Petulant Rainbow

When beautiful Geraldine Ryans' engagement to an air force pilot is called off, her feelings of self-worth are completely shattered. The situation is made all the more painful when her mother dies shortly afterwards leaving her completely on her own. And it doesn't help when the family lawyer rubs salt into her wounds by informing Geraldine that she might lose the family home she has inherited due to a lack of finances. If Geraldine doesn't play ball with the lawyer and put the property into a Trust, she could end up homeless and in debt. Such is Geraldine's anxiety that the local young doctor puts her on some sedatives to help her cope with her problems, and to get over her bereavement. Geraldine has become a bag of nerves but is determined to fight for the one thing she had always loved – her beloved Larkford, her home of over twenty years. This is the beautiful house she has grown up in and it is full of happy memories. To lose it would have definitely driven her over the edge. But when a close friend invites her to a party, the future becomes more hopeful. There she meets the handsome Stefan Lafonte, a wealthy businessman in his forties who wants to whisk her away. But because of her failed former engagement, Geraldine feels strongly distrustful of this man whom she sees talking to other women at the party. Women are clearly attracted to him, which in Geraldine's eyes is not a good sign. She decides to abandon the party and forget about the handsome Mr Lafonte, who is determined to get to know her. He persists and it is then that Geraldine has an epiphany and wonders whether this man's ardour could be utilised to her advantage. If she marries him, it will solve all her legal and financial problems. In one blow, she could retain her beloved home and get the lawyer off her back. The only thing is, she would then also need to get rid of Mr Lafonte as well, especially as she does not see him as long-term marriage prospect. But how difficult would this be?

HERBERT HOWARD JONES grew up in Notting Hill, London in the sixties. He went to a boarding school in Norfolk and then local schools including Sloane School where crime writer John Creasy attended near the King's Road. When he left school he got numerous jobs, including as a porter at the BBC London, working as a jewellery assembler in a factory in Hatton Garden and also in a number of roles at a showbiz solicitor's office where he was a trainee legal executive and ran errands for a few of the British movie and music names of the time.
He is a creative spirit who also likes dabbling in music and art himself. When he was in the jewellery business he personally made over ten thousand 14 carat gold gate bracelets which was a great learning experience for him. However, he was more interested in media and always wanted to write suspense books with a melodramatic element and so spent years reading them and working on various projects. He is also interested in romantic and fantasy fiction. And despite being a Catholic he is interested in New Age literature, mythology and metaphysics.
But meeting people has always inspired him the most and he has had the good fortune to meet quite a few interesting people. He was personally friends with horror writer, Denis Wheatley's housekeeper when she lived in Blackheath, and knew poet John Pudney who lived nearby before he passed. One of the most interesting people that he met was the daughter of the Captain of the Titanic with whom he had tea in her cottage up in Suffolk. Miss Smith was a lady with a big personality and a very interesting home. She was surrounded with Titanic memorabilia wherever you looked. Jones was only a boy at the time and didn't appreciate the significance of all this stuff, but regrets not quizzing her on the catastrophic event which has forever featured large in shipping folklore!
PERSONAL MESSAGE:
I WANT TO EXPRESS my gratitude to readers who have bothered to download my books. I put a lot of effort into them and also design my own covers, and so it is a wonderful reward to get a download. Every author on this platform will be grateful for them because writing can be a lonely and thankless task. It is only the reader who makes it all worth while, and so thanks very much again.
HHJ