UPDATE: The winners are…Debra Guyette & Mary McCoy!
*~*~*

Hello, everyone! First, a huge thank you to Delilah for letting me join in the fun. I’ve been following this blog for a while and finally found my motivation to write about my experience.

When I set out to write my first novel almost a decade ago, I figured it would take all my efforts just to write a Regency romance that balanced the more erotic components I wanted with a full-fledged romantic arc.

However, my brain would not let me stop there. As a modern woman who’d had a thirty-year career in corporate America, I kept wanting the women to have more power.

So entered the idea of a secret school for young women that would teach them everything from household and money management to owning their own pleasure, and thus, the School of Enlightenment series was created.

But what Regency men would love these women? Imagining that they’d also need to be ahead of their time, I dove into Parliamentary laws and scientific developments. My contemporary perspective drove me to focus on those that impacted women, children, and the working class.

Here are a few significant events I mention in my books:

• Corn Laws – In an effort to combat imported grains competition to British farms, The Corn Laws were passed in 1814. These helped only the landowners of the farms, not the agricultural laborers, and caused more extreme poverty for the working class.
• Insolvent Debtors Act of 1813 – This was the first step in Poor Law reform, relieving the overcrowded prisons by releasing debtors if they could reach an agreement with their creditor regarding the distribution of present and future assets. There were further reforms proposed and a few passed, although greater reform did not come until the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, which standardized the treatment of debtors and the use of workhouses. Prior to that it had been up to the parishes throughout Britain and varied widely.
• Macadam roads – Principal routes were dirt until the first few years of the 19^th century when John McAdam’s innovative ‘paving’ was implemented. This was the precursor of what we consider ‘chip and seal’ and saved many horses and carriages from accidents due to poor road conditions in bad weather.
• Steam engines – Steam engines had begun development centuries ago, but in the early 19^th century they became more viable for commercial use – in factories, boats, and locomotives.
• Salamanca – The first commercial steam locomotive, which ran between Middleton and Leeds.
• Robert Owen – Welsh textile manufacturer who was a philanthropist and founder of utopian socialism and the co-operative movement. Even as a factory owner, he led reforms in working conditions, child labor, and life-long education. He was famous for the slogan, “eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest,” and helped get the Cotton Mills and Factories Act of 1819 passed.

After my school-focused series, I continued to search for ways to write women’s independence. In my most recent book, Charlotte’s Control, the widow Charlotte has a knack for investing and does not need to worry about money, but she hungers for the educational opportunities afforded to men in secondary school and university. Most classes were taught in Latin, so she wants to learn that. William, an Oxford student, helps teach her using ancient poets:

• Catullus – (full name Gaius Valerius Catullus Carmina) who wrote sexually explicit (for Roman times) poetry and was a contemporary of Virgil.
• Ovid – The Heroides (Epistulae Heroidum) and Ars amatoria.
• Homer – The Odyssey, both the Pope translation and the Chapman translation, as well as Keats’ poem about the latter.
• Chaucer – Canterbury Tales, from which I drew snippets particularly about the Squire, the Prioress, the Knight, the Reeve, and reference a debate between William and Charlotte over the Wife of Bath.

For giggles, I also created this as an older woman/younger man age gap romance with a bit of femdomme sprinkled in.

Charlotte’s Control

A young rake soon to inherit an impoverished estate…a lonely widow unable to produce an heir…a love they must forsake.

Widowed at thirty, Charlotte, Dowager Countess of Peterborough, finds herself on the lonely edge of Society, caught between the young chits vying for a husband and older matrons. In a moment of vulnerability, she meets a young rake who tempts her to forget propriety and reclaim her feminine powers of seduction…for a while. Their affair can only last until he marries a wealthy debutante who can give him what Charlotte cannot. An heir.

In his final year at Oxford, William Stanton, heir to the Earl of Harrington, is forced to manage the earldom for his drunken father and provide for his family. With the prospect of an advantageous marriage looming in his future, he yearns for the frivolity of his peers. But when he encounters a lovely widow, he’s drawn to her keen mind as much as he is to her beauty. She believes they are destined to part. To keep her, he must battle Fate, time, and the rules of Society that conspire against them.

Get your copy here!

Contest

To win your choice of one of my ebooks, tell me your favorite older woman / younger man romance or your favorite femdomme romance. (Also a sneaky way for me to find new fun books.) Giveaway will be open for one week from the date of posting.

For more about Maggie, visit:
Website: http://maggiesims.com
Newsletter signup for a free novella: https://maggiesims.com/newsletter-signup/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maggiesims.author/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/maggie-sims
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4092694.Maggie_Sims
TikTok (sometimes): https://www.tiktok.com/@maggiesims.author

UPDATE: The winner is…Deb Brown!
*~*~*

Hello Delilah and thank you for hosting me!

When I partook in Tea with Austen, the charity anthology last year, I was super trepidatious about moving into the realm of writing historical.  Especially Regency, for which I had only the movies I’d watched to guide me (and having read Pride and Prejudice in my first year of university—so long ago that I won’t mention years…).  My story in the anthology was of two seafaring sailors on Captain Wentworth’s ship.  One received news of an inheritance that set his life on a different trajectory than the one he’d planned.  At the Captain’s suggestion, he brought along another sailor—a mentor of sorts (as well as a secret lover)—with him.  I love An Uncommon Gentleman, and when the rights reverted, I added an epilogue and recorded the audio with the amazing Michael Ferraiuolo narrating.

When I heard the wonderful anthology folks were doing a second Austen anthology, I signed up right away—and then panicked because I had no idea what I’d do next.  Persuasion is my favorite book—even though I hadn’t read it until the time came to write my story last year.  The movie with Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root is one of my all-time favorites and ones released in the years since don’t touch it as far as I’m concerned.

Okay…so this year… I tapped Plot Whisperer, who is a HUGE Austen fan.  After she thought for a bit, she came up with a story that connects with Robert Ferrars.  He has a minor role in Sense and Sensibility, but an important one as he winds up marrying his brother’s former fiancée—Miss Lucy Steele.  He’s described by Austen as a coxcomb.  Who better for my story than a dissolute young Lord whose friends with said coxcomb? Oh my God, I had so much fun preparing to write this story, especially after watching Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet, Greg Wise, and the late Alan Rickman (isn’t he fabulous?) in my favorite movie version.  I also watched the BBC mini-series of the story, which helped because the character of Robert appears in more scenes in that production.

I had my set up.  Plot Whisperer whispered a fabulous plot—which includes a valet taking a hand to the dissolute young Lord in my story.  Another interracial gay romance.  Another fun Lord and Valet story.  More fodder for my readers and a way to pull readers of gay romance into Austen world and a way to pull fans of Austen into the world of gay romance.  Just to give you an idea, the stories in the anthology go from sweetest to, uh, raunchiest. (Or just sexiest…)  With my BDSM and gay sex, I landed at the end of the tome.  Quelle surprise.

Anyway, I hope readers check out the charity anthology—available in both Kindle Unlimited and Amazon.

Thank you for hosting me, Delilah!  As a thank you to one lucky commenter, I’d love to give an ebook or audiobook copy of An Uncommon Gentleman to the comment “Random” chooses.  If that winner doesn’t want that prize, I can arrange something else from my back catalogue from any of my three pennames.  Good luck!

Tea with Austen: A Historical Romance Collection for Charity Inspired by Jane Austen

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that any hot-blooded reader must be in need of a hero in a wet white shirt…

Grab your fans and parasols and join our party of Austen-inspired ladies and gentlemen for tea, scones, and the latest on-dit, in this collection with part of the proceeds going to Breast Cancer Research.

Authors:
Heather Scarlett
Jeanine Lauren
Carrie DiRisio
Sharon Michalove
Angela Kady
Frannie Holmes
Riana Everly
Diana Lloyd
Emma Brady
Gabbi Grey
Kathleen Ryder
Cecilia Rene
Bianca White
Clyve Rose
Lisabel Chretien
Grace Hartwell
MaryAnn Clarke

The anthology will only be available for a limited time.

Links:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/tnrc2024teawithausten
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CR43CGK2
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204445471-tea-with-austen

About Gabbi’s “A Sensible Gentleman“ inside Tea with Austen

Kenneth

As the heir, I have always done whatever I please. My conquests are legendary, and my concern for others negligible. When I meet our new servant, though, I discover someone who won’t bow to my whims. I will admit, I’m intrigued.

