Melinda Hammond, author

Romantic Historical Novelist

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Lucasta     A Rational Romance     The Belles Dames Club     Dance for a Diamond     Gentlemen in Question      
LUCASTA is published September 2008! I fell in love with the name when reading the poems of Richard Lovelace and wanted to use it in a book - I think the artist has captured her beautifully, although she looks far more demure here than she appears throughout most of the story!
 
Lucasta Symonds did not enjoy her one, short London Season. She hated the Marriage Mart and is happy to remain at home while her younger sister Camilla sets out to make an advantageous marriage. 
 
Viscount Kennington takes one look at the beautiful Camilla and is immediately smitten.  He follows her to London, determined to make her his wife.  However, when events take a turn for the worse and he is accused of a cold-blooded murder, it is not Camilla who comes to his rescue but the less beauitiful, much more practical Lucasta.....
 
LUCASTA is published by Robert Hale Limited. buy it here
 
 
Scroll on down for a full list of all my books or you can click on the links above to read an extract from some of them......
 
A RATIONAL ROMANCE (Robert Hale, Nov 2007) 
 
England 1803.
Elliot Malvern, seventh Marquis of Ullenwood is very content with his bachelor lifestyle, spending his fortune on the pleasurable pursuits of gambling and mistresses.
Rosamond Beaumarsh is determined to remain unmarried and independent.
What, then, could persuade them to plunge into an adventure that carries them to post-revolutionary Paris and takes them on a headlong flight across France?
Only the exercise of logic.
The pair embark upon a romantic adventure and learn that rational thought has very little to do with true love……
 

Redroses for authors says it is  "...storytelling at its absolute best! Rich in period detail, intrigue and romance, it’s the perfect book to curl up with on a cold winter’s night!" while singletitles.com is very enthusiastic: ."Melinda Hammond is one of the brightest stars in the Regency firmament. Her plots are fast-paced, her characterization impeccable and her ability to evoke the past in a vivid and colorful way superb!"

 
Well, what can I say?  I would be delighted to know what you think of it.  If you want to read the full reviews you can find them on the following links:-  
 
THE BELLES DAMES CLUB (Robert Hale, April 2007)


Miss Clarissa Wyckenham comes to London to join her pretty step-mama and finds that Mama-Nell has formed a discreet club for ladies. Soon she is pitched headlong into the deliciously wicked antics of the Belles Dames Club, and finds herself in conflict with the disapproving Lord Alresford…..

A sparkling comedy of romance and adventure set at the end of the eighteenth century.




GENTLEMEN IN QUESTION

The story begins at the harbour in Rye, Sussex on a blustery November day in 1792. Madeleine Sedgewick is meeting her cousin, one of the many French aristocrats forced by the Revolution to leave their homeland. Madeleine's life so far has been uneventful, but with the arrival of the Comte du Viviere she finds herself entangled in a dangerous web of intrigue and suspicion and she has to decide if her cousin is a victim or a villain.

The question that haunts Madeleine is, how can she tell? There are two men – both of them suave, urbane and good-looking (this is a romance, after all): one is her cousin, the Comte du Viviere, who has left his homeland and everything he knows, fleeing from the terror of the French Revolution. The other is Beau Hauxwell, a rich English gentleman of fashion. Madeleine likes them both, but how is she to know which one is to be trusted?

I had great fun writing this book, especially since I had not one but two handsome men to play with (figuratively speaking, of course!) and isn't it odd that we do like our villains to be attractive, at least in fiction. And there is an added bonus: one of the gentlemen in question is French, and there is something soooo sexy about that French accent!

Dance for a Diamond

from the Singletitles.com website review:-
Written with plenty of flair and charm, Dance for a Diamond is an absolutely fantastic Regency written by an outstanding writer of historical romance! If you loved Georgette Heyer, you will absolutely adore Melinda Hammond!



Antonia Venn describes herself as a very average sort of female, “…average height, average colouring – a poor little dab of a girl, nothing to win the heart of a man of fortune or fashion!” In a bid for independence she decides to open a dancing school in Bath, despite the misgivings of her family. Antonia is persuaded to take the beautiful Isabella Burstock as a pupil, a decision that puts her on a collision course with the young heiress’s autocratic brother……………

Out of a Europe torn by the Napoleonic Wars came one of the most popular dances of all time, the waltz. The early form of this dance began with a slow movement, “la marche”, followed by the quicker “Sauteuse” and ending with the “Jetté”, an energetic third movement. Dance for a Diamond follows this form.

from the Singletitles.com website review:-

Written with plenty of flair and charm, Dance for a Diamond is an absolutely fantastic Regency written by an outstanding writer of historical romance! If you loved Georgette Heyer, you will absolutely adore Melinda Hammond!

A LADY AT MIDNIGHT

Nancy Davis at romancereaderatheart.com. calls it "...a little gem of a book" (http://romancereaderatheart.com/pubsandpromos/2005/may05/LAM_MH.html) and Rachel Hyde (Myshelf.com) suggests that "For anybody tired of battle of the sexes stories and alpha males this most engaging tale will be a tonic."

When Amelia Langridge accepts an invitation to stay in London as companion to the beautiful Camilla Strickland, her thoughts are merely to enjoy herself a little before settling down as the wife of the dull but dependable Edmund Crannock. Camilla's intention is to capture a rich and noble husband, and when she attracts the attention of the pleasure-loving Earl Rossleigh and it seems that she will realise her ambition, but the earl is intent on another, much more dangerous quarry, and it is the level-headed Amelia who finds herself caught up in the earl's tangled affairs…

Melinda Hammond sends her characters on a merry dance through the Georgian world of duels and dancing, breathless adventure and sparkling romance.

