Rachel Bailey's Blog, page 2

I'm part of a Launch Wave! Stop Three

It’s launch day for Rae Summers’s new historical novella, Dear Julia, and to celebrate she’s having a Launch Wave of excerpts! You can keep up with the wave’s progress on the Twitter hashtag #DearJulia. If you enjoy the story, feel free to tweet your comments and chat to other wave surfers.
By clicking on the links below each excerpt, you’ll be able to follow the wave across 8 blogs to read the entire first chapter - or you can click on the buy links below to get your own copy! * * *
Dear Julia is set in the English countryside in the early 1920s, and is part of the Love Letters series from The Wild Rose Press.
Read the opening extract here.
Extract Three
“Mr. Fortescue died during the war, after a nasty riding accident, and his wife soon after in the Spanish Flu epidemic, though many of us thought she died of a broken heart.”
Rosalie’s heart sank. How old might the letter be? And what if Julia no longer lived? She brushed aside the threatening disappointment. She would not give up so easily. “Did they have any children?”
Mrs. Wallace smiled, her eyes warming with memory. “Just the one daughter, Julia. Such a sweet girl, so pretty, and lively as a bean.”
Rosalie’s heart thumped against her ribs. Victory at last. “Do you know where I can find her?”
A cloud crossed Mrs. Wallace’s face, and she sighed. “Last anyone in the village heard, she’d gone to live in America with her new husband. Of course, he might know...”
“Who might know?”
Mrs. Wallace shook her head. “No, perhaps not. You could ask the vicar.”
Now why hadn’t she thought of that?
“Thank you, Mrs. Wallace. This has been very interesting.” She hopped down from the stool.
“Any time, Miss Stanton.” Then, as Rosalie headed for the door, Mrs. Wallace added, “You remind me of her, you know.”
Rosalie turned back.
“Same fair hair and bright blue eyes. And you have the same smile.”
She smiled now. “Thank you, Mrs. Wallace.”

Rosalie took the short cut to the vicarage, through the graveyard, where lichened headstones stood tall above the freshly mown grass. The scent of drying grass hung heavy in the somnolent air.
The vicar himself opened the door, a man built lean and tall like his church.
“Good morning,” she said brightly.
“Good morning, Miss Stanton. Would you care to come inside?”
She followed him into the living room and perched on the edge of a heavily brocaded armchair.
Now that she was here, she wasn’t entirely sure what to say. Or whether to tell him about the letter and the ring. The vicar settled himself on the sofa across from her. “I suspect this isn’t purely a social call?”
“Not entirely, though in a village this size it’s good to know one’s neighbours.”
“Indeed.” His eyes sparkled with amusement. He reminded her of her favourite uncle.
“I found some items during the renovations that seem to belong to Julia Fortescue, and I was wondering if you had any idea where I could forward them?”
His face clouded, just as Mrs. Wallace’s had done. What was it about this woman that her memory caused such sorrow?
* * *
For the next instalment, click here to go to the blog of Harlequin Medical Romance author Scarlet Wilson, or you can buy Dear Julia at Amazon or Amazon UK.

Here is the full list of participating blogs:
Stop 1 - Minxes of RomanceStop 2 - Sally ClementsStop 3 - you are here!Stop 4 - Scarlet WilsonStop 5 - Olivia MilesStop 6 - Jennifer ShirkStop 7 - Suzanne JonesStop 8 - Romy Sommer
Dear Julia is on sale through Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, AllRomance eBooks, and The Wild Rose Press. You can find out more about this novella here - and don’t forget to tweet your feedback using the hashtag #DearJulia.
To everyone doing the wave, have fun!

New Cover!

The gorgeous people at Harlequin Australia are re-releasing my first two books in one volume under their BESTSELLER COLLECTION brand.

This calls for cupcakes! As it happens I baked a batch this morning, so I'll be having one now to celebrate. :)

There are several things I like about this re-release, including Nico and Beth, and Damon and Lily getting a new lease of life. But right now, my favourite thing about it is the new cover. I love it! The colours are fabulous and the tone is just perfect for these stories. 

And soon I should get a box of them in the mail, which will probably call for more celebratory cupcakes. :)

Meet Oliver

[image error] Since Jazzie May had her moment in the sun a couple of months ago, I thought I'd introduce you to her brother, Oliver. 

He did an interview with Mel Teshco for the LoveCats a couple of years ago that I'll paste below, or you can read the original post here.

***
Name: Oliver. Olivander. Ollie.
Abode: I live in a house in the trees with my humans. Unfortunately, three other dogs live there with us.
Likes: Chocolate and cream. Neither of which I get because they're apparently bad for dogs, but I'm optimistic that one day it will happen, so I always keep an eye out. I do get a box of dog chocolates every Christmas though, which is nice.
Getting up on the human bed with the female human in the mornings. The male human gets up early and takes all the black and white dogs with him, leaving just the two of us to catch a few more minutes sleep in the peace and quiet.
Dislikes: Kefuffles. I hate it when the other dogs run or get excited. When the human hits tennis balls for the Border Collies, I try to get out of the way and be inconspicuous.
Ambition: A nice, calm, peaceful life. Preferably where I'm an only dog.  Sociable or Aloof: Well, I don't actually like other dogs. Or cats. Or most humans. But there is a select group of humans I like (about 7) and with them, I let down my guard and am very sociable. The word "sooky" has been used about me, but I'm not sure what it means.
Night Owl or Early Bird: Definitely not an early bird (see note above about sleeping in). And if the female human has a deadline and works late at night, I wait up with her, so I guess I can be a night owl.
Favourite Pastime: When the Border Collies play tennis with the humans, Fergus and I wander through the bush and sniff things. Sometimes we find trails where uncivilized animals have been the night before. Sometimes we find a brush turkey. 
But my favourite of all things to find is a lizard or a snake. I love reptile watching. On lucky days, we get a gecko in the house and I can sit and stare at it for hours. I don't try and hurt them (usually), I just like to watch and smell them. My humans think it's useful, because when we have a snake in the house, they see me watching it and they take it outside.
Favourite Toy: I have a fluffy black teddy bear that I love to death. Literally. The human only gives it to me for short periods of time, and under supervision. But, really, if it's my teddy and I want to pull out the eyes and chew off the ears, shouldn't I be allowed to?
Best Friend: You mean another dog? I don’t like dogs. Or cats. