Thank you for choosing to beta read my historical fantasy novel! I hope you will find the experience an enjoyable one, and that you connect with Malleta as deeply as I have.
1535 Scotland
Countess Malleta Wallace, the Lady Abbsmuir, has used the lessons she learned as a banker's daughter to turn around the failing estate her husband, the handsome Gavane Lesley, inherited as a young man. Abbsmuir now thrives thanks to her prudent investment decisions and his ability to attract loyal and hardworking tradesmen.
But sixteen years have proven that economic success and six healthy children aren't enough to sustain a happy marriage. As tensions with her reactionary mother-in-law rise and doubts of Gavane's fidelity can no longer be ignored, Malleta finds herself drawn to the Belgian portraitist Gavane frivolously commissioned, Phillipe LaLonde.
Malleta becomes torn between her many responsibilities to family and dependents, and a future in which she could share a true and lasting love, one that might be worth throwing everything away for. But will that choice bring happiness, or tragedy?
READERS MUST BE 18 OR OLDER
CONTENT WARNINGS:
explicit sexual encounters, verbal and emotional abuse, violence and death
DEADLINE:
February 28, 2023
PROCESS:
A maximum of 20 readers will receive a .docx file containing the first chapter of the story and a link to a survey form. When you submit the form, you will automatically receive the next section of the story and the link to the next survey. Don't worry, only the first chapter will be a stand alone survey! The next sections will contain multiple chapters. The survey will be a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions about your general experience with the section you've just read. You won't be asked to write pages and pages of your thoughts or give proofreading feedback - you should be able to complete a survey in ten minutes or less, though in document comments are welcome, too.
IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE FIRST CHAPTER WITHIN 24 HOURS OF SIGNING UP, CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER. IF IT'S NOT THERE, PLEASE REACH OUT TO ME AT malleta.wallace@gmail.com!
