Full Description

My Unfair Lady

Who says a proper lady can't carry a knife?

He created the perfect woman…

The impoverished Duke of Monchester despises the rich Americans who flock to London, seeking to buy their way into the ranks of the British peerage. So when railroad heiress Summer Wine Lee offers him a king's ransom if he'll teach her to become a proper lady, he's prepared to rebuff her. But when he meets the petite beauty with the knife in her boot, it's not her fortune he finds impossible to resist…

For the arms of another man

Frontier-bred Summer Wine Lee has no interest in winning over London society—it's the New York bluebloods and her future mother-in-law she's determined to impress. She knows the cost of smoothing her rough-and-tumble frontier edges will be high. But she never imagined it might cost her her heart…

From acclaimed author Kathryne Kennedy comes a delightful new take on a classic tale. As a Wild West beauty takes Victorian London by storm, the devilishly handsome duke she's hired to instruct her in proper deportment begins to wonder if his unconventional pupil might be perfect just the way she is…

PRAISE FOR KATHRYNE KENNEDY:

"Ms. Kennedy has penned a refreshing tale. This was certainly a memorable, fantastic read."
—Between the Lines

"Simply delightful… imaginative, historically vigorous, and ripe for further adventures."
—Publishers Weekly

"Kathryne Kennedy creates a unique, exquisite flavor that makes her romance a pure delight page after page, book after book."
—Merrimon Book Reviews

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Excerpt

Excerpt

Excerpt from Chapter 1

London, 1885

Summer Wine Lee peeked through the drapery covering the second-story window of their rented London town house, hoping to catch a glimpse of the man she intended to hire to change her life forever. She'd sent an invitation to the impoverished Duke of Monchester asking that he meet with her today regarding an urgent business matter, but she wasn't quite sure if he'd come or not.

She started twisting the fringe that adorned the dark green drapes. They'd been in London for over a month, and nothing had happened. No invitations. No visitors. Not even a nod from the elegantly clad English people when they passed her by as she strolled along Curzon Street. Her friend Maria had told her to be patient, that she needed to gather all the information she could before they implemented their plan. But it was hard to be patient when she felt so lonesome. Summer sighed. She'd been lonely her entire Childhood; why should she start feeling sorry for herself now? Pa had been obsessed with that mine in Arizona, and she'd foolishly thought that he'd spend more time with her when he'd found that vein of silver. That the huge strike would rid him of his obsession for wealth. Instead, he'd uprooted her and Maria from the frontier town of Tombstone and plunked them in New York while he'd continued his obsession in other ways—investing in railroads and banks and property.

Summer glanced around the room at the raised-panel walls, velvet upholstery, and plush rugs, all of it a bit frayed and worn. Everything felt so old in England—unlike the burgeoning newness of New York—and yet neither city had welcomed her. New York society had shunned both her and her friend, until she'd met Monte. She smiled at the thought of her intended, the man she'd come all the way to England for… so that she could become a different person, a real lady, that his family would accept.

She just wished that Pa had come with them, instead of staying in New York. He claimed that his health wouldn't allow him to travel, and he did have a horrible cough from working in the mine all those years, but Summer still had a feeling that he simply didn't want to leave in the middle of business negotiations. The only time she heard from him was when he sent more funds.

But she had her best friend, Maria, she reminded herself. And although she couldn't have brought all her slobbery crew of pets with her on that terrible ocean voyage, she did manage to bring her little Chihuahua, Chi-chi. She wasn't entirely alone. "Maria, this had better work," Summer muttered to the empty drawing room. For this was her friend's plan, not her own. Summer had wanted to hire one of the American heiresses who had already married into a title, the ones who had gone through money so quickly entertaining Prince Albert that they sponsored young American girls looking for an introduction into society.

"Not good enough," Maria had responded, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder. "Trust me when I tell ya', if ya' want to be a lady, ya' hire a man to teach ya' how to do it. And I finally discovered the perfect fellow, a poor duke with two falling-down castles, who's feared by all in the social circle for his quick wit and nasty tongue… but is also a particular favorite of His Highness."

