A Model Marriage

by Jo Ann Ferguson

Yearning for a man who shares in her appreciation of the arts but resigning herself to a life of spinsterhood, Miss Antonia Lockes is befuddled by the attentions of Patrick Fairchild, Duke of Exton, a painter who sees her as his muse. Original.

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Traditional Regency

253 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Please note, this author also writes under the name J.A. Ferguson, Jocelyn Kelley and Rebecca North.
"One of my favorite memories is lying on the grass on a knoll on a late summer day and telling my sister stories I was making up," says Jo Ann Ferguson, who also writes as J.A. Ferguson, Joanna Hampton, Jo Ann Brown, and Rebecca North."There's something magical about being able to spend time with people you enjoy in your imagination. As a writer, I get to go with my characters to their time and place so I can share their adventures and falling in love for the first time…all over again."

She has had a few adventures of her own, including a stint as an Army quartermaster officer where she was the first and only woman in her unit. She still enjoys traveling to the locations of her books and learning all about those places and people. Researching her novels is part of the fun. Whether it's ghosts, calling cards, how to fire an antique gun, or traveling to a world that exists only in her imagination, she pays a great deal of attention to the details that delight her reader. She's even learned a bit of Russian, Arabic, Welsh, and a lot of Regency slang.

Her work has been honored with award nominations from Pearl, ROMY, Romantic Times, Rom/Con, and Affaire de Coeur magazine. Amazon Books chose her novels to showcase. And Romance Writers of America bestowed the two ARTemis Awards for Jo Ann's Zebra Regencies: The Counterfeit Count and A Christmas Bride.

Nonfiction also appeals to her, because it's where she got her start, seeing her first byline when she was twelve years old. She contributed to an encyclopedia of the English Regency period published by Garland Press. For all three editions of the New England Chapter's Now That You've Sold Your Book…What Next?, she has served as co-editor.

Believing in giving back, Jo Ann has served Romance Writers of America on both the local and national levels. She has served on the national board as president as well as a director and at term as vice president. For her volunteer work, she was given RWA's highest honor, the Emma Merritt National Service Award. She is also a creative writing instructor. She was awarded a Massachusetts Art Grant to teach creative writing and then established several creative writing courses at Brown University. Many of her students have gone on to publishing careers of their own.

She lives in Massachusetts, where her favorite hero—her husband, Bill—and their children and two cats. She's not sure which is the most spoiled.

Reviews

[Michelle Good · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mayhap the author of this poorly written book used the word mayhap too many times!

[Patti Wolff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read "A Christmas Bride" by this author and enjoyed it. This one, not so much. The heroine was an idiot and the hero a man-whore. I will try Ferguson again and hope this was an exception and not the rule.

[ChristineZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A conversation between the two main characters would have cleared up a lot of unnecessary stuff. Still, I liked it and thought it was cute.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say that I believe this book is more like a 3.5 then at four but it was still very good! I enjoyed getting to know the characters and depreciated patience and restraint of Patrick though honestly he would have done better to acknowledge his feelings rather than push them down. But if that was true and what kind of a plot with this book have? Of course the wastrel idiot of a friend is a great addition as well. I almost liked him. Almost. He was a real jerk but he lent but what I liked most about the whole book was the way that the author referred to the wind and colors as having various properties, personifying them if you well and giving them a new dimension in the view of the characters. That was quite interesting. I was also say that I liked the Duke's mother, she was very patient and probably very wise. I suppose that comes with age ;-)

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Regency