Walter

As the new valet in the household, I am aware of my precarious position. Still, work isn’t everything. When I meet the son of the manor, a demanding brat, I set aside my concern for my employment to teach the young man a lesson about respecting those around him.

A Sensible Gentleman is a 10k-word graphic and racy gay romance Regency short story set in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility world, with a headstrong young brat and the valet happy to put him in his place.

Warning: explicit consensual sexual content

About Gabbi Grey

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

Thank you, Delilah, for having me on your blog today!

This summer, we went on a Mediterranean cruise. Throughout this trip, I was awed by the historical significance of the places we visited.

One of our port stops was Istanbul, Turkey. While here, we visited the Grand Bazaar, the oldest and largest marketplace in the world. Built in 1455 to provide income for the maintenance of the Hagia Sophia Mosque, it spans 61 streets and contains 4,000 shops. Jewelry, clothing, rugs, lamps, and other goods are found here. The market was too large to explore in its entirety with the time we had available. We also stopped at the Spice Bazaar. This bazaar has existed since 1664 and was built to provide income for the upkeep of the Yeni Mosque. Spices lined the storefronts of the shops, making for a wonderful display of colors. I enjoyed wandering through the shops and seeing the variety of spices and foods. Both marketplaces were centers of trade for many centuries.

One thing I find fascinating about historical structures from the past is their beauty, even when built for a functional purpose. The Basilica Cistern was constructed in 532 to store water. It contains 336 columns that are 9 meters in height. The columns are in different styles, and it’s believed that some of them were recycled from older buildings. The cistern can hold 80,000 tons of water and was used to supply water to the Great Palace. Over time, it was only known to and used by locals, until French naturalist and topographer Petrus Gyllius learned of its existence in 1545. The cistern was restored and opened to the public in 1987. Today it’s filled with about one to three feet of water and there are walkways that go around the structure with art installations throughout.

As a Regency romance writer, I love exploring places steeped in history.

You can learn more about the bazaars and the basilica by visiting the following websites:

https://hum54-15.omeka.fas.harvard.edu/exhibits/show/the-basilica-cistern-and-the-t/rediscovery-of-the-cistern

https://istanbul.com/about-city/must-knows-about-the-grand-bazaar

https://istanbul.com/about-city/the-spice-bazaar

https://yerebatan.com/en/basilica-cistern/about-us/

Are there places you’ve visited that you’ve found inspiring?

An Eye for Love

Coming January 2024!  

A missing heirloom. A search for the thief. An unexpected romance.

Lady Olivia Thorne’s beloved eye miniature has gone missing. She’s sure she knows who took it, but she can’t accuse an earl without proof. Instead, she makes a deal with the devil—or, rather, the earl’s cousin.

Henry Branson is a poor relation to the Earl of Comstock and makes his living by investigating for members of the ton. When Lady Olivia hires him to find her heirloom, he’s determined to prove his cousin innocent.

But there’s more at stake than either of them realizes. When late-night searches and admissions of guilt turn into feelings both are too frightened to reveal, decisions must be made.

Will Olivia and Henry risk everything for love? Or will they let passion pass them by?

If you’d like to get updates on my release date, freebies, and other content, sign up for my newsletter at https://cynthiacapley.com/newsletter.

About the Author

Cynthia Capley is working on her first novel set during the Regency era. She enjoys writing stories with strong characters that triumph over challenges to achieve their happily ever after. Cynthia lives in the Pacific Northwest, where the rain and numerous tea shops make the perfect writing companions. She lives with her husband and a menagerie of pets and likes to play fetch with Natasha, a tortoiseshell-colored cat with an attitude.

Website: https://cynthiacapley.com

UPDATE: The winner is…Carol!
*~*~*

Hello Delilah! Thank you for inviting me here today to discuss my latest contribution to a charity anthology. This would be my sixth anthology in four years, and I just love participating in these! The main reason is, of course, to raise money for charity. In this case, breast cancer research. The second reason is to stretch my authorial wings. To try something new. To step out of my comfort zone. Earlier this year, I wrote a short story about a female billionaire for a billionaire anthology. I liked doing something a little different. Flipping expectations on their head.

