Please welcome the amazing Regency author Barbara Monajem back to the blog!! Barbara is here to tell you about her latest book which is part of a boxed set!! She is giving away a copy to one of you who tells her you want it!
Let’s start with the cover!
Now the blurb.
Wanted: respectable, fearless widow to serve as governess to two children in remote Lancashire location. Spartan conditions, haunted house, fair pay. Inquire at the Duck’s Head, Rawden.
How desperate would you have to be to answer an ad like that?
It’s the early 1800s. You’re an out-of-work governess living in the south of England, and Lancashire is in the north, which means a long journey which you can’t afford. The advertisement doesn’t tell you who your employer will be. You just have to show up at an inn called the Duck’s Head in a remote village, and inquire about the job—which may or may not be available by the time you get there. Judging by the ad, your prospective employer is a bit crazy. (Haunted house? What nonsense!) On the other hand, the ad is up front about the Spartan conditions, and maybe ‘fair pay’ really will be fair. And you haven’t found anything else, so this is your last hope.
On top of that, it’s less than a month to Christmas, which is usually your favorite time of year. This year definitely won’t be the best Christmas ever…or will it?
(If you’re done with Christmas—it’s January, after all—I apologize, but take heart! The Christmas Knot is only one of seven novellas in the boxed set, Captivated By His Kiss, and only two of them are about Christmas. At 99 cents for the whole set, it’s a great deal, and you can always save the Christmas stories for later.)
Here’s a blurb:
Widowed and destitute, Edwina White takes a position as governess in a remote village in the north of England—in a haunted house. She’s so desperate that she’ll take anything, and besides, she doesn’t believe in ghosts. Little does she know that her new employer is the seducer who lied and deceived her many years ago.
Sir Richard Ballister inherited an estate with a ghost and a curse, and every governess he hires leaves within a week. Finally, a woman desperate enough to stay arrives on his doorstep—but she’s the seductress who dropped him many years earlier for a richer man.
The last thing Richard and Edwina want is to work together, but they have no choice. Can they overcome the bitterness of the past in time to unravel a centuries-old knot and end the Christmas curse?
And here’s an excerpt. Edwina has just arrived at her new employer’s house.
Her employer was Richard Ballister?
Edwina could do nothing but stare, aghast. Richard looked as appalled as she felt. She gazed about her hopelessly, shivering in the gathering dusk. If she returned to the inn, if she…
Richard recovered himself and handed the waiting man a coin. “Thank you, Joseph. Off you go before it starts to pour.” He grabbed Edwina’s valise and with a curt motion of the head, indicated that she should follow him indoors.
She hesitated. Death from exposure to the elements―for the first fat drops had already begun to fall―or from mortification?
“For God’s sake, Edwina, come indoors before I have to drag you.”
A wave of nostalgia rolled over her. Typical, no-nonsense Richard Ballister—one thing she had always loved about him. She didn’t love him anymore—that went without saying; one couldn’t love a liar and a jilt—but a few good memories lingered amongst the utterly miserable ones.
She went inside, and he slammed the door behind her. Before she could move, he loomed over her, large and threatening, trapping her between himself and the door, and another shudder of memory went through her. He hadn’t changed much: tall and darkly handsome, with a sensual curl of the lips and half-hooded, appraising eyes.
Why must desire rear its foolish head at such a time?
“What the devil are you doing here?” he said.
Desire and nostalgia dissipated at once. “Perhaps you should have identified yourself in that advertisement, if you didn’t want an unpleasant surprise,” she snapped. “Believe me, if I’d known you were my prospective employer, I wouldn’t have come.”
“Wise of you,” he drawled.
She wanted to hit him. “If you had any consideration at all, you would have arranged for the governess to apply to an agent in London, rather than spend her every last farthing traveling to the middle of nowhere.” To find the one man she loathed most in the entire world.
“Every last farthing?” He rolled his eyes.
“Not quite,” she retorted, spitting with fury. He retreated a few inches. Good. “I have a ha’penny in my reticule.”
“You can’t possibly be down to your last ha’penny,” he scoffed. “Your husband is a very rich man. I ask again—why in God’s name are you here?”
“My husband is dead,” she said flatly. “Didn’t you advertise for a widow?”
“My condolences,” he said unpleasantly. “But that doesn’t make you a governess, Edwina. Surely you can find some worthy charity or other to occupy your time. Succoring the flower girls in Covent Garden or some such.”
Oh, how she longed to hit him. “My husband died penniless. Therefore I am penniless, too.”
He blinked, taking it in. She didn’t blame him for being surprised. At the time of her marriage, her late husband had indeed been wealthy. Richard’s lips curled into an evil smile. “Well, but you’ve got a ha’penny left, didn’t you say?” He threw his head back and laughed.
It wasn’t a choice after all—she would perish of both mortification and the cold and wet. She whirled and wrenched open the door. Rain lashed in, soaking her skirts. She grabbed her valise, which Richard had dropped—he was still laughing, the disgusting brute―and marched out into the downpour.
Buy Links: Amazon Kindle ~ Amazon Paperback ~ B&N ~ iBooks ~ Kobo
About Barbara:
Barbara Monajem wrote her first story at eight years old about apple tree gnomes. She published a middle-grade fantasy when her children were young. Now her kids are adults, and she’s writing historical and paranormal romance for grownups. She lives near Atlanta, Georgia with an ever-shifting population of relatives, friends, and feline strays. Learn more about her books at http://www.BarbaraMonajem.com
Barb, your book sounds intriguing!!! Can’t wait to read it!!!
I would love to read this book! Sounds like a great read.
I would LOVE to have your book and this set!
Great excerpt, Barbara. Sounds like a fun read!
Just waving hi Barbara and Ella.
I am looking forward to reading this set of books. I really like the cover. I would enjoy having the set 🙂
so want it!
Hi, everyone! I’m late arriving — slept in this morning and then I started cooking something called pigeon peas and lost track of time. I’m glad to see so many enthusiastic comments. Hmm… maybe I’ll give away more than one boxed set. 🙂
Fearless! haunted house!! LOL
I so want this please
Barbara is a wonderful author I have a few of her books already.
Thank you, Donna!! :~)
beautiful cover–shades of blue!
Certainly an intriguing excerpt, Barbara. I would definitely like to read it!
More enthusiastic people — thank you! It’s going to be SO HARD to pick a winner. 😉
Definitely want to read. Would love to win a copy.
Don’t enter me in the contest because I’ve had the pleasure of reading the set and it’s wonderful! Ladies if you haven’t read it yet you need to get to it! 😀
I loved your story Barbara!
Thank you, Joanna. :~))
can’t wait to read it!
Denise
I already have this set and I am so looking forward to reading all of the books in in it after I finish reading my RITA books. However, that excerpt is tempting me SORELY, Barbara! I can’t wait!
I’ve already got my copy and am most of the way through it. I loved Barbara’s story! (Of course all of them have been pretty wonderful!)
Thanks, Glenda. And 19thCLady, I’m so glad the excerpt tempts you! (I was a little afraid the hero’s unkind laughter would turn people off. But he’s actually a real honey.)
Loved this story, Barbara. 🙂
I read the novella and as usual with Barbara, it was fun reading!
I would really love reading this book!
Looking forward to this one!!