Thanks for dropping by my First Kiss Friday blog. I hope you have something fun planned for the holiday weekend. Please welcome my friend Anna St. Claire who has an excerpt from her story The Earl of Shefford . Be sure to read all the way to the end to be in the running for her giveaway. Happy reading and enjoy, my lovelies!

Excerpt:

“As we have just become betrothed, I am inclined to seal the proposal with a kiss.” Without waiting for her agreement, he slanted his head and captured her lips with his.

At first, Nora was speechless. Yet his lips felt so soft and wonderful. He pulled her closer and a strange headiness took over her senses. This kiss! Nora had known nothing like it in her life. She craved more. A sense of need thrilled and overwhelmed her. She relaxed and circled her arms about his shoulders, fingering the dark brown curls at the base of his neck. Nothing she had known had prepared her for this. He nipped gently at her closed lips and she opened them to admit his tongue, which swirled around her own and touched the sides of her mouth seemingly to gain her participation. Nora could not resist the temptation he offered and met his tongue with her own, dipping and swirling together as if in a dance. Their breaths mingled with a ferocity she had never imagined. Everywhere his hands touched, even merely sliding down her arms, sent incredible bolts of sensation to her core. She savoured the stir her body was experiencing and wanted to stay in this moment forever, but propriety dictated…she stop.

Half-heartedly, she pulled back. They both stood there, panting.

“I apologize…” he said before breaking off.

“No, please… There is no need to apologize. I… have never been kissed before… of course… and… I-I would not wish such… such a first kiss not to have been meant,” she whispered, obviously shaken.

“I was not apologizing for kissing you,” he said. “I was merely about to express my regrets for not having kissed you sooner.

Her heart gave a little flip.

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Earl of Shefford
By Anna St. Claire

Colin, Earl of Shefford visits a building he has won in a wager, having determined its address to be an excellent location for a new club. Discovering not only a fully functioning orphanage but a beautiful headmistress, who refuses his offer of an alternative establishment, he suffers a pique of temper. Irritated by her immunity to his charms, he foolishly succumbs to his intense attraction and brashly offers her a choice. Either she must accept him in a marriage of convenience or provide proof that the orphanage has value to him. 

Impoverished and needing to restore her fortunes, Miss Honoria Mason despises the members of the ton for their extravagance and blames them for her family’s loss of home and fortune. However, Nora’s life takes an eventful turn when the handsome Lord Shefford becomes the orphanage’s landlord and presents her with an ultimatum. Either she proves the orphanage’s worth to him in two weeks or becomes his convenient bride in order that he may produce an heir. She refuses to lose the orphanage she has worked so hard to preserve and so accepts his offer to marry.

Sparks fly as proximity forces them together, the better to know each other. How can romance bloom when resentment has withered their hearts?

Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/boDqvZ

About the Author:

Anna St. Claire is a big believer that nothing is impossible if you believe in yourself. She sprinkles her stories with laughter, romance, mystery and lots of possibilities, adhering to the belief that goodness and love will win the day. 

Anna is both an avid reader author of American and British historical romance. She and her husband live in Charlotte, North Carolina with their two dogs and often, their two beautiful granddaughters, who live nearby. Daughter, sister, wife, mother, and Mimi—all life roles that Anna St. Claire relishes and feels blessed to still enjoy. And she loves her pets – dogs and cats alike.

Anna relocated from New York to the Carolinas as a child. Her mother, a retired English and History teacher, always encouraged Anna’s interest in writing, after discovering short stories she would write in her spare time. 

As a child, she loved mysteries and checked out every Encyclopedia Brown story that came into the school library. Before too long, her fascination with history and reading led her to her first historical romance—Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind, now a treasured, but weathered book from being read multiple times. The day she discovered Kathleen Woodiwiss,’ books, Shanna and Ashes In The Wind, Anna became hooked. She read every historical romance that came her way and dreams of writing her own historical romances took seed.

Today, her focus is primarily the Regency and Civil War eras, although Anna enjoys almost any period in American and British history. She would love to connect with any of her readers on her website – www.annastclaire.com, through email—annastclaireauthor@gmail.com, BookBub – www.bookbub.com/profile/anna-st-claire, Twitter – @1AnnaStClaire, Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/authorannastclaire/ or on Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Anna-St-Claire/e/B078WMRHHF?ref= .

Giveaway Opportunity

Join my newsletter and submit the answer to this for a chance to win an eBook copy from my backlist.

1. What is the name of the young man that ran for help when Lord Shefford was injured?
2. www.annastclaire.com (web address to join my newsletter)