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First Kiss Friday with Jennae Vale

14 Friday May 2021

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Welcome to my First Kiss Friday blog. I’d like to welcome my dear friend Jennae Vale today who is sharing a first kiss scene from Green Sky At Night. Happy reading and enjoy, my lovelies!

Excerpt:

She’d thanked him numerous times since she met him. Words of thanks hardly seemed enough for all he’d done for her. Danielle counted herself lucky he’d been there to save her and that he’d then taken her under his wing and continued to feel responsible for her. A sudden rush of warmth overcame her as they stood outside the door to her room at the inn. She kissed his cheek.

His arm snaked around her waist, holding her close to his chest. “What was that for?” he asked, his voice a low rumble in her ear.

“Can’t a lady kiss her friend?” She was in trouble now. Sexy man trouble. The best kind of trouble. She could feel it all the way down to her toes.

“Only if the same goes for her friend.” He dipped his head, gently kissing her lips, before slowly and deeply kissing her again.

If Danielle had been tingling before, she was now on fire. Heat surged through her and left her aching in all the important places. She hoped he would kiss her again, but instead he let her go.

“Ye should rest before this evening’s gala.” He opened the door to her room.

“I might need help getting ready.” Danielle eyed him through fluttering lashes.

He winked at her. “I’ll have the innkeeper send someone up.”

She walked into the room and turned to invite him in, but he closed the door before she had a chance to speak. It had been a long time since a kiss had thrown her that off kilter and it took her a minute before her heart slowed down and her breathing went back to normal. She wanted more of that – more of him. Danielle was torn between her need to return to her own time and the very real feelings she was developing for Jameson. She had no idea how this was all going to end, but for now she was going to live in the moment.    

Green Sky At Night
By Jennae Vale

Danielle York has fallen through time and into the arms of pirate captain, Jameson Mackall. Mistaking the ship and crew who rescue her as just part of a totally authentic pirate party cruise, she’s in for a shock when she realizes where and when she actually is. With no idea how she got there or how to get home, Danielle must trust in the people of the time, but should she trust a pirate?

Jameson Mackall proves to her again and again that he will help her navigate the murky waters of the century she finds herself in. He wants Danielle to stay, but understands her need to leave. If she’s able to go home, time and distance will destroy the bond that has grown between them. If she stays, she must answer one question. Is the pirate life for her?

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0916JYC18

About the author:

Jennae Vale is a best-selling author of romance with a touch of magic.  As a history buff from an early age, Jennae often found herself day-dreaming in history class and wondering what it would be like to live in the places and time periods she was learning about.  Writing time travel romance has given her an opportunity to take those daydreams and turn them into stories to share with readers everywhere.

Originally from the Boston area, Jennae now lives in the San Francisco Bay area, where some of her characters also reside.  When Jennae isn’t writing, she enjoys spending time with her family and her pets, and daydreaming, of course.

Social Media links:

www.jennaevaleauthor.com
www.facebook.com/jennaevaleauthor
www.twitter.com/jennaevale
www.instagram.com/jennaevale
www.bookbub.com/authors/jennae-vale

Medieval Monday with Bambi Lynn

10 Monday May 2021

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Today is the last week of Medieval Monday and our First Kiss theme. Please welcome my last guest, Bambi Lynn, who is sharing a snippet from her novel A Knight In Rusted Armor. Thanks for joining us for the past fourteen weeks and happy reading, my lovelies!

Snippet:

Allys looked past him, her thoughts a mass of perplexity. Where was that spark? The spark that ignited her entire being into flame when Lord Svenson kissed her?

She looked back to Paul and wondered briefly if he had done it right. “Let us try one more thing,” she said as she pulled her hand from his. She turned her body completely around, encircled his shoulders with her arms, pressed her breasts against his chest and kissed him with as much ardor as she could muster.

When she finally pulled away from him, she put her hand over mouth and pressed her eyebrows together. “Hummpf.” She shook her head. “How strange,” she mumbled.

She looked up at Paul and shrugged. “Shall we go?”