So, to is my newest project…

When I read The Romance Café was putting together a Jane Austen anthology, my interest was piqued. I love Austen and happen to think Colin Firth was made to play Mr. Darcy. And Jennifer Ehle as Lizzie? Perfection. That being said, my favorite of Austen’s few precious works is Persuasion. I empathized with Anne Elliot and adored Captain Frederick Wentworth. When I saw the premise of the Austen anthology was that each story would include an encounter with an Austen character, I knew which famous couple I would choose.

I also wanted to push other boundaries. I write gay romances. There were gay men way back in Regency England. Some authors I know write amazing Regency MM romances. I aspired to write something just as good. Also, I often write interracial romances. Well, there were Black men in Regency England as well. Many were former slaves, but some came from more esteemed backgrounds. I’d just watched the movie Belle about a Black woman in high society, and I knew what I wanted to write. Along came John Blackthorne and his friend Phillip. When John is recalled from the Navy to attend his family’s estate, he’s shocked. Fortunately, he has his good friend (and sort-of lover) Phillip to accompany him as he takes a position of prestige within his family.

Shoving all that story into 7,000 words was challenging, but I’m always up for doing the near-impossible. I was also writing in a time period I knew virtually nothing about, with a language I wasn’t familiar with and with military protocol I had no clue about. Two good friends (including one who is an actual historian) read the story and gave me suggestions.

I had my story. And I’m hoping readers will enjoy it along with the other twenty or so stories set in Austen’s England.

As a thank you to your readers, I’d love to offer up a $5 Amazon Gift Certificate to one lucky commenter. I’d love to hear which is your favorite Austen novel. And if you’re not a Regency fan, do you enjoy seeing classic characters popping up in modern books? Leave a comment and one random commenter will win!

Thank you, Delilah, for hosting me. I hope everyone runs out and buys the anthology—available through Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited.

Austen’s Tea Party

Take care not to spill the tea (literally) while we share the latest on-dit (aka dish the dirt) about the Ton, who is courting, and who has been compromised in this collection of Austen-inspired romance stories.

Join us for a turn around the room in stories from USA Today best-selling and award-winning romance authors curated by the New Romance Café featuring cameos from some of Jane’s most memorable characters (and some we’d like to forget). ALL proceeds go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Authors:
Alexa Santi
Angela Kady
Anja Raney
Bianca White
Carrie DiRisio
Catherine Bilson
Catherine Stein
Cecilia Rene
Charlie Lane
Christina Alexandra
Clyve Rose
Deborah E Pearson
Debra-Ann Kummoung
Gabbi Grey
Katy Rose
Kenna Campbell
Michaela Brent
Sharon Michalove
Tabetha Waite
Tanya Wilde
TL Clark

The anthology will only be available for a limited time.

Links:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/AustenTeaParty
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Austen-Tea-Party-Historical-Collection-ebook/dp/B0BKRC76PS
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63135499-austen-tea-party

About Gabbi’s story inside Austen’s Tea Party
“An Uncommon Gentleman”

John

I have served as a sailor in His Majesty’s Royal Navy for the past ten years and had no intention of changing that path. The death of my uncle means I must return to Blackthorne Estate to take up my position as Lord and Master. I’ll step up to do my duty. My dearest wish is that my beloved joins me. When he chooses to accompany me, I set my mind to making him mine. Body and soul.

Philip

I have been a sailor for nearly thirty years and will only retire when my captain orders it. When my beloved is called to attend to his family’s estate, he asks me to attend to him as a valet. I’m happy to do so as it keeps me close to him. He wants to grow the affection between the two of us, but I feel the need to attempt to hold myself apart. In the end, though, I suspect he will win this argument.

About Gabbi Grey

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
*~*~*

Thank you to Delilah for inviting me to be on her blog!

I’m Ella Quinn, and I write light-hearted Regencies. My latest release is The Most Eligible Viscount in London, book 2 of The Lords of London. I’m also an Army veteran stationed in Germany with my husband who’s trying to recover from his second retirement. He’s going to have to figure it out within the next 18 months. I’m ready to get back to my boat. We also have a Great Dane who has been on the boat and loves meeting people in marinas and a cat who has not yet been on the boat.

Contest

For a chance to win a FREE download tell me whether retiring on a boat is your idea of heaven too!

The Most Eligible Viscount in London

In bestselling author Ella Quinn’s intriguing new Regency trilogy, a dashing suitor must decide if love and marriage are mutually exclusive…

Viscount Gavin Turley is convinced that love matches cause nothing but trouble. Still, after months of courting, he’s fallen for Miss Georgie Featherton. He’s passionate about her, in fact. But words of love are not an indulgence he will allow himself. When he presents Georgie with his marriage proposal, he will lead with his head—not his heart. His qualifications as a husband are excellent, after all. What could go wrong?

No sooner does Gavin kneel on one knee than Georgie’s heart goes aflutter with joy. Finally, the proposal she longed for had arrived. Yet Gavin seemed to be listing his credentials for a business partnership, not a romantic union. Without a declaration of love, Georgie can only reject his offer—unless the ladies of the ton, and Georgie’s grandmama, have anything to do with it. For sometimes it takes a wiser eye to see the love behind a guarded heart—and a clever scheme to bring it out of hiding…

The Most Eligible Viscount in London Buy Links:
Amazon https://amzn.to/31RKPid
Amazon CA https://amzn.to/2O1Qkby
B&N https://bit.ly/31TpWTN
BAM http://bit.ly/38iarJh
Google https://bit.ly/31PIvsj
Kobo https://bit.ly/30SYQ00
The Bookshop http://bit.ly/2O1QYpu

Much like the 1960s, the Regency was a special time. It was not as freewheeling as the Georgie period before it, nor was it as straight-laced as the Victorian era that followed it. It was a time of new ideas and thinking. Political groups ranged from the Tories, who supported the monarchy and the old way of life on one side and on the other side were the Whigs who supported a more liberal approach to the new United States, granting more rights to the common man, more educational opportunities, and better working conditions. Then there were the Radicals who supported universal suffrage and the abolishment of the peerage.

Philosophers like Mary Wollstonecraft, Jeremy Bentham, and others were on the ascendant. And, thanks to authors like Jane Austen, the new idea of love matches was taking hold. Once a lady was married and had delivered her husband an heir and preferably a second son as well, she was free to engage in discreet affairs. Yet, young unmarried ladies still had to adhere to a strict set of rules least they be ruined and forced to spend their lives as spinsters, or worse, outcast from their families in a time where it was not easy for a lady to earn a living.

In my latest book, The Most Eligible Lord in London, the heroine, Lady Adeline Wivenly is now faced with putting into practice what she has spent a lifetime learning. Balls and other social events were full of pitfalls for a young lady making her come out. But there were also a few rules gentlemen had to follow as well. Chief of which was not to introduce themselves to a lady. In order to meet a lady, a man had to find someone who knew her and would provide an introduction. Another was to agree to dance with any lady his hostess wished him to. There was no dodging that duty if he wanted to continue to be invited to entertainments. Some gentlemen were able to get around the duty by arriving late and departing early, thus becoming the despair of any hostess.

With everyone in full knowledge of their obligations, what could go wrong?

“Lords Turley and Littleton are coming toward us,” Georgie whispered and glanced at Dorie, who was talking to a worthy-looking gentleman.

Adeline slid a look across the assembly room. Drat. Georgie was right. To make it worse, he was even better looking in evening clothes. No rakes. “I have no objection Lord Turley, but I do not wish to have anything to do with Lord Littleton.”

“You cannot refuse to dance with him.” Georgie’s tone had lowered even more.

“If he even asks me.” Perhaps he would not. “He might ask you or Augusta instead.”

“I do not think so.” She pasted a polite smile on her face and curtseyed. “My lord. Good evening.”

Lord Turley bowed. “Miss Featherton, might I ask you for this dance?”

“It would be my pleasure.” He held out his arm and she took it, leaving Adeline to face Lord Littleton all by herself.

“My lady”—his voice was low and seductive just like a rake’s, and his bow was elegant, but it was his deep meadow green eyes that held her plain gray ones as they had that afternoon. They still made her feel as if she was the only lady he saw. “Would you do me the honor of being my partner?”

She curtseyed and kept her tone cool. “I would be pleased”—not delighted—“to dance with you, my lord.”

The Most Eligible Lord in London

In this captivating new Regency trilogy, bestselling author Ella Quinn picks up where her beloved Worthingtons series left off, as three Lords of London discover true love at last . . .

Handsome, rakish, incorrigibly flirtatious—Fredrick, Lord Littleton, is notorious. Lady Adeline Wivenly is resolved to keep him at arm’s length during her first Season—until she overhears another woman’s plot to trick him into marriage. Even a rogue is undeserving of such deception, and Adeline feels obliged to warn him—only to find herself perilously attracted . . .

In the past, Littleton’s charm nearly got him leg-shackled to the wrong woman. Now he’s positive he’s found the right one, for Adeline is everything he wants and needs in a wife. Her sense of justice is so strong she agrees to help him despite her mistrust. But can the ton’s most elusive lord convince the lady he is finally serious about marriage—as long as she will be his bride?

Buy Links
Amazon US https://amzn.to/31ZVGWS
Amazon UK https://amzn.to/2XtWS5c
Amazon CA https://amzn.to/2x9wcYC
Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/2FpphPG
Google Play http://bit.ly/2utSE0Q
B&N http://bit.ly/2XBP7KR
BAM http://bit.ly/2TTxbsD
Kobo http://bit.ly/2RmDKCp

UPDATE: The winner is…Fedora!
*~*~*

Now that I’ve survived the madness of drafting and editing my latest book release, I’ve moved into the promotion stage. I always try to incorporate my love of beading and crafting into my giveaways and promotions. This year, I’m working on easy-peasy stamped ornaments.

All you need are stamping tools (stamps, hammer, base to stamp on), flat washers, a permanent black marker (optional) & rubbing alcohol, and some thin ribbon. The washers I’m using are 0.5” (inside opening width) x 1” (width of the outside of the circle) Zinc-plated standard, flat washers.

I’m writing this assuming that you have a basic knowledge of stamping metal, but if not there are a ton of easy-to-follow tutorials on you tube.

All you need to do to make your ornaments is stamp a very short message around the circle of the washer. I like to leave a small gap at the “top” of the circle where the ribbon will wrapped, but that’s not necessary. In my example I stamped a few with “Let It Snow” and others with “Believe”. You may have to practice a bit to get the spacing just right.

Once you’ve finished stamping you can color over the letters with a black permanent marker to fill in the grooves you stamped to make the letters stand out. But be prepared to quickly wipe the surface with a paper towel or cotton ball dampened with the rubbing alcohol to get the excess marker off. I’ve found with these zinc washers if you let the marker dry, it’s much harder to get the excess black ink off. You can repeat the process if you take too much ink out of the grooves.

Now, you’re ready to add a length of ribbon to act as the ornament hanger. You can also add a bead or charm for extra decoration. You can also use a large jump ring instead of the ribbon if you would rather use the washer as a jewelry charm for a necklace, bracelet, or key ring.

Have fun with it!

Be sure to check out my new release, Christmas Royale! The links are still going live, but they will all eventually be available on the universal landing page: https://books2read.com/u/mla7Qq

Christmas Royale

Phoebe Ashdown cannot believe her luck. Only she could run into the cad who jilted one of her closest friends while attending a Christmas ball in a foreign country. Other than his false identity and the trail of broken hearts he scattered across London ballrooms, he is just the sort of gentleman she should marry. She wants to hold on to her loathing of him but there’s something dangerously appealing about him now and it’s not just the alias he uses.

The gentle folks of Genoa have been forced to turn a blind eye to the illegal activities going on beneath their noses for years. But as an undercover investigator for the Royal Intelligence Office, Vernon Wright cannot. His orders are clear: find the source of the slaves being funneled into London and report back. When he unexpectedly crosses paths with a former acquaintance, a woman he was secretly attracted to since her coming out, he must use all his powers of persuasion to keep her from blowing his cover.

After Phoebe’s sister goes missing, she is forced to turn to Vernon for help. Sparks fly as well as bullets as they search for her sister. They will have to rely on each other if they hope to make it back to England in time for Christmas.

GIVEAWAY

Leave a comment or question for me to be entered into a drawing for pair of handmade Christmas holly earrings (US residents only, please).