Tag Archives: First Kiss Friday

First Kiss Friday with Sophia Nye

19 Friday Feb 2021

Posted by in 2021, First Kiss Friday

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Welcome to my First Kiss Friday blog! I’m so happy you’ve stopped by and if you’ve been joining in on our Medieval Monday blog you’ll have seen posts from author Sophia Nye. Sophia is joining us today with a fist kiss scene from her story A Wild Winter. We hope you enjoy this excerpt. Happy reading, my lovelies!

Scene Set-Up: Gemma and Aidan are being pursued by English knights intent on taking custody of Gemma. Gemma decided that Aidan was being foolish, so she left him to hide on her own. But, as she’ll soon realize, her relentless rescuer doesn’t give up quite so easily…

Excerpt:

At the bottom of the ravine, Gemma found precisely what she’d hoped. A deep overhang, and with it the promise of protection from anyone looking down from the road above. Such low areas of the forest held water, which made them the most densely foliated places, even in winter. Piles of leaves and six foot high stands of bramble safely hid her from the dangers lurking nearby. She wagered there was enough cover to hide even a horse for a short time.

The knights had come upon Gemma early that afternoon while patrolling the forest and recognized her. Concerned over her state of disarray after traveling on foot through the Kingswood for the better part of the night, they were insistent on accompanying her home. Had she been left to her own devices, Gemma knew she could have convinced them to leave her be. Then the Highland trio had turned up, done battle with the king’s men, and generally mucked up the situation.

The sound of shuffling leaves drew Gemma’s attention sharply from her thoughts. Something was approaching the ravine from the bottom, directly in front of her. In the dark, ‘twas difficult to see until Aidan was so close she could almost grab him. He hadn’t spotted her yet.

Conflict wracked Gemma. Her instincts told her to pull him into the safety of her hiding spot. Her mind observed that this was the perfect opportunity to be free of him and continue alone toward freedom. She could reach Banesberie and shelter there until she decided what to do next. And there wouldn’t be a Highlander to interfere.

Aidan led his horse along on foot, clearly searching for her. White moonlight bounced off his wild head of dark waves. Then he turned so that she could clearly see the expression on his face. He was worried. His narrowed eyes scoured the bottom of the ravine, a deep frown etched into his face. 

Gemma relented, filled with pity for this man trapped in unexpected peril, tracking down a woman he hardly knew to make good on a promise to a friend. Though she still had every intention of abandoning him as soon as possible, her heart ached at the look on his handsome face. He was worried about her.

Quick enough that she couldn’t change her mind, Gemma reached out of her hiding spot to grab him. Taking the reins from him yet again, she settled his horse into the bramble, tying it to a fallen log. When she looked up, Gemma realized that Aidan’s head was sticking out of the top of the bramble. Nothing was ever easy with him. She gave his arms a good yank to pull him lower.

He didn’t budge. The look of shock at his quick change of scenery gave way to anger.

“Are you mad, woman?” he hissed much too loudly. “You could have been killed!”

Gemma couldn’t care less about his tirade. She needed to get him sitting down or they’d be caught in minutes. Though she continued pulling his arms down at his elbows, a motion she thought should be perfectly clear, he persisted in his monologue.

“They might have found you before me! Gemma, are you even listening?” he paused a breath as though he might let her get a word in, but then he kept speaking. 

During the brief moment of quiet, Gemma heard hoof beats approaching on the road atop the ravine. She was running out of time.

“And we are going to have words about you stealing my horse, lass,” he began.

Out of ideas and unable to talk over of him, Gemma placed her hand on his lips. 

Instantly, he grew silent.

Gemma leaned closer to him, knowing the English would be nearly above them by now. “You must lower yourself,” she whispered in his ear, keeping her hand over his lips until she knew he understood. “They’ll see you.” She looked upward without moving her head, indicating the road just above them.

Aidan’s eyes followed hers, and she could see the understanding in them. He knelt before her, now only several inches taller than her instead of half a person. His piercing blue eyes held her gaze. A change came over his face, a look she had not seen before in those eyes. A look so unfamiliar it took her several seconds to place it. Desire.

Gemma’s heart thundered louder than the horses overhead. She realized with surprise that she liked it when he looked at her that way. She also realized that her fingers were still on his lips. Her hands slid down to his chest, resting there on the rough linen of his shirt. Their breath mingled in wisps of steam in the cold night air. Before she gathered the courage to look into his eyes again, his lips were on hers.

The searing kiss melted away any lingering chill in the frosty winter night. All of the tension, all of the fear, all of the frustration of the last day evaporated. Only this kiss remained. Aidan’s hands gripped her waist, bringing her up against him with an urgency that thrilled her.

Gemma grabbed the edges of his heavy woolen cloak, pulling it around the two of them like a blanket. She matched his passion with her own. As icy moonlight poured over their stolen kiss, deep within Gemma a fire ignited.

Aidan broke the kiss at the sound of voices from above. He checked to be sure they were safe before looking at Gemma again. Then he swallowed hard, his eyes straying over every inch of her as she stood before him.

When Cadwal had looked at her in her cottage, Gemma felt as though she would empty the contents of her stomach. As Aidan’s eyes roved her, a fluttery feeling erupted within her, and she thought she herself might be able to fly.

Gemma’s fingers traced the chiseled lines of his square jaw, working from one side to the other as she studied his masculine beauty.

“You’re going to be the death of me, lass,” he whispered.

A Wild Winter
By Sophia Nye

A Highland rescuer, a runaway princess, and their journey to escape a royal problem…

Aidan MacMaster has never felt at home in his Highland clan. Always on the lookout for excuses to leave his family in search of adventure, Aidan gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to go off in search of a missing woman.

Gemma FitzRoy, illegitimate daughter of King Henry and a Welsh princess, finds herself standing face to face with her worst nightmare: an arranged marriage to a monster of a man. After an unpleasant encounter with her would-be betrothed, Gemma takes off into the wilderness in search of a new future.

Swept away together on a journey of discovery and intrigue, Gemma and Aidan must decide between the pasts they left behind and the future they imagine together. Will one wild winter together free them from the past or freeze their hearts forever?

Buy link for book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WC78772

About the author:

A historian and archaeologist turned writer, Sophia has been making up stories since she could talk. When she isn’t working on her next novel, you can find her in the garden. Sophia lives in Indiana with her husband, two children, and their menagerie of pets.

Website: https://sophianyewrites.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SophiaNyeWrites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SophiaNyeWrites
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophianyewrites/

First Kiss Friday with Alina K. Field

18 Friday Dec 2020

Posted by in 2020, First Kiss Friday

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It’s always a pleasure when I can welcome back author Alina K. Field to my First Kiss Friday blog. With a new release right around the corner, Alina has an excerpt from Fated Hearts. Take it away Alina, and happy reading, my lovelies!

Thank you, Sherry, for having me as a guest! I’m sharing the first kiss scene from Fated Hearts, a Love After All Retelling of the Scottish Play, available for pre-order for the December 20th release. 

