Title: One Suitor Too Many (Singular Sensation #8)
Author: Sandra Sookoo
Genre: Historical romance, Regency romance, romantic suspense
Book Blurb:
If a love is worth remembering, nothing will make it forgotten.
Evan Fairfax, Earl of Baselford, is a man adrift. Five years ago, he lost his memory due to a hunting accident. Suddenly back in London, he stumbles into a ball, disoriented. He sees a woman he vaguely recognizes, and when confusing emotions beset him, he flees to the address scrawled onto a scrap of paper and pinned to his lapel—the Rogue’s Arcade Club. Perhaps they will have the answers he desperately needs.
Lady Vivian Fairfax, the Countess of Baselford, assumed her husband died. After five years, she mourned, finally consigned him to her past, and moved forward with her life, but when the earl comes staggering into their home in the midst of a ball she’s throwing with the man currently courting her, everything changes. She’s immediately besieged with old memories and a love that hasn’t completely faded, but does she want him now that she has a new romance?
Faced with choosing between men is awkward at best, yet she can’t forget the life she had with the earl. Evan might not be able to remember his life, but there is a certain connection between him and Vivian—his wife—and as he learns about himself and what he had before, he wants it again. The trouble is the new suitor as well as the underlying tension and animosity between them. A love for the ages can’t be forgotten but it can be stolen away, and unless Evan and Vivian make a stand, they’ll lose everything.
Excerpt:
Where the hell am I?
He exited the hired hack, nearly took a tumble to the street, for he was that disoriented. The townhouse in St. James Place where he’d been taken was quite impressive, and the address had surfaced from the jumble of his memories for some reason. Golden light shone from nearly all the windows that faced the street. Silhouettes and shadows of people—guests, no doubt—moved about. Someone within was entertaining.
Perhaps they have the answers I need.
Why he was in London, he couldn’t say. Hell, he only knew himself as Adam because that was what they had told him his name was when he’d began his life in Cornwall five years ago as a woodworker. Beyond that, he had no memories. There was merely a large… black space, a fuzziness that was as unfathomable as a moonless, starless night.
Most disconcerting.
Yet the people he’d labored with in the small village in Cornwall had apparently heard enough of his ramblings brought on by nightmares and such. They’d taken up a donation and sent him to London with naught but his given name and the scribble of a gentleman’s club on a scrap of paper, which they’d pinned to his lapel. That paper now resided in the pocket of his tweed waistcoat, for a reason God only knew.
“You goin’ on, mate, or gettin’ back in the cab?”
The sound of the driver’s irritated voice yanked Adam out of his thoughts. He glanced at the man and nodded. “Yes, right. I am going in.” Then he frowned. “Would you happen to know where the Rogue’s Arcade club is located?”
“Are you daft, then?” The driver looked askance at him. “It’s a block over from here, mate. Not far. Can’t miss it. Opposite side of the street as White’s.” Then he slapped the reins against the horse’s flank and the cab lurched into motion.
He might, indeed, be daft, and for the moment, he was a man without a country, so to speak. Since he couldn’t very well linger on the street in the dark, he went up the short walkway, through a gate, and then he gained a red-painted front door, his knock was answered by a young footman, who pointed him in the direction of the ballroom.
Not that it was difficult to find; he merely followed the sound of laughter and music as well as the crowds.
Once inside the room, his gaze immediately fell to a couple that were no doubt the hosts of the affair. The woman with blonde-brown hair and the sparkling diamond tiara was quite striking, and he had an immediate reaction upon seeing her. A glimmer, a hint, a tiny buzz of recognition slammed into his chest, but he couldn’t recall who she was or when he’d met her before. The golden satin gown she wore was certainly eye-catching, and showed her figure to perfection; the pale skin of her décolletage was familiar, but why?
Then he moved his regard to the handsome man in the requisite dark evening clothes who stood next to her. His black hair gleamed almost blue beneath the candles, and the width of his shoulders alone was quite impressive. He bent his head near to her, perhaps to catch something she said, and his lips curved into a half-grin as he nodded. Clearly, they were a couple.
