Counting down to my upcoming 2017 release, Only A Mistress Will Do, here’s more of Mistress before its release on April 4th.
I’m continuing with Chapter One of Only a Mistress Will Do, and here is the link to the previous post if you want to catch up. Miss Violet Carlton is a woman facing a horrifying decision: become a prostitute in order to live or retain respectability and starve. Madame Vestry, owner of the House of Pleasure, has agreed to see Violet and evaluate her as a prospective employee. In today’s snippet, which follows immediately after last weeks’ snippet, Violet’s situation becomes starkly real and goes from bad to worse. (Creative punctuation used to conform to the WWW rules.)
The scant approval vanished as Vestry glared at her and asked, “I assume you are intact?”
Oh, the shame. How could this woman suggest she had already lain with a man? Bitterness flooded her mouth and her chest ached with mortification, though finally she managed a curt nod.
“Lie down on the sofa please.”
“What? Why?”
“I am not fool enough to take your word, Miss Carlton.” Vestry smiled mirthlessly. “A brief inspection will allow me to assure your buyer he is indeed purchasing a virgin.”
BLURB:
The man of her dreams…belongs to another woman.
Destitute and without friends, Violet Carlton is forced to seek employment at the House of Pleasure in London. She steels herself for her first customer and is shocked when the man rescues her instead of ravishing her. A grateful Violet cannot help but admire the handsome Viscount Trevor. But she must curb her desire for the dashing nobleman she can never have because he is already betrothed to another . . .
Tristan had gone to the House of Pleasure for a last bit of fun before he became a faithful married man. But when he recognizes the woman in his bed, he becomes determined to save her instead. Now, his heart wars with his head as he falls for the vulnerable courtesan. Unable to break his betrothal without a scandal, Tris resolves to find Violet proper employment or a husband of her own. Still, his arms ache for Violet, urging him to abandon propriety and sacrifice everything to be with the woman he loves. . . .
Only A Mistress Will Do is available for pre-order on
Amazon and B & N.
Books in the House of Pleasure series:
And don’t forget to check out the rest of the Warriors here. There’s some fantastic snippets to be read.
Jenna Jaxon Romance--because passion is timeless. 
Pingback: Weekend Writing Warriors ~ 03/19/17 Only A Mistress Will Do ~ Respectable Women | Jenna Jaxon Romance–because passion is timeless.
Leave it to a guy (Ed) to remind us that the procedure (ick) wouldn’t be fatal. Still, what an invasion!
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How horrible. 😦
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Yeesh… Really making her seem like a product and not a person. Leads to an interesting story though! 😀
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Bravo, Jenna! So historically accurate. I love it! So allow me to gush. I love the cover. I love the look on her face. I love the title. If not for deadlines, my dear, I’d be having me a Jenna Jaxon marathon. Keep writing 🙂
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Awww, thank you so much, Ashley! I did enjoy writing this book very much. I hope that shows in it. And I’m glad you love the cover. It’s a new cover designer, so one never knows how that’s going to go. I do appreciate you!
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Poor Violet, worse and worse…with much worse to come, theoretically. Excellent excerpt, conveys how limited her choices really are here.
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Thank you, Veronica. Yes, I tried to paint a stark picture of what women regularly had to do to just survive.
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Inspected? How humiliating! What a horrible situation for her.
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Yes, it truly is. I think it is an invasion of privacy that transcends time periods. Any woman might find it offensive.
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What a sad situation. She will pass the test and move on in your wonderful story.
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She does pass the test, Charmaine, in more ways than the obvious one. 🙂
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Love the ‘Madam’s’ business like tone. It appears she has done this a few times before!
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Indeed. Part of her “application process” for employment, don’t you think? Unless the applicant already had “on-the-job” experience.
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Lol. Rather glad none of my job interviews have gone that way 😝
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lol–@ Ed’s second comment.Throughout history, women really have been subjected to–and continue to be–the worst that patriarchal culture can dole out.
That having been said, I can hardly wait to read this book! No one can write the genre quite like you, Jenna.
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Wow, thank you, Teresa! I so appreciate that complement. 🙂 I have a great affinity for the period because it was so wild, so riddled with vice, it gives you a lot of latitude of subjects to explore, including prostitution.
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Oh wow. That will be humiliating.
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Violet’s hit rock bottom as far ash she’s concerned–until she realizes this is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. She’s still got to lose her virginity.
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I feel so sorry for any girl or woman forced to take a “virginity test,” fictional or real. She’s in such a horrible situation.
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It is horrible but an unfortunate circumstance of this era. Although, apparently there were ways several ways to fake virginity (that I actually went into in the previous book Only Marriage Will Do).
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Oh my, she’s facing a humiliating investigation.
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Yes, she’s about to be tested in the fire. Will she survive do you think?
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Although this is definitely an invasive procedure, I doubt it will be fatal.
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