Amanda McCabe's Blog, page 11

December 17, 2022

Holiday Romance on Sale!

 1.99 this week for your holiday reading!!!



The magic of Christmas in the country reunites a shy woman with a troubled veteran in this sweet and tender Regency romance.

Plain, sensible Rose Parker is a self-proclaimed wallflower, but she’s always dreamed of dancing with Captain Harry St. George . . .

Once, Harry wouldn’t even have noticed Rose. But now, after a hard war, Harry knows he’s a different man. Shy, sweet Rose intrigues him more than any gregarious young lady—but he must marry a rich bride to save his mortgaged estates . . . and Rose is no heiress. Now, more than ever, Harry needs the magic of a mistletoe kiss . . .


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Published on December 17, 2022 11:29

Weekend Links

 The book was just turned in, yay!!!  Now it's the week to finish up holiday prep, order the pies, and relax a bit.  What are your plans for the rest of the year??


The lost romance of the sleeper train

Yesterday was Jane Austen's birthday!!

The Bloomsbury circle

10 best Mystery Bookshops

Allow Stanley Tucci to make you a drink

How women bankrolled a 17th century theater

10 idyllic Cotswolds hotels

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Published on December 17, 2022 11:26

December 10, 2022

Weekend Links

 

Hello, everyone!  I have a book due at the end of next week, and am going a little nuts about it (I always hit a point where I am convinced it's a terrible horrible, no good story, and should scrap it and start again, but can't because I only have a week!!).  So I'm procrastinating by looking for fun reads.  Here's some bits I've found this week...








10 bookstores worth traveling for

The mystery of a 280 year old yellow dress

What's in store for season 3 of "All Creatures Great and Small"  (coming to PBS in January! I can't wait)

7th century gold necklace discovered

Best museums in Paris

10 best historical fiction books in 2022

Marie Antoinette's guitar up for auction


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Published on December 10, 2022 10:24

December 7, 2022

Review Team

 Hello everyone!  I just got the ARC info for "Two Sinful Secrets" (Book 2 of The Scandalous St. Claires, released December 20!).  If you'd like a copy, or a sneak peek at future releases, and are willing to provide reviews, let me know at amccabe7551 AT yahoo.com


Happy reading!



A hundred years has passed since the bitter rivalry between the St. Claires and the Huntingtons began. But in London, the feud goes on . ..

Lady Sophia Huntington isn't what she appears to be. Born into a noble family, the impulsive, wild-hearted beauty has fallen on difficult times. Banished from her home, Sophia dreams of the day she can finally win her father's forgiveness and return to London. Until the sudden appearance of a suitor from the scandalous St. Claire family threatens to reveal her darkest secrets . . .

Dominic St. Claire vows to exact revenge upon the Huntingtons, who destroyed his family's fortune generations ago. His perfect target is the lovely but proud Lady Sophia. After using her to discover the Huntingtons' financial secrets, he will cause a great scandal by eloping-and then abandoning his bride. But his plot soon unravels when he finds his own heart ensnared-in a trap not of his own making.

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Published on December 07, 2022 12:08

December 3, 2022

New release!


 If you're feeling in the holiday reading mood, I have the stories for you!!  My dear friend Kathy L Wheeler (long live the Martini Club!) and I have collaborated on the story of Lady X and her exclusive gaming establishment in Georgian London--and 4 friends who find their perfect loves at Christmas in its lavish halls...


GAMING HELL CHRISTMAS - VOLUME 2: Mysteries abound at London's most fashionable Hell.

The Thief Who Stole Christmas - Amanda McCabe
A man who has never broken the rules, and a woman who just might break his heart! But Christmas is always a time for second chances...

As one of Miss Greensley's Girls, a member of the exclusive club la Sous Rose, and famous author Lady L, Victoria Lanford moves easily through Society ballrooms. Few people know how her unhappy childhood and anxiety led her to pickpocketing (yet, she did return the jewels)! When she comes face-to-face with old flame Rhys Neville, Earl of Hammond, she knows the kind-hearted, straight-laced, devilishly handsome lord is not for her—especially once the past comes back to haunt them. Why, then, can't she stop thinking about their kisses?


The Kerse Who Saved Christmas - Kathy L Wheeler
Kerse: He, of the no nonsense approach, is stymied by She, a woman considered long past prime marriageability who needs a keeper more than he requires a wife. Yet the dreamy-eyed, impractical, and much too optimistic Philomena still manages to steal his heart despite her unrealistic beliefs and trust in fortune tellers.