Neither of them had ever met the duke, yet Maria had been confident and told Summer it was her golden opportunity. So Summer had sent her invitation and didn't know what scared her the most: the idea that the duke might just show up out of curiosity, or that he'd ignore the invitation entirely.

Feet pounded up the stairs. "He's coming!" panted Maria, her green eyes wild with excitement. Summer's stomach flew up into her throat, and she felt her entire body tremble.

"How do you know?"
Maria put her hand over her heart. "'Cause one of the chambermaids seen him before, and I set her up to watch the street."

Summer pressed her nose to the pane of glass, trying to see around the edge of the window to the cobbled street below. Several men strode toward the direction of her house. "Which one is he?"

"The one without a hat," answered Maria before she spun back around.

Summer only heard her steps pounding downstairs, for she couldn't take her eyes off the man who strode toward her home. All the other men wore bowler hats, so he was easy to pick out. Even the feeble rays of England's sun reflected off his blond hair, making it glow a golden yellow. He wore it unfashionably long and bare of the pomade that slicked most other men's hair back. Summer liked it.

The duke had on a long coat of pale blue, narrow trousers, and a deep blue cravat. He carried no umbrella or cane, and as he passed a group of gentlemen going in the opposite direction, she realized that he was also not a particularly tall man. For some reason this made her feel more at ease, so that when the bell jangled, and Maria came in to announce that she had a visitor, Summer felt almost quite calm.

Until he walked into the room.
She had arranged herself on the settee, folded her hands in her lap, and then quickly covered Chi-chi with her skirts, mentally scolding the chambermaid who'd promised to keep the little critter from underfoot. She felt the dog settle down beneath the warmth of her petticoats—none of them had been prepared for the coolness of England even in the summer—and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you Miss Lee?" inquired the duke as he ran his eyes from the top of her head to the tips of her kidskin boots. "Miss Summer Wine Lee?" The deep richness of his voice made her heart turn over with what she could only assume was terror, and she jumped to her feet, jostling Chi-chi and making her growl. Tarnation, she didn't need her dog to attack this man's ankles, so she quickly sat back down, lifting one slippered foot beneath her skirts to rub the side of the dog's belly.

Reviews

Reviews

Between the Lines Lisa Mitchell
Summer Wine Lee travels to England to attempt to become “a lady” so she may marry the man of her dreams. She enlists the assistance of the Duke of Monchester to transform her. He needs the money and accepts the challenge, taking on the daunting task of changing this “sow’s ear” into the proverbial “silk purse.” While he is financially strained, he has the ear of the heir to the throne of England, and is considered a powerful man and formidable foe. From their first meeting, it’s clear the duke has met his match in this distasteful American. She’s brash, brazen, he never knows what she’ll say next, and worst of all—she doesn’t fear him in the least. Byron is equally challenging to Summer. He contradicts himself at every turn. Is he truly the arrogant Duke whose very word can make or break you in society, or does another kinder man lurk beneath? As they are growing closer it becomes clear someone is trying to kill the Duke, and unfortunately, he has many enemies.

I enjoyed My Unfair Lady. Summer was a lovely heroine from her frequent faux pas to her growing menagerie of animals. She was a refreshing change, humorous without being over the top. And Byron was quite a surprise. The author expertly peeled back the layers of this prickly character to reveal quite a wonderful hero. There were many twists and turns in the plot, which included a mysterious villain, who isn’t revealed until the very end. Ms. Kennedy has penned a refreshing tale. This was certainly a memorable, fantastic read.

The Romantic Times Alishia Austin
This quick and entertaining read is for any fan of the genre. Kennedy’s writing is witty and enjoyable; she looks to have a bright future.

Summary: Summer Wine Lee is determined to become the society miss that her future New York blueblood in-laws demand. To do so, she and her closest friend Maria have traveled to London to transform her into a lady and gain an introduction to the Queen.

