Newport Summer (An Avalon Historical Romance) (Avalon Romance) [Hardcover]

Nikki Poppen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 2009 | Series: Avalon Romance

Gammon Maddox, Earl of Camberly, has looks, manners, and a title. All he needs is the fortune to go with them. Years of familial excess have depleted the Camberly family coffers. With London creditors threatening certain doom, Gannon launches a desperate venture into Newport society, hoping to trade his title for an American heiress' wealth. Audrey St. Clair knows what she wants, and it's not an English earl. While other girls dream of Grace Church weddings, Audrey dreams of pursuing music at a Viennese conservatory. But first, she must thwart her parents' matchmaking efforts. When Audrey encounters Gannon Maddox during the Casino picnic, it is clear that he would prefer not to choose a bride under these circumstances. A risky plan begins to unfold: She'll guide him in some investments that will save his family finances without marriage, and in return, all he has to do is play the adoring suitor. The arrangement works well until they realize they're in danger from the very thing they'd feared the most - falling in love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Poppen's latest historical romance, first in a new series, features Gannon Maddox, a handsome, broke English nobleman, who needs to marry an American heiress to save the family's ancestral estates. The lavish excesses of late-19th-century Newport, R.I., where every doting mama is looking for a title for her daughter, is the perfect hunting ground, but Gannon is repelled by the scene and escapes to the seashore, where he meets Audrey St. Clair, also an unwilling player in the marriage mart. Defying society's dictates and her dragon of a mother, Audrey's dream is to study music in Vienna. She devises a risky plan in which Gannon will pretend to court her for the summer and she will show him how to invest his money. At summer's end, Gannon can return to England wealthy enough to save Camberly and Audrey can freely leave for Vienna. But love intervenes and Audrey must choose between her dream and her man. While the prose can be overblown, the fun is in the caste system of Newport's summer social season, while the engaging characters fufill the expectations of the genre. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

Gaddon Maddox, the fourth Earl of Camberly, is going broke, thanks to 17 years of agricultural depression. Like many of his peers in Victorian England, he is selling family heirlooms to keep afloat. Except that Gaddon has run out of things to sell. The solution? He decides to go to America and marry a rich heiress. Gaddon makes the transatlantic trip to Newport Beach, the summer hangout for wealthy Americans, where he meets beautiful and wealthy Audrey St. Clair. Audrey is under pressure from her mother to marry a man with money and power, but Audrey has other plans. She wants to enter a music seminary in Vienna, where she can pursue what she loves most. Poppen (The Dowager’s Wager, 2006; The Heroic Baron, 2006; The Romany Heiress, 2007), who also writes as Bronwyn Scott, has penned a charming story about two people who start out using each other to meet their goals, and somehow find true love. --Shelley Mosley

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 198 pages
• Publisher: Avalon Books (February 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803499361
• ISBN-13: 978-0803499362
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,615,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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