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- IT'S RELEASE DAY!
That’s right, lovely subscribers, To Marry the Devil is finally here, and when I say it’s my book baby, I mean it’s my BOOK. BABY. Jacob is the truest love of my life. And Annabelle is basically me on a page—socially awkward, cripplingly shy, and liable to fall madly in love with the biggest rake she sees.
(My husband won’t read this, but in case he does: you come a very strong second, love!)
Read on to see some reviews, extracts, and of course the promised epilogue!
So. Am I excited to put my book into the world?
YOU BETCHA.
It has felt like a very long time in coming, seeing as the release day was pushed back by a month, but now it’s here I’m fizzing. That, or it’s the coffee I’m sipping as I write this first thing in the morning.
If you haven’t got yourself a copy already, get it here!
Blurb
“I ruin everything I touch. That has been my curse since the day I was born.”
Lady Annabelle Beaumont prefers books to ballrooms. With her elder sister married, she intends to avoid men until she’s old enough to be put on the shelf along with her favourite novels. Unfortunately, when she’s inadvertently discovered alone with notorious rake Jacob Barrington, she has two choices: enter an engagement with a man she loathes or be ruined forever.
Jacob Barrington, newly minted Marquess of Sunderland and the “Devil of St James”, plans to destroy his family’s reputation in the most licentious way possible. An engagement is not on the agenda, especially to someone he detests. Instead, he offers to spend their fake engagement finding Annabelle a husband she prefers. But as their desire deepens into something more, she ends their deal and leaves London entirely. Alone, Jacob comes to a realisation: the devil does possess a heart.
And she’s just run away with it.
Reviews
Here are what some reviewers are saying:
“I LOVED watching this unlikely couple come together and seeing all the ways that they were exactly what the other needed. And the chemistry was intense! Their draw to each other was so strong and believable. And the spice totally delivered - scorching, raw, emotional and very, very hot.”
“The writing was lush, the descriptions gorgeous, the character arcs natural, the dynamic between the characters both witty and intense.”
“This was my first book by this author, and it won’t be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of Annabelle and Jacob’s relationship. I think Jacob was one of my favorite scoundrels… I highly recommend this story filled with regret, trauma, sadness, grief, but so much passion, hope, and love.”
And of course, a wonderful review you can find here if you’re a member of The Ton & the Tartans Facebook group. For those who aren’t, one of my favourite comments was this: “I found Jacob to be a compelling hero. His backstory, self destructive chaotic psyche, and relationship with Cecil were fascinating and nuanced. I adored him and was rooting for him from page 1. He needed a grand love story (with Annabelle!) to heal his sad heart.”
Jacob is my baby and I love him so much, so to find other people loving this sad, wounded, hurting man makes my little heart happy.
Extract
If you take a little more convincing, how about some boxing?
They were akin to parrots among pigeons. The brightness of Lady Bolton’s maroon dress and Annabelle’s blue morning dress stood in stark contrast to the greys and browns of the working men’s suits. There were a few other gentlemen present, but even they were wearing more muted waistcoats. A far cry from the flamboyant colours she often saw while promenading or at social events. This was not a social event. The floor was sticky with spilt beer and men were jeering at the figures in the ring.
Ring was perhaps an optimistic term for the boxed rectangle in the centre of the room, featuring the two fighting men.
Annabelle paused to stare at the men in shock and horror. They fought with bare knuckles, shirtless, bruises already blooming on their ribs and stomachs. One man, a veritable giant, had his back to her, which meant she could see portions of the other man’s torso and the way his ridged muscles tensed and moved as he struck.
Blood splattered the ground as the large man’s nose crunched. The other man seemed to have got off lightly in comparison, although he was breathing hard and his bronzed skin was gleaming with sweat.
He looked up, and Annabelle’s stomach bottomed out. His eyes looked so much darker than she could ever remember them being, and his lip was bleeding, but his face was painfully familiar. For a moment, their eyes locked, and his opponent sank a fist into his stomach.
