Book Title: Jenny Kidd
Author: Laury A. Egan
Publisher: Spectrum Books
Cover Artist: Thomas Stewart, design by Laury A. Egan and Andrew May
Release Date: October 18, 2025
Pairing: FF and FFM
Tense/POV: third person/past tense, single POV
Genres: Mystery/Suspense
Tropes: Dangerous infatuation
Themes: Sexual awakening, dark romance, artistic achievement
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 66 682 words/182 pages
It is a standalone story and does the book end on a cliffhanger
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Plunge into a steamy, exotic Venetian tale with glittering façades that cloak murder, art forgery, and sexual perversion.
Blurb
While spending autumn in Venice, a young American artist, Jenny Kidd, hopes to create a portfolio of paintings to launch her career and establish her independence from her tyrannical father. At the Guggenheim Collec-tion, she encounters Randi, a colorful British woman, who invites her to a masked ball at the Palazzo Barbon. There, she meets the seductive Caterina Barbon and her brother, Sebastiano, who entice Jenny into a world of glittering façades that cloak sexual perversion, art forgery, and murder. As Jenny struggles between her attraction to Caterina and her growing awareness that she is in danger, Jenny discovers an inner strength and spirit worthy of her infamous pirate ancestor.
While spending autumn in Venice, a young American artist, Jenny Kidd, hopes to create a portfolio of paintings to launch her career and establish her independence from her tyrannical father. At the Guggenheim Collection, she encounters a colorful British woman, who invites her to a masked ball at the Palazzo Barbon. There, she meets the seductive Caterina Barbon and her brother, Sebastiano, who entice Jenny into a world of glittering façades that cloak sexual perversion, art forgery, and murder. As Jenny struggles between her attraction to Caterina and her growing awareness that she is in danger, Jenny discovers an inner strength and spirit worthy of her infamous pirate ancestor.
At the masked ball:
“Confused by her sexual reaction to the woman in pink and now this male Jester, Jenny wanted to respond. But to which person?
Suddenly, the Jester turned. Behind him stood a slender figure wearing a bauta mask, which was white except for grinning purple lips, crimson circles on the cheeks, and black brows edged in lavender. The person wore a pale blue satin waistcoat, britches trimmed with silver, a lavender sash across the breast, white hose and gloves, a silver cockade hat, and diamonds on the shoe buckles.
The strings and flutes signaled the beginning of the barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann, and with that, Jenny’s hand was grasped. The person in blue dipped his or her head, asking permission for the dance. Jenny nodded and was gathered up in the arms of her new partner and whisked across the room with dazzling speed. Whether it was the wine, the smoothness of the figure in blue, or Jenny’s own skill, she seemed to be flying, her black cape flowing off her shoulders in the wind created by their movement. As the salon blurred into sizzling burgundy and gold, Jenny’s exhilaration rose to a crescendo. She thought about the opera, how Giulietta steals Hoffmann’s soul, runs away in a gondola, and laughs at his foolishness. Was she a Giulietta or perhaps a pirate like her forebears? Jenny Kidd, thief of hearts? She wished she had chosen the Comedy mask so everyone could see her smile. Happy and willing to take any partner—male or female. The new Jenny. Rigid ideas of sexuality melted in the golden light.”
Laury A. Egan is the author of fifteen novels: Fair Haven; Jack & I; The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers; The Psychologist’s Shadow; The Firefly; Once, Upon an Island; Wave in D Minor; Doublecrossed; Turnabout; The Swimmer; The Ungodly Hour; A Bittersweet Tale; Fabulous! An Opera Buffa; The Outcast Oracle; and Jenny Kidd; two collections, Fog and Other Stories and Contrary: Stories and a Play, and four volumes of poetry: Snow, Shadows, a Stranger; Beneath the Lion’s Paw; The Sea & Beyond; and Presence & Absence. She lives on the northern coast of New Jersey.
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