Sunday's Child

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Sunday's Child

A Novel by Rosemary Morris

Genre: Historical Romance

Release: June 15, 2012

Editor: V.L. Murray

Line Editor: Greta Gunselman

Cover Designer: Nika Dixon

Words: 71216

Price: $5.95

ISBN: 978-1-77127-067-0

Back Cover:

Georgianne Whitley’s happy life ends after the death of her beloved father and brothers.

Sunday’s Child, Georgianne Whitley, must cope with her widowed mother in order to secure her happiness and that of her two younger sisters.

When Rupert, Major Tarrant returns to England from Spain in 1813, his family expect him to marry and father an heir, but although Tarrant wants to please his relations he has compelling reasons for not wanting to have a child.

A rich, elderly suitor desperate for a male heir seeks Georgianne’s hand in marriage.  Although the titled man’s offer would improve her situation she hesitates to accept his proposal.

Georgianne, who has known Tarrant since she was in the nursery, turns to him for help.  She knows he is quixotic and that he will never fail her.  Yet, even in order to help her sisters she is not sure as to whether or not she wants to accept his solution to her problems.

Tarrant admires dainty Georgianne and wants to protect her, but if he expects her to conform to Regency conventions and manners he will be surprised.  Sunday’s child is ‘fair of face’ but she is not a ‘bread and butter Miss’.

Neither Tarrant nor Georgianne can guess what the future holds.

Excerpt:

Tarrant stood in quiet contemplation by the drawing room window framed by faded velvet green curtains.

Adrian Langely stared at him.“What are you looking at?”

“The wind whipping the leaves from the trees. Oh, what does the weather matter? We have campaigned in worse conditions.”

His friend’s smile made him look younger than his twenty-seven years. It transformed the deep lines of his square soldier’s face and softened his dark eyes. “Am I correct in thinking you favour the beautiful Miss Whitley?”

Tarrant shrugged. “I have known Miss Whitley since her infancy, and admit to a certain fondness for her.”

Langley grinned. “Be careful, my friend, before you know it, you will become a tenant for life.”

Tarrant turned away from the window. “I have not considered marriage for a long time, however, my father wants me to tie the knot and, in biblical terms, beget an heir.” As he spoke, his mind crowded with memories of ladies suffering in the hands of French soldiers, compatriots of those who had cheered each time a head rolled during the French Revolution.

“Dolores?”

At Langley’s mention of the lady to whom Tarrant was previously betrothed, Tarrant’s face contorted.

“I beg your pardon. I should not have mentioned her.” Langley cleared his throat. “You never told me why you broke it off. If you still love her is there no hope of making her your wife?”

“We did not break if off.” His shoulders slumped. “At the time I could not bear to speak of the matter. She was repeatedly raped by French soldiers. She died in childbirth.”

“My God! I did not know, I never guessed!” Langley exclaimed, jerked out of his usual calm.

Every muscle in Tarrant’s body contracted. He was present at the time of Dolores’s death. Even now, her screams, as she struggled to give birth, rang in his ears. He shuddered at the memory of his horror as those piercing cries faded to faint groans when Dolores delivered a stillborn baby. Overcome by grief he had made an impulsive vow never to be responsible for such suffering. He sighed. Since his elder brother’s death, he needed to fulfill his duty to father an heir, yet…

Tarrant clenched his teeth. Despite his avowal of undying love and his assurance that he would marry her after the baby’s birth, he doubted Dolores had wanted to live. Most likely, she had welcomed death.

He crossed the room and stared out of the window into the night. “I must see to my horse,” he said, his voice husky.

On the way to the stable, he paused to look up. Dark, silver-edged clouds raced across the full, lemon-yellow moon. He bent to rub his right leg. Although it had healed, it ached sometimes.

I am feverish, he thought, when he imagined Georgianne and Dolores’s faces merging.  Usually, he tried not to think of gentle Dolores, in whose admiration he once basked. He sighed and entered the stable. Corunna, his grey, whickered a welcome. He stroked the horse’s neck, considering past events. After witnessing the consequences of the brutality of Boney’s officers  and common soldiers toward the fair sex, like Langley, and many other gentlemen, he believed a nation’s civilisation should be judged by how it treated women. He despised men like Pennington, who thought their rank entitled them to grab anything they wanted without mercy.

Oh, he did not claim or wish to claim the virtues mouthed by men like Wilfred Stanton. Before his betrothal to Dolores, he had always enjoyed the petticoat company whom he treated with respect. At the same time, he had always taken care not to disgrace either his family or his regiment.

REVIEWS:

Sunday's Child is a historical romance set during the Regency period in England. The novel is comfortable to read, filled with believable characters whose lives become complicated through no fault of their own, even though they must confront and overcome their own adversities. Georgianne is a courageous, spirited heroine who holds to her convictions in order to preserve what matters most to her. Conformity is definitely not one of her qualities, which makes for a well-rounded, interesting heroine. At the same time, Major Rupert Tarrant is steadfast, honorable, and utterly romantic. The mutual need for these characters to marry is what slowly binds them together.

This is another refreshing romance by author Rosemary Morris - easy to read, sweet, and nicely old-fashioned. Excellent writing with clever dialogue are present throughout, as is a compelling storyline. For anyone who loves romances set in the Regency era, this is definitely a lovely novel to settle down with at the end of a hectic day. -Great Historicals, Amazon reader review

I was looking forward to another novel from Rosemary Morris and this one I couldn't put down. The author seems to have found her voice in this story which is set just after the Napoleonic Campaign. The story deals with the coming-of-age of Georgianne Whitley, bereft after the loss of her beloved father to gangrene, coping with her drunken mother and protectress of her younger sisters.

In keeping with the times, Georgianne knows it's her duty to make a good marriage and get her sisters out of their uncomfortable existence,but is hampered by the gruesome old man she's expected to wed, and the knowledge that the girls' dowry has all but disappeared.

This novel does not flinch from the realities of Regency times but in spite of that has a light and amusing style, with some parts that are near hilarious. Rosemary paints the more repulsive characters particularly well and is great at describing food and clothing. Her heroine is truly a character, a young woman with both passion and compassion. As for the hero, lovely - I wouldn't send him back to the war in a hurry.

Thoroughly recommended.-- Pittam Maythorn

About the Author:

Rosemary Morris was born in 1940 in Sidcup Kent.  As a child, when she was not making up stories, her head was ‘always in a book.’

While working in a travel agency, Rosemary met her Indian husband.  He encouraged her to continue her education at Westminster College.  In 1961 Rosemary and her husband, now a barrister, moved to his birthplace, Kenya, where she lived from 1961 until 1982.  After an attempted coup d’état, she and four of her children lived in an ashram in France.

Back in England, Rosemary wrote historical fiction.  She is now a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Historical Novel Society and Cassio Writers.

Apart from writing, Rosemary enjoys classical Indian literature, reading, visiting places of historical interest, vegetarian cooking, growing organic fruit, herbs and vegetables and creative crafts.

Time spent with her five children and their families, most of who live near her is precious.

Customer Reviews:

This is a really nice story. It is told in the Regency period, the early 1800's in Britain. There are lots of action scenes, great moments of romantic tension and a wonderful ending that will warm your heart. I loved it. Lynne Murray

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