#MidWeekTease and a visit from my alter ego with Miss Simpkins

August 01, 2018

I am unashamedly promo-ing my hotter half today, because as Raven, I have a Regency romance book out.

Miss Simpkins' School for Seduction, where as the School motto says,

Where seduction is the game and success is the aim...

Blurb

A School for seduction? Scandalous.

The dowagers would have a field day if they found out.

Molly Simpkins and her willing pupils don’t think it’s scandalous, just the opposite. After all how else can you learn how to keep your husband in your bed not elsewhere?

Molly, an ex-mistress is the very person to show them how.

The tall, impeccably dressed gentleman who leaned against the mantelpiece, legs crossed at the ankles, had his arms folded over his chest. He was an imposing figure, and the stance only enhanced his physical attributes. He raised one eyebrow.
"Well?"
"Oh, 'tis very well, but why?"
Adriana Addersley, the dark-haired woman who sat on the
settee giggled. The red highlights in her hair glinted in the sunlight that streamed through the window. "Ash, stop it. You know fine what Molly means."
She struggled to stand up, her advanced pregnancy making her clumsy. Her husband walked over to her and put his arm under hers to lever her into a standing position. She smiled her thanks and Molly stifled the pang of envy that filled her like a child who had been told she couldn't have any more marchpane but her friend could. They were so happy. Although Molly didn't want that with Ashley, how she would like a man just for her. One to gaze at her as if she was his everything. She hadn't thought she ever wanted to be in that situation, but now, seeing the love and contentment that shone out of them, she wondered just what it would be like.
"I swear I have an elephant in here." Adriana patted her bump. "A herd of elephants."
"I hope not. My seed is to produce Addersleys, not elephants," Ash said in an aristocratic drawl.
Molly had never understood the way they spoke so openly even though it was to her favor. She did her best not to blush. Adriana saw and smiled at her in sympathy.
"What he means, Molly, is we want to help you. You did us both a service, you know. When I found you two together before our marriage, I wanted what you had," Adriana said, with a twinkle in her eyes. "I told him I would settle for nothing less. Life became

interesting, to say the least."
Molly blushed. To know Adriana had seen what she had could
have been so embarrassing if anyone had allowed it to be.
"It’s true, ask Ash. Didn’t I?" Adriana appealed to her husband
for agreement.
Ashley laughed. "Did she?" He raised one well-shaped
eyebrow. "Oh yes, she did, and it gave me immense pleasure showing her."
"You see, Molly, I said why be a wife when a mistress has more fun." Adriana giggled. "I wasn't going to settle for anything less, and I didn't. How many women of the ton can say that? So many husbands do their duty and depart the marriage bed. Women deserve more."
Oh, how Molly concurred. Ashley had been her only lover, and that was before he married. He wasn't the sort of person to countenance anything else, and Molly agreed with him. He had also been invaluable in making sure so-called gentlemen who thought that she would be an easy mark didn’t subject her to any unwanted advances. Due to his protection, many still thought of Molly as Ashley's mistress. The three of them had long decided that was an irrelevance that they could ignore.
This approach from the earl and countess came out of the blue. On a previous occasion, Adriana commented how many ladies of the ton complained about their husbands. She was amongst the lucky few who enjoyed all they wanted in their marriage. So many debutants were now hesitating to marry because they didn't think their intended would buck the trend of leaving the marital bed once they sired the required heir and spare.
"You see, Molly, there are so many ladies who need to know more than they do—both unmarried and wed. It seems my exploits are well documented in the ton." Adriana hadn't seemed unduly worried. "Several young and not so young ladies asked either directly or in a roundabout way what I did and how. So many females are sadly lacking in womanly wiles. You, and I, and some of my close friends are going to rectify that. I have a list of interested ladies and others who will be happy to come and talk to your, shall we call them scholars," Adriana said. "So are you willing to do this?"
Molly didn't feel she could say no. To be honest, she admitted she didn't want to. Her life, safe as it was, had become mundane and

boring. This would enliven it.
"Yes, and I hope I can earn your faith in me. But
Ad...Adriana," she said, stumbling over calling her ex-client from when she was a seamstress by her Christian name. "Where will I find the ladies who need help?"
"You won't. I and my friends will," Adriana told her.