Someone in passing mentioned the man’s title—Earl of Starkington. It wasn’t familiar to him, and he had no idea if it should be or not. Then he flicked his gaze back to the woman. She wore an expression of excitement that matched the earl’s. They seemed a good fit for each other.
Then he became cognizant that gasps and whispers were flying about the room. Nearly everyone in the ballroom was staring at him, and he couldn’t fathom why other than the fact he wasn’t properly dressed for a society event let alone a formal ball. In fact, he wore the clothes of a common laborer, but surely that wasn’t enough to cause the guests to murmur and stare.
He bounced his attention back to the blonde woman. Someone nearby referred to her as the Countess of Baselford. When their gazes locked, her face went as white as a sheet as if she’d seen a ghost. Perhaps she ate something that hadn’t agreed with her?
“Dear God.” She took a step toward him as the floor between them emptied of people, which formed a direct path to her. With a gloved hand to her lips, she stared at him with rounded eyes filled with both horror and hope. “Baselford, is that you, after all this time?” Her whispered inquiry sounded overly loud in the sudden hush of the ballroom. Her fingers moved to her throat where an impressive sapphire and diamond necklace rested, the blue gems in the shapes of teardrops surrounded by tiny diamonds. “You aren’t dead after all.” Shock propelled those words from her throat, he’d wager.
It was the same emotion currently tightening his chest and pounding through his veins. Sudden disorientation came over him. It didn’t matter that she seemed slightly familiar. He had no idea who she was or who she spoke about, for he wasn’t that man. As the gasps continued to tear through the gathering, Adam blinked at all the people, the candles in the crystal chandelier, the wild sparkling of the gemstones around the countess’ neck.
“I… You…” It was too much. He shook his head, turned around and then plowed through the closest people near him. After that, he bolted from the room, for something about that woman had disturbed the demons within, and the murkiness of memories that had always been jumbled on a good day, suddenly scattered once more into something he couldn’t make heads nor tails of.
Dear God, who the hell am I, and why did I feel compelled to come here?
Without recourse, he rushed out of the house and back into the night. What should he do now? For that matter, where should he go? Then he recalled the note inside his waistcoat pocket. If he went to the Rogue’s Arcade would they have the answers he’d been searching for all this time? Could they help him with the nightmares that continued to plague him with alarming frequency and intensity?
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
It’s a brand-new year, full of possibilities. Did you make any resolutions/goals for 2025? If so, please share one.
I’m not a resolution girl. I’m more goal-oriented, and yes, I have many goals for both my writing life and my personal life. In fact, my writing and release schedule has already been laid down for the next two years. I love smashing goals.
Why is your featured book a must-read in 2025?
I’m closing out the Singular Sensation series in 2025, and I thought this book was an interesting one to hopefully draw readers into the series to either start it or catch up on it.
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Open internationally.
Runs January 1 – 31, 2025
Drawing will be held on February 3, 2025.
Author Biography:
Sandra Sookoo is a USA Today bestselling author who firmly believes every person deserves acceptance and a happy ending. That is why her characters are not in the usual style and oftentimes struggle with things out of the norm. She’s written for publication since 2008. Most days you can find her creating scandal and mischief in the Regency-era, serendipity and happenstance in the Victorian era, or historical romantic suspense complete with mystery and intrigue. Reading is a lot like eating chocolates—you can’t just have one book. Give her the chance with one book and you’ll be hooked.
When she’s not wearing out computer keyboards or mice, Sandra spends time with her real-life Prince Charming in Central Indiana where she also runs a gourmet cookie business and makes moments count with the man because the key to life is laughter. Inspired to storytelling by Walt Disney since the age of ten, when her soul gets bogged down and her imagination flags, a trip to Walt Disney World is in order. Nothing fills the well and fuels her dreams more than the land of eternal happy endings, hope and love stories.
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