The Villainous Viscount Or The Curse Of
The Venns
by Lucinda Elliot
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Historical Gothic Spoof, Historical
Regency
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
An
appreciative satire of the cliches of classical Gothic, with the eponymous
Villainus Viscount, a haunted castle, a family curse, and a spirited heroine.
When Clarissa Greendale
inherits the fortune of disreputable uncle she hardly knows, she does not
expect to find herself forced into marriage with an aristocratic fortune hunter
and wild, brawling, debauched social outcast. Not only that, but her name
featured some way down on the list of eligible heiresses he planned to court.
Still,Clarinda has always found Harley Venn set off the most unmaidenly
tinglings in her; that is one consolation...
Yet neither did
Clarinda expect to inherit the legacy of a wrongdoing from half a century
before. For the wicked if beguiling Lord Venn seems to have inherited a family
curse, which, having dispatched the main perpetrators of the old crime, now
moves on to their heirs, who are just as wild a set of rakes as their elders.
There are rumours of violent deaths preceded by appearances from an inexorable
hooded spectre, of inexplicable strikes of lightning, and of haunted mirrors.
The light-hearted
Harley Venn dismisses all these as conjuring tricks. He even hires a drunken
charlatan of a professional magician to prove it.
Clarinda is far from
sure that there is any rational explanation. Still, it would take more than an
enforced marriage to an incorrigible pugilistic libertine or persecution from
malevolent spectres to damage her steely nerves and sense of the ridiculous.
This lively Gothic
comedy, written as a good natured satire of the cliches of classical Gothic,
gives the reader a warm-hearted and courageous heroine, a rascally but
beguiling anti-hero and an authentic historical background to the delightfully
over-the-top adventures, a cast of wholly believable characters, an engaging
love story and many chills on its way to its tumultuous conclusion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
‘He tried his beguiling smile again, an expert blend of
mischief and underlying sorrow. “You underestimate the influence you could have
on me. Bad as I am, and young as you are, I know that you could be my saving
angel.”
“No, Sir. But I am happy to hear of your intention to change
your way of life, and I wish you all happiness with the young lady who does
feel herself equal to the role you honour me by offering.”
She could sense that he was dizzy with humiliation, but
refused to let her fortune slip though his fingers so easily. Now, he called on
another quality necessary for a pugilist – self-control. Rising from his knees,
he took her hands before she could retreat, caressing them. “Clarinda, you
remember that you were the only respectable young lady who spoke kindly about
poor Foyle’s death. You were not cold and implacable, then.”
Her lips thinned. “I am only so now in refusing your offer
of marriage.”
He dropped her hands. “So be it, Ma’am.” Too outraged to
make the normal civilities, he turned away.
A blinding flash of lightning outlined the window, where a
hooded, cloaked figure stood seemingly suspended on the air. It extended one
skeletal hand as if reaching towards them and vanished even as the thunderclap
came.
Swearing, Harley Venn dashed to the window. As the peal of
thunder died away, Clarinda came up behind him. “We saw that oddity before.”
She gazed about the empty street below. “This time it has appeared at a first
floor window. That is extraordinary.”’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
She was born in
England and loves writing Gothic stories - as she grew up living in a series of
isolated rambling period houses, in Buckinghamshire, Devonshire and North Wales
among other places that would make perfect settings for such stories, that may
not be surprising.
After that she
lived and worked in London for many years, and now lives in mid Wales with her
family, and has greatly improved her Welsh, but there is some way to go.
She loves
working out and weight training, and was once a Sportsfighter (long since
retired). She likes body sculpting, too. She shows a geeky streak in her
interests such as classic novels, history and environmental matters.
She loves
creating strong female characters to provide an effective counterpoint to the
gung-ho males. She can't resist putting humour into all of her writing, dark or
otherwise.
Her latest
novel 'The Villainous Viscount Or The Curse of the Venns', another historical
Gothic with undercurrents of dark humour, came out in August 2016.
At present she
is working on a sequel for 'That Scoundrel Emile Dubois'.
When reading
'That Scoundrel Emile Dubois' the author hopes the reader will laugh out loud
as well as shudder at Sophie's Gothic horrors as she becomes trapped in a great
house staffed by the wicked Emile's band of brigands.
When reading
'Ravensdale' she hopes to give the reader a laugh and a journey through an
over-the-top romantic highwayman (and highwaywoman) adventure that sends up the
tropes of traditional historical romance.
'Aleks Sager's
Daemon', a fantasy novel revolving around an author obsessed by the life of the
tragic Russian author Alexander Pushkin, is darker, but she hopes the reader
has to smile at parts, for all that.
In 'The
Villainous Viscount' the author provides some more Gothic tropes she has always
enjoyed - a haunted castle with secret passages, a family curse, and a vengeful
spectre. Add to this the wicked but beguiling young pugilistic Viscount, the
plain but sensuous bride he has married to get his wandering hands on her
fortune, and a vivid cast of secondary characters, and the usual comedy and the
reader is in for a lively read.
Authors always
have worked out far more about their characters than they can possibly show in
a book, even a longish one - not to mention all that clutter in their heads
gleaned from historical research, etc. Lucinda Elliot's blog fills in these
sorts of details about her characters.
Lucinda Elliot
hopes you will visit her blog on [http://sophieandemile.wordpress.com/] if you
would like to find out more about her books, the characters themselves, her
other writing, her literary criticism, and reviews of both traditionally
published and self published novels.
Blog:
https://wordpress.com/view/sophieandemile.wordpress.com
Amazon
Links:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KXU8QUC
and
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Villainous-Viscount-Curse-Venns-ebook/dp/B01KXU8QUC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY
Lucinda
Elliot will be awarding free Kindle or pdf copies of all of her books to a
randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THE TOUR AND COMMENT
ON EACH STOP TO EARN MORE ENTRIES TO WIN!
August 13: Kimmi Love
August 20: Notes From a Romantic's Heart
August 20: Travel The Ages
August 27: T's Stuff - promo
August 27: Let me tell you a story
August 27: Sharing Links and Wisdom
September 3: Laura's Interests
September 3: Locks, Hooks and Books
My Review
I give The Villainous Viscount: Or the Curse of the Venns four stars. I would love to read more by Lucinda Elliott in the future.
I received this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
Thank you so much for hosting this tour, and for your excellent review. I do hope you explore some more of mine; I'd love to read your opinion on them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDelete