We've started New Author November with a bang! We have a pirate-like hero, feuding families, and a secret treasure map that needs to be decoded. Although, we picked this for it's inverse of the governess trope, we got more than we bargained for with Deception by Amanda Quick. **We followed the clues to SPOILERS**
Pick up a copy of the book we read this week, Deception by Amanda Quick!
If you'd like to listen to a certain segment of our show, here's our outline this week:
0:00 - 06:30: Intro and Author Facts
06:30 - 11:21: Synopsis
11:21: - 15:01: Parlour
15:01 - 39:41: General Discussion
We include our synopses as a semi-transcription of the episode in our blog posts. You can learn more about how we compose these by reading this article. As a reminder though, our synopses are FULL of spoilers. Read ahead at your own risk :)
Deception Synopsis:
Prologue tells us that Jared Ryder is the opposite of his family and has no interest in the buried treasure of his ancestors. However, his family is and that is why he is speaking with the man who bought his great, great Grandmother’s (or is it one great?) diary, which is said to hold the key to the treasure map. The man bought it for his niece who loves old languages, such as the one the journal is partially written in. However, the journal is already on the ship’s cargo hold. Luckily Jared owns the ship the man is using. He tells his father and uncle that he will travel with the cargo the man is shipping back to his niece and offer for the diary when he gets there.
Jump to Olympia Winfield, who is a bluestocking spinster and quite happy that way. However, she does have two nephews who keep running off tutors.
When Jared meets Olympia he is struck by a connection his wants to pursue, so instead of introducing himself by his title and telling her why he is really there. He tells her he is a tutor hired by her uncle for the boys.
Thus is drawn into the household that is anything but dull. He personally cannot abide chaos and does his best to establish a bit more order in the house. But it soon becomes clear the house needs more from him than that.
Turns out the neighbor who was meant to help Olympia sell her uncle’s cargo in London has been giving her less than 10% of it’s actual worth. Then that same man’s wife threatens to have Olympia’s nephews taken from her because she is clearly unfit to trust a man who looks more like a pirate, than her husband the squire.
That takes everyone to London, where it is soon revealed that Jared is no tutor and in fact a Viscount. Due to a rather inopportune meeting with his ex-fiance, Jared introduces Olympia as his wife, so of course they must get married for real now.
This is where things get wild, because it turns out that the ex-fiance’s family are descendants of the man who was originally partnered with Jared’s ancestor. There is an old feud and a young man who thinks it very unfair their family is practically destitute when Jared’s is rich. What he doesn’t realize is that without Jared, the family would have been in the same boat.
Now things get sticky when it turns out that Jared’s right hand man, Felix, has been embezzling funds due to a gambling problem and is now trying to harm Jared. At one point, he even tries to kidnap one of the nephews in an effort to extort money from him.
After breaking into the house and threatening Olympia, Felix is finally stopped with a very manly show of strength from Jared and all's well that ends well.
The families agree to move past the feud and a small party consisting of members of both families plans to set out after the treasure.
Jared has no interest in going. In fact, he just wants to be with Olympia and the special kind of chaos she attracts.
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