A Knight in Rusted Armor
By Bambi Lynn

Duty is the essence of manhood.

Allys Stone would risk repute as a ruined woman to gain control of her life. Thorin Svenson would battle the most skilled knights in the realm to win her. Theirs is a love story of fairy tales and wild passion, a battle of wills as well as brawn.

Allys wants to choose her own husband, one who loves life and laughter as much as she does. One who considers her a partner instead of a possession. She has never had any choice but to live by her father’s decisions, and now he’s offering her as grand prize in a tournament.

Thorin must win the hand of a nobleman’s daughter to regain the wealth and position of his family. Consumed by guilt, he will risk his very life to win. Not even her attempts to sabotage his victory will get in his way.

BUY LINK: Amazon

Medieval Monday with Jenna Jaxon

03 Monday May 2021

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We’ve only two weeks left to our First Kiss theme for Medieval Monday. I know… where does the time go, right? Today’s guest is Jenna Jaxon who is sharing a snippet from her novel Betrayal. I just love this cover, don’t you? Enjoy this snippet and happy reading, my lovelies.

Snippet:

She breathed deeply in relief then remembered his earlier words. She arched her eyebrows. “Is this how you kiss your sister then?”

His mouth dropped open but, after a stunned moment, his laughter rang out. It was so catching, Alyse had no choice but to join in. At last, Thomas wiped his eyes and settled his gaze on her. A flicker of admiration lurked there.

BETRAYAL
(Time Enough to Love, Book 2)
By Jenna Jaxon

The worst betrayals come from within.

After a night of passion with her betrothed, Sir Geoffrey Longford, Lady Alyse de Courcy is eagerly looking forward to her wedding. But when Geoffrey is forced to marry another, a heartbroken and possibly pregnant Alyse finds herself in her own private hell. She must either gamble with her reputation or marry someone she does not love.

A reputed connoisseur of women, Thomas, Lord Braeton, has dallied with many ladies of King Edward’s court, although he has favored none. However, as Geoffrey’s best friend, Thomas has sworn to serve and protect Alyse, an oath now sorely tested when he agrees to marry her—in name only—to guard her reputation. Yet, as they grow closer, and Thomas discovers Alyse’s sweet but spirited nature, he comes to desire a marriage in truth. 

Can he overcome her memory of Geoffrey, or is Thomas doomed to burn with passion for a woman he can never possess?

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I4IKQ8G/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i25
Smashwords,: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/403200
B & N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/betrayal-jenna-jaxon/1118591851?ean=2940045674331
iTunes: https://books.apple.com/us/book/betrayal-book-2-time-enough-to-love/id815348280
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/betrayal-book-2-time-enough-to-love

Last week’s snippet on Ruth A. Casie’s blog: http://ruthacasie.blogspot.com/
Follow along next week on Judith Sterling’s blog: https://judithmarshallauthor.com/blog/

Medieval Monday with Judith Sterling

26 Monday Apr 2021

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Happy Medieval Monday, my lovelies, and a warm welcome to my guest Judith Sterling. Today Judith is sharing a snippet from her novel Return of the Raven. We hope you enjoy it and happy reading!

Snippet:

Firelight twinkled in her eyes as she grinned in return. “Thank you…I think.” All at once, her smile died. “Griff…I’ve not told you all.”

Uh oh. “You said you saw two moments in time. What happened in the second one?”

“I was bathing in a large tub…in my time.”

An image of her naked perfection luxuriating in a bath commandeered his thoughts and kept a persistent part of him at attention. Down, boy! He cleared his mind. “So you saw a moment from your past. What does it matter now?”

“It matters because I’ve never seen that tub before.”

Return of the Raven
by Judith Sterling

True love is eternal.

Margaret, Lady Ravenwood, is trapped in a loveless marriage and firmly entrenched in the medieval world. Along comes Griffin Nightshade, a historian from the future whose soul resonates with hers. He persuades her to return with him to the 1950s, but heeding her heart means courting danger from a curse that could spell her doom.

Haunted by his parents’ sudden deaths, Griffin knows all too well the pain born of love lost. He guards his emotions, but Margaret delves deep and goes straight to the soul. She’s hard to resist…and harder to set free.

The heart’s desire and history’s demands don’t always agree. Yet true love is eternal.

Buy links:

Amazon https://amzn.com/B08RYD2GW8

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Return-Raven-Novels-Ravenwood-Book-ebook/dp/B08RYD2GW8

Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/return-of-the-raven-judith-sterling/1138556276

Apple https://books.apple.com/us/book/return-of-the-raven/id1547199256

See last week’s snippet on Ruth A. Casie’s blog: www.RuthACasie.blogspot.com
Follow along next week on Anastasia Abboud’s blog: https://www.anastasiaabboud.com/grainsofsand

First Kiss Friday with Mary Lancaster

23 Friday Apr 2021

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It’s a pleasure to welcome my guest Mary Lancaster to my First Kiss Friday Blog. We’ve been celebrating the success of our box set Storm & Shelter and Mary has her first kiss scene to share with you today. Enjoy this excerpt from Mary’s novella An Improbably Hero. Happy reading, my lovelies!

Excerpt:

She could only pad forlornly back to her own makeshift couch, where she lay listening to his breathing which sounded quite peaceful and even, as though he had gone straight back to sleep. 

Only, she was sure he hadn’t. 

A few minutes later, he proved her right by slipping from the bed. She heard the creak of the mattress, a rustle of cloth and the soft thud of feet on the floor. A black shadow moved through the darkness toward the door.

Instinctively, she leapt after him, bumping into the chest of drawers in her hurry. “Wait! Where are you going?” She tripped over something, possibly her own too-long chemise, and seized hold of him at the same moment as his arm swept around her waist to steady her. There seemed to be a bundle of clothing between them, held in his free hand.

“It seems I am not cut out for marriage,” he said sardonically. “I would rather sleep alone.”

“Where?” she demanded.

He shrugged. “In the parlor, or the tap room, I don’t much care.”

“But they will say we have had a quarrel and gossip. Think of the Tattler…”

“I would really rather not.”

“Actually, I don’t care about that at the moment either,” she admitted, “I am trying to persuade you to stay.”

“Why?”

“Why?” Actually, she didn’t know. “Because there is no need…it’s comfortab— You don’t need to run away from me. I am your friend.”

It was too dark to see his expression but she was sure she had taken him by surprise.

“Friend,” he repeated with derision. “And what do you think a friend should do in this situation? Whatever you imagine this situation to be.”

The grip of his arm had altered subtly. She was only too aware of its heat and strength, the intimate touch of his fingers at her waist. “Give you comfort,” she blurted, because she knew that was what he needed even if he would neither admit or accept it. 

A breath that might have been laughter stirred her hair. “Oh, I hoped you would say that. And what would you do to comfort me?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

“Well, I can help there.” 

The clothes between them slipped to the floor as he changed position. She gasped as his fingers slipped up her throat, sending wild, delicious shivers the length of her spine. Before she could grasp what any of it meant, he took hold of her chin and his mouth found hers.

Too shocked to move, she let it happen. And by the time she realized the danger, her lips were parted and trembling under his, and her whole body thrilled to the novelty. The enveloping darkness felt curiously hot.

“What a sweet distraction,” he whispered against her mouth as he swept her closer. He seemed to be wearing only his shirt, flapping loosely over unbuttoned breeches, and the intimacy overwhelmed her. She flung up one hand to clutch the shirt at his back, to steady herself as much as to pull him away, but somehow her hand tangled in the linen and she touched hot, velvet skin.

Distraction indeed. Her hand flattened over smoothness and ridges and undulating muscle, and the world tilted as he lifted her in his arms and strode to the bed. 

As he laid her down with dizzying speed, his mouth left hers at last. An inarticulate sound of protest escaped her. The exciting heat of his body had gone, though one of his hands gripped her shoulder, then stroked gently across her collar bone to her throat.

His breath tickled her ear, sparking a slew of fresh sensation. “You are a sweet girl and a heady distraction. But perhaps I am not yet quite lost. You sleep in the bed.”

An Improbable Hero by Mary Lancaster

A runaway heiress, a mysterious stranger.

When Letty’s ship founders in a violent storm, she forges a rare bond with her rescuer.

Simon is a troubled man on a final, deadly mission—until the spirited yet soothing Letty makes him question everything. Hiding in plain sight among the refugees at The Queen’s Barque, Simon is more than capable of protecting them both. But when the floods recede, can either of them say goodbye?

Storm & Shelter: A Bluestocking Belles Collection With Friends Blurb:

When a storm blows off the North Sea and slams into the village of Fenwick on Sea, the villagers prepare for the inevitable: shipwreck, flood, land slips, and stranded travelers. The Queen’s Barque Inn quickly fills with the injured, the devious, and the lonely—lords, ladies, and simple folk; spies, pirates, and smugglers all trapped together. Intrigue crackles through the village, and passion lights up the hotel.

One storm, eight authors, eight heartwarming novellas.

Buy Links: 

Amazon US |  Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Google Books | Kobo

Amazon AU |BR |CA |DE |ES |FR |IN |IT |JP |MX |NL |UK

Angus & Robertson

About the author:

Mary Lancaster lives in Scotland with her husband, three mostly grown-up kids and a small, crazy dog. 

Her first literary love was historical fiction, a genre which she relishes mixing up with romance and adventure in her own writing. Several of her novels feature actual historical characters as diverse as Hungarian revolutionaries, medieval English outlaws, and a family of eternally rebellious royal Scots. To say nothing of Vlad the Impaler.

Her most recent books are light fun Regency romances.

Media Links: 

Website: http://www.MaryLancaster.com

Newsletter sign-up: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/e2p7c6

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mary.lancaster.1656

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/MaryLancasterNovelist/

Twitter: @MaryLancNovels  https://twitter.com/MaryLancNovels

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Lancaster/e/B00DJ5IACI

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/mary-lancaster

Medieval Monday with Ruth A. Casie

12 Monday Apr 2021

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It’s Medieval Monday and we are continuing on with our First Kiss theme. Today’s guest is Ruth A. Casie who is sharing a snippet from her novel Knight of Runes. We hope you enjoy her excerpt. Happy reading, my lovelies.

Snippet:

She looked down at the sapphire, then up at him with a devastating smile. “I’ll have to ask Jeannie if I can borrow it again.” A blush painted her face a soft pink.

He pulled her close, his heart pounding an erratic rhythm. The anticipation was almost unbearable. “Sweet Rebeka, make me immortal with your kiss.” He covered her mouth with his, tasting the mead still on her breath, then he pulled away and gazed into her eyes. The very air around them sizzled.

Knight of Runes
by Ruth A. Casie

He is her key to return to the 21st century. She is the only one who can save him.

England
May, 1605

When Lord Arik, a druid knight, finds Rebeka Tyler wandering his lands without protection, he swears to keep her safe. But Rebeka can take care of herself. When Arik sees her clash with a group of attackers using a strange fighting style, he’s intrigued.

Rebeka is no ordinary seventeenth-century woman—she’s travelled back from the year 2011, and she desperately wants to return to her own time. She poses as a scholar sent by the king to find out what’s killing Arik’s land. But as she works to decode the ancient runes that are the key to solving this mystery and sending her home, she finds herself drawn to the charismatic and powerful Arik.

As Arik and Rebeka fall in love, someone in Arik’s household schemes to keep them apart, and a dark druid with a grudge prepares his revenge. Soon Rebeka will have to decide whether to return to the future or trust Arik with the secret of her time travel and her heart. 

“Ruth A. Casie, weaves an exciting and beautifully told legendary tale that is both rich and engaging.  It is full of, ‘on the edge of your seat’ suspense, mind-boggling drama and a forever-after romance. Ms. Casie’s sparkling new novel, KNIGHT OF RUNES is a winner!” ~ Romance Junkies

Buy Links: Amazon: https://amzn.to/2C73zRV

Follow along next week (April 19) for excerpt #11 here https://judithmarshallauthor.com/blog/
Please leave a comment below. Miss last week and a chance to comment? Check it out here: https://www.anastasiaabboud.com/

Medieval Monday with Cathy & DD MacRae

05 Monday Apr 2021

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I’m glad to have you returning for another Medieval Monday. It’s always a pleasure to have my friend Cathy MacRae back on my blog. We hope you enjoy this snippet from her novel The Highlander’s Pirate Bride. Happy reading and enjoy, my lovelies!]

Snippet:

She took his hand and did not resist as he drew her before him. The room, boasting little more than a sullen glow of peat on the hearth, was suddenly much too warm, the walls much too close, her gown—albeit one she’d outgrown months earlier—much too tight.

The Highlander’s Pirate Bride
By Cathy & DD MacRae

Will the theft of the wrong ship land her in a hangman’s noose? Or a Highlander’s arms?

Blurb:

As the pirate The Black MacNeill, Rona MacNeill has stolen more than one English ship to keep her clan from starving. With Yule only days away, will the theft of the wrong ship land her in a hangman’s noose? Or the arms of a Highlander?

Rona MacNeill has done everything she can to help her small, impoverished clan—except marry for money. Her luck seems to lie in stealing ships, not attracting suitors. Only days before Yule, she seeks one last ship with stores to keep her people fed over the long, harsh winter. Too bad her luck has run out.

Pedr MacLean is happy to be the younger (by three minutes) son of Baron MacLean. His days are filled with running the family’s shipping business and sailing the world. His heart belongs to the sea—or so he thinks, until one of his ships is stolen, and the woman responsible turns his world upside down.

Drawn to Rona’s strength and love of the sea, Pedr will agree to her father’s demand—information on the whereabouts of his ship in exchange for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Will Rona find herself caught between a marriage of convenience and a hangman’s noose? Or will she discover something far more compelling?

The Highlander’s Pirate Bride is the swash-buckling seventh addition to the Hardy Heroines series. If you like pirates, rags-to-riches, and swoon-worthy Highlanders, you’ll love Cathy & DD MacRae’s newest high-seas romance.

Buy link:  https://www.amzn.com/dp/B08WFJFT8D

First Kiss Friday with Rue Allyn

02 Friday Apr 2021

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Welcome to my First Kiss Friday Blog. Today’s guest is fellow Bluestocking Belle Rue Allyn who has an excerpt from her novella Wait for Me in the Belles’ boxset Storm & Shelter. The set releases April 13th. The paperback is now available and the eBook is currently up for a special preorder price of only $0.99. Grab your copy quick before the price goes up after release date. Enjoy this excerpt from Rue’s novella. Happy reading, my lovelies.

Excerpt:

An unidentifiable racket interrupted, but she could not look away. Then an unseen force pushed her in Gilroy’s direction. His arms closed about her as a storm of activity surrounded them.

“Ooof.”

Eyes wide she tilted her head and stared past his shoulder. At full speed, Hector, the dog from the inn fled out the open church door with a stream of boys trailing after him. She straightened and found herself smiling into Brandon’s face. He smiled back.

She could not have said how the kiss happened, or who broke away first. She found herself with her back against the wall, fingers to her mouth astonished at the sensations the brief meeting of lips caused.

Gilroy seemed equally surprised. He did an about face and fled, moving as if Napoleon’s entire army were on his heels.

What in the world? Her lips still tingled and confusion swirled below her stomach. In front of her, the register stood forgotten. She’d never experienced anything like that. She’d kissed men before but had never wished the activity had gone on for hours.

About Wait for Me:  Esmeralda Crobbin, aka the pirate Irish Red, and Captain, Lord Brandon Gilroy were enemies by nature who first met during a battle at sea. But fate trumps nature when a fierce storm creates a chance encounter and forced proximity. Brandon learns the pirate is a woman of serious honor and responsibility. Esmeralda discovers the captain is more than a uniform stuffed with rules and regulations. Both love the sea with boundless passion, but can they love each other?

