Sunday News!!

I know it’s Monday, but after I returned from RT I discovered the screen on my laptop had died. This has far reaching consequences as I cannot access my blog calendar from my tablet. So please bear with me, I could not put the post off for another week.

We will start with book winners!! Please help me congratulate

Patricia Wissore who won Sheri Cobb-South’s Baroness in Buckskins!

Glenda Martilloitti for winning Susana Ellis’s Waterloo collection!

Linda Thum who won Julia Justiss’s The Rake to Reveal Her!

And Isis the 12th for winning Cara Elliott’s Sinfully Yours!

Ladies, the authors have been notified and will be contacting you.

As you know Hubby and I had only planned to be out for about a week. Well, that didn’t happen. We ran out of wind, had a problem with one of the engines, and the wind thing caused us to motor a lot more than we thought we’d have to. The result was that we ended up diverting through the Bahamas and running into weather. That caused a delay of several days. When we finally got to Florida that Sunday was Mother’s Day and I was on my way to the Romantic Times Booklover’s Convention in Dallas. Where, by the way, I had a great, if exhausting, time!

One of the best things about the convention was catching up with old friends, meeting new ones,  and having a meeting with my publicists about the release of the next series, The Worthingtons. You remember. The one that begins with this cover!

Just before I left for RT, I received the cover for my Christmas book, Miss Featherton’s Christmas Prince, the last book in The Marriage Game for a while.

Here is the blurb.

Ella Quinn’s wealthy, titled bachelors think they’re immune to romantic notions. Yet no matter how they try to evade it, love somehow finds a way…

       In the two seasons since her triumphant debut, Meg Featherton’s heart has been tested to its limits. Her first suitor: a criminal. The second, a cad. For her third act, Meg vows to leave love completely out of the marriage equation. She has set her sights on a newly made viscount whom she could take or leave. However, now she must avoid his handsome, roguish, irresistible best friend like the plague. It’s no easy feat, as they are all attending the same house party…

          Damon, Marquis of Hawksworth, cannot imagine why Miss Featherton seems so damn disinterested—or why he cares so terribly much. Certainly Meg is a fine wifely prospect for a man in his position, but more than that, he finds he longs for her as he has never done for another woman. She may be determined to protect her heart, but Damon is equally set on winning her over, one delicious kiss at a time…

And an excerpt.

Featherton House, London, Late Autumn 1817, London.

Miss Margaret Elizabeth Lucinda Featherton, second daughter of Viscount Featherton, glanced down at the missive in her lap. The letters were rounded, much like a child’s would be, but the spelling and grammar were correct.

Dear Miss Featherton,

I pray this letter arrives in time to save you from making a horrible mistake. Lord Tarlington is not what you think him. I do not expect you to take my word for it. However, if you go to number twenty-three Basil Street in the neighborhood of Hans Crescent around seven in the morning, you will find the evidence for yourself.

A Friend

The first time she had received such a letter the warning had concerned her last suitor, the Earl of Swindon. She shuddered at how close she had come to marrying such a monstrous man. A heaviness lodged in her chest making it hard to breathe. What would she discover about Tarlington?

The following morning at half past six, Meg and her maid, Hendricks, sallied forth as if taking their usual early stroll in Hyde Park. However, instead of walking down Charles Street toward the Park they headed in the opposite direction to Hay Hill, then on to Bond Street and hailed a hackney.

The day was cool, but sunny. A clean crisp scent which reminded her of just harvested apples, unusual for London, filled the air. Trees were showing off their brilliant autumn colors. It was all together too pretty a day for their mission. Meg was tempted to go back and hide in her chamber as if she had never received the missive. Yet if she did, she could end up wed to a man as bad as or worse than Swindon.

Twenty minutes later, she and her maid were situated two houses down from twenty-three Basil Street. The town house consisted of three stories and a cellar area. Flowers in pots stood on either side of the well maintained front door. The brass knocker gleamed as if it were polished regularly.

Hendricks drew back the leather shade, keeping watch on the house as Meg pressed back against the thin, poorly cushioned squabs. She resisted the urge to pleat her skirts, which would surely draw a rebuke from her maid, and waited.

Wondering if, yet again, she had fallen in love with a fiend.

After several minutes, she shifted on the hard bench. Two women carrying baskets hurried past the coach, staring at the vehicle as they went. If Meg and Hendricks remained here much longer, they would begin attracting attention.

Frustrated with waiting, Meg blew out a puff of air. “Do you see anything yet?”

“No.” Her maid started to shake her head then stopped. “Oh, wait. The door is opening.”

Finally. She slid to the other side of the hackney and glanced out the window. A handsome gentleman with curling dark-blond hair stepped out of the town house holding an infant. Lord Tarlington smiled down at the woman standing next to him who clutched the hand of a small child still in skirts. For a moment the smile appeared to be the same as the ones he had given Meg on numerous occasions. Then his smiled deepened and his face lit with love as he embraced the woman before kissing her and handing her the baby. As the woman’s hand rose, a glint of gold on her the third finger of her left hand appeared.

Married! The cur was already wed!

It’s not on pre-order yet, but I’ll let you know when it is.

As you know, A Kiss for Lady Mary releases next week. I have five copies to give away for signing up for my newsletter. The names will be picked randomly and announced next Sunday.

On to boat news. We have been anchored in Lake Worth, off the Palm Beach Sailing Club for the past ten days or so. As soon as the grill arrives, we lost ours crossing the Bahamas, we’ll head to Ft. Pierce. Let me know if you are in the area. I’d love to meet you. After that we’re going to Daytona, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, and Fernandina Beach.

Here are some photos I took in the Bahamas and at RT.

Swimming Pigs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Facinator I made for my granddaughter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elizabeth Boyle and me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover Model

What have you been doing lately?

Have a great week!!

Ella