Enticed by her financial offer, the impoverished Duke of Monchester grudgingly agrees to aid Summer in her transformation, but his scathing wit and cold personality fail to have an effect on her. Intrigued, the duke soon realizes that Summer may just be perfect the way she is. Now he just has to convince her. (SOURCEBOOKS, Dec., 363 pp., $6.99) HOT

Publishers Weekly
* STARRED REVIEW Kennedy (Beneath the Thirteen Moons) delivers a delightfully unusual Victorian romance. Unlike other American heiresses mingling with London society, Arizona railroad heiress Summer Wine Lee isn’t looking for a husband or a title. In fact, she’s already engaged. She just needs some social polish so she can marry a rich New Yorker. To this end, Summer hires Byron, an impoverished duke who ekes out a living by bringing Prince Albert gossip. Summer is equipped with a free-spirited best friend, a menagerie of abused stray animals and a host of unladylike skills; Byron has a strange stepfamily, a shrinking violet mistress and a murderer determined to do him in. Their chemistry has plenty of humor, and their passion is intense and breathtaking. Full of unexpected period details of cosmetics and hunting, this romance goes against type in a wonderful way.

Romance Bookwyrm Amy Cummings
Born and raised in the infamous town of Tombstone, frontier lass Summer Lee is far from one of London’s gently breed society ladies. But London is where she is looking to hire a titled man to teach her the ways of ladies.

You see, after Summer’s father made a fortune doing this and that, he uprooted her to New York city where a handsome young man named Monte caught her fancy, and he’s asked her to marry him, but his family snubs their nose at her because of her lack of propriety. Summer’s not too suave when it comes to upper-class formalities.

So it’s off to London for some training. Lord Byron, Duke of Monchester finds himself filling that precarious position as his need for the money she offers overrides his better judgment.

Neither Byron nor Summer are looking for a love match. But after much time spent attending balls, and dinners and the occasional deal that may or may not include a kiss, as well as a dose of danger. Summer and Byron are finding it easy telling their heads nothing is happening between them. It’s trying to convince their hearts. That stubborn organ doesn’t appear to want to listen.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I’ve read Kathryne Kennedy’s Relics of Merlin series and while those are filled with magic, I felt that My Unfair Lady was filled with magic as well. Not in the paranormal sense, but in the writing. Ms. Kennedy weaved her characters together in such a way that you could feel Summer as her unconventional behavior penetrates Byron’s cold façade, chipping away the layers to the true man beneath. And the love between them felt as accidental as it was meant to be. Another sweetly sensual tale weaved and brought to life by one of my favorite writers! However, I did grow a bit concerned with the continued motivation of Summer toward the end to continue carrying the pretense she wanted to be a lady for the sake of her vow to Monte. But all in all, it moved along swiftly. And I adored the secondary cast of ’critters’. Most especially, India, the monkey!

The moral of this story...Be happy for being who you are. Don’t change yourself for love or for social standings, love will find you. The right person will embrace you, stand beside you, and support you for being you. And that’s what both Summer and Byron learn in this book. My Unfair Lady is a remarkable tale of love and acceptance.

Booklist John Charles
Booklist Online Exclusive: October 7, 2009
My Unfair Lady.
Kennedy, Kathryne (Author)
Dec 2009. 384 p. Sourcebooks/Casablanca, paperback, $6.99. (9781402229909).

As far as Summer Wine Lee is concerned, it takes a real gentleman to turn a woman into a lady. Which is exactly why Summer wants to hire Byron, the Duke of Monchester, to teach her everything she needs to know to be accepted into high society. Known for his complete disdain for husband-hunting American heiresses, Byron would like nothing better than to turn down Miss Lee’s business proposition, but he desperately needs the money. Byron expected that polishing Summer’s rough American ways wasn’t going to be easy, but what he didn’t anticipate was that he might fall in love with the lady. Some readers may find their willingness to suspend belief stretched to the breaking point by Kennedy’s over-the-top story line, but those who relish unconventional, outspoken heroines; dark, cynical heroes; and a plot spiced with a soupçon of danger and plenty of sexy romance should find Kennedy’s Victorian romance version of My Fair Lady quite entertaining.
— John Charles

The Long and Short of It Reviews
My Unfair Lady is a rollicking good read chock full with humor, a delightful romance, endearing characters both furry and human; and it ended up being a book I could not put down until I finished it at one o’clock in the morning.