About Storm & Shelter: When a storm blows off the North Sea and slams into the village of Fenwick on Sea, the villagers prepare for the inevitable: shipwreck, flood, land slips, and stranded travelers. The Queen’s Barque Inn quickly fills with the injured, the devious, and the lonely—lords, ladies, and simple folk; spies, pirates, and smugglers all trapped together. Intrigue crackles through the village, and passion lights up the hotel. One storm, eight authors, eight heartwarming novellas.

Storm & Shelter is available for Pre-order now for only $0.99 until release day, April 13, 2021 when the price goes up.

About Rue Allyn: Award winning author, Rue Allyn, learned story telling at her grandfather’s knee. (Well it was really more like on his knee—I was two.) She’s been weaving her own tales ever since. She has worked as an instructor, mother, sailor, clerk, sales associate, and painter, along with a variety of other types of employment. She has lived and traveled in places all over the globe from Keflavik Iceland (I did not care much for the long nights of winter.) and Fairbanks Alaska to Panama City and the streets of London England to a large number of places in between. Now that her two sons have left the nest, Rue and her husband of more than four decades (Try living with the same person for more than forty years—that’s a true adventure.) have retired and moved south.  When not writing, enjoying the nearby beach or working jigsaw puzzles, Rue travels the world and surfs the internet in search of background material and inspiration for her next heart melting romance. She loves to hear from readers, and you may contact her at Rue@RueAllyn.com.  She can’t wait to hear from you.

Find Rue Online: 

Website~~https://RueAllyn.com

Blog~~ https://www.rueallyn.com/blog/

Facebook~~https://www.facebook.com/RueAllynAuthor

Twitter~~https://twitter.com/RueAllyn

Amazon~~https://www.amazon.com/Rue-Allyn/e/B00AUBF3NI/

Goodreads~~https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5031290.Rue_Allyn

Pinterest~~https://www.pinterest.com/RueAllyn/

Keep up with all the news about Rue Allyn and deals for her books, Sign up for Rue’s News quarterly newsletter here, and receive a free download.

Medieval Monday with Barbara Bettis

29 Monday Mar 2021

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It’s another Medieval Monday and today’s guest is Barbara Bettis who is sharing a snippet from her novel The Lady of the Forest. Happy reading and enjoy, my lovelies!

Snippet:

One quick flip and she’d be under him, pinned to the ground at his mercy. His body approved the idea, but his mind attempted to impose control. Although he relished the sensation of her length pressed against him, he winced at a jab to a scar along his ribs, and his inconvenient erection began to soften.

The absurdity of their plight made him smile. “I could make any number of suggestions in this position.” 

“You’re too wise for that.”

“Ummm. I will say this.” He slid his hands down her back, over her curves, and up her sides. “For such a soft lady, you have the sharpest elbows in the shire.”

His hands wrapped around her upper arms, and a rumble grew low in his belly.

The Lady of the Forest
By Barbara Bettis

He must pursue his enemy; she must protect her people. Can their love survive the duties that drive them apart?

When her elderly husband dies, Lady Katherine fakes her own death and disappears into the forest with others escaping the brutish new lord. Determined to protect her people, she knocks the wrong man senseless. But Lord Henry isn’t an enemy, he’s the brother of her childhood friend. Although his tender confidence tempts her, she’s bound by duty.

Henry of Chauvere has found the one lady he wants for his own, never mind she’s tied him hand and foot. When he learns the king has ordered her to wed Stonehill’s ruthless new master, he insists Kate seek haven with his sister. But she won’t desert her friends. Henry vows to solve her problem, provided he catches a traitor before the threat from Kate’s past catches her.

When a daring rescue compels Henry and Kate to join forces, their attraction grows into love. If only duty didn’t drive them apart.

Buy Link –  http://amzn.to/2gIrn1j

First Kiss Friday with Caroline Warfield

26 Friday Mar 2021

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Welcome to my First Kiss Friday blog! Today’s guest is Caroline Warfield who will be sharing an excerpt from her novella The Tender Flood found in the Bluestocking Belles’ box set Storm & Shelter. The boxset is currently on sale at a special preorder price of only $0.99. Grad your copy before the price increases. Release date is April 13th! Read on and enjoy this excerpt, my lovelies.

