The Secret Bluestocking

Description

“The writing of this debut novel is gratifyingly good and is remarkably well attuned to the era. Brilliant, in fact. Very appealing. We’re given a perfect sense of the time but there’s no unwieldy, stilted dialogue that can sometimes make me say huh?! Editing also passes the test. My compliments to the author.” ~ Reader review

“At last a more recent regency author who knows how to write, understands the genre and tells a good, clean story. The book was very enjoyable and I’m looking forward to reading another of Alicia Quigley’s contribution to the genre. Lovers of bodice rippers, this is not for you; this is for those of us who love Austen, Heyer and Buck. Enjoy!” ~ Reader review

Written as an homage to Georgette Heyer, this is the first novel written by Alicia Quigley. After years of being filed away, we’re happy to present it for your enjoyment. Please note, this is a Traditional Regency Romance; the “spice” (sex) level is very low, a G-rated movie, if you will.

What would you do if you were intelligent, independent, wealthy and had an interest in archaeology? If you’re the Honorable Miss Isobel Paley, you do as you please, but you would keep it as your most guarded secret.

Isobel’s story is set in a time of social change, after Mary Wollstonecraft published her famous “A Vindication on the Rights of Woman,” positing (correctly, of course!) that women were not inferior to men. Even so, Society hadn’t yet changed to the degree that a free-thinking woman of means could be open about her “unseemly” interests.

Isobel happily pursues her intellectual passions without a care for marriage. She’s perfectly capable of tending to her own life as a trendsetter in fashion during the Season and an archaeologist in Scotland during the summer. Marriage, she believes, is only the surrender of her legal identity, independence and fortune to the whims of a man.

Then an accident outside her country estate brings Major Lord Francis Wheaton into her life and her home. Lord Francis, recently back from the Peninsular Wars, must convalesce at Isobel’s manor, being too injured to travel.

What follows is the tale of two strong-willed individuals, both harboring secrets of their own, and their undeniable attraction to one another. Will Isobel succeed in keeping her secret? Will Lord Francis find what he needs? And just who is the mysterious Marcus Paley?