Fated Hearts is based on the story of Macbeth and his lady, retold as a Regency-set romance. After a failed attempt to gain his cousin’s earldom, Finnley Macbeth divorced his wife Greer and went off to war. Twenty years later, they encounter each other in London during a chaotic and eventful week in British history. In this excerpt, Macbeth is recovering from wounds received when he was beaten on the street in the midst of the Corn Riots, and Greer is caring for him. 

Excerpt: 

Framed in the candlelight, there was no lovelier vision then this woman he’d loved all his grown life. Even when he’d hated her, he’d done so with a passion, and a sorrow, and a grief that could only have been born in and sustained by love. He’d been such a fool. He would make this right.

“Mo chridhe,” he whispered. “Greer.” His throat thickened, and he cleared it. “Lay with me tonight. We need do no more than sleep.” 

She raised an eyebrow and scoffed. 

He laughed, glad she had lightened the mood. 

“Go then. Change into your nightclothes and decide what ye wish. I am here behind a locked door and with a footman guarding it outside. I’m your captive, and ye may do with me as ye desire.” 

“And the key is on your side, and the young man an easy match for a warrior, even an injured one.” 

“Aye. Yet I’ll be here. And I’m feeling much better.” The next move must be hers. Except…

He tugged her close, captured her neck, and stole a quick kiss. Then he threw back the covers, bare-arsed as the day he was born. 

Greer froze to the spot, only her hands twisting together beneath her beautiful bosom. 

Biting his lip against the soreness in his bruised body, he hoisted himself to the side of the bed and stood before her in all his glorious nakedness. 

She blinked. Her mouth opened, and closed, and then opened again. “Ye’ll rest and recover,” she said. “Ye’re not leaving. I’ll hide your coats.” 

Lightheaded he might be, but the breathlessness in her voice roused that part of him that promised to carry on. If she would let him.

She needed to choose, and she needed a few moments of time for that. After all, it had been twenty years. 

He found the discarded banyan, struggled into it, and sat down at the table near the fire. Tears welled in his eyes, and he wiped at them, cursing his surge of unmanliness. What a damned foolish, blockheaded Scotsman he’d been. 

He wanted Greer, he wanted her to be his, for the rest of his life, no matter how short or how sorry it might be. 

He must go about it the right way, though. She must see him as he was, with all his wounds, and she must decide. 

As the fire dimmed, and the moments ticked on, he waited. No noise came through the stout dressing room door. 

She wasn’t coming. Heart sinking, he pushed to his feet. 

The latch rattled and a draft of cool lavender wafted his way, drawing him around. He gripped the back of the chair as time melted away and carried him back two decades.

The dress—and, praise God—the corset, were gone. She stood in a lacy transparent shift, her dressing gown loose and untied, her feet bare, and her hair… her hair was unbound, rich tendrils reaching to tease the peaks of her breasts. 

Blood pounded into his arms and his legs and his loins, screaming Take her.

He breathed, struggling for control. Consequences, Macbeth. ’Twas a discipline he’d pressed into his men, sometimes with the lash when nothing else would restore self-restraint. A woman, any woman deserved better than to be taken unwillingly. And Greer…Greer was much, much more than any woman. 

“Greer,” he said, searching for breath. “Tha thu brèagha mo ghaol.” 

Tha thu brèagha mo ghaol.

Greer’s hands tightened at her waist, her emotions a jumble. You are beautiful, my love, he’d said. 

And but look at him, stretching the shoulders of the generously sized dressing gown, his hair in those wild flaming tangles of waves she remembered, falling all the way to his broad, muscled shoulders. In the light of the table lamp, she could see also his whiskers coming in, glistening like the hair on his muscled chest visible in the vee of the gaping banyan. 

And his eyes…his eyes glowed a dark, compelling bronze. Heat leapt in her, unfurling long-repressed needs. 

“Mo ghaol,” she said, her heart beating wildly, sudden shyness holding her back. 

Finnley had ever been eager. Why didn’t he come to her now?

Her gaze traveled over him, and she spotted his hands, gripping the chair back, the knuckles white and crisscrossed with scars. He loosened one hand and reached out to her. 

“I am here,” he said.

I am here. Simply that. He expected her to capitulate even more, and come to him. 

Or…he was tempting her fiercely and letting her choose. 

“For how long?” 

He blinked. “How long do ye wish me to stay?” 

The hand beckoning her was steady and strong, the pull of desire, his and her own, even stronger. She would have him tonight, him, the only man she’d ever made love to. The only man she’d ever loved.

“Ye must stay tonight, certainly,” she said briskly, “and perhaps tomorrow night as well if the surgeon requires it.” 

The slow smile, the intense gaze, reached through her and squeezed her heart. “Greer,” he said. 

Heart pounding, she went to him and slipped under his arm. “Let me help ye back into bed.” 

In a flash, he scooped her up and juggled her, grunting. “Mo ghaol,” he said, nuzzling her cheek. “Ye smell like springtime.” 

She smoothed a hand down his bristly cheek, unable to speak. He smelled of the lemony soap Lady Fiona kept for the washstand, and the faint manly musk that was his alone. 

His breath rasped carrying her, and then her bottom touched the mattress, and her dressing gown disappeared, along with his banyan. 

“Greer.” 

He knelt before her, his big hands cupping her shoulders, moving down her arms, touching, measuring, and inflaming, moving up again, bracketing her chest under her armpits and then sliding down, his thumbs tracing the sides of her breasts, gliding along her belly, down her hips, and along her legs all the way to her feet. 

He cradled one foot and dropped a kiss on the top of it, and then repeated the move with the other.

Eyes squeezed shut, she held back the desire threatening to burst her apart. 

She lifted his chin and brought her lips to his, touching, nibbling, and then angling her head for an open-mouthed kiss. 

Fated Hearts
by Alina K. Field 

A Scottish Baron returning from two decades at war meets the daughter he denied was his, and the wife he divorced, only to learn that everything he’d believed to be true was a lie. What he can’t deny is that she’s the only woman he’s ever loved. They’re not the young lovers they once were, but when passion flares, it burns more hotly than ever it did in their youth.

They soon discover, it wasn’t fate that drove them apart, but a jealous enemy, who played on his youthful arrogance and her vulnerability. Now that old enemy has resurfaced, more treacherous than ever. When his lady falls into a trap, can he reach her in time to rescue this love that never died? 

Available 12/29/20, pre-order today! Universal link:  https://books2read.com/u/bQdyPP

About the Author: 

Award winning and USA Today bestselling author Alina K. Field earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and German literature, but prefers the much happier world of romance fiction. Though her roots are in the Midwestern U.S., after six very, very, very cold years in Chicago, she moved to Southern California, where she shares a midcentury home with her husband and a spunky, blond rescued terrier. She is the author of several Regency romances, including the 2014 Book Buyer’s Best winner, Rosalyn’s Ring. Though hard at work on her next series of romantic adventures, she loves to hear from readers!

Website: https://alinakfield.com/ 

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Alina-K.-Field/e/B00DZHWOKY

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alinakfield 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlinaKField

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/alina-k-field

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alinak.field/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7173518.Alina_K_Field

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First Kiss Friday with Rue Allyn

15 Friday May 2020

Posted by in 2020, First Kiss Friday

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Welcome to First Kiss Friday. Today’s guest is my friend and fellow Bluestocking Belle, Rue Allyn. Rue has an excerpt from One Night’s Desire. You may wish to have your fan on hand. #just saying Happy Reading, my lovelies!

