Cerise DeLand's Blog, page 9

Today's bon bon: A lady who won't let Papa sell her into marriage...even if the groom-to-be is ever so luscious!

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She won’t be sold into marriage.
He won’t wed her for any amount of money. Only love.
If he just can figure out a way!
Harry Seymour arrives home from years of fighting abroad to learn he must clean up the family mess. His father demands Harry honor a deal he made with his best friend for Harry to marry the man’s daughter…for money.
Harry, who’s loved Sara Fleming since she was four, has no problem marrying her. He never did, even when she was denied him because she was the Whiskey King’s daughter.
But he won’t wed her for money.
Sara cannot accept the bargain her father made. She’s already left two men at the altar because she didn’t love either one. And if she can’t wed Harry for love, she’ll marry no one. But she wagers she’ll walk away a spinster…and happy if Harry will do her the favor of ruining her.
It’s a bet Harry can’t refuse.
Can he?
Excerpt, All rights reserved. Copyright Cerise DeLand 2022 .
“Listen to me, Sara. I have a plan. It won’t be one either of our fathers likes but it might work.”
She pulled away. Peering into his magnificent eyes clouded her judgement. His green-brown orbs reflected a sadness in the faint lights that matched her own. “Tell me.”
“We announce that we intend to marry others.”
“I’ve already left two men alone before the vicar. Now there’s this gossip in the Gazette—?”
“Forget those other two men. And hang them at the Gazette.”
She put a hand to her hip. “We’ll send them new stories. Marvelous. I dislike your thinking, Harry. Totally. Marry another? Ba! Precisely who did you have in mind?”
He gave her a look that said he had the right answer. “A man who makes you tingle.”
“Of whom there is no one.” Which is a lie.
“For each woman, there is a man. A perfect match.”
“I’ve not found him in four years. Why now?”
“You will lure him.”
By some folly, to be sure. “How?”
A wicked gleam lit those iridescent eyes. “With kisses.”
“You expect me to kiss men?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “How else will you discover the right fellow?”
“How else will I go down as a scarlet woman? I’ve climbed enough fences barring me because I am of the dreaded merchant class. Papa’s money might continue to buy me entry, but if I degrade myself further, no one will touch me!”
He tipped up his chin. “You will be discreet. I will help.”
“You’ll bar doors?”
“And divert traffic.”
She scowled at him. “You’ve been away much too long, sir. You think me so brave. I am different from that child who tagged along behind you and tucked frogs in your pants.”
He scoffed. “Remind me. Who came to me night before last in her nightrail?”
”Dressing gown.”
He waved that away. “Exactly my point.”
Exasperated, she huffed. “The fault, dear Harry, is not in our stars, but in myself.”
“I agree.”
Oh, he infuriated her! “I do not know how to kiss.”
“And so you will learn.”
Only one way. She could barely say it. “By doing.”
“Indeed.” He winked. “With me.”
That way lay disaster and hopeless ruin. She’d should return to this party, because this was hopeless. She’d given up wanting him so long ago. Or thought she had. She threw up her hands. “Absurd.”
“Is it?” He took a step toward her, so near she inhaled his scent, imbibed his familiar allure that she could not allow to thrill her. “You said my kiss left you with no…what is the word?”
“You know perfectly well the word.”
“Tickle?”
If only. “Tingle.”
“Well then, my darling.” With one hand he caught her wrist while he swept his other hand around her waist. “Let’s see if this fits the bill.”
“No, stop!” Wonderful. Now she sounded like the village crier.
“There, there. Don’t be shy. An experiment, eh?” He lifted her hand toward his mouth. “Or shall we call it…” he murmured, as he put her index finger, fully gloved, against the neat cleft in his chin, “…a demonstration? Visible to the naked eye.”
He smiled. Or was that the show of teeth of a predator? A creature who…gloated?
He caught the point of her glove between his long white incisors. The act of a male bent on taking a bite of her, he tugged. The fabric slid along her finger, silk on silk, a glissade of shivering delight. Her glove glided from her elbow in a silent skim of her nerves. She shivered.
He halted. Glanced up at her, those long dark lashes of his rising to reveal the facets of a Harry she’d never known. A ravenous devil appeared there, one who pulled at another fingertip, starving for more of her until her hand was bare. Nipping her third finger and the next, he sent tremors up her spine. Her mouth fell open as he took her smallest finger, fabric and all, and bathed the whole of it in his hot moist mouth. His tongue served as succor—and as torture.
She panted as if she’d run a mile. Her gaze glued to his voracious teeth, she dare not look away or lose a second. What he gave, she took. If it was instruction, it was also a revelation. Though she knew not how to interpret his lips to her fingers as lips to lips, she reveled in whatever he’d choose next.
With a yank of his teeth, he pulled and her glove slid slowly down her arm and fell to the floor. She was bare to the night air, chilled and burning, as he caught her fingers and pressed them to his open mouth. He cupped her elbow, and her wrist was once more his. Bare skin gave him no pause, but encouragement to lift her hand once more.
He groaned and crushed her torso fully against him. His possession, from her breasts to her hips, left her pulsing.
He put her palm to his lips and licked the hollow of her hand. She moaned at his luscious homage and her knees gave way. As he caught her up, he bit the heal of her hand. She yelped. He gave a grunt, nigh unto laughter or triumph, she knew not which, then wrapped her arm around his waist. As he sweetly backed her to the wall, his hair fell loose over his brow and he focused on her lips.
Then he took them.
BUY LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Ravens-Last-Be...

