Roses in Red Wax (Audiobook)

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1820 Scotland. Jane Stuart has lost everything. Her betrothed, her ancestral castle, and her cherished orchard—her life’s work—have all been ripped away. Now, exiled and adrift in the cold fog of Glasgow, she's numb to the weight of her grief, resigned to a desolate future shrouded in loneliness and grey.

But fate has a different plan.

Percy Sommerbell is a musician, a free spirit who holds nothing but disdain for his industrialist father. But when familial duty forces Percy to travel to Scotland, he’s confronted with a painful truth—a truth that threatens to unravel the very fabric of his carefree existence. His family’s money, the fortune that funds his hedonistic enjoyment of all life’s pleasures, is generated by the suffering of children in his father's mills.

In the midst of Glasgow's smoke and shadows, Percy encounters Jane, a mysterious Highland beauty whose sad eyes and luscious curves promise both distraction from his guilt and inspiration for his music. Against all reason, Jane falls under Percy's spell. But when the mills become the first spark in a violent radical insurgency, their budding connection faces a perilous trial beyond anything they could have imagined.

 

"A truly beautiful book."

- Reader Review

 

 

 ~An Excerpt from 'Roses in Red Wax'~

Hell and the devil—he couldn’t feel his bloody fingers.

Percy was supposed to be en route to Greece, where Mediterranean warmth, sublime scenery, and luscious women awaited. Instead, due to his father’s mishap on a horse, he found himself in this freezing, dirty little Scottish city with nothing to look forward to but tedious meetings with solicitors and even more tedious inspections of his father’s mills.

And of course, this mandatory call to his aunt and uncle’s townhouse—one of Mother’s many musts. 

Damnation.

The room was warm, at least. Two women sat on a sofa near the fire, drinking tea. He hadn’t seen his aunt in over ten years, but he recognized her almost white blond hair and warm smile. 

He had no idea who the other could be—young, auburn hair, heavy lidded eyes, full lips. Her cheeks were flushed, likely due to her seat near the fire. His eyes lingered on her lips as she drew them into a tight yet polite smile. Like a satin ribbon tied into a lush pink bow. 

“Percy. My dear boy.” Aunt Cynthia rose and crossed the room.

He forced his gaze away from the stranger’s lips and greeted his aunt with a bow. “Aunt Cynthia. It’s a pleasure to see you again.” 

“May I present Miss Jane Stuart. Miss Stuart, my nephew, Mr. Percival Sommerbell.”

Miss Stuart reluctantly divested herself of her teacup and stood to dip a small curtsey. “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Sommerbell.” Her voice was a breathy alto, like a bow drawn ever so lightly over the strings of a viola. He could feel her attention like a shaft of warm sunlight as it moved from his shoes to his trousers, his coat, his cravat, and finally, finally his face.

Their eyes met, and everything else blurred.

Her eyes were the dark blue-grey of a summer storm cloud, the type of cloud that made one think to look for a rainbow. But there were no rainbows there now, no joy, no warmth. Only a deep, guarded pool of sadness that drew him in, and down. He felt a moment of vertigo. He was drowning, unable to surface, gasping for air.

She took a sharp breath, turned her head, and the moment was over.

He needed his guitar. Needed to play the music behind the perfect sadness of her eyes.

“The pleasure is mine.”

 

"'Roses in Red Wax' kept popping up in my feed and I reluctantly relented - unsure whether it would be worthwhile. I am happy for Facebook’s algorithms for once, as it was more than I expected... Mayberry artfully weaves a compelling story full of love, secrets, pain and hope that is as riveting as it is heart wrenchingly full of historic truths. I couldn’t put it down."

- Website Reviewer

 

This audiobook features duet narration by voice actors Marina Fess and Eden Gabay, with historical notes read by the author (Louise Mayberry.)

Playing time is 8 hours 53 minutes.

Musical credits