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First Kiss Friday with Jude Knight

04 Friday Feb 2022

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It’s First Kiss Friday and I’m very excited to have my dearest friend Jude Knight on my blog today. I will admit, I’ve been waiting for this story to be told and Jude has finally done it! I do so enjoy an older couple romance, don’t you? Please enjoy this excerpt from Paradise At Last and happy reading, my lovelies!

This excerpt is from Paradise At Last, in which my widowed duchess and widowed duke are finally free to marry thirty-five years after their families broke up their courtship. Except that a disagreement has torn them apart. It takes a stern talking to from relatives and a kidnapping to bring them together again.

Excerpt:

James continued his circuit of the house, and decided Eleanor must be on the upper level—a sloping roof that might contain a bedroom or two as well as storage space. He saw no one else. He should still be cautious in case of other confederates. Though would the couple in the kitchen be indulging as they were if others were in the house?

In his circuit, he had found a window with a broken catch. It was a moment’s work and nearly silent to break it still further. Inside the room, he listened, but nothing disturbed the peace except the increasingly enthusiastic noises from the kitchen.

Carefully, checking each space before he moved to it, James made his way upstairs. Three doors. The first opened to an empty room, with nothing in it but dust and spiders. The second was certainly the major bedchamber of the house. James guessed that the kidnappers had coopted it as their own, given the male and female clothing strewn around. So why they were not putting the bed to use, he could not imagine.

The third was locked, but he’d seen a key on a table beside the bed in the second room, so he fetched that and opened the door, his heart in his mouth, ready to attack a guard, fearing she was secured somewhere else.

Eleanor was there, alone, and unharmed. Relief froze him in the doorway, but he recovered quickly when she threw herself into his arms. He maneuvered her backwards, closing the door with one hand, while the other explored her to make sure she was real and unharmed.

The door shut, he crushed her to him and took her lips with his own, wild with relief. She was very real—a fragrant armful of human female, uncorseted and returning his kiss as enthusiastically as he could ever have imagined.

He was struggling to remember why he should pull away when she suddenly came to herself. “James, how did you find me? No! There’s no time for that. Let’s get away.”

Paradise Triptych
By Jude Knight
Release Date: March 15, 2022

Long ago, when they were young, James and Eleanor were deeply in love. But their families tore them apart and they went on to marry other people.

Paradise Regained

James Winderfield yearns to end a long journey in the arms of his loving family. But his father’s agents offer the exiled prodigal forgiveness and a place in Society — if he abandons his foreign-born wife and children to return to England.

With her husband away, Mahzad faces revolt, invasion and betrayal in the mountain kingdom they built together. A queen without her king, she will not allow their dream and their family to be destroyed.

But the greatest threats to their marriage and their lives together is the widening distance between them. To win Paradise, they must face the truths in their hearts.

Paradise Lost

In 1812, the suitor Eleanor’s father rejected in favour of the Duke of Haverford has returned to England. He has been away for thirty-two years, and has returned a widower, and the father of ten children.
As the year passes, various events prompt Eleanor to turn to her box of keepsakes, which recall the momentous events of her life.
Paradise Lost is a series of vignettes grounded in 1812, in which Eleanor relives those memories.

Paradise At Last

Now Haverford is deceased nothing stands between the Duchess of Haverford and the Duke of Winshire. Except that James has not forgiven Eleanor for putting the dynasty of the Haverfords ahead of his niece’s happiness.
Can two star-crossed lovers find their happiness at last? Or will their own pride or the villain who wants to destroy the Haverfords stand in their way?

Paradise Triptych contains two novella and a set of memoirs: Paradise Regained (already published), Paradise Lost (available free to my newsletter subscribers) and Paradise At Last (new for this collection).

Meet Jude

Jude always wanted to be a novelist. She started in her teens, but life kept getting in the way. Years passed, and with them dozens of unfinished manuscripts. The fear grew. What if she tried, failed, and lost the dream forever? The years since 2014 have brought 11 novels, 13 novella, 4 volumes of short stories, 3 awards, and hundreds of positive reviews. The dream is alive.

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

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

Jude’s bookstore: 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 Elizabeth Ellen Carter

28 Friday Jan 2022

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Today on my First Kiss Friday blog, I have the fabulous Elizabeth Ellen Carter who has a new series looming on the horizon. Isn’t the cover lovely? We hope you enjoy this excerpt from Deceiving the Duke that releases on February 4th. Happy reading, my lovelies!

Excerpt:

She approached the desk and glanced down at the papers there – drawings, lots of them. She recognized the complex web of warp and weft threads suspended on a loom.

“You recognize what this is?”

Ruby started.

“I… ah, yes… my father took an interest in textiles and how machinery operated. He would show me how each pattern would be set up.”

She made the mistake of looking into his eyes. He was interested in what she had to say, and she’d said too much.

Thank goodness it was he who broke the spell by priming another lamp. Apparently, he was uncomfortable as she with this new intimacy.

She took the second lighted lamp from the desk and picked the farthest corner of the library to conduct her search.

Poetry. Perhaps the duke had a romantic soul after all – presuming he had a soul.

As she browsed the titles, she listened to Seth returning to his work. The pen scratching on paper and the whispered sigh of pencils as they shaded in his diagrams.

This was ridiculous! Mooning over a man who could mean nothing to her.

She grabbed a book, only glancing at it, intending to return directly to her patient. It was a book of poems by Pierre de Ronsard. With her focus on the door, she did not hear her name called. 

A touch on the arm stilled her.

“Don’t go… not yet.”

She should go. Oh, how she should go. But she made the mistake of looking at the earl… Seth. 

Those eyes seemed to see deep into her soul and found its twin in the loneliness.

He must have heard the answering call because he removed the book from her hand and placed it on the small side table by the door. His face was half in shadows, but she could see his eyes clear enough. They searched her face and seemed to know what was in her deepest heart. 

He lowered his lips to hers slowly, giving her time to escape from him if she wished.

But she didn’t wish.

Her eyes fluttered closed as his lips met hers. Never had she felt such emotion in so small a touch. She could taste the isolation, the need. She responded with a need of her own.

Seth responded by sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her into his embrace.

The kiss was all too brief, but his hold lingered. She had no idea how much she craved his touch until that moment.

Deceiving The Duke
By Elizabeth Ellen Carter

Hate brought them together. Will love tear them apart?

Welcome to book 1 in the exciting new series from USA Today Bestselling Author Elizabeth Ellen Carter.

William Musgrave, Duke of Auchen, is dying. When he goes to his grave, he will take with him the opportunity to right a wrong that has left Lady Ruby McAllister impoverished.

Ruby has the contract that pledged her father a one-third share in a successful Scottish textile mill. But Auchen never made good on his promise before Ruby’s father died. Now Ruby has lost her beloved Strathaird, home to the McAllisters for centuries. Her only hope is to confront the duke before he dies. And her chance comes when a vacancy arises for a new night nurse in his London household.

Standing in her way is Seth Musgrave, the duke’s estranged son, who despises his father for deriding him as an imbecile. In truth, Seth is the driving force behind his father’s successful enterprise. William Musgrave has heeded no one in his life except for his wife. She died twenty years ago, but Ruby hears him call for her in his nightly delirium.

What if Ruby answered his call, pretending to be the only woman who could ever persuade the duke to do the right thing?

How long can Ruby keep her secret when Seth is trying to distract her with his kisses? And what if Seth learns the woman he’s falling in love with is deceiving the Duke?

Available Amazon and Kindle Unlimited

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NL99DYN

About Elizabeth Ellen Carter

Elizabeth Ellen Carter is USA Today bestselling author and an award-winning historical romance writer who pens richly detailed historical romantic adventures. A former newspaper journalist, Carter ran an award-winning PR agency for 12 years. The author lives in Australia with her husband and two cats.

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First Kiss Friday with Caroline Warfield

21 Friday Jan 2022

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Welcome to my First Kiss Friday blog. I’m welcoming back my dear friend Caroline Warfield. The third book in Caroline’s Ashmead Heirs Series, The Forgotten Daughter is available for pre-order now for 99 cents. We posted her first kiss here two weeks ago.

Book One in the series, The Wayward Son, remains 99 cents in the meantime. Here’s a kiss from Book One, in which the hero has returned from a dangerous attempt to track a murderer. Along the way he stumbled on something she thought lost. Rob Benson didn’t mean to stay in Ashmead, but when Lucy Whitaker was threatened, he had no choice. In reaction to danger, passion flares.

Excerpt:

“You came back,” she breathed.

A grin, lopsided and dear, lit his face. “You waited.”

She scrambled back so he could enter, embarrassed by her foolish words, and noticed for the first time that the bundle he carried had begun to squirm.

He saw the direction of her gaze and his grin widened. He offered her the bundle, its movement becoming frantic. A wooly head peeked out the opening, and her heart swelled.

“You found it!” She took the lamb from him, but the creature struggled until she put it down, and it wandered into the darkened dining room. “Agnes will have a fit if she finds that animal in the house. We best give it to Vincent. He can see that it gets to his mother in the morning.”

He caught her arm when she started after the animal and pulled her back. Whatever he meant to say stuck in his throat. His hand slid up her arm to her shoulder, and his heated gaze stole her breath.

“Oh, bloody hell,” he murmured as his mouth found hers and his arm snaked around her to pull her close. When he loosened his grip to allow her to move away, she clung to his shoulders to pull him back, and he kissed her again, caressing her mouth with his, seeking and finding entrance to deepen it. She lost herself in the embrace. Only when he pulled away to breathe, his breath hot against her mouth, and began to slide gentle kisses in the corner of it and down her chin did she realize how she clutched his neck with one arm while her other hand had tangled in his hair, feathering it between her fingers.

“Oh God, Rob, what—”

“What indeed,” he whispered against her mouth, kissing her again and driving out reason.

When he moved to explore her ear, his tongue sending shivers down her spine, she moaned and tried to pull him closer. “I was so afraid. You’re safe, you’re safe,” she said between kisses to the side of his face.

At her words he pulled back. “Safe? I think not. Not here; not now.” He dropped a swift kiss to her nose and loosened his hold.

She dropped from her toes, her body sliding down his, rested both hands on his chest, and leaned her forehead against him to hide her heated cheeks.

“A gentleman would apologize. I won’t. I wanted that too badly. A gentleman would—”

Her head still on his chest, she raised her hand to his lips to silence him. “Don’t. Don’t go all honorable now.” He stilled and she pulled away. “Tell me about Miller.” Her piercing gaze dared him to finish the speech he had begun.

“He got away. Clarion and Gibbons will question the Caulfield tenants tomorrow. The earl plans to send for Spangler too. Happy?”

She shook her head. “Not if he got away.”

Rob put one knuckle under her chin and drew her face up to look at him. “We need to talk about this.” He didn’t have to clarify “this.” He didn’t mean Miller. They stood like that for several breaths. He tried to hold her eyes, but his gaze dropped to her mouth, and she swallowed convulsively. When he bent to kiss her again, she rose to meet him. His restless hands began to explore her neck, her shoulders, her back—when they reached her derriere he stilled.

He gripped her shoulders with both hands and set her a few inches away. “We have to stop; we can talk in the morning. Things are clearer in the light.” He dropped one last kiss to the top of her head and stepped back. “I’ll check on the guards and sleep down here.”

About The Ashmead Heirs

When the old Earl of Clarion leaves a will with bequests for all his children, legitimate and not, listing each and their mothers by name, he complicates the lives of many in the village of Ashmead. 

One sleepy village

One scandalous will

Four tormented heirs

The first of them grew believing he was the innkeeper’s son. His life is London. He has no intention of letting the unexpected bequest tie him to Ashmead, but concern for Lucy keeps him there. Rob is The Wayward Son. Still 99 cents https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09484DC1D/

He called his only legitimate daughter defiant, and sold her to a man twice her age. He left her nothing, but she won’t give up her freedom now that she’s a widow. Brynn Morgan has other ideas. Madelyn is The Defiant Daughter. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09GL6PT1J/

He forgot one daughter entirely and left her out of the will. Now she’s determined that the new earl’s steward make it right. Eli will fix it, if he has to die trying—and it may come to that. Never underestimate a quiet hero. Fanny is the third heir, The Forgotten Daughter. Preorder for 99 cents by January 27. Price reverts to retail after launch. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09PGSYJ3Q/

In a fit of spite, the old earl left his heir a tarnished title and a bankrupt estate stripped of every unentailed asset. Somehow the new earl has to care for all of them and still find his own happiness. A shocking new neighbor may help with that. David is The Upright Son, and his story is coming in May 2022.

You can find more about The Ashmead Heirs and all Caroline’s books at https://www.carolinewarfield.com/bookshelf/

About the Author

Award winning author Caroline Warfield has been many things: traveler, librarian, poet, raiser of children, bird watcher, Internet and Web services manager, conference speaker, indexer, tech writer, genealogist—even a nun. She reckons she is on at least her third act, happily working 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. She nudges them to explore the riskiest territory of all, the human heart. 

Find Caroline here:

Website:   http://www.carolinewarfield.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caroline.warfield.1422/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Caroline-Warfield/e/B00N9PZZZS/

GoodReads:  http://bit.ly/1C5blTm

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/caroline-warfield

Twitter:   https://twitter.com/CaroWarfield

First Kiss Friday with Caroline Warfield

07 Friday Jan 2022

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Happy New Year, my lovelies, and welcome to my First Kiss Friday blog. My first guest author of the year is my dear friend Caroline Warfield. Caroline has an excerpt from her upcoming novel The Forgotten Daughter in her new Ashmead Heirs series. If you haven’t gotten a chance to read them, you’re missing out. We hope you enjoy this first kiss scene. Happy reading!

When the old Earl of Clarion leaves a will with bequests for all his children, legitimate and not, listing each and their mothers by name, he complicates the lives of many in the village of Ashmead and beyond. Francis Hancock was left out and forgotten completely. She is the third of The Ashmead Heirs.

In The Forgotten Daughter, Fanny comes looking for a hero. She gets a mild-mannered land steward. Eli is good at fixing things, however, and he is determined to solve her problems, even when they take him far from home. Even when he falls in love with her. Even when she falls into the net of a trafficking ring. Even at risk to his own life. Never underestimate a quiet hero. 

In this scene, a band of kidnappers tried to pull her from her carriage.

Excerpt:

“Is this the first time you killed a man, Benson?” the corporal asked.

Eli nodded. He’d had no choice and wouldn’t second guess himself, but the horror of it would haunt him.

“It needed doing,” Goodfellow said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Think on the things you protected.”

When Fanny slid up next to him and put an arm around his waist, he turned her away from the sight of the brigand’s wounds, and pulled her into an embrace. He soaked in the comfort she offered, thanking God she had not been injured. 

Fanny went up on her toes and kissed the side of his chin. “We best get Reilly to a doctor,” she said, her voice thick and wet.

He kissed her fiercely then, pouring all the wanting, all the passion, all his need for comfort into that kiss. When he raised his head, still holding her, Goodfellow studiously saw to the tack on his horse, but Wil stared open mouthed.

Eli almost asked Fanny to trade places with Wil, needing her by his side, but she’d be safer inside the carriage. One thing he knew for certain. Once they got to the inn, he wouldn’t let her out of his sight.

About the Book

Frances Hancock always knew she was a bastard. She didn’t know her father was an earl until her mother died. The information came just in time. She and her mother’s younger children were about to be homeless. She needs help. Fast. What she wants is a hero.

Eli Benson, the Earl of Clarion’s steward, took great pride in cleaning up the mess left behind by the old earl’s will. When a dainty but ferocious young woman with the earl’s hair and eyes comes demanding help, his heart sinks. She isn’t in the will. She was forgotten entirely. And the estate is just getting its finances back in order. But he knows a moral obligation when he sees one. He may not be her idea of a hero, but people count on him to fix things. He’s good at it. Falling in love with her will only complicate things.

Eli will solve her problems or die trying. It may come to that.

Preorder now for 99 cents. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09PGSYJ3Q/

It reverts to full price after launch on January 27.

About the Author

Award winning author Caroline Warfield has been many things: traveler, librarian, poet, raiser of children, bird watcher, Internet and Web services manager, conference speaker, indexer, tech writer, genealogist—even a nun. She reckons she is on at least her third act, happily working 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. She nudges them to explore the riskiest territory of all, the human heart. 

Learn more about Caroline here:

Visit Caroline’s Website and Blog  http://www.carolinewarfield.com/

Meet Caroline on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/carolinewarfield7

Follow Caroline on Twitter https://twitter.com/CaroWarfield

Email Caroline directly   warfieldcaro@gmail.com

Subscribe to Caroline’s newsletter  http://www.carolinewarfield.com/newsletter/

Amazon Author http://www.amazon.com/Caroline-Warfield/e/B00N9PZZZS/

Good Reads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8523742.Caroline_Warfield

Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/caroline-warfield

Bookshelf: http://www.carolinewarfield.com/bookshelf

Available for Preorder!

02 Sunday Jan 2022

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Good morning, my lovelies! Just a heads up that Before I Found You: A de Courtenay Novella (Book Three) is available for preorder. Previously in the Storm & Shelter boxset with the Bluestocking Belles, Before I Found You will now be available for individual sale! Release date February 8th.

A quest for a title. An encounter with a stranger. Will she choose love?

Miss Miranda de Courtenay has only one goal in life: to find a rich husband who can change her status from Missto My Lady. But when a handsome stranger crosses her path at a Valentine’s Day ball, her obsession with titles dims. Might love be enough?

Captain Jasper Rousseau has no plans to become infatuated during a chance encounter at a ball. He has a new ship to run, passengers to book, and cargo to deliver. But one look into a young lady’s beautiful hazel eyes, and he becomes lost. Does love at first sight really exist?

Their paths continue to cross until they are both stranded in Fenwick on Sea. Their growing connection is hard to dismiss, despite Miranda’s childish quest for a title at all cost. But what if the cost includes love?

Buy Links:

Amazon US | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Books2Read

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

Angus & Robertson | Thalia | Tolino | Vivlio

First Kiss Friday with Jude Knight

19 Friday Nov 2021

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Happy First Kiss Friday and welcome to my blog. It’s never too early to start celebrating the holiday season and my guest Jude Knight has an excerpt from her novella A Suitable Husband in the Bluestocking Belles’ box set Holly and Hopeful Hearts which is on sale for only $0.99! Happy reading, my lovelies, and enjoy.

James fell in love at first sight, but has been hitting one barrier to his wooing after another. At last, after eight months, he is alone with his beloved, as she decorates a room for Christmas. How could he bear to waste such an opportunity?

Excerpt:

“Very well, Lord Elfingham, I will put you to work.” She put one hand on his shoulder to help herself from the ladder. “Bring the ladder, please. I have more garlands to hang.”

James lifted the ladder and followed obediently in her wake. “What are we doing, pray tell?”

“We are having a costume party tonight. You heard?”

James nodded. His wardrobe was limited to what he could carry in his saddlebags, but the duchess had ordered chests of costumes and fabric brought down from the attics, and he had found the means to replicate his festival clothes as a mountain prince, or at least close enough for the audience.

If they wanted a barbarian, he would give them a barbarian.

“We did not decorate in here on Christmas Eve, since we had so much else to do, so I am putting up Christmas decorations. See? The evergreen is a symbol of life in this most holy season. And the holly, have you heard the song about the holly?”

Sophia sang for him, in a light alto, all the verses his father had taught them when he was a tiny child. This European holly was not precisely the same as the holly he had grown up with, but it was similar. For the pleasure of hearing her voice, he kept his counsel. 

She went on to explain the other Christmas customs, not just the foliage and ribbons and other materials used in the decorations, but the pudding that had been served at Christmas dinner, the Yule logs burning in various fireplaces around the house, and the boxes that the duchess had delivered the previous day to poor families around the district. 

“Cedrica and I, and several of the other ladies, were her deputies,” Sophia explained. “It was wonderful to see the happy little faces of the children, James.” 

James had stayed back from the hunt organized for the men in the hopes of spending time with Sophia, and had found out about the charity expedition too late to offer his services. “I am sorry that I missed it,” he said sincerely.

He noted one glaring omission in her descriptions. “Just a decoration,” she had told him, mendaciously, when he asked about the kissing boughs.

And now pretending to be ignorant of these English Christmas customs was about to pay off. One day, when she was safely his wife, he might admit to Sophia that he and the whole gala had hung on his father’s tales of an English Christmas, that his mother and her maids had decorated high and low, and his father had led the troops out to find a fitting Yule log to carry home in triumph on Christmas Eve. A harder job in his dry mountains than in this green land.

But this was not the time for that story. Not when Sophia was relaxed and about to pass under a kissing bough that retained its full complement of mistletoe berries.

James suppressed a grin. “Look,” he said, at the opportune time, pointing up. “My kaka—my Papa—told me about these.”

She stopped, as he had intended. With a single stride he reached her, wrapped her in his arms, and captured the lips that had been haunting his dreams this past eight months.

And she kissed him back. For a moment—for one long glorious moment, while time stood still and the world ceased to exist—Sophia Belvoir kissed him back.

James and Sophia first appeared in The Bluestocking and the Barbarian, a novella in the collection Holly and Hopeful Hearts. This collection is currently on sale at 99c, and the Bluestocking Belles will be discussing it on Facebook at 1pm (New York time) on Saturday 27th November.

We’d love for you to join us on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BellesBrigade/posts/3079496369002451/

About Holly and Hopeful Hearts

When the Duchess of Haverford sends out invitations to a Yuletide house party and a New Year’s Eve ball at her country estate, Hollystone Hall, those who respond know that Her Grace intends to raise money for her favorite cause and promote whatever love-matches she can. Seven assorted heroes and heroines set out with their pocketbooks firmly clutched and hearts in protective custody. Or are they?

Holly and Hopeful Hearts is a Bluestocking Belles Christmas collection, and is currently reduced in price to 99c.

Buy it at:

Amazon US:  http://ow.ly/INwa3049Ey3
Amazon UK: http://ow.ly/ZMuH3049ELM
Amazon Australia: http://ow.ly/TczG3049EQ2
Amazon Canada: http://ow.ly/IERm3049EYM
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/664559
Kobo: http://ow.ly/Vx1n304jGzj
Barnes & Noble: http://ow.ly/LqCI304jGuS
iBooks: http://ow.ly/JcSI304jGWE

For more links, see: https://bluestockingbelles.net/belles-joint-projects/holly-and-hopeful-hearts/

A Suitable Husband, by Jude Knight

As the Duchess of Haverford’s companion, Cedrica Grenford is not treated as a poor relation and is encouraged to mingle with Her Grace’s guests. Surely she can find a suitable husband amongst the gentlemen gathered for the duchess’s house party. Above stairs or possibly below. 

Valuing Vanessa, by Susana Ellis

Facing a dim future as a spinster under her mother’s thumb, Vanessa Sedgely makes a practical decision to attach an amiable gentleman who will not try to rule her life. 

A Kiss for Charity, by Sherry Ewing

Young widow Grace, Lady de Courtenay, has no idea how a close encounter with a rake at a masquerade ball would make her yearn for love again. Can she learn to forgive Lord Nicholas Lacey and set aside their differences to let love into her heart?

Artemis, by Jessica Cale

Actress Charlotte Halfpenny is in trouble. Pregnant, abandoned by her lover, and out of a job, Charlotte faces eviction two weeks before Christmas. When the reclusive Earl of Somerton makes her an outrageous offer, she has no choice but to accept. Could he be the man of her dreams, or is the nightmare just beginning?

The Bluestocking and the Barbarian, by Jude Knight

James must marry to please his grandfather, the duke, and to win social acceptance for himself and his father’s other foreign-born children. But only Lady Sophia Belvoir makes his heart sing, and to win her he must invite himself to spend Christmas at the home of his father’s greatest enemy. 

This novella was later rewritten as the novel To Wed a Proper Lady, the first novel in the series The Return of the Mountain King.

Christmas Kisses, by Nicole Zoltack

Louisa Wycliff, Dowager Countess of Exeter wants only for her darling daughter, Anna, to find a man she can love and marry. Appallingly, Anna has her sights on a scoundrel of a duke who chases after every skirt he sees. Anna truly thinks the dashing duke cares for her, but her mother has her doubts. 

An Open Heart, by Caroline Warfield

Esther Baumann longs for a loving husband who will help her create a home where they will teach their children to value the traditions of their people, but she wants a man who is also open to new ideas and happy to make friends outside their narrow circle. Is it so unreasonable to ask for toe curling passion as well?

Dashing Through the Snow, by Amy Rose Bennett

Headstrong bluestocking, Miss Kate Woodville, never thought her Christmas would be spent racing across England with a viscount hell-bent on vengeance. She certainly never expected to find love…

More about Jude Knight:

Jude Knight’s writing goal is to transport readers to another time, another place, where they can enjoy adventure and romance, thrill to trials and challenges, uncover secrets and solve mysteries, delight in a happy ending, and return from their virtual holiday refreshed and ready for anything.

Jude writes everything from Hallmark to Regency Noir, in different eras and diverse places, short, medium and extra long. Expect decent men with wounded hearts, women who are stronger than they think, and villains you’ll want to smack or worse.and all with a leavening of humour.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Books + Main Bites: https://bookandmainbites.com/JudeKnightAuthor

Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Jude-Knight/e/B00RG3SG7I

First Kiss Friday with Alina K. Field

05 Friday Nov 2021

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Thanks for stopping by for my First Kiss Friday blog! Today’s guest has been here before and it’s always a pleasure to Alina K. Field return with her fabulous characters. Today she has an excerpt from Haunting Miss Fenwick. Isn’t the cover gorgeous? I just love purple! Be sure to grab your copy now while its on sale for only $0.99. Happy reading and enjoy, my lovelies!

Excerpt:

“I would never hurt you or Sir Newton.” He reached for her hand and squeezed it. 

Her answering tremble passed through her arm and into him. 

Outside, the lightning and thunder had died, but the rain slapped the window sharply. Like as not it had had turned to sleet. 

He slipped the edge of the blanket over her shoulder and pulled her closer. “You’re cold as well.” 

She angled her head and studied him. “Is there truly treasure here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is that why you’re here?” 

Never confess. Money would be sweet, but it wasn’t what he was looking for. 

“You would steal it from us?” 

It wasn’t stealing. If he found money, he would merely be taking back from Sir Richard what was owed, what was needed to save his brother’s life. 

Digging deep, steeling himself, he gave her the look he’d honed as a young officer, a look he’d used on his most ill-disciplined men, the one he could hold observing a lashing…and for the worst cases, a hanging. 

She glared back at him, as fiercely defiant as the worst denizens of the rookeries. 

He shook his head and sighed. 

“Does anything frighten you?” His hand slipped lower, down her arm and under it, over a slim waist to a generous curve that made his breath—and other parts of him—stir. 

“Mr. Greggson’s attempt on my person was alarming. I thank you for saving me.” A shudder went through her. “Would he have attempted more than a kiss, do you think?” 

His fingers moved of their own will, softly stroking. “He’s not a man you should be alone with.” 

“Yes, I do know that. You and my father have both said so. But what about you, Freddy? Ought I to be alone with you?” 

He’d never forced a woman, not ever. Not even after the madness of battle had he succumbed to that primitive drive. He’d done his duty to restore order within his men as well. 

He’d understood their mad impulses though. 

“I am a gentleman, Tilly.” 

She stirred. “Papa…has not been feeling well, I think. I was ever so happy to see him out in the fresh air, but I’ve worried so about him. Mr. Greggson doesn’t know that, but he does know I’m my father’s only child. He seeks to coerce me into marriage because he’s after the estate and its income, and whatever valuables may be found here, which when Papa dies, he believes will be mine.” She let out a minty breath. “But you, Captain Sanderford, you I believe would prefer just money and not my person along with it.”

“Tilly—”

“And so, it would probably be wise for you to unhand me.”

His hand tightened, bunching the cloth of her robe. “Unhand you?” 

She tilted her head and gazed at him, almost an equal in height now that they were sitting. Her lips had parted a fraction and locks of hair draped the deep blue of eyes that glistened in the light from the candles. 

“Oh, Tilly.” He dipped his head and touched his lips to hers. 

Softness. The scents of mint and soap and lilac. 

His chest pounded and every nerve in his body roared. She hadn’t pulled away, hadn’t pushed, hadn’t slapped him. 

Proceed with caution, he reminded himself. He pressed closer and slanted his lips, coaxing until her mouth opened. 

His hand strayed up, under her breast, and he drew her against him. 

What, besides parchment, was under the high-necked gowns and the heavy robe?

Haunting Miss Fenwick is on sale for 99 cents through November 15, 2021.

About the book: 

Thrilled to finally have a permanent home, a Squire’s daughter won’t let a supernatural creature scare her away. While hunting the ghost she doesn’t believe in, she stumbles upon a mysterious flesh and blood man who might be the key to all of her problems.

When the new Squire moves into Fenwick Manor, an ex-army officer secretly searching the sprawling medieval wreck devises a plan. First, the manor’s legendary ghost will chase servants away. Then, he’ll convince the new residents to leav

When the new Squire moves into Fenwick Manor, an ex-army officer secretly searching the sprawling medieval wreck devises a plan. First, the manor’s legendary ghost will chase servants away. Then, he’ll convince the new residents to leave.

But the Squire’s spirited daughter soon has him wondering if he might have found a perfect comrade in arms to help battle old enemies and find the proof that will clear his family name.

 Buy Links:

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W7VV5MN

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/haunting-miss-fenwick

Nook  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/haunting-miss-fenwick-alina-k-field/1132856997?ean=2940161216842

Apple Books https://books.apple.com/us/book/haunting-miss-fenwick/id1475837095?ls=1

Google Play:     https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Alina_K_Field_Haunting_Miss_Fenwick?id=Vpy7DwAAQBAJ

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/bzvOa9

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 

MeWe: https://mewe.com/i/alinakfield

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlinaKField

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

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

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

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/alinakf/

Bingebooks: https://bingebooks.com/author/alina-k-field

Newsletter signup: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z6q6e3

First Kiss Friday with Jude Knight & a Freebie!

29 Friday Oct 2021

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Hello, my lovelies, and welcome to my First Kiss Friday blog. You’ve seen my guest here before and I’m always thrilled to have Jude Knight on my blog any day of the week. Jude has an excerpt from one of her novellas in her boxset of short stories from Chasing the Tale. Be sure to read all the way to the end to collect your #FREE eBook. Happy reading and take it away Jude!

This excerpt comes from The Veiled Bride, which is a short novella in my book of short stories, Chasing the Tale. It’s my one and only medieval, set in Scotland during the time of Robert the Bruce. It has a clan feud, a bride who has been stolen from her betrothal ceremony and imprisoned for ten years in an abbey, a plot to ruin her groom, and a surprise for the villains.
In the excerpt, our reunited couple are about to consummate their marriage

Excerpt:

Jonetta had that deer and the hunter look again, as if she thought Liam was about to grab her, hurl her on the bed, and take his pleasure without any thought to hers. Her apprehension helped to steady him: a needed warning that this was all new to her. Remembering her innocence gave him the strength to ignore the intense pressure of his base self.

He put one arm around her and lifted her chin with his hand. Jonetta pursed her lips and Liam covered them with his own, keeping his touch gentle. At first, he used only his lips, caressing hers until he felt her relax.

He drifted his tongue along the seam of her mouth, but she had no idea what he was requesting. Her own lips stayed firmly shut until he nibbled on her lower lip so that she opened with a gasp, letting his tongue sweep victoriously inside. Gently, he reminded himself and was rewarded when Jonetta tentatively touched her own tongue to his—even followed when he retreated, to explore his mouth as he had explored hers.

Now that she was fully engaged in the kiss, as they tasted one another, he let a hand drift down to rub over her nipple. He rejoiced when he found a hard nub that indicated her arousal, but she stiffened, a slight retreat from the sensual spell he was trying to weave. He brushed the sides of her breasts: first one, then the other, while still intensifying the kiss.

One subtle step at a time, he encouraged her further and further into ever more intimate caresses until she was yearning towards him, responding to every touch; until he had her chemise above her knees, his fingers and thumb performing the intimate dance that soon he and she would recreate together.
When he drew back from the kiss and lifted her into his arms to carry her to the bed, her glorious eyes were hazed with passion, but not enough to still the question that rose, unspoken but obvious, from their depths.

“The bed,” he told her and was pleased when no hint of trepidation marred her relaxation in his arms. Before she could lie down, he lifted her chemise and, though she blushed, she allowed him to take it over her head. She made no move to cover herself as he stood back to take in her glory: her broad hips and narrow waist, the breasts upon which he had been feasting. A man privileged to enjoy those breasts could die happy.

She was blushing. “Ye are very beautiful,” Liam told her, and his innocent bride blushed still further, which strengthened him to ignore the clamourings of his own body. He would see to her pleasure first, for he had been told that a maid’s first time was easier if her lover made sure she was well-pleasured before her lover entered her.

She coloured still further under his gaze, and shifted as if to cover herself. He put out a hand to stop her. “No, beautiful Jonetta. Here in our bedchamber, let us be naked and unashamed like Adam and Eve before the Fall. He gathered her back into his arms, and lay down to return his mouth to hers, whispering, “Let me see to yer pleasure.”

Chasing the Tale
By Jude Knight

Escape into another place and time just long enough for a lunch or coffee break in eleven short stories from the imagination of award-winning author Jude Knight. Nine Regency plus one colonial New Zealand and one medieval Scotland. Multiple tropes, catastrophes and barriers on the way to a happy ending.

An Angel, Unawares
In colonial New Zealand, Molly faces Christmas without her husband. A passing drifter helps her keep her three children happy, but when will Rick be home?

Anne Under Siege
Can this year get worse? Anne has been robbed, the frosts have killed the vegetable seedlings, and now the new earl wants to evict them. It doesn’t help that she once had a youthful infatuation with the man!

The Fifth Race
If she wins this one last race, Rhi will be free to choose her own future. Lose, and she must marry the winner. Cen, returning from a decade at war, is determined to be that winner, for he has always loved her. But he is not the only challenger, and someone is prepared to cheat and even kill in order to take the prize.

Found in Scotland
Ned Broderick wakes in an inn far from home, cared for by a stranger who claims to be his wife. Is she a cunning schemer, or the woman of his dreams?

Home is the sailor; home from the sea
Stephen Fletcher has one final task for the navy; presenting his commiserations to his best friend’s sister. Fletch never could resist a damsel in distress, especially one he has been writing to for years.

Look into my eyes
Two strangers watch one another across a crowded ballroom. What does the rake called Lord Charming have to do with the duchess known as the Paragon? Only the two of them know.

The Marquis Returns
A forced wedding, the feud between their families, and a seven-year separation. Their marriage did not get off to a good start. Hal and Willa will be lucky to get out of it with their dignity intact. They’d be fools to hope for more, even if miracles do happen at Christmas.

The Mouse Fights Back
Tiberius has promised to keep Claudia safe from his grasping relatives and also from her own. His Mouse, he calls his little wife, tenderly. But when Tiberius is in danger, Mouse must find her courage and her teeth.

The Path that Brings Us Home
Gwen returns to the home she hasn’t seen in ten years, uncertain of her reception. Her brothers’ war with another local family destroyed her lover, her dearest friend, and her own life. Will she be forgiven? Can she find a measure of happiness?

The Rain Dog
When Jake saves a dog from a flooded river, he has no idea that the dog will more than return the favour, saving him and bringing him his lost love.

The Veiled Bride
Jonetta Macintosh and Uilleam Cameron were parted by treachery on their betrothal day, and treachery stalks them still, a decade later. In medieval Scotland, where the clans put their feuds ahead of the King and the welfare of the kingdom, can our two star-crossed lovers find a path to peace and happiness?

Buy links
Books2Read: https://books2read.com/chasingthetale
Jude Knight’s book page: https://judeknightauthor.com/books/chasing-the-tale/
Selz shop https://judeknight.selz.com/item/chasing-the-tale

Giveaway
Chasing the Tale is free on Jude’s SELZ bookstore, or drop Jude an email through her website, letting her know what ebook version you need, and she’ll send you a copy.

Meet Jude
Jude always wanted to be a novelist. She started in her teens, but life kept getting in the way. Years passed, and with them dozens of unfinished manuscripts. The fear grew. What if she tried, failed, and lost the dream forever? The years since 2014 have brought 11 novels, 13 novella, 4 volumes of short stories, 3 awards, and hundreds of positive reviews. The dream is alive.

Website and blog: http://judeknightauthor.com/
Subscribe to newsletter: http://judeknightauthor.com/newsletter/
Jude’s bookstore: 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

New Release from Caroline Warfield!

21 Thursday Oct 2021

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When the old Earl of Clarion leaves a will with bequests for all his children, legitimate and not, listing each and their mothers by name, he complicated the lives of many in the village of Ashmead. One of them was the daughter who defied him. She was left nothing, and is the second of The Ashmead Heirs.

Can they slay the demons of their past and forge a future?

More lies between the duchess and the man she wants than money and class. The widowed Duchess of Glenmoor has cultivated a simple life. She was content until a man with knowing eyes and coal black hair captured her thoughts. Colonel Brynn Morgan has put his past in the coal mines of Wales to rest and formed a satisfying career in London, but he has nothing to offer a wife, much less the duchess who haunts his dreams. They both have demons to slay if they want to be together.

The Defiant Daughter – Free with Kindle Unlimited!

Buy Link: https://bit.ly/TheDefiantDaughter

Author bio

Award winning author Caroline Warfield has been many things: traveler, librarian, poet, raiser of children, bird watcher, Internet and Web services manager, conference speaker, indexer, tech writer, genealogist—even a nun. She reckons she is on at least her third act, happily working 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. She nudges them to explore the riskiest territory of all, the human heart. 

Find Caroline on these social media outlets:

Visit Caroline’s Website and Blog: http://www.carolinewarfield.com/

Meet Caroline on Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/carolinewarfield7

Follow Caroline on Twitter: @CaroWarfield

Email Caroline directly: warfieldcaro@gmail.com

Subscribe to Caroline’s newsletter: http://www.carolinewarfield.com/newsletter/

Amazon Author: http://www.amazon.com/Caroline-Warfield/e/B00N9PZZZS/

Good Reads: http://bit.ly/1C5blTm

Bluestocking Belles:  http://bluestockingbelles.net/about/caroline-warfield/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/caroline-warfield

Caroline’s Other Books 

Bookshelf: http://www.carolinewarfield.com/bookshelf/

A Dangerous Nativity, a novella prequel to both her Children of Empire and Dangerous Series is available for free at:

Barnes&Noble   Kobo   Amazon  Smashwords

First Kiss Friday with Caroline Warfield

08 Friday Oct 2021

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Any day I can have Caroline Warfield on my First Kiss Friday blog is a good week! This busy author is about to release her second book in the Ashmead Heirs series, The Defiant Daughter. Isn’t the cover just gorgeous? Read on, my lovelies, and enjoy!

In The Defiant Daughter, Madelyn, Dowager Duchess of Glenmoor, travels to Wales in search of a step-son she believes may be alive, having been told he died years before. Colonel Brynn Morgan, who grew up there around coal mines, accompanies her. Conditions she finds in the mines horrify her. Late one night she seeks comfort in the colonel’s arms, and begs him to take her home.

Excerpt:

Madelyn’s warm body nestled in Brynn’s arms, balm to his soul after a day of hell. The sensation left him comforted and aroused, giving him peace, driving him mad. With her soft and supple curves against his chest, he couldn’t resist a taste. The kiss began as a gentle gesture, a reassurance, but when she opened to him of her own accord, he could only take what she offered. The caress of her mouth and tongue, awkward yet determined, hot and needy, sent his blood boiling, and his more primitive instincts galloping.

Lost in sensation he nibbled the corner of her lip, nuzzled her ear, traced her neck with his lips before moving back to explore the treasures of her mouth, hot, wet and open to him. He almost missed her trembling.

By the time she pulled back, gasping for a breath and shaking, her hands had come under his jacket, heating his back through his shirt, and his had wandered around the thin protection of her night clothes to places far too intimate for his brother’s garden.

He forced coherent thought to the surface. One word echoed in his head. Ashmead. Her place of safety. What Madelyn longed for after Glynrhos wasn’t his heated fantasies. She wished for shelter, and he offered something far different. No wonder she was shaken. Danger, Madelyn, I can offer naught but risk.

He forced his unruly hands to her waist, and then her arms, pulling them from his back, sliding down to grasp her hands, grateful he couldn’t see her face. If he saw in her eyes what she said with her kiss his good intentions would evaporate.

“Easy, duchess. Shall we sit, and you can tell me what I’ve done to deserve this delightful gift?”

Madelyn assumed marriage as an old man’s ornament would be better than life with her abusive parents. She was wrong.

Now the widowed Duchess of Glenmoor, she wrestles with ugly memories and cultivates a simple life. She is content. At least, she was until her half-brother returned to Ashmead bringing a friend with knowing eyes and coal black hair to capture her thoughts.

Colonel Brynn Morgan’s days as an engineer in his father’s coal mines in Wales are long behind him. With peace come at last and Napoleon gone, he makes a life for himself analyzing the reports about military and naval facilities worldwide for a shadowy government department. What income he has is committed elsewhere. He has nothing to offer a wife, much less a dowager duchess.

More lies between the duchess and the man she wants than money and class:   They have personal demons to slay.

Pre-order for October 21 Launch: https://bit.ly/TheDefiantDaughter

About the Author:

Award winning author Caroline Warfield has been many things: traveler, librarian, poet, raiser of children, bird watcher, Internet and Web services manager, conference speaker, indexer, tech writer, genealogist—even a nun. She reckons she is on at least her third act, happily working 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. She nudges them to explore the riskiest territory of all, the human heart. 

Find Caroline in These Places:

Visit Caroline’s Website and Blog: http://www.carolinewarfield.com/

Meet Caroline on Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/carolinewarfield7

Follow Caroline on Twitter: @CaroWarfield

Email Caroline directly: warfieldcaro@gmail.com

Subscribe to Caroline’s newsletter: http://www.carolinewarfield.com/newsletter/

Amazon Author: http://www.amazon.com/Caroline-Warfield/e/B00N9PZZZS/

Good Reads: http://bit.ly/1C5blTm

Bluestocking Belles:  http://bluestockingbelles.net/about/caroline-warfield/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/caroline-warfield

Caroline’s Other Books 

Bookshelf: http://www.carolinewarfield.com/bookshelf/

A Dangerous Nativity, a novella prequel to both her Children of Empire and Dangerous Series is available for free at:

Barnes&Noble   Kobo   Amazon  Smashwords