Lady Elinor's Wicked Adventures

September 15, 2014
The adventures in Marek’s Victorian-set debut aren’t wicked, but readers will still enjoy them. Lady Elinor “Norrie” Tremaine is a clever beauty who’s in love with longtime family friend Harry de Vaux, Viscount Tunbury. He returns her feelings but refuses to act on them because of his family’s bad reputation. When he goes on vacation with her family in Italy, he continues to run hot and cold with Norrie until they are caught kissing. Elinor’s mother, Lady Penworth, steals every scene she’s in with her good-natured scheming, sense of humor, and understanding of human nature; she’s not the least bit surprised to see Harry and Norrie together, but happy for the excuse to get them engaged. Harry’s overbearing behavior becomes trite by mid-book, but once he realizes he’s learned how to be a good man from all the time spent with the Penworth clan, he becomes as lovable as Norrie. Agent: Gail Fortune, Talbot Fortune Agency.

October 15, 2014
The Tremaines are one of the most beloved, wealthy, and powerful families in England. But Lord Penworth is exhausted from politics, especially arguing in the House of Lords. So Lady Penworth decides that taking the family to Italy to see the Etruscan ruins is the most fitting distraction to relax and rejuvenate her husband. Lady Elinor, their smart, headstrong daughter, could not be more excited to go, not only to travel to Rome but also to be traveling with Harry Tunbury, for whom she has long had feelings. Harry has been a friend of hers and her brother's since childhood and, out of loyalty to the Tremaines, agreed to be their travel guide and oversee the trip. Marek directs an entertainingly large cast of characters through cobblestone corridors, archaeological digs, a surprising subplot of class war and French-Italian rivalry, sparring rival lovers, and more than one happily ever after. She keeps the pace at a pleasing trot and fully commits to the romance of travel in the Victorian era.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)