Annabelle gasped in shock at the raw violence of the blow. Jacob doubled over, and she stumbled forward a few steps as though she could personally shield him from attack. But already he was moving, not giving himself time to recover, dodging the other man’s next blow.
“Come,” Lady Bolton said, reappearing. “We’re not here to distract him.”
“When you said he would be boxing, I didn’t know you meant boxing.” Annabelle tried to get the shock of his dark eyes and the way the other man had struck him. “I thought you meant he would be attending the boxing.”
“He’s boxed as long as I’ve known him,” Lady Bolton said. “There’s always been a bit of darkness in him, and this is his favourite way of expressing it. Here, there are some chairs.” The current occupants moved out of the way for them to sit, and Annabelle sank into the rickety wooden chair, her head spinning. In the ring before her, Jacob knocked the larger man to the ground. A small bell rang.
How long would this last? Her stomach churned, but she forced herself to keep watching as the larger man picked himself up. A referee to one side had his gaze glued to his pocket watch. Jacob turned to look at her, something furious in his expression. There was no sign of the suave, charming man she had encountered in Society.
“He’s angry,” Lady Bolton noted cheerfully from beside her. “No doubt he will channel that into his fighting. He’s very good, you know.”
“Do you think he’ll be hurt?”
Lady Bolton shrugged. “Not unduly. Fear not—he has been doing this for years, and he’s never come to serious harm. A few bruises are nothing. I have a feeling he craves the pain.”
“I can’t bear to see him fight.” As the two men took their places again, Annabelle squeezed her eyes half shut, peering at them through her eyelashes.
“Watch,” Lady Bolton said, her tone gentle even as she tapped Annabelle’s arm with her fan. “You should know all the sides to the man you’re going to marry.”
Annabelle linked her hands too tightly in her lap. “I thought you knew—Jacob and I are not intending to marry. Our engagement is a sham.”
“Piddle.” Lady Bolton’s gaze never left Jacob, but there was something assessing in it. The next round began, just as terrifyingly, aggressively violent as before. “I have only seen him fight like this once before, and that was when I first met him. Shortly after Madeline.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” Lady Bolton said with a grim satisfaction, “you are the first person he has cared about in five years, whether he admits it or not.”
Boxing was, in fact, a common pastime amongst the nobility during this time, but gentlemen rarely fought in rings like this one. They practiced the sport, such as at Gentleman Jackson’s Saloon, but they did not partake in matches. It’s important to note that Gentleman Jackson himself, who claimed to be the best boxer in the country after defeating the previous champion, only fought three matches, and fought none after he established himself as a teacher of the nobility. For Jacob to be fighting is a sign of how does not regard himself to be a gentleman. It’s a physical manifestation of the violent turmoil within.
I imagine once he accepts his place within society and marries Annabelle, he stops boxing, although he will still practice the sport.
Epilogue
As promised, here is the epilogue! It contains some bonus spice, married bliss, and an insight into how Theo fares with her pregnancy (a warning for those who perhaps don’t enjoy seeing babies in epilogues). You may read the first half for the spice and ignore the second if that’s your preference!
I know some people prefer epilogues a lot further down the line, so keep patient; I intend to release an epilogue collection when the series is out, set twenty years in the future.
What’s Next?
Well, the next couple will be obvious for anyone who’s read the book. For those of you who haven’t, I’ll keep you guessing. I’m also thinking about writing a novella for poor, overlooked Cecil, Jacob’s brother. It’ll be a HFN ending, seeing as he does perish in this book, but he’s such an interesting character that I think it would be a shame to neglect him utterly.
If that’s something you’d be interested in, do get in touch!
As an extra something for my subscribers, next week I’ll be releasing a full-length version of a fade-to-black scene (hehe) and some other bits and pieces, so stick around!
For anyone who’s a member of Upturned Petticoats & Undone Cravats Facebook group, I’ll also be doing a takeover there on Friday, so keep your eyes peeled for that—there’ll be prizes.
That’s all, folks. Until next time!
~ Terri x