Most of us authors are making our way to New York City for the Romance Writers of America conference. But I thought I’d see who is around, and I have a release tomorrow. So here goes! Please post your blurbs and buy links.
Lady Beresford’s Lover, book #7 in The Marriage Game.
Ella Quinn’s bachelors are quite sure of what they want in life—and love—until the right woman opens their eyes…
After a painful heartbreak, Rupert, the handsome young Earl of Stanstead, has decided that when it comes to love, avoidance is best. Until he meets a woman who makes him forget his plan—and remember his longing for a wife and family. Yet he senses that she too has been hurt, though she attempts to hide her feelings—and more—in the most baffling and alluring way. Intrigued, Rupert is willing to play along, if winning her is the prize…
Crushed by her late husband’s scorn, Vivian, Countess of Beresford, believes she is monstrously undesirable. Sadly childless, she has moved to London resigned to a solitary life. Still, when she encounters Rupert at a masquerade ball, her disguise as Cleopatra emboldens her. Convinced he doesn’t recognize her, she begins an after-hours affair with him, always in costume—while allowing him to innocently court the real her by day. But when Rupert makes a shocking choice, will Vivian be able to handle the truth?…
Ella Quinn’s bachelors are quite sure of what they want in life—and love—until the right woman opens their eyes…
After a painful heartbreak, Rupert, the handsome young Earl of Stanstead, has decided that when it comes to love, avoidance is best. Until he meets a woman who makes him forget his plan—and remember his longing for a wife and family. Yet he senses that she too has been hurt, though she attempts to hide her feelings—and more—in the most baffling and alluring way. Intrigued, Rupert is willing to play along, if winning her is the prize…
Crushed by her late husband’s scorn, Vivian, Countess of Beresford, believes she is monstrously undesirable. Sadly childless, she has moved to London resigned to a solitary life. Still, when she encounters Rupert at a masquerade ball, her disguise as Cleopatra emboldens her. Convinced he doesn’t recognize her, she begins an after-hours affair with him, always in costume—while allowing him to innocently court the real her by day. But when Rupert makes a shocking choice, will Vivian be able to handle the truth?…
Buy Links:
Kensington http://bit.ly/1Ea6UJU
Amazon http://amzn.to/1HcQ1NV
Now it’s your turn!!
ellaquinnauthor
Thanks Ella—and thanks for all the super boating pictures.
This is from Dangerous Secrets.
Nora pulled one hand down, groping around behind her. She confused him, but the taste of her skin made coherent thought impossible. He leaned in to run his mouth up her neck and fell forward.
They stumbled into her room when her hand found the door latch. Startled, he let her slide down his body to the floor. The feel of her sliding over the bulge in his trousers almost undid him. He grabbed her to keep her from falling.
When she took a step away, he felt like she had dumped ice water over him. She stepped toward her bed and looked back at him, her eyes black with desire in the flickering candlelight.
What have I done?
He had intended only to comfort. He meant to stop her tears, not seduce her. Jamie dropped his hands to his side. Who am I kidding? I meant to take. He struggled to gather up the scattered pieces of his self-control and of the respect he owed her.
“Nora,” he breathed. “We need to think about this.”
###
Nora didn’t want to talk. She didn’t want to think. He was her husband. He may leave eventually, but she would never have another. She knew that in her gut. After the horrors of Isabella’s disappearance, the interminable hours waiting for news, she needed his comfort. She needed to be his wife fully. She needed his touch. She wanted him now.
Congratulations on your new release, Ella! Here is the blurb for Once Upon a Masquerade, a Victorian romance mystery set in New York City.
A Prince Charming meets his match…
Self-made shipping magnate, Christopher Black first spies Rebecca Bailey at a masquerade ball and is captivated by her refreshing naiveté and sparkling beauty. She’s a stark contrast to the hollow behavior of the ton and the guile of his former fiancée, but the closer he gets to her secrets, the further she pushes him away.
A Cinderella with a secret…
Rebecca is drawn to the charismatic Christopher from the first, but she cannot risk him discovering that she is really a housemaid impersonating an heiress. Her father’s life depends on it.
A Happily Ever After that could never be…
When Christopher’s investigation of the murder of his best friend leads him straight to Rebecca, he fears his ingénue may be a femme fatale in disguise. Now he must decide if he can trust the woman he’s come to love, or if her secrets will be his downfall.
Available on:
Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Masquerade-Entangled-Scandalous-ebook/dp/B00HP1JZNU
Barnes&Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/once-upon-a-masquerade-tamara-hughes/1117987586
iBookstore – https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/once-upon-a-masquerade/id792453836?mt=11
And Kobo – https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/once-upon-a-masquerade
This is from a new regency romantic suspense entitled The Duke’s Bride. I will be pitching the book on Friday to an agent and editor at the RWA National Conference and thought I’d share a tiny bit with you. Enjoy-
With his responsibility taken care of, he started for the door then stopped in the opening, seeing several maids and footmen carrying packages out to the cart. After several minutes and when this Lady Emma didn’t make an appearance he decided seeing his mother was more important, after bathing and in clean clothes.
He skirted the perimeter of the stableyard until he reached the servant entrance, grabbing the handle when the door was yanked from his hold. He looked down into a soft blue gaze surrounded by delicate lashes that matched the light brown of her hair.
