It’s always a pleasure when I can welcome back a fellow friend and author to my First Kiss Friday Blog. Ruth A. Casie has an excerpt from her latest release A Vow for the Viscount. We hope you enjoy this excerpt and happy reading. Take it away Ruth!
Some kisses begin stories.
Some end them.
And some, rare, impossible, unforgettable, rewrite everything a heart thought it knew.
Mary Ann Seaton’s very first kiss with Quinton Hollingsworth was a goodbye. He was leaving for war. She was young and hopeful and certain she would spend her life waiting for him. His letters sustained her… until they didn’t.
Until the cruelest news reached her: Quinton was dead.
Years passed. Grief softened. Life pressed forward. Now Mary Ann is preparing to marry a man who offers safety, steadiness, and a future without fear. Not love. Not longing. Not the impossible ache of what once was.
But fate is a stubborn thing.
On a quiet path behind her aunt’s house, the man she mourned, her first love, steps into view. Alive. Changed. Standing before her with the same steady eyes she once trusted more than her own heartbeat.
Below is the moment everything shifts…their second first kiss, unexpected, breathtaking, and destined to unravel every certainty she has tried to build.
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Excerpt – Second First Kiss Scene (from Chapter 17)
She exhaled, slowly and quietly.
“It’s harder now. Everything feels murky. But I remember how things used to be… how my uncle handled the manifests. How certain ships arrived with more cargo than they had when they left. I think something started changing even before you left.”
It should have been a relief.. It wasn’t. Not quite. The silence between them filled again, not with tension, but with something heavier. Familiar.
“Mary-Ann…”
He stepped closer. She did not move.
“I never stopped—”
“Don’t,” she whispered. “Please.”
His breath caught. Not at the words, but how they trembled. He reached for her hand, slowly, giving her time to retreat. She didn’t. Their breath mingled between them, suspended, fragile.
He searched her face… not for permission, but for recognition. And when he found it, everything inside him went still.
Her fingers met his. Tentative at first. Then sure.
A memory flickered, laughter, lemon drops, an inkwell she’d knocked over two years before. It softened her breath, loosened something inside her. She laughed, just once. He smiled. The shift was subtle, but the air thickened, warmed.
His thumb brushed the edge of her glove. That was all it took.
He leaned in. She did too.
Their lips met in the space between restraint and longing, shattering every careful silence they’d built. The kiss wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t rehearsed. It was raw and aching and full of every year they had spent trying, and failing, to forget how it felt to be loved like this.
She pressed closer, fingers curling into his coat. He gathered her in as if the years of loss had carved a space only she could fill.
When they parted, neither spoke. Her heart raced; her lips tingled with the truth of it. He touched her cheek with the back of his hand, gentle, reverent.
“I’m not sorry that happened,” he said quietly.
She couldn’t answer. The truth was too bright, too fragile for words. But her eyes held his. They always had.
A Vow for A Viscount
By Ruth A. Casie
Will Mary Ann choose duty…or the man she thought she’d lost forever?
Find out in A Vow for the Viscount, where second chances, long-buried secrets, and a love worth fighting for collide in a story that will stay with you long after the final page.
Now available at https://books2read.com/BB-Vow4Viscount
Available on Kindle Unlimited and in paperback
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Barrington’s Brigade
Barrington’s Brigade follows six war-forged officers who return to England as titled gentlemen, only to find themselves embroiled in a secret society’s dangerous legacy. Bound by loyalty and haunted by the past, each must navigate peril, politics, and passion in pursuit of truth and love.
Book 1 – A Marriage for the Marquess
A marriage of convenience, a game of hearts.
Book 2 – A Dilemma for the Duke
In a game of loyalty and lies, surrendering to love is the boldest move of all.
Book 3 – A Redemption for the Baron
A tale of love and sacrifice, where the path to justice leads straight through the heart.
Book 4 – A Vow for the Viscount
Two hearts. One reckoning. A vow that changes everything.
Book 5 – A Reckoning for the Earl (January 2026)
When trust cuts deep and love even deeper, reckoning isn’t optional.
Book 6 – A Masquerade for the Baron (April 2026)
Stolen kisses. Ruthless enemies. A love unmasked.
If you’ve missed getting any of the stories, here is the link to the series: https://amzn.to/4888I8Y
About the Author
Ruth A Casie writes historical adventures from the shores of medieval Scotland to the cobblestone streets of Regency London. Her stories embrace strong woman and the men who deserve them. Within the pages you’ll discover ‘edge-of-your-seat suspense, mind boggling drama, and heart melting emotions. Grab your favorite cup of tea, or an ale if you prefer, and join her heroes and heroines as they race across the pages to find their happily ever after. Ruth hopes her stories are your next favorite adventures!
Website: https://www.RuthACasie.com
Email Ruth@RuthACasie.com