Welcome back to another First Kiss Friday. Today’s guest author is Anne Rollins who has an excerpt from her novel Secrets of Selwyn Castle. We hope you enjoy this first kiss scene. Happy reading, my lovelies!
Excerpt:
“Merry Christmas, Miss Burnley. I hope you had a pleasant holiday, even though you were away from home.” It might have been her imagination, but she thought Lord Inglewhite’s smile deepened as he looked into her eyes.
“I did, thank you.” She did her best to keep her voice pleasant and her face happy. She had no desire to reveal any of her heartache. But she flicked her eyes up to the mistletoe one last time before stepping forward.
He glanced up, too, and his smile fell. “Who put that there?” he grumbled. “We had enough kissing yesterday.”
Did we? Ivy wondered. It had not seemed enough to her, because she had not gotten to kiss Lord Inglewhite. After tonight, the mistletoe would be put away, and she would have lost her chance. Such an opportunity was unlikely to ever present itself again, for there could be no reason for her to return to Selwyn Castle for another Christmas. Once Rose was married, Ivy would not need to attend matchmaking events as her chaperone.
Now or never, then. Ivy made her decision in the span of a racing heartbeat, and did not give herself a chance to second-guess her actions. She stepped closer to the earl, stood on her tip-toes, and kissed him on the cheek. At least, that was what she meant to do. But at the last second, he turned his head a little, and her kiss landed squarely on his mouth. Oops.
Startled by this turn of events, Ivy wobbled on her toes. She might have fallen, had Lord Inglewhite not caught her. He steadied her with one hand on either side of her waist. She started to thank him, but she never got the words out, because he lowered his head and kissed her back. Not a quick, friendly kiss, such as anyone might exchange under the kissing bough on Christmas day, but a soft, lingering one of the sort only lovers shared.
For a moment, she let herself savor the feeling of his mouth against hers, his lips teasing at hers. She pressed her mouth against his, hungry for the warmth of his touch. She had not been kissed like this before, but she would not have minded being kissed this way again—or rather, she would not have minded if the situation were different. Her heart ached as she considered all the possible consequences of this exchange. She reluctantly pulled her mouth away from his, wishing she’d had the wisdom to ignore the mistletoe entirely.
What had she done?
Secrets of Selwyn Castle
By Anne Rollins
Richard Selwyn has a simple plan: throw a holiday house party to help his younger brother find a wife. Richard, having no desire to disturb his comfortable bachelor life, isn’t looking for his own match. But he didn’t expect a castle full of secrets, a jewel thief, and a kiss under the mistletoe that might very well change the course of his life.
Ivy Burnley was raised in luxury by her noble uncle and aunt, but her own parentage is so scandalous that she believes herself unfit to marry a gentleman. She arrives at Selwyn Castle intending only to help chaperone her debutante cousin during the house party. As Christmas draws nearer, winter walks, evening waltzes, and a handsome earl challenge Ivy’s resolution to stay single.
When an unknown thief steals one of Ivy’s most priceless possessions, she’ll need Richard’s help to move past the shame of her background and uncover all the secrets at Selwyn Castle.
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1DS2QB7
About the Author:
Anne Rollins is the pen name of an English professor who lives in Northern California with her family, her pets, and an enormous collection of books. She is a fan of Diana Wynne Jones, Jane Austen, and Patricia Wrede— all of whom influenced her writing in different ways. Secrets at Selwyn Castle is the first book in her Beau Monde Secrets quartet, a series of closed-door historical romances with a pinch of mystery.
Social media:
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