Excerpt:

“Please don’t.”

Kat’s whispered plea was so quiet that Ev almost didn’t hear it. He sat up rapidly checking the campsite for intruders. Then she begged again louder.

“No, please. I promise. I’ll do anything you want.”

He swiveled to look at her and was held agog by the sight.

She sat in her shirtsleeves. Sweat gleamed her face. She held the buffalo robe at arm’s length, bunched material clutched in each hand.

“This is wrong. You can’t be so cruel.” Her voice continued to rise. “Please don’t ask me to sell myself. I’m not a whore.”

Releasing her hold on the robe, she let it fall to the ground then began to wrestle the covering as if fighting for her life.

At the thud of her fists against the robe covered earth, Ev leapt from his bedroll. Coming up on Kat from behind, he knelt and secured her in a bear hug. He didn’t want to hurt her, but feared that she would harm herself. She was scorching hot to the touch. Fever-born delirium possessed her, and she shifted from fighting the buffalo robe to fighting Ev, twisting and turning to get better aim at him.

This was not good. He had to snap her out of it.

“Kat! I’m not asking you to whore.”

Her hands stilled against his chest, and she blinked at him. “Really? Oh Herbert, I knew you wouldn’t want me to do that. You really do love me.”

Who in Hades is Herbert?

That was Ev’s last thought before Kat plastered her lips to his, filling his head with sweet surprise and his body with sweeter agonies.

Momentum brought him to the ground, and her legs tangled with his.

Her mouth was soft. Her breasts pressed warm against his chest. He pulled her closer and gave himself to madness.

She twined her arms around his neck then ran her tongue along the seam of his lips.

He opened, licked, tasted, groaned. She was sweet like honeysuckle, delicate like silk, like heaven, everything he wanted.

Her fingers stroked his shoulders, his arms, his chest. Cool air and hot woman struck his skin. She’d unbuttoned his shirt.

His blood boiled with longing. His body hardened. He wanted, needed, to be inside her, love her, make her his.

Her hips moved, undulating against his erection. He had to have her.

“Please, make love with me, Herbert.”

Forever afterward, Ev would associate ice cold water with the name Herbert. Nothing could have doused his ardor more effectively.

“No. I can’t do this. We can’t do this.”

Bracing her hands against his chest, she levered herself up. Delirium still burned in her eyes “We’ve already done this. How can you refuse me?”

As gently as he could, Ev took her by the waist and lifted her from his body. “Simple. I’m saying no.”

“You think I’m good enough to whore for you, but I’m not fit to be your lover. After all your demands, you’d deny me. I won’t let you.” She clawed and scratched at Ev, twisting against him and breaking his grip.

He scrabbled to restrain her, but her flailing arms went everywhere. He managed to secure one wrist. Before he could move to grasp the other, she swung and connected with his eye.

“Stop this now!”

As if struck, she went rigid then collapsed with a moan into a shivering, still sleeping heap against Ev’s chest.

He hurried to wrap her in the buffalo robe, built up both fires, and buttoned his shirt then donned his boots and coat. He checked on Kat who, despite the heat of the fires, her own fever and the robe, continued to shiver. The chill air had him doing a bit of shivering himself. He took a minute to consider his alternatives and noticed that the sky had lightened. Dawn was breaking.

About One Night’s Desire – Wildfire Love Book 2, Kiera’s Story:

A WOMAN ON THE RUN ~ Rustlers, claim jumpers and fire, nothing will stop Kiera Alden from reuniting her family.  But an accusation of murder threatens her dreams and sets Marshall Evrett Quinn on her trail.  She may be able to escape prison bars and eventually prove her innocence, but she can’t escape Quinn’s love.

A LAWMAN IN HOT PURSUIT ~ Marshall Evrett Quinn is relentless in pursuit of law-breakers, and pretty Kiera Alden is no exception.  Clever and courageous, she evades him until chance encounter turns the tables.  Finally he has this elusive desperado under arrest, but success is bittersweet when she captures his heart.

Available for Pre-order NOW Link https://boks2read.com/u/3nvizo

Get a free copy in exchange for an honest review (only 20 spots available) link https://booksprout.co/arc/36735/one-night-s-desire

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  contact@RueAllyn.com. She can’t wait to hear from you.

Find Rue One Line:

social media links—

FB– https://www.facebook.com/groups/RueAllynCrew/

Twitter– https://www.twitter.com/RueAllyn

Blog– https://www.rueallyn.com/blog/

Amazon– http://www.amazon.com/Rue-Allyn/e/B00AUBF3NI

Email—Rue@RueAllyn.com

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Pinterest– http://www.pinterest.com/RueAllyn/

First Kiss Friday with Sherry Ewing & a Giveaway!

24 Friday Apr 2020

Posted by in 2020, First Kiss Friday

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Today on First Kiss Friday I’ll be sharing the first kiss scene from Love Will Find You that releases on May 19th. I’m super excited for this full-length novel to hit your eReaders. I just know you’ll love Ella & Killian and their journey through Time! Be sure to read to the end to learn about my giveaway. Happy reading and enjoy, my lovelies!

Excerpt:

Her tears tore at his heart, for he had not heard such suffering in many a year. Aye, she had indeed held her emotions in for far too long, if the river of tears soaking his tunic was an example of how she was feeling. He picked her up, even though she protested while still clutching at his tunic. She weighed next to nothing as he carried her to one of the window seats set into the rock wall. Keeping her on his lap, he leaned over to open the shutter to let in the ocean breeze.

She hiccupped, still trying to take in huge gulps of air to calm herself. She made an attempt to disengage herself from his arms but he only tightened them around her. “Dinnae fash yerself, Ella. I vowed I would keep ye safe and keep ye safe I shall, even it if means I must needs take ye myself tae see yer lover.”

Where such a commitment came from, Killian had no idea. Now that he had made the promise, he was not sure if he would be able to just stand idly by while he handed the woman he cared about over to another man. He had never acknowledged his feelings towards Ella to anyone but himself, but she had unknowingly owned his heart for several years now. How could he have confessed such inner yearnings when he knew she pined away for another?

“He was never my lover,” she murmured, almost giving him hope. Wiping her eyes, she gazed upon him sheepishly before scooting off his lap. “I am most sorry for breaking down in such a manner. I do not know what came over me, for I always thought I was made of sterner stuff. What you must think of me.” She turned her head to look out at the dark night sky.

“Ella…”

“This is so embarrassing.” She buried her face in her hands to hide from him.

“Ella…” He tried again to coax her to look upon him. When his words failed, he reached over, took her hands from her face, and tipped her chin up so he could see directly into her eyes.

His only thought was to give her the reassurance she needed, that he would keep her safe. But as he searched her face while staring into her trusting eyes, he knew he was forever lost. He was about to tell her they would ride out before the dawn. Truly, such was his intention. But as he watched her lips part to draw a deep breath, any thoughts of remaining level headed fled in that one instant as the time and space between them seemingly stood still.