Who was this young lady? It couldn’t be Lady Emma, could it?
“Don’t just stand there with your mouth agape, carry those boxes to the cart,” she ordered him in an angelic voice.
Simon skimmed his eyes along her slender arm, her slight wrist down to delicately long fingers, following where she pointed at, several boxes. He saw they were loaded with well-worn clothes. He wanted to laugh, but when he glanced back at her, the look she gave him told him he’d best keep any hint of humor from his expression. Her luscious lips parted, he guessed ready to berate him for being too slow, but he was quicker. He bent, grabbed the boxes and followed her to the wagon.
As they made their way across the stableyard, he studied her form. Slim at the waist with hips pleasantly proportioned to the rest of her. He’d already gotten a good look at the milky tops of her breasts covered by the demure bodice of the deep blue gown.
When they got to the cart, he set the boxes where she directed.
“Thank you. You may go back to the kitchen.”
“Thank you, m’ lady. I’ll do just that.”
“Oh, but wait, that brings up an interesting point. It’s not meal time yet.” Her log lashes flitted across her perfectly sculpted cheeks.
He thought over his words. “I came from London with His Grace’s horse, Samson, and Richmond told me to get something to eat.”
Everything he’d told her had been true, except about Richmond. Until he learned who she was he preferred to keep himself a secret. After giving her a slight bow he turned and retraced his steps.
Reblogged this on bevieann61's Blog. about books!!! and commented:
Wonderful book
Thanks, Beverly!!
Hi Ella. Thanks for the chance to share a bit from my WIP, a medieval novella, The Lady of the Forest. It’s the story of how Lord Henry of Chauvere meets his wife, Lady Katherine. The excerpt is from chapter two, after Henry has been toppled from his horse by a figure he thinks is a youth.
“You’re a woman,” Henry rasped at the sight of the thick twist of hair resting against smooth, pale skin.
She yelped and glanced over her shoulder. “You’re awake.”
With an indignant, “Oh,” she bent and darted out of his vision. Sounds of swishing fabric let him know she’d pulled on her tunic.
Then the import of the discovery hit him. A woman had captured Lord Henry of Chauvere? And from the evidence before him, a beautiful one at that.
God’s toenails, he’d never live it down. He recalled the angry scowl she’d thrown him in the moment before she dived for her clothing.
Provided he continued to live at all.
“Why am I here?” His deep voice raised to carry wherever she might have disappeared.
“No need to shout,” came her quiet voice at his right shoulder.
He hadn’t heard—or seen— her move after donning the garment. “How do you do that? Move without sound?”
“To survive in the forest, one must learn stealth. Animals don’t answer a call to dinner when they are the main course.”
Her answer surprised a rasp of amusement from his dry throat and set off a string of coughs.
She returned to the doorway where she dipped a cup of water, then approached his right side again.
“Here.” An arm slid beneath his head and lifted gently. When he grunted she stopped and placed the cup to his lips. After a few sips, he nudged it away with his chin.
“My thanks,” he said. “Now will you tell me why I’m trussed up like a goose ready for the spit?”
She’d started to ease his head down, but at the last words, she let him drop. His teeth clenched against the pain. Little witch.
Hi, Ella! I won’t be in New York this year. I will miss seeing everyone.
This is from To Kiss a Rake, which comes out in just over a week!!
Melinda’s first thought, when she woke for the third time, was *thank God we’re not moving anymore.* She had the most ghastly headache, and the jolting of the carriage had caused such bursts of agony that she’d desperately sought refuge in sleep again. Dimly, she recalled wondering where they could possibly be going and why she hadn’t stayed at home if she was ill. But now the carriage was still, and strong arms cuddled her close to a warm chest…
She burst into full consciousness, flailing against the arms that held her. “Let me go!” she cried. Where was she? What had happened to her?
“There, there,” said a soothing male voice. “Calm down. You’re perfectly safe.”
“Safe?” She shrieked, punching her captor’s shoulder. “Let me go, you beast!” She hit him again, writhing in his grasp. She’d gone to the mews to meet Mr. Fellowes and had spoken to his coachman…and then what?
He loosened his arms. She shot to a sitting position, then tumbled off his lap onto the seat. “Ouch!” Her hands flew to her head, steadying it.
Oh God, how it hurt, as if her brains were sloshing about inside her skull. She squeezed her eyes shut until the pain subsided, and then tentatively opened them again. Mr. Fellowes’s coachman was next to her on the seat, his hat still over his eyes, and Mr. Fellowes himself stood outside the coach, holding a lantern aloft.
“You were knocked out getting into the coach, Miss,” the coachman said.
“I don’t remember getting into the coach at all. In fact, I’m sure I wouldn’t have done so!” She glared at Mr. Fellowes. “Where are we? Why did your fool of a coachman abduct me?”
It was too dark to tell, but she was willing to bet Mr. Fellowes reddened. He certainly looked chagrined. “He thought you were Lavinia.”
“Does one usually have one’s prospective bride knocked on the head?” Melinda retorted and clutched her temples again.
“That was an accident. A metal bracket fell and hit you,” the nauseatingly placid coachman said. “If you would sit still and calm yourself, your head might hurt less.”
“If you hadn’t abducted me, my head wouldn’t hurt at all!”
http://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Rake-Scandalous-Kisses-ebook/dp/B00ZAY07OK/