Nancy Davis at romancereaderatheart.com. calls it "...a little gem of a book" (http://romancereaderatheart.com/pubsandpromos/2005/may05/LAM_MH.html) and Rachel Hyde (Myshelf.com) suggests that "For anybody tired of battle of the sexes stories and alpha males this most engaging tale will be a tonic."

The Highclough Lady
Governess Verity Shore longs for a little adventure, then Rafe Bannerman arrives to carry her off to Highclough and Verity discovers that life can be a little too exciting! An estate the edge of the wild Yorkshire Moors, Highclough is Verity's inheritance, but she soon discovers that the land is coveted not only by her handsome cousin Luke but also by Rafe Bannerman and soon her very life is in danger…..

A lively tale of intrigue and romance in the turbulent final years of the eighteenth century.
 
The Dream Chasers
AVAILABLE NOW AS A E-BOOK FROM www.regencyreads.com
In this enchanting romance, we meet again the characters from Melinda Hammond's earlier novel, Autumn Bride as well as delightful new ones in a plot that carries the reader at breathtaking speed to its final, suprising conclusion.

When Vivyan Lagallan decides it is time to settle down, Fate has other ideas. One last adventure literally drops into his arms in the form of the spirited Miss Eustacia Marchant.

Eustacia is determined to marry Rupert Alleyne, while Vivyan is engaged to the beautiful and highly respectable Helen Pensford. Into this volatile mixture comes Vivyan's adventuring colleague, Nathan MacCauley, intent on making a respectable alliance....

(The prequel to this book - Autumn Bride - is also available as an e-book from www.regencyreads.com )

Lady Vengeance
“With blood did we pay for this. In blood shall I return it"

England in 1753 is a dangerous place. King George II sits uneasily upon his throne, fearful of another Jacobite uprising and many noblemen play upon these fears in their quest for power. Among them is Guy Morellon, Marquis of Thurleigh, hated and feared, and almost unassailable, but when Madame Elinor de Sange returns to England, bent on revenge, he finds himself pitted against a dangerous adversary. For Elinor has the bloodstone, a fiery ruby that holds the key to his destruction and that of the other men who ruined her life eight years earlier.

But revenge carries a high price, and Elinor finds she is no longer the Lady of Stone. She must learn to trust - and to forgive - if bitterness is not to destroy her.





Maid of Honour
AVAILABLE NOW AS A E-BOOK FROM www.regencyreads.com

When her mother is incapacitated, Lucilla Chambers reluctantly agrees to take her place and act as chaperone to her sister, the beautiful young widow, Lady Lairne. Her attempts to protect her sister bring Lucilla into conflict with the notorious Dominic Vanderley and soon she finds that it is her own honour that is threatened. She flees to the safety of her childhood home, but soon she is caught up in the hasty preparations for war. With Napoleon Bonaparte marching through France towards his fate, a shadow hangs over Europe, a shadow that will touch Lucilla’s young life with tragedy and suffering before she can find the happiness that she is seeking.
 
The Bargain
'When I do not care for your fortune... what else could possibly aid your suit?'

Fashionable London in the 1780s is a hotbed of vice and scandal, and the notorious Earl of Aldringham retreats to Bath in order to let talk of his latest affair die down. There, he meets Melissa Langham, a penniless but spirited orphan, who scorns his advances. Unable to resist such a challenge, the Earl is determined to win her affections, and finds himself battling with a protagonist every bit as strong-willed as himself.

Will he succeed?





Released (Large Print) 1997 and now available as an e-book!
SUMMER CHARADE
AVAILABLE NOW AS A E-BOOK FROM www.regencyreads.com

In Georgian England, arranged marriages were a practical way of repairing a family’s fortunes, but when Miss Christine Harpollet learns she is to be sacrificed upon the matrimonial altar, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Christina’s conduct plunges her into a series of adventures, from which she is finally extricated by the kindness of Lord Malshangar and his family, but even when she thinks herself safe, her erstwhile suitor is seeking a terrible revenge.
 
Buy it here



Released (Large Print) 1998 and now available as an e-book!
AUTUMN BRIDE
AVAILABLE NOW AS A E-BOOK FROM www.regencyreads.com

When Major Lagallan suggests to Miss Caroline Hetton that she should marry his young brother, she can hardly believe her good fortune, and at first sight Vivyan Lagallan seems to be the perfect bridegroom; young, charming and exceedingly handsome. Yet upon close acquaintance, Caroline is disturbed by his wild, restless spirit and discovers that he has a taste for excitement that eventually endangers not only his life, but hers too.

In this sparkling adventure we meet characters who reappear in a subsequent book, The Dream Chasers.
 
Buy it here



Released (Large Print) 1997 and now available as an e-book!
FORTUNE’S LADY
AVAILABLE NOW AS A E-BOOK FROM www.regencyreads.com
 


Upon the death of her godfather, beautiful Lady Rosalyn Tremayne inherits his large fortune, and in the spring of 1816 she returns to London after a prolonged absence. Her reappearance in the fashionable world causes much speculation. Has she decided that it is time to take a husband? Certainly there is no lack of admirers, including the fascinating yet wholly ineligible Rake Hellborn, whose expensive lifestyle demands an advantageous match.
 
Buy it here







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