Seduction

December 5, 2011
Prolific Joyce (Deadly Vows) opens her French Revolution series with a tale of two lovers who treasure politics over romance. Dominic Paget has been spying in France for the British government. Near death after an assassination attempt, he is smuggled back to England and left in the care of Julianne Greystone. Julianne, sympathetic to the revolutionaries, believes Dominic is a heroic French army officer and falls for him. Dominic coldly seduces Julianne, leaving her heartbroken when she discovers he’s the earl of Bedford—his wealth and title represent everything she’s been fighting against. After they part, Dominic ends up saving Julianne from danger, but they don’t pick up on their second chance at love until it’s almost too late. In-depth historical detail supports the characters’ motivations, but unsympathetic personalities (especially fluttery, weak-willed Julianne) keep the reader at arm’s length, and only Joyce’s dramatic prose keeps things moving. Agent: Aaron Priest Literary Agency.

February 15, 2012
Until Julianne Greystone meets Charles Maurice, her experiences with Jacobins had all been theoretical. Unlike many people in England, Julianne fully supports the Jacobin uprising in France. In fact, Julianne, along with her good friend Tom Hardy, is a longstanding member of the Society of the Friends of the People. Julianne can completely sympathize with the plight of the impoverished, downtrodden masses in Paris, who have suffered while the French king and aristocrats profited from their blood, sweat, and tears. So when Julianne's brothers bring wounded Charles Maurice to their estate in Cornwall, Julianne is delighted to help the valiant French revolutionary recuperate. What Julianne doesn't know is that Charles Maurice is really Dominic Paget, a British nobleman and spy, who is working to help bring down the very same group of French revolutionaries Julianne reveres. Best-seller Joyce begins a new, danger-spiced series that is not only set during the tempestuous early days of the French revolution but also steeped in the volatile politics of the time.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)