One of the challenges in choosing an excerpt from the Scandalous Sirens books is finding one I can put on the open internet without making anyone’s eyebrows shoot into their hairline. These books are romances. They are not particularly shy romances. 🙂
But I also wanted to choose a scene that shows why I’ve always thought of the three Scandalous Sirens novels as belonging together. So I chose this one from Dangerous Beauty.
Natasha was only seventeen in Forbidden, when she was engaged to Vaughn Wardell—and Vaughn fell in love with Elisa instead. Three years later, Natasha encounters Vaughn and Elisa for the first time since then. She’s spent those three years dreading this moment. Except there’s a new man standing in front of her now.
His name is Seth Harrow.
And suddenly, the past doesn’t feel quite the way Natasha expected it to.
From Dangerous Beauty
Movement beyond his shoulder caught her eye, and she refocused. A tall man was standing there, staring at her, and for a moment she felt a rush of confusion.
It was Vaughn Wardell, Marquess of Fairleigh and Viscount Rothmere, the man who had crushed her heart, three years ago.
She had always thought that meeting Vaughn again would be the hardest challenge she had yet faced in her twenty years and that her pride would be sorely tested when that meeting occurred.
But now, with Seth Harrow in front of her, she merely felt an odd sense of disjointed consciousness. She frankly assessed Vaughn—his rugged good looks and the endearing, cavalier smile she had fallen in love with…had it been love, though?
For suddenly, she was glad to see both him and the achingly beautiful woman on his arm—Elisa Wardell, now his wife.
She realized in that moment of recognition that neither of them suffered fools gladly.
She beckoned, with a delighted smile and Vaughn’s smile broadened and even a brush of relief touched his expression. Perhaps they had dreaded meeting her again as much as she had agonized over the meeting.
It all seemed so trivial now. She almost laughed at the whispers around her. It seemed everyone was braced for a confrontation except her.
Vaughn and Elisa came towards her. Both Piggot and Seth turned to look behind them, alerted by her gesture and smile. Vaughn had not changed in the few years, save for a few pronounced lines around his eyes that to her consternation, made him even more appealing.
Despite a wicked father, Vaughn had been a man who knew how to laugh and enjoy life to its fullest. She had heard rumors that he and Elisa were content to live a quiet life, far away from society. She wondered what had brought them to London.
Vaughn smiled genuinely. “Lady Natasha, you have grown into an exquisite beauty.” He lifted her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “What a pleasure to see you after all these years.”
Natasha trembled, feeling very much like the seventeen-year old girl who had been rejected. Then she looked Vaughn in the eye and all her fear fell away. He dared her even now to be strong, to hold her head up high, to be that girl who had stood in a room full of people while her betrothed had sworn his love to another woman.
This was Vaughn—the man by whom she measured all other men. And he was smiling warmly with reassurance and kindness. “Lord Fairleigh—” she began.
“Vaughn,” he said, his tone telling her that he would not accept any formality between them.
She laughed under her breath and grinned. “Very well, Vaughn, it is wonderful to see you as well.” It was the absolute truth. She was deeply glad of his company at this moment, for it reminded her of the promise she had made herself three years ago, when Vaughn had publicly declared his feelings for Elisa.
At that time she had sworn an oath to herself to never play the hypocrite again. Truth would be the only coin she would use. Now, with Vaughn standing before her, she was reminded once more of the courageous example he had given her that had led to that promise.
“What brings you and Elisa to London?”
Elisa kissed Natasha on the cheek. “Raymond is attending Eton this year, and I can’t bear to be apart from him. We’re staying a while to help his transition to boarding school. It can be a frightening experience for young boys.” And she smiled up at Vaughn, sharing a private moment.
Vaughn glanced at Piggot, and nodded. “Piggot.” That was the full extent of his acknowledgement, and it told her that Vaughn didn’t like Piggot, either. Vaughn was not one to hide his feelings.
Vaughn was turning to Seth. “Williams, isn’t it? Eton. 1822?”
Seth shook his head. “Sorry. Harrow, Seth Harrow.” He held out his hand.
Vaughn took the offered hand, frowning. They stood eye to eye and he cocked his head a little. “Really?” Then he shook his head, like he was clearing his thoughts. “I apologize for my mistake. You bear a striking resemblance to an old friend. We both shared a miserable time, our first years at Eton.”
Seth shrugged and spread his hands. “I’m a simple sea captain.”
Vaughn nodded. “I see that,” he said, pointing to Seth’s earring.
Elisa touched Vaughn’s arm. “You did promise me a waltz.” Her voice was delightfully musical. Vaughn glanced at the musicians settling back into their chairs on the dais, then offered Elisa his arm.