Shopping in Napoleon's Empire meant you were treated to shop signs of great beauty!

Napoleonic era shop signs were not only colorful but told stories of their offerings for the illiterate. 

Here at top: THE GREAT VICTOR’S TOBACCONIST shop was posted outside a shop selling, of course, tobacco. Taking notice of Napoleon's recent victories in Italian city-states, the owner added reference to him. We wonder how well his sales did!

Here below: The shop called THE EVE OF AUSTERLITZ tries a different tactic in that it is a a wine shop in celebration of Napoleon’s victory. 

This sign is for a food merchant whose customer is clearly enjoying his meal. This shop was for the shop CORCELLET, located in 104 Palais-Royal!

Today's bon bon and a trip to the Loire Valley in my own pix and video!

Among the many fabulous chateaux along the River Loire south of Paris is the medieval fortress and palace of Amboise.  Built in stages by various French kings and expanded by Francis I, this walled castle sits above the river in glorious pink/peach stone.

(A more thorough view of the town, the fortress palace and the home of Leonardo da Vinci is on my YOU TUBE channel. Link Below.)

The palace as you will see in my video shows you the throne room with fleur de lis velvet throw, a dining room and many bedrooms. You also see salons furnished in a later period when Louis Phillippe took the throne in mid-1800s. Pictures of him, his wife and children, the piano they played are charming.

You also have glimpses of Leonardo Da Vinci's house which Francis I gave him when he persuaded him to come to France to live. The house was a lovely three-story home with living quarters, good size kitchen and a huge workroom or atelier. It was within five-minutes walking distance from the palace of Amboise. Da Vinci lived the last three years of his life here.

For more of my videos, long and short, do visit my YOU TUBE Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCba82P_Q1kUrJUVVW0CwJmw/featured

Today's bon bon: Emily in Paris and Those Notorious Americans, now and then!

Buy Link to series: https://amzn.to/3yOzLll

Emily in Paris is my newest rage on Netflix! And she is SUPERB! I adore the scenery, most of it in Paris. (You learn French by watching!) The views of Montmartre are yummy!In every book in my family saga, THOSE NOTORIOUS AMERICANS, we see Paris as it was in the age of Monet and Renoir, the dancers of the cancan, and the glorious fashions. In RAVISHING CAMILLE, we go to a joint exhibition of Duc de Remy, my Rodin-like sculptor hero, and Claude Monet. Rodin and Monet did really have a joint exhibit in 1889! In RAVISHING CAMILLE, I changed it to be a few months earlier!
https://books2read.com/u/bMRvzG

Today's bon bon: A young wealthy widow never needs a new husband. Does she?

Lady William Downs revels in her reputation as a Society dragon, a Diamond (still!) at her age, too—and a widow of independent means.
Colonel Lord Magnus Augustus Welles is home from the savagery of the wars. Heir to his ailing father the Duke of Ruscombe, Magnus wants a wife—and he knows just who that will be. But the lady doth protest too much.
To woo her is easy.
To win her he’ll persuade her with the best gifts of all—a new phaeton, horses—and, yes, himself. In all the racy ways she’s never enjoyed!
BUY LINK:
https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Youre-Mine-Naughty-Ladies-ebook/dp/B0BQ8TJBT9Remember that famous song by the Beach Boys?
Here is my version!  99 cents now!
Well, she got her papa’s phaeton. 
And she crashed the village vegetable stand, now
Seems she forgot all about the library
Like she told her old man, now
And with the villagers yelling
She goes cruising just as fast as she can now
Til her papa takes her phaeton away.

The younger ladies can’t stand her
Cause she drives like an ace now
She makes the drive thru town look like a chariot race now.
A lot of men try to catch her
But she leads them on a wild goose chase now.
She vows she’ll have fun fun fun, but no husband’ll ever take her phaeton away!

Years later, she knew all along
That her marquess was getting wise to her, now
And when he eyed her set of horses
She’s been thinking that her fun was all through now
But he’s caught her and his kisses say
They’ve got alot of loving to do now
They’ll have fun, fun fun as her husband drives her and her phaeton away!
***
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Today's bon bon: In 1888, how much did a writer earn from a publisher to whom she sold her novel?

Buy Link:
 https://amazon.com/dp/B096PQTJQDPierce Hanniford and Camille Bereston in RAVISHING CAMILLE discuss what she earns writing gothic novels. This is 1888 and in England, a publisher could buy the rights to a book outright. Pay a small fee, such as 500 GBP. The book was usually on the stands for 6 months at which point, it went to a “railroad edition” that sold for less. An author would not make much money, unless he/she wrote quickly—and published another book!

Today's bon bon: How to get a job in Regency Britain? Post an advert!

 If you wanted a position in Britain in the Regency period, you might apply to a registry in your home town. Registries took applications from those who wished to work as servants, companions, groomsmen or more. Any kind of servant in a household might register with the firm, the owners of which examined the applicant for references for good character and experience.

But another way to find a job was to take out an advertisement touting your capabilities. In these, you could declare how prim, proper, educated and eager you were for such a position.

Advertisements cost little. They also worked well because newspapers had wide circulations and they too cost as little as three pennies per copy.

Here is a sample of two ads, one taken by a lady and another by a man!

Today's bon bon: Chambord, a dream or a nightmare?

My husband and I outside famous Chambord! The French king, Francis the First, spent enormous amounts of money building chateaux and palaces for himself. The most lavish was famous CHAMBORD...and also the most useless. 
After he had it built (and its cost bankrupted Francis yet again), those who attempted to live in it complained of how difficult it was to go up or down or even from one end to the other. 
Why?
Francis insisted on the most wide rooms, the most wide passages or none at all, in the vein of rooms that were en filade or one leading into another. he has a glorious inner spiral staircase, treacherous to walk in good shoes. Trust me, I know! And the outer staircases, built for servants to use to run errands and bring dinner etc., are even more dangerous. 
Why? 
Because they are open to the elements, rain and snow and sleet can enter and...well, you know how difficult that is to navigate in snow shoes.  The elaborate roof line of Chambord! The Long Hall in Chenonceau, seen in THE SERPENT QUEEN!
The truth is that Chambord was inhabited fewer than 30 days because of its very nature. Hard, cold, fearsome, it is. No matter how idyllic it may seen from the outside.
Do go visit. See for yourself.
And while you are there, visit Amboise and Chenonceau and Blois. All of these are far lovelier and more romantic.

Today's bon bon: What's factual in this newest novel of mine, aka GUY IN TUB!

Available now at https://amzn.to/3bc6ri3
🍒Authors of historical romances have a duty, I believe, to make their stories as factual as possible. This is not to say we must make our flights of fancy read like history books! But to take advantage of those records which come to light with increasing frequency, we can create stories that thrill as well as educate.

Here in THE LYON'S SHARE, I was able to convey quite a few bits of reality.

First, our hero was a cavalry officer who was promoted through the ranks by his continued actions in the Napoleonic Wars. 

He had quite a few friends who were wounded or killed. One of those wounded was a friend of his who lost the use of both legs when his horse fell on him.

Because of this the friend was sent home, unable to serve. But he also received a compensation for the loss of use of both legs. The amount was not much. But it did allow the man and his wife to continue to live, but alas, not in any luxury. And because the man gave up his commission, he did not receive any severence pay nor continuing pay for what we would call disability.

Thus, the man's widow did live in poverty. As many other widows did.

Another feature of THE LYON'S SHARE is the detail of the purchase of a special marriage license. These could be purchased from Doctor's Commons in London if the buyer had the fee, and the names and dates of birth of those to be wed. By using a license such as this, couples could be married before noon in any facility including a home and not necessarily a church.
 

Today's bon bon: A glimpse of how French carriages and roads improved in the 18th century and made travel livable!

My photo of 18th century Chaises a Mules taken at Carriage House in Vaux le Vicomte!

🍒Traveling along rough unpaved roads, carriages of old—no matter their silken splendour inside—could hardly offer comfort, speed or healthy conditions.

During the 18th century, many improvements to coaches improved the chances of a person living long enough to tell the tale of having been there and done that!

One fine video to show the changes in carriage construction is this one offered by the Palais de Versailles. Do watch it. Only six minutes long, you will enjoy the discussion, the English translations and learn much from the explanantions of improvements to coaches and to roads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbV9zYNWB_0&t=137s