He knew he would regret his rash decision, but Killian did not care. To hell with what he should and should not do! He would take and treasure this one moment, for he knew her heart belonged to another. But right now, in this very instant, Ella belonged to him. Without any further thought, and before he changed his mind, he lowered his head to kiss her lips.

***

Their breaths mingled on a heartbeat. Soft. Gentle. Searching. ’Twas an exploration of two beings trying to find one another while a rush of excitement shivered within their souls. A groan escaped her parted lips as she drew in her next breath. Never before had she felt such a deep yearning as she did now.

She knew what it was to live on the outside, yearning for the romance that had passed her by. This kiss was outside of her experience.

Killian must have taken the sound as encouragement for his arms wrapped around her bringing her closer. She reached out to cup his cheek, feeling the stubble of growth across her fingertips, while her other arm snaked around his neck. Her fingers curled into his hair as though she were holding onto him for support. She could feel his hand as it made its way through her hair with a caress. Slanting her head, he took full advantage of the opportunity presented to him as his tongue plunged into her mouth to dance with her own.

If Ella had not been sitting down, she surely would have fallen to the ground in a heap of pleasure. Wave after wave of desire coursed through her as though she had craved this man’s touch her entire life. He made her forget everything but this moment. She cared not when he lifted her once again and she found herself sitting upon his lap. His arms wrapped themselves around her once more and she felt as if she were secured in a cocoon of warmth and comfort. He made her feel safe for the first time in more years than she could remember and she gave herself completely to this man who had addled her wits with just one kiss.

She gulped in air when his lips traveled to her neck. How long had it been since someone had actually made her feel?

Love Will Find You:
The Knights of Berwyck, A Quest Through Time (Book Four)
Available for preorder. Release date: May 19, 2020

Sometimes a moment is all we have…

Ella Fitzpatrick is a woman with a secret. As she comes and goes from Berwyck Castle, seeking refuge within its gates, she yearns to be reunited with the one for whom she crossed time from the twenty-first century. She has lived another lifetime in the twelfth century waiting for the date of their reunion and it is almost upon her. But how could she have known the man she believes she loves is not the person she needs?

Killian of Clan MacLaren has been infatuated with Ella for many a year but has guarded his heart, knowing her affection lies with another. When Ella must flee Berwyck, Killian vows to escort her to her encounter with destiny. But passion flares between them and there is no doubt the bond they have is far greater than either of them expected.

Their time together is running out. Killian has a decision to make that might give him and Ella a future together. If you could change someone’s past, would you seize the moment?

Buy Links:

Amazon US  |  Apple Books  | Barnes & Noble |  Kobo

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

Are you on BookSprout?

If you’re a reviewer on BookSprout, I have 24 copies of this ARC still available for review. I’d love for you to follow me and review Love Will Find You. Here’s the link to the ARC: https://booksprout.co/arc/32525/love-will-find-you

Giveaway Opportunity!

Need to play catch up on my medieval/time travel series (although all my books can be read as a standalone)? Then comment below on how you’re keeping busy while sheltering in place. You’ll be in the running for any of my previously published time travel stories. I’ll keep this open through the weekend and a random comment will be chosen as the winner on Monday. Good luck!

 

First Kiss Friday with Rue Allyn

17 Friday Apr 2020

Posted by in 2020, First Kiss Friday

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Welcome to another First Kiss Friday. Today’s guest is my friend and fellow Bluestocking Belle Rue Allyn. Rue is sharing an excerpt from One Moment’s Pleasure. Happy reading and take it away, Rue!

Sherry thank you so very much for the opportunity to share with your readers the first kiss from One Moment’s Pleasure. I hope your readers will understand that I am truly sorry I can only provide a part of this scene. They will have to read One Moment’s Pleasure from the beginning to find out why Edith believes the man she is with is a paid stud and why Dutch believes she is a prostitute. They both happen to be wrong. But there it is. Love’s course is never easy, and this couple has a doozy of a time getting to their HEA.

Excerpt

Suddenly Edith was beyond furious. She’d lived her entire life in unpaid servitude catering to or circumventing the absurd, unreasonable wants of a man. Now, when she’d spent good money to have a man at her beck and call, to cater to her needs and desires, that man had the temerity to insist that he was in charge. That she should cater to him. She finally found her voice.

“What you want? What you want!” Her tone rose with every word. Her arms dropped to her sides. Her hands fisted. “I’m fed up with men and their insistence on having everything their way. Well, not tonight.”

A flush rose to heat her cheeks. Her shoulders stiffened. Her chest heaved, and her bodice slipped.

“I’ve invested everything in this venture,” she ranted, beyond caring. “Tonight we do things my way.”

Kicking her trailing skirts aside, she advanced.

The man stood there, his mouth open, staring at her chest. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

All sense fled before Edith’s fury. At the same time she wanted to hit him and kiss him.

Kiss him? Where had that thought come from? Massively uncomfortable, hot, nerves itching, overwrought with confused emotions, and uncaring of the consequences, she had to show him who was in charge. She marched up to him, stood toe to toe then stretched toward his frown and pressed her mouth to his.

The softness of his lips shocked her. Who would believe such a hard expression could feel so good? She inhaled. The scents of mint, leather, and the faint odor of chocolate swirled in her head, anger drowned in a flood of desire. After a moment, his mouth responded, moving ever so slightly back and forth across her own. This was even better. Tiny lightning bolts struck her skin. The itching hadn’t stopped, in fact the tingling sensation increased. It felt wonderful, and Edith wanted more.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and let her body fall against his until they were pressed together from shoulder to knee. A thousand new sensations overwhelmed her, and she tried to get closer. His arms tightened around her in a most gratifying manner.

Inwardly Edith crowed, and the knot of tension in her belly loosened. She’d kissed him, and he’d returned her kiss. She’d shown him that she was in charge. Her desires would take precedence.

***

This was the most awkward, ill-practiced, unsubtle attempt at seduction that Dutch had ever been party to, and as Cerise Duval’s one-time toy he’d been party to a great many. The woman kissed like a child. Lips together and almost no pressure, suction, or movement of her mouth, as if mashing faces was all she knew about the process.

Still, Dutch kissed her back. Kissed her like he was starved for it. His lips moved over hers, sampling her tenderness, tasting her sweetness. His hands skimmed along her soft curves to cup her buttocks and urge her closer. The pressure of her breasts against his chest stirred his senses. His manhood hardened, and he ground his hips against her softness. He hadn’t lain with a woman in more than six months. Abstinence alone could explain his body’s response. He waited for her to open her mouth. For a whore, she sure didn’t seem to know what to do. She just hugged him and pressed inward with both her mouth and body, but she didn’t move. Didn’t rub.

Didn’t do anything else. She might as well have been a stick of wood were it not for her heat and heady female scent. The spicy odor of daisies engulfed him. No working girl ever smelled like daisies.

His cock surged, straining toward that eager, inexperienced, feminine warmth. No! He put his hands on her shoulders, pushed her to arm’s length, and stared into her puzzled, hugely dilated, green eyes.