Elisa pressed a card into Natasha’s hand. “Please call on us,” she said. “I would be delighted to receive you.”
Natasha slipped the card into her pocket. “I will,” she promised. It was a promise she knew she would keep.
The two glided onto the dance floor. Natasha looked at Seth. All good humor had left him.
Piggot seemed very quiet as well. “Will you both excuse me?” he asked. He didn’t wait for their reply, but slipped away.
She looked up and found Seth watching her, his gaze gliding over her, from the diamonds in her hair, to the bows on her silk slippers, stopping only briefly at the low neckline of her gown. Why did she suddenly feel as though she stood naked in a room full of clothed people?
“What was Fairleigh to you?” he asked, his voice so low no one else could hear.
Natasha cleared her suddenly dry throat. “We were engaged once.”
His dark brows lifted. “Ah. That would explain the change in your complexion.” Thankfully he did not give her that flash of sympathy she so despised.
“Vaughn is a wonderful man. He treated me with nothing but kindness and respect.”
He leaned forward, his lips grazing her ear. “His wife must be an inordinately astounding woman for him to have bypassed you.” His hot breath against her ear made the blood in her veins sizzle.
“Thank you, Mr. Harrow, but you do not have to compliment me.”
“That was the truth, Lady Natasha. I wouldn’t bother with complimenting one such as you.”
“Why not?” she asked before she could stop herself.
“Because you hate the trappings of this world as much as I do. You have heard many compliments, but don’t believe any of them.”
She licked her lips. “How do you know that?”
He pointed to the rose in her hand. “I read your face. And I know these people…” He waved his hand around the room, including everyone there. “Your parents want you to marry, but you have no wish to be tied to a husband. You look as though you’d rather be anywhere else than at this ball, possibly even this country. You are looking for a place where you can be yourself.”
She swallowed hard. How had he read her so plainly? How could he know her most secret thoughts, when not even her mother knew she yearned for so much more in life than to be a pretty ornament for a peer of the realm?
“You are right, Mr. Harrow. For many years I wanted only to make my parents happy in that regard, but no longer.”
“What happened?” There was an expression in his eyes, an interest there, that told her he would understand, would perhaps even empathize.
“I met Vaughn and fell in love with him.”
“And you have not found a man who can replace him?” he asked, his voice matter-of-fact.
She shook her head. “No, that’s not it at all. Vaughn—Lord Fairleigh—taught me how much more there was to life than my parents’ ambitions for me. And no man can give me that…”
“Freedom?” he asked.
Her heart jumped.
“Yes.”
—From Dangerous Beauty, Book 2 of Scandalous Sirens
Why I Chose This Scene
I love what happens here because Natasha discovers that the moment she has dreaded for three years simply…isn’t the moment she thought it would be. She’s changed.
Vaughn and Elisa have changed her, too, although perhaps not in the way any of them expected. The disastrous end of Natasha’s engagement taught her something much more valuable than how to secure a husband: it taught her to question what she’d been told she should want.
And then Seth takes one look at her and sees it.
I also love that Elisa doesn’t vanish when Forbidden ends. Neither does Vaughn. The characters move through one another’s stories, and relationships that begin painfully can grow into something entirely different. That’s one of the things that eventually turns these three romances into the beginning of a much larger family story.
And, yes, this excerpt also contains the line I used on this week’s quote postcard:
Truth would be the only coin she would use.
Now you know where it comes from.
About Scandalous Sirens
Three women. Three scandals. Three unforgettable Victorian romances.
In a society where reputation can be destroyed by a whisper, three women must risk everything for love.
Elisa will do anything to reclaim the son taken from her—even marry a man she despises. But when his estranged son returns seeking revenge, their forbidden attraction threatens to destroy them both.
Natasha has beauty, independence, and no intention of becoming another society wife. Then an Irish sea captain arrives from Australia carrying secrets that could shake London society—and awaken a passion neither of them can resist.
Princess Annalies has lost her homeland, her fortune, and her place in the world. Brilliant attorney Rhys Davies needs a wife to advance his career, but the outspoken princess is the last woman he should want…and the only one he cannot forget.
Filled with scandal, passion, danger, and hard-won happily-ever-afters, The Scandalous Sirens Omnibus collects the complete Victorian romance trilogy in one volume.
Includes:
Forbidden
Dangerous Beauty
Perilous Princess
You Might Like Scandalous Sirens If…
You enjoy Victorian historical romance with independent heroines, unconventional heroes, forbidden attraction, scandal, family drama, found family, interconnected romances, and characters who refuse to disappear just because their own happily-ever-after has already happened.
The Scandalous Sirens Omnibus is available for preorder now: