Before the Season Ends
Read Before the Season Ends Online
Authors: Linore Rose Burkard
Discussion Questions for Before the Season Ends
If you enjoyed Before the Season Ends, you’ll also love the sequel, The House in Grosvenor Square.
A Short Glossary for Before the Season Ends
What Readers Are Saying About Linore Burkard’s
Before the Season Ends
“
A really nice surprise!
This is definitely an original Regency romance.”
A
NNE
W
OODLEY
Amazon.com
Top 500 reviewer
patroness of the
Almack’s List, Byron List,
Janeites, and the
Austen List
“
Beautifully written story
, fast paced, and exciting from cover to cover. One of the best stories I have read!”
K
ELLI
G
LESIGE
book reviewer for
www.ReaderViews.com
“
In the vein of Jane Austen, Burkard weaves a delightful world, rich with detail. Her characters spring to life as they deal with their own struggles and prejudices.
.”
J
ANICE
L
A
Q
UIERE
Logos Book Reviews
“Well-written, interesting,
captivating, romantic, inspirational, and addictive,
I highly recommend this book.”
And from satisfied readers at
Amazon.com
…
“I laughed out loud
and was also brought to tears while reading this beautifully written book.”
A
LICE
T
JIONG
“Beautifully written, touches your heart
and
keeps you entertained
!”
D
EBBIE
H
ANNA
“A must-read
story that will lift you up and stay in your thoughts long after you’ve finished the last chapter.”
L
ISA
G. S
MITH
“A great, entertaining book!
It had me caught from the first few pages and continued to reel me in page after page.”
D
ONNA
C
RUGER
“Wonderful and beautiful book!”
L
ILLIAN
J. W
ONG
-S
UHU
“So good that I couldn’t put it down!
It made me laugh out loud and it made me cry…”
L
AURA
L
O
F
ASO
“Fun and inspirational
. I enjoyed it from cover to cover and heartily recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction!”
D
IANE
G
RAZIANO
A peek at Linore’s mail…
Christina writes…
“I received my copy of
Before the Season Ends
yesterday and have already finished it…I literally could not put it down…I can’t wait for the sequel!”
Catherine writes…
“I got your book in the mail yesterday, started reading it, and could not put it down. It is delightful! It seems to me to be a bit like
Pride and Prejudice,
which is my very favorite novel of all time.”
Viola writes…
“Just had to write a note and let you know that I have finished
Before the Season Ends.
It was great. Will there be another book about [Ariana] or her sisters?”
THE SEASON
ENDS
LINORE ROSE BURKARD
HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Verses marked
NIV
are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
®
. NIV
®
. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
BEFORE THE SEASON ENDS
Copyright © 2008 by Linore Rose Burkard
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Burkard, Linore Rose
Before the season ends / Linore Rose Burkard.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7369-2551-8 (pbk.)
I. Title.
PS3602.U754B44 2008
813’ .6—dc22
2008020667
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 / RDM-NI / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory of my grandmother, Marie Rose, for always believing; and my parents, for their love of reading.
Special thanks to my editor, Nick Harrison, who, (besides having a cool name) is great to work with and who brought me to Harvest House Publishers; to Helen Hancox and Charlotte Hails, my trusty British resource people, for their friendship, suggestions, and corrections. And to my wonderful husband, Michael, the computer wiz, (where would I be without my laptop?) who has never questioned my obsession with writing; and to my children, for their patience and understanding. You are all priceless!
Chesterton, Hertfordshire
England
1813
S
omething would have to be done about Ariana.
All winter Miss Ariana Forsythe, aged nineteen, had been going about the house sighing.
“Mr. Hathaway is my lot in life!”
She spoke as though the prospect of that life was a great burden to bear, but one to which she had properly reconciled herself. When her declarations met with exasperation or reproach from her family—for no one else was convinced Mr. Hathaway, the rector, was her lot—she usually responded in a perplexed manner. Hadn’t they understood that her calling was to wed a man of the cloth? Was there another man of God, other than their rector, available to her? No. It only stood to reason, therefore, that Mr. Hathaway was her lot in life. Their cold reception to the thought of the marriage was unfathomable.
When she was seventeen (a perfectly respectable marrying age), Ariana had romantic hopes about a young and brilliant assistant to the rector, one Mr. Stresham. It was shortly after meeting him, in fact, that she had formed the opinion the Almighty was calling her to marry a man of God. Mr. Stresham even had the approval of her parents. But the man soon took a situation in another parish without asking Ariana to accompany him as his wife. She was disappointed, but not one to give up easily, continued to speak of “the calling,” waiting in hope for
another Mr. Stresham of sorts. But no man came. And now she had reached the conclusion that Mr. Hathaway—Mr. Hathaway, the rector (approaching the age of sixty!), would have to do.
Her parents, Charles and Julia Forsythe, were sitting in their comfortably furnished morning room, Julia with a cup of tea before her, and Charles with his newspaper. A steady warmth was emanating from the hearth.
“What shall we do about Ariana?” Mrs. Forsythe, being an observant mother, had been growing in her conviction that the situation called for action.
“What do you suggest, my dear?” Her husband reluctantly folded his paper; he knew his wife wanted a discussion of the matter, and he would get precious little reading done until she had gotten it.