He recalled her approach when he’d entered the room. She’d swayed from side to side in the oddest way. Was she drunk? When he considered her rapidly changing moods and the sudden flush of her skin above the sinking neckline of her dress, he knew drugs to be the cause.

One’s Moment Pleasure
By Rue Allyn
Available for Pre-order

One Moment’s Pleasure will become a lifetime’s passion when spinster, Edith Alden, embarks on a search for her missing sister.  Pretending to be a rich bored woman looking for an interlude with an anonymous male Edith enters the San Francisco bordello where her sister was last seen. She escapes the bordello almost too easily, but she can’t escape the passion ignited by a stranger’s kiss.

Born and raised in the brothels of the California gold rush, Dutch Trahern worked for years to erase a childhood spent committing petty crimes and worse in order to survive. That past comes back to haunt him in the form of a woman he rescues from prostitution. Now his hard won respectability is threatened by an irresistible desire for a woman he shouldn’t want.

Buy link:

Available for pre-order at https://books2read.com/u/mKDW5v with official release on Monday April 20, 202

My Personal Invitation to you.

Please join me and author Jude Knight on Monday, April 20, 2020 at https://www.facebook.com/groups/BellesBrigade/. We will celebrate release day of our most recent novels with a Book Tennis party and all sorts of other fun. Yes, there will be prizes.

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

Find Rue On-line

Keep up with Rue Allyn by subscribing to her newsletter and get a free copy of Knight Protector when you do, or find her here:

Website  https://RueAllyn.com

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/groups/RueAllynCrew

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/

First Kiss Friday with Jude Knight

27 Friday Mar 2020

Posted by in 2020, First Kiss Friday

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Any day I can welcome my friend Jude Knight to my First Kiss Friday blog is a good day. She certainly has a way of pulling at your heartstrings. Read on to find out what she has in store for you!

This first kiss appears in Paradise Lost, the little collection of vignettes that Jude Knight is currently writing, and that she’ll give away to newsletter subscribers when she publishes the story of James’s son next month, on 15 April. Paradise Lost is a companion piece to Paradise Regained, which is about James. To Wed a Proper Lady is the story of his son, and novel one of six in The Children of the Mountain King.

Excerpt:

Eleanor traced the words in the water that puddled on the stone rim of the fountain. “Lady James Winderfield.” Her lips curved in a tremulous smile. The man she loved was asking her father for her hand, and would soon come to ask her.

“I have made an appointment to meet your father tomorrow,” he had whispered in her ear last night as they promenaded down the centre of the double line of dances. Then, as they passed one another, a few moments later, “You know what I want to ask him, my darling.”

She circled the girl at the head of the ladies’ line, barely aware of the other people in the room, conscious only of James and the words that set her heart thumping. Only years of practice kept her moving gracefully back around to meet James again, her arm stretched high, her hand ready for his brief clasp and her ears for another burst of whispered words.

“This is what you want?”

Looking up, she nodded, and the anxiety cleared from his eyes as they met hers. How could he be unsure of her? She had no further opportunity to reassure him. They had to part and dance down the outside of their respective lines, and the music drew to a close before they could speak again.

Her mother was waiting, and hurried her away. The Earl of Farnmouth, her father, had decided it was time to leave.

He was with her father now, shut in the earl’s study. Soon, surely, the earl would send him out into the garden. The answer would be yes, of course. As the daughter of an earl, she knew her worth, but James was third son of a duke; a duke, furthermore who was a friend of her father.

Eleanor cast a glance at the house and frowned slightly. Lord Farnmouth would say yes. Of course, he would. Only last week, he had interrupted her dinner with her mother to announce that he expected a very eligible offer for Eleanor’s hand. “I am pleased with your daughter, countess,” he had told her mother. “Betrothed after only two months after her debut. You are to be congratulated, madam.”

He had not spoken to Eleanor, but he seldom did. Nor had he given a name, but who could it be but James? James was her most ardent suitor. Indeed, since the rapscallion son of the Duke of Winshire had made her the object of his devotion, the rest of her court had fallen away. They had been callow boys, in any case, standing up with her because of childhood friendship or because she had become fashionable.

James was a man, not a boy — twenty-four years to her seventeen. He was unbelievably handsome, charming, clever, funny, and dearer to her than anyone she had ever known, even her older sister. And he had chosen her! She clapped her hands and spun in a circle, unable to contain her delight.

Soon he would come. She composed herself on the stone bench opposite the path by which he would enter the garden.  How would he propose? On one knee? Sitting beside her? The thought had her up on her feet again, too excited to stay still, peering down the path.

“Eleanor!” It was a hiss just a hairsbreadth above a whisper.

She spun around. James had come from the other direction. Well, no matter. She hurried towards him, her hands outstretched. What was the matter? The tragic expression on his face frightened her. “James? What is the matter?”

He clasped her hands and pulled her after him into the shadows of the yew walk, where he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her hair. “Eleanor, I love you. I love you more than life itself. You believe me, do you not?”

Eleanor pulled away, but only enough to peer into his eyes. “James? What did my father say?”

James groaned.

“James, you are frightening me. Did he say we must wait?”

“Eleanor, he says that he has given your hand to the Duke of Haverford,” James blurted.

Eleanor’s breath stopped and she could hear her blood surging in her ears as her heart pounded. Her sight grew dark at the edges, and the enormous yew hedges swayed towards her as if to batter her into the ground. By force of will, she fought off her faintness. “But… but he is old,” she stammered, “and a wicked libertine, and cold as ice.” She stamped her foot. “I don’t want him, James. I love you. I love you, James.”

“Shush, my love,” James begged. “We must be quiet. Farnmouth told me I could not see you again, but I had to, Eleanor. I’ll find a way. I promise. You love me and I love you. I will ask my father to help. He is friends with yours. Surely Winshire can persuade the earl.”

“Yes!” Eleanor’s heart gave another enormous thump, this time with relief. “We will be together?” she asked.

“We will marry,” James promised. He bent his head and his lips touched hers. It was a gentle, reverent salute, but Eleanor pressed closer and the kiss changed, James’s lips still soft, but questing, moving, devouring. His tongue pressed the seam of her mouth and swept inside when she gasped. Again, the darkness hovered, but this time it was a welcoming warmth, a giving and taking of sensation, a merging of selves so that Eleanor no longer knew who sighed and who moaned, or how long they stayed intertwined.

The whistling of a gardener brought them back to themselves. “I must go,” James told her. “Stay strong, my love. We are meant to be together, and I will find a way.”

“We are meant to be together,” she agreed.

***

The Duchess of Haverford put the rose back into her memory box. It was from a small bouquet he had sent her. She had worn it for that last dance. Now it was fragile, dried and faded, adorned with yet another tear to join all the others she had wept on it in the past ten years. Once, she had loved and been loved. That, at least, would never change.

***

For more about Paradise Regained, see https://judeknightauthor.com/books/paradise-regained/

For more about The Children of the Mountain King series, see https://judeknightauthor.com/the-children-of-the-mountain-king/

For more about To Wed a Proper Lady, including preorder, see https://judeknightauthor.com/books/to-wed-a-proper-lady/

For your copy of Paradise Lost, subscribe to Jude’s newsletter: https://judeknightauthor.com/newsletter/

About Jude Knight:

Have you ever wanted something so much you were afraid to even try? That was Jude ten years ago.