Other books by Kathy and Amanda:
Gaming Hell Christmas Volume 1
Regency Christmas Kisses - a collection of short stories


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Published on December 03, 2022 10:10

November 23, 2022

November 20, 2022

Heroine of the Weekend

 A return of the Heroine of the Weekend feature, a brief glimpse into interesting (sometimes heroic, sometimes decidedly not so) women in history....



This week we take a look at Eleanor of Austria, also known as Eleanor of Castille, born November 15, 1498 (lived until February 25, 1558).  She came from a long line of illustrious royalty, her parents being Philip "The Fair" of Burgundy and her mother Juana of Castile, her grandparents Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian and the great heiress Mary of Burgundy.  Her brothers became Emperor Charles V, the most powerful man of their era, and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand; her sisters were the queens of Denmark, Hungary, and Portugal, and she herself became the queen of Portugal (1518-1521) and of France (1530-1547), as well as holding the Duchy of Touraine in her dower.

She had a long betrothal history before her age reached double digits!  She was engaged briefly to Henry VIII of England before he decided to marry her aunt Catherine of Aragon (lucky escape for Eleanor), as well as brief ideas of marrying her to Louis XII of France, Sigismund I of Poland, or the Duke of Lorraine.  She was raided at her aunt's court at Leuven until 1517, when she joined her brother Charles in Spain.

She was married to her uncle by marriage, Manuel I of Portugal, in 1518 (he was previously married to not one but two of her aunts!).  They had two children, Charles, who died at a year of age, and Maria.  When Manuel died, to complete the family coziness, her sister Catherine married her stepson, Juan III.  They kept Infanta Maria at their court while Eleanor went back to Spain.

By 1527, Francis I of France was a captive in Spain, taken in battle during the long conflict between the two countries.  This was ended (or at least paused) by the Treaty of Cambrai, or "The Ladies' Peace," since several royal ladies, including Francis's mother and Eleanor, were involved in its terms.  One of the treaty's provisions was a marriage between Eleanor and Francis, who had long been a widower with many children.  This took place in 1530.

It was not a happy marriage, needless to say after such an unpromising beginning!  They had no children, and Francis made no secret of his many mistresses.  At Eleanor's official entrance to Paris, he started as he meant to go on and stood with his mistress in a window for hours.  But Eleanor was crowned at St. Denis on May 31, 1531, and played a large official role.  She served as a diplomat between her brother and her husband, as well as between her various siblings' squabbles, and attended royal events like the marriage of her stepson to Catherine de Medici in 1533.  She raised her two youngest stepdaughters, and was much praised for her devotion to charity.

In 1548, after the death of Francis, she moved to Brussels to work for her brother and his empire, until he decided to abdicate and retire to a monastery in 1555, and she and her sister Mary moved to live near him.  She met her daughter Maria in 1558, for the first time in 28 years, and died shortly after.

She was originally buried at the Cathedral of St. Mary Major in Medina, until she was moved to the official royal burial chapel at El Escorial in 1586.

Most sources on her life come from books about other people!  Some interesting ones include:

--Leonie Frieda, Francis I: The Maker of Modern France (2018)

--Sylvia Barbara Soberton, Golden Age Ladies: Women Who Shaped the Courts of Henry VIII and Francis I (2016)

--Geoffrey Parker, Emperor: A New Life of Charles V (2021)

--Giles Tremlett, Isabella of Castille: Europe's First Great Queen (2017)

--Julia Fox, Sister Queens: Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile (2012)

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Published on November 20, 2022 09:43

November 19, 2022

Book Sale!

 Just found out about this!



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Published on November 19, 2022 13:01

Fun Weekend Links

 Happy pre-Thanksgiving weekend, everyone!  I am approaching a deadline on a WIP that is nowhere near ready (eeek!) and more than ready for pie on Thursday, but in the meantime I went to the content mines and here are a few things to read if you need a distraction...

Goat yoga!

Princess Thyra of Denmark's tiara is up for auction

Jane Austen and the Rules of the Marriage Game

The death of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of England (Nov. 17)

Best bustles in The Age of Innocence

How to spend the perfect Christmas in Paris

7 signs you might be stuck in a cozy mystery series





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Published on November 19, 2022 11:48