Never Land the First Fish

Lord Maddox feels old before his time-but not old enough to marry, for the last time he tried that, he was hooked by Lady Sarah Grenford, then thrown back when she married Toad Wellbridge. A life-long adventurer and famous balloonist, he sets out to drown his sorrows in a sea voyage, crossing the Atlantic to ply his trade anywhere but England. Emily Kilbrierry straddles two worlds as the daughter of an Anglo-Irish Lord and his Indian wife. Living a free-spirited, unconventional life as a world-renowned violinist is both a blessing and a curse. But when she finds herself in New York City, trying to advance her career on a whole new continent, she may also find an opportunity she neither expects nor wants. Lord Joseph Gildeforte, "Gills" to his family and friends, is waiting the last few months before he inherits a fortune, but in the meanwhile, calling in a debt is his only chance of eating well. Little does he know, his best intentions will leave him saddled with a termagant whose sharp tongue and propensity for gossip has recently shredded the reputation of one of his dearest friends. Lady Athol Soddenfeld has spent her entire adulthood under the thumb of her husband, a drunkard, a bully, and a man who won't take no for an answer. Abandoned by her family, when rescue finally finds her, she is too weary and broken to object to a knight in tarnished armor. But if she doesn't stand up for herself and land on her own two feet, her life might take her in a direction that leads only to ruin. Another Jude Knight / Mariana Gabrielle collaboration, this story starts a few months after Never Kiss a Toad ended, and will be posted the same way. After this week, we'll take it in turns to post an the newest episode every second Saturday. When it isn't our Saturday, we'll post the episode from the previous week so you can follow the whole story on one profile.