The King of Threadneedle Street blog tour: excerpt and giveaway
THE KING OF THREADNEEDLE STREET by Moriah Densley
He owns three shipping companies, a diamond mine, and his own castle.
He knows Portuguese, Hindu, Mandarin and Morse code.
His assets net thirteen million.
Lord Preston wants the one thing money can’t buy…
Andrew Tilmore, Lord Preston, the financial prodigy dubbed “The King of Threadneedle Street” wants the one prize out of reach: his childhood sweetheart. The papers can waste a sea of ink scandalizing over his lavender-eyed Alysia; so what if she is the daughter of his father’s mistress?
Alysia Villier learned the craft of the courtesan from her infamous mother―by osmosis apparently. A gifted artist who almost won the Prix de Rome, Alysia is not interested in following in her mother’s footsteps, since Andrew ruined her for any other man. But with her legal guardian—Andrew’s father―in control of her inheritance, she has little choice in the matter.
Keeping Alysia out of trouble and away from eager suitors becomes a cross-continental quest for Andrew. Not his old-fashioned family, the disapproval of the ton, nor even Alysia’s dedication to duty and propriety will stop him. Playing newspapers and investors like pawns, tumbling world markets, inciting riots… has he gone too far?
Jewelry making is a hobby I’ve enjoyed for years. When writing the scene in The King of Threadneedle Street where Andrew gives Alysia a rare lavender pearl jewelry set, I went wild with my imagination. I created a Victorian-style pearl, onyx, and crystal jewelry set as a prize for my blog tour giveaway (picture below), here’s where the inspiration came from:
Before Alysia dressed for dinner, Marsden delivered a small white case and left without a word. She unfolded the note to see Andrew’s capricious scrawl. He wrote, Please wear these for me tonight. She unwrapped the chocolate truffles and nibbled on one as she opened the lid of the box.
She gasped — an elaborate jewelry set glowed in the lamplight. Breathtaking pearls, a smoky lavender color and set in designs she had never seen the like of. The necklace was not merely a strand, but an arrangement that resembled an elaborate tiara, or half of a snowflake. Woven into delicate patterns with graduated-sized pearls, it looked like some priceless artifact discovered in an ancient tomb.
Alysia dropped her dressing robe to hold the necklace against her collar. She fastened the clasp and tried on the matching earrings and bracelet. Exquisite. And that he had picked the color to complement her eyes? Romantic. She looked in the mirror to see the luster of the pearls reflecting the lavender facets of her eyes, making them paradoxically smoky and bright. He would like that, she thought.
She put away the red taffeta dress laid out on her bed and dug in the back of the wardrobe for the sheer lavender and silver gossamer gown with the dropped sleeves and low-cut back. She checked the ensemble in the mirror and beamed at her reflection; Andrew knew what he was doing.
Before Alysia dressed for dinner, Marsden delivered a small white case and left without a word. She unfolded the note to see Andrew’s capricious scrawl. He wrote, Please wear these for me tonight. She unwrapped the chocolate truffles and nibbled on one as she opened the lid of the box.
She gasped — an elaborate jewelry set glowed in the lamplight. Breathtaking pearls, a smoky lavender color and set in designs she had never seen the like of. The necklace was not merely a strand, but an arrangement that resembled an elaborate tiara, or half of a snowflake. Woven into delicate patterns with graduated-sized pearls, it looked like some priceless artifact discovered in an ancient tomb.
Alysia dropped her dressing robe to hold the necklace against her collar. She fastened the clasp and tried on the matching earrings and bracelet. Exquisite. And that he had picked the color to complement her eyes? Romantic. She looked in the mirror to see the luster of the pearls reflecting the lavender facets of her eyes, making them paradoxically smoky and bright. He would like that, she thought.
She put away the red taffeta dress laid out on her bed and dug in the back of the wardrobe for the sheer lavender and silver gossamer gown with the dropped sleeves and low-cut back. She checked the ensemble in the mirror and beamed at her reflection; Andrew knew what he was doing.
About the author:
Moriah Densley sees nothing odd at all about keeping both a violin case and a range bag stuffed with pistols in the back seat of her car. They hold up the stack of books in the middle, of course. She enjoys writing about Victorians, assassins, and geeks. Her muses are summoned by the smell of chocolate, usually at odd hours of the night. By day her alter ego is your friendly neighborhood music teacher. She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and four children. Published in historical and paranormal romance, Moriah has a Master’s degree in music, is a 2012 RWA Golden Heart finalist, 2012 National Reader’s Choice Award “Best First Book” finalist, and 2012 National Reader’s Choice Award finalist in historical romance. She loves hearing from readers!
Giveaway
Moriah will be awarding a genuine Victorian-style pearl jewelry set inspired by the book, including necklace, bracelet, and earrings to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Absolutely gorgeous jewelry set. This sounds like a captivating read.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Theresa. Glad you stopped by today.
DeleteGorgeous! ***fingers crossed*** I would love to own this set!
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you, Betty. Good luck in the giveaway!
DeleteSounds like a great read. Definitely added to my list. Beautiful jewelry!!
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you, Laurel. I had a great time making the jewelry, and I love pearls!
DeleteSounds like a great read. Definitely added to my list. Beautiful jewelry!!
ReplyDeleteI love that excerpt description of the pearls. She has such a great response to them.
ReplyDeletecatherinelee100 at gmail dot com
Hi Catherine. Thanks for taking a look. Nice meeting you!
DeleteThank you, Theresa. I'm glad you stopped by today.
ReplyDeleteBoth jewellery sets, fiction & fact, sound & look beautiful.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Both jewellery sets, fiction & fact, sound & look beautiful.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
And here I am again, Mariah, playing "catch up." My goodness, Lord Preston really wanted Alysia badly, didn't he? And I think he had excellent taste in jewelry. Lavender pearls to match Alysia's eyes. I should think that would make any girl swoon. It's nice that you made a pearl jewelry set as a prize to commemorate this story. Thanks for introducing your story to us so that we could get to know you. jdh2690@gmail.com
ReplyDelete