You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO request is from Catherine, who has a very thorough description of a historical romance:
During the summers of 2011 & 2012 I read a ridiculous number of books (3-4 daily. Everyday. It, no I, was nuts). Now, normally I keep fairly extensive records of what I’ve read, but I can’t find the info for the book I’m looking for. Aside from my Garwood & Heyer glomfest, my records for the rest are, to my horror, woefully incomplete. And now I will have to fix this in order to have any peace of mind. Most everything other than H & G were recent, as in just printed or released within the last 5 years. I think this was brand new. And I would have sworn it had either “wicked” or “sin” in the title but can’t find it.
The story begins in a castle in either Scotland or the north of England (as they do). The main characters are the earl (or whatever his title was), his disaffected son & heir, his secretary, and the secretary’s daughter who, of course, has a crush on the heir. The father is a scholar and spent the majority of his funds on books and acquiring the castle, which comes complete with a legend regarding missing jewels and a link to a rogue prince or thief or somebody (don’t they all?). The son has been informed he needs to marry well and has taken himself up to the decrepit tower with a bottle or two with which to console himself. Oh, forgot to mention that the castle is in desperate dire need of refurbishment (as they are).
The father has thrown a costume party and the daughter takes this as her (last) chance to have sex with her crush. So she dresses up as a barmaid/wench in the hopes of tempting him and climbs the tower. He’s more than a little drunk and only too happy to take her up on her offer. While they’re getting into it, the door to the tower room opens and another couple enters. The h/h stop what they’re doing to avoid detection and can’t help but overhear the other couple. Turns out, the earl and his secretary are far closer than anyone would have imagined, and upon learning what his father was doing, the heir speaks out/makes noise due to his shock. At this point, everyone is discovered and embarrassed, but of course the earl recognizes the girl and tells his son that a servant’s daughter isn’t good enough. The enraged son storms off, angry at his father (being disinclined towards women he hadn’t done his duty, natch) and at the daughter because he feels that she tried to trap him.
Ten years pass, and the son finally comes home. The father has died without any reconciliation between them before his death. In fact, the hero has only returned to close out the estate and then go back to London. Upon returning, he learns that the daughter has been acting as the earl’s secretary as her mother is dead as well. (It’s explained the secretary died from grief not long after the heir had left because though he was good enough for the earl to tup, his daughter wasn’t good enough for the son to marry.) He is angry to find the h present as he’s still mad at her for her prior deception (when all she had wanted was no-strings-sex, but he didn’t know that and, of course, wouldn’t listen to her). Knowing he wants to cut and run, preferably with as much money as possible, she makes him an offer for the castle. The earl died nearly insolvent but apparently, she had in fact been writing all the books (as well as doing the research) that had been printed in the earl’s name and the earl, possibly feeling guilty about the past or simply because she’d done all the work, gave her some proceeds. This leaves the heir flat broke and more than willing to entertain her offer. The hero has earned a reputation for having mad skills and being insatiable in the bedroom. It’s also whispered that he has unnatural appetites and enjoys silk ropes.
The deal is that in exchange for a night of sex, she’ll pay him for the castle. He counters with a week of no-holds-barred-whatever-he-wants-no-matter-what-she-can’t-say-no-sex. She agrees as long as he promises not to get her with child. And next follows some interesting descriptions of bedroom activities.
His best friend visits and we learn that they’d run afoul of some Turkish pasha who not only imprisoned them but upon learning he had an English lord at his mercy used them for entertainment. He evidently liked watching a lord on his knees with a commoner. So, though he hated his father for his preferences, he was equally torn as he was in love with the man with whom he’d been imprisoned.
Surprisingly enough I don’t remember the villain. Nor do I recall what happened to him. I’ve a vague recollection of some guy in uniform on a horse but that could be from something else. Possibly he was in considerable debt and someone was calling in his marker(s). I really just don’t know. So, there’s some conflict which I can’t recall, but the long and short of it is that they discover a hidden passage and the missing jewels. Which he splits with his friend as there’s more than enough for everyone. There were lots of jewels. And probably gold coins as well.
I’m sorry this is so long but I thought the more that was included the better my chances for recognition. Honestly, you’d think with this level of recall (it damn near qualifies as an outline. Aargh!) I’d know the title, a character’s name, or at least the author, but no.
I’m asking because I’m curious about whether she wrote about the friend. He seemed like a nice man and since almost everyone writes series these days I was wondering if she’d continued. I won’t lie though, if you name it, I am totally going to reread this!