Summer’s personality is sunny, winsome, practical, cheeky, spunky and delightfully clever. She has a goal that as time goes on seems to be less and less important. Yet, because Summer has integrity, it puts her in the position of being torn between what she wants and what she’s promised to do. It takes a lot of guts to stick to a promise, even when the reasons for keeping it seem no longer valid. At times I felt she should have just gone with the flow, but that wouldn’t have been true to her character. No one grows from taking the easy way out so the internal conflict works.

Byron, the Duke, is a cultured man of many talents. It is incredibility refreshing to find a hero that is not as tall as the Rock of Gibraltar. Byron is a regular guy, as far as the upper crust can be regular, and a tortured man at that. He has his pride, his defenses intact and a few secrets that he holds close to his chest. He doesn’t trust easily nor smiles. I totally enjoyed watching how Summer worked her personal magic on Byron, slowly thawing him into the man he should have been.

I got the greatest kick out of the fast paced dialogue and witty verbal fencing between Byron and Summer. I adored Summer’s penchant for rescuing fur-babies in distress and how her influence touched a spot in Byron he’d thought lost to him forever. Romance abounds in this story.

Secondary characters a varied and colorful. I have many favorites. We have the prince, an enemy that really isn’t and someone who shouldn’t have been who was, fancy riding and snobbish old biddies. There’s even a scene that might make some people squeamish yet is perfectly in character. There’s even a moment when I got the sniffles, it was so tender and achingly sad. Then there were the many parts which had me laughing out loud, which isn’t a smart thing to do in the wee hours of the morning when people are sleeping.

My Unfair Lady has everything I look for in a romance story. I cheered for Summer, wanted to hug and save Byron, my cheeks hurt from grinning so much and I could not put the book down until I’d read it from cover to cover. If this book is a representative of Ms. Kennedy’s regular style, I’ll be looking into her back list. I’d recommend this book to all my friends.

Love Romance Passion Keira Gillet
Do you love My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn and Eliza Doolittle?

If you answered an unequivocal yes, go get yourself a copy of My Unfair Lady by Kathryne Kennedy. This Victorian romance will win you over faster than you can say the “Rain in Spain!”

So much happens in this novel. It combines quite a bit of different elements including a bastard son, being partly raised by Indians, best friend finding and marrying a baron, fox hunts, horse races, and a murder plot!

Summer Wine Lee is a silver heiress from America. She’s a knife wearing, former Arizonian in love with Monte. He is a dashing young fellow from a highly placed family in New York society. One ball ruined Summer’s chances of a proper match with him unless she could win the favor of his snooty mother. In order to do this she heads off to England to win the favor or at least a meeting with the Queen.

The Duke of Monchester is Summer’s ticket to winning over Monte’s mother and English society. He hates grubby new money American heiresses trying to buy their way into respectability by marrying his fellow impoverished gentlemen. He uses his ready wit and sharp tongue to amuse the King and keep in favor. One half hour in Summer’s presence is enough to keep him housed in the royal court for a year and is amused in spite of himself.

Will Bryon be able to make her respectable? Does he want her to be? Find out!

The Burton Review Marie Burton
Remember that story "My Fair Lady" with Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins? This is the same concept with a blend of both America and England and a larger dash of a southern accent.This novel features Summer Wine Lee... a name that makes you blink.. as it did to the snooty English people she met. Immediately we are transported with her to England to fetch herself some manners, as I had no idea that Americans just didn’t have any in those days. Summer’s rich father was too busy to teach her any apparently, so she goes gallivanting to England to become the Duke of Monchester’s protege of sorts. The book’s cover features the mini blurb: "Who says a proper lady can’t carry a knife?" and it is with this southern attitude that Summer Lee intrigued me as a reader. The Duke is utterly disgusted and yet thrilled by her odd ways, and I was laughing to myself during certain outrageous scenes that were chock full of mirth, knives, chihuahuas, monkeys, and fox pups. Yes, you’ll find the word ’critters’ more often then you would prefer to, but it added to the charm of Summer and her odd female companion as well.

