Blog Tour: Only Scandal Will Do by Jenna Jaxon - Guest Post

Hey guys! Welcome to today's blog tour stop! Today, Jenna is joining us with a guest post about the wild 18th century. It certainly is a good read so do take some time to look at it! :) Oh and the cover's really pretty, isn't it? :)

Only Scandal Will Do

Kidnapped and sold at auction in a London brothel, Lady Katarina Fitzwilliam squelches an undeniable attraction to the masked stranger who purchased her, pits her wits against him, and escapes him and the scandal that would ruin her life.

Unable to resist temptation in a London brothel, Duncan Ferrers, Marquess of Dalbury, purchases a fiery beauty. She claims she's a lady, but how can she be? No lady of his acquaintance in polite society is anything like her.

Then he discovers she is who she says, and that this latest romp has compromised her reputation. He knows how that is. One more scandal and he'll be cast out of London society, but he needs a wife who'll provide an heir to carry on his illustrious family's name. He seeks out Katarina, intending only to scotch the scandal, but instead finds his heart ensnared.

He's betting their future he'll capture her heart, but does he have what it takes to win the wager?

WARNING: A blade-wielding heroine who crosses swords with a master of sensuality.

Jenna Jaxon

Jenna Jaxon is a multi-published author of historical and contemporary romance who has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager. A romantic herself, Jenna has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise. She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own writing.

Jenna lives in Virginia with her family and a small menagerie of pets. When not reading or writing, she indulges her passion for the theatre, working with local theatres as a director. She often feels she is directing her characters on their own private stage.

She has equated her writing to an addiction to chocolate because once she starts she just can’t stop.

Website | Facebook

And now, let's welcome Jenna to the blog!

The Wild 18th Century

One of the reasons I decided to set my House of Pleasure series, of which Only Scandal Will Do is the first book, in the 18th century instead of the more popular Regency period, was the reputation of the period for being much wilder, more dangerous, more colorful. I’d been introduced to the Georgian period--named for the three Hanoverian kings who reigned throughout the century--in Jo Beverley’s Malloren series and fell in love with the colorful lifestyle that seems to alternate between the Age of Reason and the Age of Rowdy.

I love the fact that aristocratic men during this period wore bold colors, powdered wigs, and face paint (in some instances), yet beneath the surface were deadly competitors skilled with sword and pistol, had voracious appetites where women were concerned, and could converse on a myriad of topics that would leave us scratching our heads today. This is the stuff of which heroes are made.

Some of the more colorful items from the century that I was able to use in Scandal were the death of the Earl of Ferrers--the last peer to be hanged for murder; the erotic art of Françoise Boucher; the Venetian masquerade; and Harris’s List of prostitutes.

The last item I found fascinating. Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies or A Man of Pleasure’s Kalendar was a directory of working prostitutes published at Christmas by Samuel Derrick, whose pen name for the publication was Jack Harris. The directory listed names and addresses of “working girls,” a description of physical appearance of the woman (including the size of her breasts), the special services they performed and the charges (ranging from 5 shillings to 5 pounds) a gentleman could expect to pay for said services.

An excerpt from the 1788 directory notes a “Miss Johnson: The raven colored tresses of Miss J-ns-n are pleasing, and are characteristic of strength and ability in the wars of Venus. Indeed, this fair one is not afraid of work, but will undergo a great deal of labour in the action; she sings, dances, will drink a cheerful glass, and is a good companion. She has such a noble elasticity in her loins that she can cast her lover to a pleasing height, and receive him again with the utmost dexterity. Her price is one pound, one, and for her person and amorous qualifications, she is well worth the money.”

Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies was published each year between 1757 and 1795 and sold over a quarter of a million copies during that time.

I mentioned Harris’s List in passing only in Only Scandal Will Do, but thought it would give a bit of period color to the book and a passing salute from my hero Duncan, who, as a rake, may have been rather familiar with that list.

A wild era indeed.

So yep, that's about it for today! Thanks for visiting! :)