For as long as she can remember, she’s wanted to be a novelist. She even started dozens of stories, over the years.

But life kept getting in the way. A seriously ill child who required years of therapy; a rising mortgage that led to a full-time job; six children, her own chronic illness… the writing took a back seat.

As the years passed, the fear grew. If she didn’t put her stories out there in the market, she wouldn’t risk making a fool of herself. She could keep the dream alive if she never put it to the test.

Then her mother died. That great lady had waited her whole life to read a novel of Jude’s, and now it would never happen.

So Jude faced her fear and changed it–told everyone she knew she was writing a novel. Now she’d make a fool of herself for certain if she didn’t finish.

Her first book came out to excellent reviews in December 2014, and the rest is history. Many books, lots of positive reviews, and a few awards later, she plans to keep publishing until she runs out of years.

Website and blog: http://judeknightauthor.com/

Subscribe to newsletter: http://judeknightauthor.com/newsletter/

Bookshop: https://judeknight.selz.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JudeKnightAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JudeKnightBooks

Pinterest: https://nz.pinterest.com/jknight1033/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jude-knight

First Kiss Friday with Karysa Faire

21 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by in 2020, First Kiss Friday, Uncategorized

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Hello, my lovelies, and welcome to another First Kiss Friday. Today it’s my pleasure to welcome my dear friend Karysa Faire to my blog. Karysa is debuting her first release Take Two. I’m so excited to share an excerpt with you. Happy reading and enjoy!

Excerpt:

Roger joined her, handing her a cup of coffee while he noisily sipped on his own. He sat down on the plush chair across from her, toeing off his shoes in turn.

Her eyes closed against the steam. The first sip was almost too hot as it went down her throat, warming her insides.

“Mmmm. I needed that. Thank you.” She opened her eyes and was surprised to see him staring at her chest. She quickly looked down to see if she’d become unbuttoned and said a little prayer of thanks that her bra wasn’t popping out of her blouse. “Uh, so—” Rachel cleared her throat.

Roger’s eyes flew up. “I’m sorry. What were you saying?” He gave her a crooked grin and didn’t look sorry at all for being caught.

“Thank you for the coffee.” Rachel smiled back and took another sip. She felt the caffeine begin to do its magic. “It’s better than I have at home.” She drank the rest quickly, enjoying the feeling.

“Refill, my lady?” Roger got up and refilled her cup as she held it. This time, he sat down beside Rachel. The couch dipped next to her and she almost fumbled her hold on the cup. A flutter went through her at the heat of his body next to hers. They’d been this close in the cab, but he’d still been dressed as Rohbert. Now, he was all Roger.

But he hadn’t kissed her before when she’d opened the door to the possibility. What the hell were you thinking, Rachel?

Not knowing what else to do, Rachel brought the coffee to her lips, took a gulp, then put it down on the table. She looked straight ahead, not at the man, her fantasy, sitting next to her.

She felt his hand lightly caress her shoulder and arm. He shifted and was even closer to her, overwhelming her senses. Rachel felt her hair get pushed back, tucked behind her ear, those magic fingers of his leaving hot trails on her skin.

“I’m uh…” She cleared her throat then tried to speak again. Her words were lost as his other hand reached for hers.

“You really don’t need to go home tonight,” he said, barely above a whisper.

She stood and faced him, needing to put at least an inch of distance between them so she could talk without being distracted. With him sitting on the couch and with her shoes off, she was only a few inches taller. She could almost look directly into those famous green eyes of his, the eyes that didn’t waver as they darkened. “I’m, I’m very confused,” Rachel stammered.

“Allow me to make it clear.” Roger locked his hands around both her wrists and pulled her toward him. Thrown off balance, she fell into his lap. His arm slipped over her hip and he angled her body to his chest.

She looked Roger Conrad in the eyes, his lashes darker so close up. She swallowed, not daring to follow this wish through.

“Hi there,” he said, moving toward her. He was so close his nose touched the side of hers.

“Hi,” she finally managed back. His breath was laced with fresh coffee and the remaining hint of alcohol, a smell she vaguely thought shouldn’t be arousing. But it was, he was, and the smell went straight to her core, imprinting itself in her memory forever.

What the hell. I’ll pretend I’m Isabella and he’s Rohbert. Rachel took the plunge and closed the space between them, giving him small, questing kisses. She ran the tip of her tongue over his lips, asking for entry to his mouth. He moaned and embraced her, circling her body with his long arms.

In a quick movement, Roger shifted their positions, Rachel’s back now on the couch. He pressed his lips urgently against hers, all tentativeness gone. She kissed him back with a need that stunned her.

Rachel heard herself whimper as Roger pulled her body closer to his. He ran his other hand over her clothes, down her waist and to her thigh, teasing the hem of her skirt upwards. His smell was intoxicating. Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck and hooked her leg over the back of his knee. As she grabbed his hair, he pulled back for a breath. “Didn’t you say you had to leave?” he teased.

“That wasn’t me talking.” She grinned and pulled him back down to her.

Take Two
By Karysa Faire
$3.99 or #FREE in Kindle Unlimited

Is their love real or fiction?

 Rachel is a teacher and a single mom who’s picked up the pieces of her life after a horrible marriage. She’d thought her ex-husband was the man of her dreams. He wasn’t. She’s moved on and written a historical romance novel, Swashbuckler, that’s been picked up by Hollywood.

Rodger is an actor who doesn’t trust women. He’s made bad choices in his past that have come to haunt him in the present, especially the choice that came packaged with blond hair, large tits, and a marriage that was doomed from the start. Rodger thought they were in love—turns out his wife was a social-climber more interested in his status than his heart. He doubts there is a woman alive who can love him for who he is, and not for his fame or for the fantasy he presents to the world.

Both Rachel and Rodger have been burned by love, trusting a reality that turned out only to be fantasy. Will their fear succeed at keeping them apart? Or will they break through the barriers and allow themselves to love once again? After all, sometimes reality is much sweeter than fantasy.

Buy Link or Free in Kindle Unlimited: Amazon US

About the Author:

Karysa Faire is a fiction writer and high school science teacher. Her best days are when something unexpected and new happens – whether that be in the classroom or during vacations when she goes on extended road trips to haunted ghost towns. Karysa writes a variety of romance genres including contemporary, historical, erotica, horror, and paranormal. She’s also been known to write a mean lab report. Karysa lives in the San Francisco Bay Area along with millions of other people, including her wonderful family.

 Website: https://www.karysafaire.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarysaFaireAuthor/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/KarysaFaire

Join mailing list: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/i7i7l5

First Kiss Friday with Ruth Kaufman

24 Friday Jan 2020

Posted by in 2020, First Kiss Friday

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Welcome to another First Kiss Friday, my lovelies! Todays guest is author Ruth Kaufman who has an excerpt from her recently release story My Rival, My Love: De Wolfe Pack Connected World. We hope you enjoy this first kiss scene! Happy reading.

Excerpt:

“Good, sir, do I have your permission to get my hopes up now?” she asked.

“You do.”

They laughed. The first true laugh of his she’d heard. She loved the carefree sound.

Caught up in the moment, they hugged. Having his body against hers and his arms around her back, felt so good. So right.

She relished the tender moment, but knew she should pull away. They’d clung together longer than a congratulatory embrace should last. As she leaned back, he met her gaze. She knew that look. The burn of desire. And couldn’t deny she shared it.

Slowly, he bent his head. All she had to do was take a single step out of his arms. But she didn’t want to. She wanted him to kiss her. To keep the pressure of his hard body against hers and his strong arms holding her close.

And to be desired by him, even for just this moment.

Their lips met.

“Cecily,” he said softly.

His tone, his touch, made her thirst for more.

She slid her hands into his hair as the kiss deepened. Pulsing warmth spread between her legs. He’d awakened desires she’d thought long dead. As when spring brought the earth back to life, her body felt eager to flourish. But the more she cared, the more she could lose if he didn’t want more. Or if he did and some dire fate befell him.

Each let go and backed away.

Despite their differences, Cecily liked Simon too much. The rush of emotions was more intense than she wanted. How could she lessen their growing intimacy?

The warmth lingering in his gaze intrigued and confused her.

Blurb:

Their hearts are locked as tightly as his box. Can her key open them to love?

York, England 1460 – A letter containing a key leads Cecily Fayrefax to intriguing goldsmith Simon Clarke, who owns a locked box. Attraction sparks as they unite in a quest to open it.

Cecily fears caring for another man because her husband died in a tragic fire, yet finds herself drawn to Simon even as she struggles to stand her ground when they clash over disposition of the mystifying contents. Accustomed to being in charge, he needs to learn how to have a woman, and an alluring one at that, as a partner while keeping up with his business.

After danger threatens, each is more convinced of being right and remains wary of allowing desire to sway important choices. Can love show them how to agree to disagree?

Buy link or read for FREE in Kindle Unlimited: getbook.at/B082872SN3

About the author:

Ruth Kaufman is the author of four medieval romance novels, three medieval novellas and two humorous contemporary novels. Her Wars of the Roses Brides trilogy (AT HIS COMMAND, FOLLOW YOUR HEART and THE BRIDE TOURNAMENT) reached #1 historical romance on Amazon in the US, Canada and Australia. Other accolades include 2016 Booksellers’ Best Award double winner (Best Historical and Best First Book).

Ruth is also an actor with a J.D. and a Master’s in Radio/TV. Credits include independent features, short films, web series, national TV commercials and thousands of voiceovers. She presents workshops for authors and actors and is a storyteller. Learn more at http://www.ruthkaufman.com and http://www.ruthtalks.com.

Social Media links:

Website  https://ruthkaufman.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ruthtalks or Ruth Kaufman Author & Actor

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

Instagram @ruth.kaufman   https://www.instagram.com/ruth.kaufman

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/ruth_kaufman

Amazon Author Page  http://www.amazon.com/Ruth-Kaufman/e/B00JH7Z40S

First Kiss Friday with Jude Knight

17 Friday Jan 2020

Posted by in 2020, First Kiss Friday

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Welcome to another First Kiss Friday. Today’s guest is my dear friend Jude Knight who will be sharing the first kiss scene from her upcoming novella Melting Matilda. Happy reading, my lovelies, and enjoy!

First Kiss Friday with Matilda and Charles

In this excerpt from Melting Matilda, a novella in the Bluestocking Belles’ box set Fire and Frost, the kiss is the first one in this book. They had another kiss a year before, and it haunts them. You’ll have to read the book to find out more.

Excerpt:

He had dressed with enormous care, driving his valet demented by changing his mind three times about his waistcoat, rejecting six cravats before settling on the seventh, and hesitating for twenty minutes on his choice of fobs. The valet would probably slit his wrists in despair if he could see how Charles had set his hair in disarray by running his fingers through it, and ruined the hard-won perfection of the cravat by tugging it further open because he felt it choking him.

Then the door opened. Matilda entered the room and he lost his breath again. She was magnificent in a violet gown that hugged her curves before sweeping out into a deceptively simple skirt that avoided fashionable ruffles in favor of more subtle stitching that added detail without fuss. The neckline was low enough to rivet his attention while still high enough to be demure by the current standards. She wore pearls at her neck, her wrists, dangling from her ears and glowing in her dark hair, and the blue eyes he met when he wrenched his attention from the snowy skin displayed by her décolletage had taken on a violet cast from the gown.

He gazed, losing track of time and space, until she said his name. “Charles?”

“I had a speech.” His voice croaked, and he swallowed. “I do not remember a word.”

With one hand, index finger outstretched, he traced an inch or so away from her face. “Why did I try so hard to resist you, you beautiful woman?”

It was the wrong thing to say. Her nostrils flared. “Because I am the base-born daughter of a harlot.”

“I cannot remember why I thought that important,” he confessed. “You are the beloved sister of the next Duke of Haverford, the ward of the current duchess, and a lady of impeccable education, training and manners. That is not why I love you, though.”

Her eyes softened. “You love me?”

“That was part of the speech. It is the only bit I remember. I look into your eyes, and I forget my own name.”

“Why?” Matilda asked.

“Why do I forget? No? Why now?” She colored, and he realized what she was asking. “Why do I love you? How can I explain something that has grown in my heart without my knowledge, even against my will?” He took both of her hands, and suddenly the words began to flow.

“I have been attracted to you since the first time we danced, but that is desire, and desire is a part of love but not the whole. I do desire you, my love, more and more each day, but I also admire you, I like being with you, I enjoy talking to you, I respect you. I want to see you every morning when I wake, to spend my days with you, to have the right to dance the first waltz with you at every ball, and to go home with you every night. I want to see your belly rounded with our child, and watch you as you gently teach them the way I’ve seen you teach your little sister. I want you and only you as my countess and the mother of my children. I want to grow old with you, Matilda Grenford.”

He dropped to one knee. “Miss Grenford, I esteem you with all my heart. Will you do me the very great honor of becoming my wife?”

He waited, his anxiety rising as she said nothing, despair taking over as tears rose and began to leak from her pansy eyes. Then she began to nod as she slipped to her own knees and reached out for him. “Yes. Oh, yes. Charles, I love you, too.”

For more than a year, Charles had kept to himself the fact that the Haverford Ice Princess kissed like a flame. As he abandoned his own granite facade for once and for all, he rejoiced in her heat. This time was even better than the last, and the best was yet to come. Though perhaps not here in a family parlor where her brother or sisters could walk in at any time.

“I hope you do not want a long betrothal,” he whispered, between kisses.

She broke off her attempt to completely unravel his cravat. “Not long,” she agreed.

Her fervent answer demanded that he kiss her again, losing himself so deep he didn’t know they were no longer alone until a voice behind him said, “I trust you are betrothed to my sister, Hamner, for it would be most inconvenient to start the evening’s celebrations by killing you.”

Melting Matilda

Her scandalous birth prevents Matilda Grenford from being fully acceptable to Society, even though she has been a ward of the Duchess of Haverford since she was a few weeks old. Matilda does not expect to be wooed by a worthy gentleman. The only man who has ever interested her gave her an outrageous kiss a year ago and has avoided her ever since.

Charles, the Earl of Hamner is honour bound to ignore his attraction to Matilda Grenford. She is an innocent and a lady, and in every way worthy of his respect—but she is base-born. His ancestors would rise screaming from their graves if he made her his countess. But he cannot forget the kiss they once shared.

For more about Fire & Frost, including preorder links, see: https://bluestockingbelles.net/belles-joint-projects/fire-frost/

About Jude Knight

Have you ever wanted something so much you were afraid to even try? That was Jude ten years ago.

For as long as she can remember, she’s wanted to be a novelist. She even started dozens of stories, over the years.

But life kept getting in the way. A seriously ill child who required years of therapy; a rising mortgage that led to a full-time job; six children, her own chronic illness… the writing took a back seat.

As the years passed, the fear grew. If she didn’t put her stories out there in the market, she wouldn’t risk making a fool of herself. She could keep the dream alive if she never put it to the test.

Then her mother died. That great lady had waited her whole life to read a novel of Jude’s, and now it would never happen.

So Jude faced her fear and changed it–told everyone she knew she was writing a novel. Now she’d make a fool of herself for certain if she didn’t finish.

Her first book came out to excellent reviews in December 2014, and the rest is history. Many books, lots of positive reviews, and a few awards later, she plans to keep publishing until she runs out of years.

Website and blog: http://judeknightauthor.com/

Subscribe to newsletter: http://judeknightauthor.com/newsletter/

Bookshop: https://judeknight.selz.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JudeKnightAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JudeKnightBooks

Pinterest: https://nz.pinterest.com/jknight1033/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jude-knight

First Kiss Friday with Sherry Ewing

27 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by in 2019, First Kiss Friday, New Release

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Welcome to the last First Kiss Friday of the year, my lovelies. Let’s end the year with a bang, shall we?

Today I have the first kiss scene from my upcoming book that releases tomorrow, To Love An English Knight: De Wolfe Pack Connected World. This novella picks up the story of Freya of Clan MacLaren who is the sister of Douglas, Laird of Berwyck Castle (hopefully you read his story in To Love A Scottish Laird), and Sir Charles de Grey. Sir Charles is the captain of the guard of Douglas’s wife, Lady Catherine (who used to be a de Wolfe). Happy holidays and a Happy New Year. Enjoy this first kiss scene, my lovelies.

Excerpt:

Caen, Normandy
1152

Lady Freya of Clan MacLaren peaked around the canvas of a tent to watch the English knight as he made his way through the crowd. She had first seen him leaving his own tent just this morn, and on impulse she asked a nearby squire for the knight’s name. Sir Charles de Grey, she had been told, and a small smile had lit her face upon hearing it while she began following him through camp. ’Twas as though all of England and France’s nobility were in attendance considering a small village had been erected overnight.

At the request of Henry, the Duke of Normandy, her brother Douglas, the laird of the clan, had answered the duke’s summons to attend the celebration of his recent marriage to Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine. With their home of Berwyck Castle sitting at the border of England and Scotland, Douglas could do no less knowing he must keep peace between himself and the man who would one day be England’s king. Freya had begged her brother to allow her to accompany him, and he had reluctantly agreed. He would be mortified to learn she was following an English knight about camp.

Heart pounding, she continued to dodge people and other obstacles in her pursuit to stay near Sir Charles. She was unprepared when he suddenly turned as though he felt her presence. She quickly ducked behind another tent in hope he had not caught her following him. She could not say why she was so drawn to this handsome stranger, but he had certainly held her interest from afar. No harm could come from a closer look, could it?

With her chest heaving at the near thought of being found out, she dared another look around the shelter only to find him gone! She stepped from her hiding place in order to once more continue her search for him. She was unprepared when her arm was taken in a fierce grip. Forced backward against the canvas that had obviously not provided any source of concealment, she stared into the eyes of the very person who had momentarily escaped her. He was taller up close than she expected, for she barely reached to his chest. With his blond hair and vivid, blue eyes, she almost sighed at how handsome he was now that he stood before her. And then he spoke, and her world crashed down around her.

“Why are you following me?” he asked in an amused tone. Before she could answer, he continued, much to her dismay. “If you are looking for a bit of sport, I do not have time to dally at the moment. Perchance later, although I must admit, you are prettier than most of the wenches who meander about.” He took hold of her chin as though to examine her closer before leaning down to quickly kiss her lips.

“How dare ye kiss me!” Freya sputtered. Heat flushed her face.

He began fumbling at a leather pouch upon his belt. Drawing out a coin, he held out the meager offering for her to take. “For your troubles.”

A gasp escaped her. “Do ye ken who ye are speaking tae?”

A chuckle escaped him. “Given you have been dodging my every move this morn, I assumed you were one of the women camp followers who earn their way at such events. Was I mistaken?”

He thought her a whore! His insult stung even as she knew she would never hear the end of Douglas’s tirade if he learned she had been observing the stranger in the first place. Swinging her arm to smack the smirk off his face, he easily caught her hand before pulling her closer. Her breath left her while she tried to think clearly.

“Perchance I have a moment or two to spare after all.” His grin was pure sin, and he began to tighten his arm around her waist.

She struggled in his embrace. She would in no way bed this stranger no matter how handsome he was. She was still a maid and obviously not what he took her for.

“Ye braying arse! I am Lady Freya of Berwyck,” she shouted. He let go of her so swiftly she stumbled to right herself and not land in the dirt.

“As in the sister to Laird Douglas of Clan MacLaren?” A look passed across his features showing her that he was not pleased.

“Aye. I will tell him of yer insult tae me,” she hissed.

“Tell him anything you like, but for your own sake and mine, stay away from me. I apologize for making the wrong assumption, my lady, but I have had all I can handle from a MacLaren for one day.”

Freya continued to stare at him while he stomped away. As she watched him go, she was uncertain if she was happy or sad at his leaving. In the months to come, she would wonder if she would ever be able to win his love.

To Love An English Knight:
De Wolfe Pack Connected World
By Sherry Ewing
Release Date: December 28, 2019
Only $0.99 or FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Can a chance encounter lead to love?

Sir Charles de Grey is in turmoil. He cannot forget the Scottish lass he kissed in Caen, but her jealous spite toward the lady he was sworn to guard infuriated him. Living at Berwyck Castle, he is torn between his desire for Lady Freya and his need to rebuke her sometimes reckless behavior. Leaving her almost tears him apart, but it might give him time to recover some balance.

Lady Freya of Clan MacLaren didn’t expect to become blinded by love until she became quickly besotted on first seeing the English knight in Caen. How quickly everything fell apart when she defies him! Even worse, when he begins to show signs of returning her feelings, he receives a message from home that will tear them apart. Defying him again may put an end to any chance they may have together, but what other choice does she have when he leaves her?

Can the fragile love they found blossom into something more or will circumstances beyond their control continue to provoke behavior that keeps them apart?

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