Summer had her heart set on some old coot in New York, who in reality could care less if she returned to the States or not, and that was the frustration factor for me as a reader. Wake up, Summer! If that snobby Monte doesn’t want you, throw him to the curb! Yet throughout the novel she continues to hold him up on a pedestal and repeats to herself "Monte Monte Monte" so that she remembers the purpose of her travels in England. She is deeply attracted to her instructor, the Duke, but refuses to admit to herself that he could possibly feel the same way. She is not the smartest apple in the basket, but still manages to figure out that there are murderers in their midst before the Duke admits to it himself. There was a small dose of a mystery with the attempts on their life that the two frequently encountered, but the author did not overly dramatize that fact which made the read a bit more satisfying. Instead it just felt like another day in Summer’s world and I enjoyed learning more and more about her as the story progressed. Byron, aka the Duke, was also a pleasurable character and I knew from the start that he would fall in love with her just for the fact that she wasn’t after him. Apparently the Duke was the toast of the town and was tired of being a sought after Duke. But he was a sensitive guy underneath it all, and somewhat close to perfect except for being a bit shorter than one would expect a handsome guy to be.

This is another romance issue from Sourcebooks Casablanca that I enjoyed although perhaps a bit predictable as romances normally are. It was a quick read that didn’t have many sluggish moments and although you knew eventually the two main protagonists would come around and see the light (i.e. fall in love and live happily ever after) I had a lot of fun watching the charades. At 384 pages, I felt it was just the right length so that it wasn’t drawn out and it wasn’t just another stunted effort. I enjoyed the many events that occured along the way, and there were many.. I don’t want to add spoilers but I must say there was more sexual content than was expected, so I feel I must warn you this should have a NC-17 rating. Although I am not used to that much ’imagination’, I still enjoyed this one and you need to come back later this week (11/18/2009) to the blog to read the author Kathryne Kennedy’s guest post titled "Why I write historical romance...or, why I love it!" and be entered for a giveaway of this new book.

Huntress Reviews Detra Fitch
Set in the year 1885. Summer Wine Lee grew up with her father in Tombstone, Arizona, a mining town in America. Even though she is now rich, her fiancé’s upper crust family does not consider her to be an acceptable bride. To remedy this, Summer travels to London, England, with her friend, Maria Sanchez, and her Chihuahua, Chi-chi. Her intension is to be presented to the royal family. With the acceptance of England’s highest-of-the-high, Summer can prove her worthiness.

Summer hires the Duke of Monchester (Byron) to teach her all things necessary to successfully complete her quest. However, Summer did not realize there would be so much to learn. Summer is used to carrying a knife (a gift from an Apache friend) at all times. Guns, loose women, and harsh language do not bother her. So Summer is amazed at how stifled the women in England are. English ladies cannot even touch anyone, unless she is presenting a properly gloved hand to be escorted to the dance floor. Summer must face the fact that she has her work cut out for her.

Monchester, who is used to intimidating others and has developed a talent to humiliate his prey, cannot shock or insult Summer, no matter how hard he tries. He even bluntly admits at their first meeting how much he despises all American women. Yet Summer is a constant surprise to him! If she is not totally shocking him, she is causing him to laugh aloud; something he cannot recall doing for years. All too soon, this American lady is changing how Monchester looks at her.

***** FIVE STARS! Historical Romances by Kathryne Kennedy always has something for everyone. This one has hot romance, suspense (someone is trying to kill Monchester), humor, and so much more. Summer’s collection of adopted pets kept me constantly amused. She has a monkey, a vixen, an old cat that cannot use its hind legs so it gets around by using ... Never mind. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed the odd animals.

For the history buffs, the story tells much about history in America and England. Prince Albert Edward even makes several appearances. As I said, something for everyone. I loved every moment of Summer’s story! The author, Kathryne Kennedy, is more than good. She is downright smashing! *****

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Trade Paper Specfications

• Length: 6.88 in
• Width: 4.19 in
• Height: 0.00 in
• Weight: 7.00 oz
• Page Count: 384 pages