Morgan, Jude - A Little Folly {uploads from faerybell}

A witty and romantic novel of Regency love, family and appalling scandal, from a latter-day Jane Austen

When their strait-laced, domineering father, Sir Clement Carnell, dies, Valentine throws open their Devonshire estate of Pennacombe to their fashionable cousins from London and Louisa feels free at last to reject the man Sir Clement wanted her to marry.

Soon, the temptations of Regency London beckon, including the beautiful, scandalous, and very married Lady Harriet Eversholt, with whom Valentine becomes dangerously involved. Meanwhile, Louisa finds that freedom of choice is as daunting as it is exciting. Will the opportunity to indulge in a little folly lead to fulfillment―or disaster?

A Little Folly is a novel to make Jane Austen proud and Georgette Heyer envious. An acclaimed author of historical fiction, Jude Morgan weaves together the very best of Regency era writing with "refreshingly original characters, an intriguing plot, and an elegantly ironic style." (RT Book Reviews on Indiscretion). In this exciting new novel, Morgan delivers a story that, yet again, will bring cheers from critics and readers alike.


From Booklist

Blending the verbal style of Jane Austen and the sly humor of Georgette Heyer, this hardback edition of Morgan’s 2010 paperback follows siblings Valentine and Louisa Carnell after the death of their cruel, despotic father. Both see their sire’s passing as the gateway to a new and better life. They begin slowly with dinners at their Devonshire estate, which has seen no happiness since their mother’s death decades before. At these events, Louisa must quell the advances of the suitor her late father chose for her, the owner of a bordering estate who is cut from her father’s cloth. Fortunately Louisa has a confidant, a widower whose counsel she gravely regards. At the dinners, to which they invite their estranged cousins, Valentine falls for a married woman who runs a faro club in London. When everyone moves from the estate to London to partake of the celebrations after Napoleon’s defeat, Valentine gets embroiled with the fashionable crowd while Louisa tries to discover who she and her brother really are. --Pat Henshaw