his hard muscled body into fame and fortune as a fighter! With his brother's untimely death, Nicholas must assume the title and relearn the civilized ways of the ton ... and proper Jane Fenton is more than willing to teach him everything she knows.

Circumstances may have forced Jane into the role of ladies' companion, but she knows the danger of associating with a notorious man like Nicholas, a man who woucl dtempt any woman into certain scandal. But her brother disappeared into the same underworld four long years ago, and if she trasnforms the libertine into a gentleman, he will use his connections to find him. Still, Jane will not - cannot - lose control. She must ignore the promise of sinful pleasure in his eyes ... and her own wild desires desperate to break free.

MAIN CHARACTERS, Miss Jane Fenton and Viscount Nicholas Stoneworth:
Jane and Nicholas were wonderful leading characters and there were some really humorous interactions between them, since Jane is Miss Prim and Proper and Nicholas has basically been shunning society and cast out of the ton for ~10 years. Another plus is the chemistry between them, which is very well written and sizzles off the pages.

*Super priceless* was when the Jane saves the Nicholas - such a nice change! She doesn't literally save him, but usually you have the hero who ends up facing down her bullies and yelling at them and then all of us female readers understandably sigh dreamily (probably don't need to add gender, since I think the size of the male audience is negligible - if it even exists). HERE, however, we have the heroine who sticks up for the hero and it was a total "you go girl" moment ;-).

OTHER COMMENTS:
I loved Nicholas' best friend, "Rage," and think he would be great as a hero in another book. I was also surprised to find that I really liked Viscount Patrick Fenton, Jane's cousin, and hope that he gets his own book. It was such a nice change to have another character who is in love with the heroine yet isn't manipulative, is an actual decent and honorable human being, acknowledges that the heroine doesn't like him in that way (also nice, because I hate when an author creates divided loyalties like that) and so goes out of his way to help the hero.

Although there was a mystery subplot, the way it played out was very interesting and it was a nice change to not have some crazed murderous greedy villain confusing things and somewhat unnecessarily. In some ways it kind of stretched plausibility, but we read these books for enjoyment, not reality, so it wasn't enough of a stretch to truly bother me.

BOTTOM LINE:
Her Notorious Viscount was a light and enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend for a lazy weekend afternoon. As an author, Petersen lines up with other historical romance writers like Julia Quinn and Karen Hawkins.