Book Beginnings on Friday August 17, 2012

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by Gilion at Rose City Reader. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include  include the title and author so others know what you're reading.

My book beginning this week is from Forever a Lady by Delilah Marvelle.  This is a historical romance set in New York and London in 1830.  The author did a lot of research about New York during that time period and includes it in the book.  This is a story about classes and class differences and how two people from very different social classes fell in love but it was not an HEA.  They separated but then were given a second chance.  Both had to change to make it work and in the end it did.

Each chapter starts with a saying from the The Truth Teller, a New York Newspaper for Gentlemen.  Both the newspaper and the quotes existed.

Prologue:

Quote:  Survival, Gentlemen.   Life is all about survival.

First Sentence:  When it had been uncovered that heir bookkeeper and longtime friend, Mr. Richard Rawson, was actually a money-pilfering son of a mudsill, Matthew and his father had sent the authorities straight to Rawson’s house to make an arrest.

Chapter One:

Quote:  The city inspector reports the death of 118 persons during this ending week.  31 men, 24 women and 63 children.

First Sentence:  The sound of hooves thudding against the dirt road in the far distance beyond the dim gas lit street made Matthew snap up a hand to signal his men, who all quietly lurked across the street.

Here is Goodreads summary:  

TWO DIFFERENT CLASSES, ONE COMMON DESIRE... Lady Bernadette Marie Burton  may be the richest widow in England, but like her dreams of finding true passion, her reputation is deteriorating. Cruel gossip, loneliness and hoards of opportunistic suitors have her believing Society couldn't be more vile...or dangerous. So when an attacker threatens her life, she finds safety in the most unseemly of places: the arms of a mysterious, Irish-American gang leader. His fortune stolen, young  Matthew Milton is done playing the respectable gentleman. In the slums of New York, only ruffians thrive. But from the moment he arrives in London and encounters the voluptuous Lady Bernadette, he can't help but wonder about the finer pleasures he's missing. Or just how much he's willing to risk-not only to bed her, but to prove his worth

I received a free copy of Forever a Lady from Netgalley.