In THE TENDER FLOOD a coachman who believes himself beneath an earl’s granddaughter tries to keep his distance. He fails. This is their first kiss.

Excerpt:

“I’ll check the barn one last time. Be ready to go.”

Patience groaned. Her heart fell, forcing her to admit she had hoped for a declaration—of affection of—she refused to think farther than that. She grabbed up the few things she meant to take in a sack, including a jug of milk for Hercules. A sound at the door drew her attention; he had come back and stood holding the door jamb with both hands.

Before she could speak, he crossed the room and pulled her into a crushing embrace, taking her mouth with his until her knees failed and she had only his embrace to rely on.

***

Insanity born of hope. Zach could think of no other explanation for his behavior. When she responded to his kiss with sweet passion, coherent thought eluded him. One dainty hand slid up his neck and into his hair as if to pull him closer. The other clung to his shirt. He pulled his mouth away forcing himself to gentle the kiss, only to nibble the corner of her mouth and kiss his way across her cheek to her ear.

She groaned and followed his lead, the difference in their height, enabling her to kiss his neck just above his collar. An urge to tear his shirt off to give her access shook him, bringing him to his senses. He removed the hand that had somehow migrated to her round little behind and the one around her back anchoring her to him, gripping her by her upper arms instead.

He held her away, but not far, their mouths still inches apart.

“A gentleman would have offered for you first thing this morning, before Banks even arrived. This display of behavior—”

“Are you saying you aren’t a gentleman, Zach?” She wrinkled up her nose, teasing him adorably.

His laugh tasted bitter on his tongue. “I’m no man of leisure, wealth, or title. Isn’t that the definition of a gentleman?”

“If behavior matters, you’re more gentleman than all the social climbing fops who thought to pursue my uncle’s favor by courting me.”

That startled him. It cooled his heated blood like an ice bath. “Is that what happened? Why you aren’t married?”

She nodded shyly, dipping her forehead to his chest. “It was long ago.”

“Fools the lot of them,” he muttered, kissing the top of her head. “Come sit. We need to speak rationally, and I can’t with you this close.”

ABOUT THE TENDER FLOOD

Neither battle nor loss of his leg destroyed Zachery Newell. Working as a coachman, he tries to build a life in spite of his injuries, while he plans for the sort of life he knew in childhood, happy and content above his father’s print shop, but when a woman races out of the storm and into the stable yard of The Queen’s Barque with a wagon full of small boys, puppies, and a bag of books, he is enchanted.

Dismissed by a charity school, Patience Abney struggles on her own to create The Academy for the Formation of Young Gentlemen to give every boy a happy and productive life. Now the roof has caved in. Though she managed to get her boys to the safety of an inn, she has no idea how she will rebuild.

Zach knows Patience, the granddaughter of an earl, is far above the touch of shopkeeper’s son. He tries to keep his distance, but when the two of them make their way across the flooded marsh to her damaged school in search of a missing boy, attraction grows into passion, complicating everything.

ABOUT STORM & SHELTER

Eight Authors, Eight Heartwarming Novellas, One Catastrophic Storm

When a storm blows off the North Sea and slams into the village of Fenwick on Sea, the villagers prepare for the inevitable: shipwreck, flood, land slips, and stranded travelers. The Queen’s Barque Inn quickly fills with the injured, the devious, and the lonely—lords, ladies, and simple folk; spies, pirates, and smugglers all trapped together. Intrigue crackles through the village, and passion lights up the hotel.

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Angus & Robertson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Award winning author of family centered romance set in the Regency and Victorian eras, Caroline Warfield has been many things, and believes she is now in at least her third act. She works in an office surrounded by windows where she lets her characters lead her to adventures in England and the far-flung corners of the British Empire while she nudges them to explore the riskiest territory of all, the human heart. 

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