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A Dramatic Debut: Love and Legacy in the Deep South
She was raised to follow the rules. He makes her want to break every one of them.
In the drawing rooms and country estates of antebellum Virginia, seventeen-year-old Mary Taylor is expected to smile, curtsy, and charm her way into a suitable marriage. But Mary has never quite fit the mold of a Southern belle. With ink-stained fingers and a mind better suited to books than beaux, she braces herself for a debutante season filled with scrutiny—and secrets.
Her sister Elizabeth is everything society claims to poised, beautiful, and confident. But beneath the polished exterior is a woman who defies convention with boldness and flair—unafraid to challenge the very expectations others accept without question. As the Taylor family prepares for a season of introductions and potential matches, Mary finds herself overshadowed yet again—until two captivating young men enter her orbit. Manuel Rivera is bold and chivalrous; Leander Doucet is quiet, complex, and far too perceptive. And both seem to see something in Mary that she’s never allowed herself to believe in.
As expectations tighten and long-buried tensions rise, Mary must choose between the life she was born to and the one she’s only just begun to imagine.
A Dramatic Debut is the first novel in Love and Legacy in the Deep South, a sweeping historical romance series filled with simmering tension, sharp wit, and the fierce hearts of women daring to write their own stories.
In the drawing rooms and country estates of antebellum Virginia, seventeen-year-old Mary Taylor is expected to smile, curtsy, and charm her way into a suitable marriage. But Mary has never quite fit the mold of a Southern belle. With ink-stained fingers and a mind better suited to books than beaux, she braces herself for a debutante season filled with scrutiny—and secrets.
Her sister Elizabeth is everything society claims to poised, beautiful, and confident. But beneath the polished exterior is a woman who defies convention with boldness and flair—unafraid to challenge the very expectations others accept without question. As the Taylor family prepares for a season of introductions and potential matches, Mary finds herself overshadowed yet again—until two captivating young men enter her orbit. Manuel Rivera is bold and chivalrous; Leander Doucet is quiet, complex, and far too perceptive. And both seem to see something in Mary that she’s never allowed herself to believe in.
As expectations tighten and long-buried tensions rise, Mary must choose between the life she was born to and the one she’s only just begun to imagine.
A Dramatic Debut is the first novel in Love and Legacy in the Deep South, a sweeping historical romance series filled with simmering tension, sharp wit, and the fierce hearts of women daring to write their own stories.
404 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 17, 2025
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3 people want to read
About the author
Lucine Elizabeth Watson
1 book1 followerLucine Elizabeth Watson is the author of A Dramatic Debut, the first installment in the Love & Legacy in the Deep South series. She resides in a sun-drenched parlour surrounded by scandalous correspondence, literary ambition, and at least one improperly shelved volume of Byron.
Convinced that most official accounts leave something to be desired, Lucine is committed to truth—or something like it. Her work tends toward the romantic, the subversive, and the occasionally improper, though she maintains at all times a thoroughly respectable hemline.
She is fortunate to be published by Rough & Tumble House Press, who, like Lucine, are unafraid of a raised eyebrow. Nor a subpoena.
Should readers wish to step beyond the headlines, issue a rebuttal, or uncover further impropriety, they may consult her directly at https://www.misslewatson.com.
Convinced that most official accounts leave something to be desired, Lucine is committed to truth—or something like it. Her work tends toward the romantic, the subversive, and the occasionally improper, though she maintains at all times a thoroughly respectable hemline.
She is fortunate to be published by Rough & Tumble House Press, who, like Lucine, are unafraid of a raised eyebrow. Nor a subpoena.
Should readers wish to step beyond the headlines, issue a rebuttal, or uncover further impropriety, they may consult her directly at https://www.misslewatson.com.
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