Hm…I think I may know this one, but I need to research. With such a great description, someone has to know this.
The Turkish imprisonment part reminds me of Kate Pearce’s House of Pleasure series, as a hero (or heroes?) was forced to work in a Turkish brothel at one point. However, I haven’t read any of the books to really get a good picture if it’s one of them. Some of the titles also include words like “sinful” and “wicked.”
Maybe someone who’s more familiar with the series can comment?
OMG I know this I know a HaBO!!! Yeah!
I ma almost certain that this book is Margaret Rowe’s Any Wicked Thing
@stella: Wow, the description sounds exactly like it!
So I don’t know this one, but I’m curious: do we have a bisexual hero, who’s involved with both the heroine and his bestie? Or am I confused?
@stella: You may have nailed it. Thankfully my library still has a (literally 1!) copy left that I’ve requested. It’s a shame the ebook is $10 as I’m much happier with instant gratification but really can’t justify the expense. Will update after reading but it does seem right. Thank you!
@Jamie: It’s been a few years since I read the book, hence the HaBO, but if I recall correctly, he wasn’t bisexual until after his captivity. Maybe. I do not remember the guardianship, and yet when reading the preview, do remember the companion. He ends up in love with his fellow captive- it was his presence that kept Sebastian alive in prison. Upon returning home to England he earns a reputation for being unrepentantly wicked and I believe it says in the book that it’s whispered he likes both women and men. But again, the caveat that my memory could be inaccurate.
So, who’s he in love with? Is this a m/m?
@Jamie: Oh, one other thing, I really don’t remember Sebastian and his cellmate doing anything. All that’s referenced is what he tells Freddy (Frederica) about his time in prison. So if you’re looking for bisexual romance slash escapades I don’t think this will fit the bill. But by all means suggest some if you wish. 😉
If it’s the right book, and it really, really does seem to be, the romance is between Sebastian & Frederica.
Is 33 minutes a record?
Impressive work today – both HaBos solved right away!
Um. I wrote this in my Margaret Rowe persona, and I think I like Catherine’s description better than the book, LOL. One caveat-Sebastian was a duke (as they are).
And no, the friend was supposed to get his own book, but Margaret Rowe kind of died. It was just too tough to be Maggie and Margaret both.
@LML: I think it might be. Y’all are good!!
Not to derail this comment thread, but Maggie Robinson, what is the difference between you and your alter ego, Margaret Rowe? 🙂 (By the way, when I read the level of detail in the plot description I knew it wouldn’t take long for someone to pipe up with the title!)
@SandyCo Maggie is lighter and funnier (hopefully). Margaret is darker and dirtier, LOL. I did write a Margaret Rowe novella for my self-pubbed anthology, so occasionally she comes out of the crypt.
@Maggie Robinson: Thanks for commenting! My next post was going to be a question about you as I could only find 2 books by Margaret Rowe and wondered what had happened to her. Now I know.
Not having read your current work (a fact I’m redressing) I’ve nothing to compare, but can state honestly that Any Wicked Thing was definitely dirty. Not that there is anything wrong with that. No, no, not at all. In fact, dirty is good and makes some us quite happy, so please carry on.
However, I do still have a question. Do you think you’ll ever get around to writing about the friend, even if only a self-pubbed novella, or is that pretty much a done thing?
And may I just say that it was really cool of you to respond in the first place? Thanks again.
I would just like to add my 2cents here – Maggie’s writing is every bit as entertaining as Margaret’s (though slightly less dirty, but still quite scintillating!) You will not regret reading some of her other series!!
@Julie Thank you so much! I needed that today. 🙂
@kitkat I assure you I’m not cool, LOL. Right now I’m working on a Victorian series and a novella for an anthology with a bunch of Maine writers, but never say never. I actually looked up the start of Cam Ryder’s book after the above discussion, and here it is in all its 4-sentence glory:
There were days when Cameron Ryder woke up and thought he was insane.
Then there were days when he knew it. Today was one of them.
He narrowly avoided a chunk of ceiling that had fallen in the banquet hall of Archibald Castle
Not even a period after the last! His heroine was supposed to be an architect he hires sight unseen, not realizing she is a woman. You know what happens from there. ;)I’d still like to write it if I could find more hours in the day.
I think this is the first author response to a HABO! SBTB ftw!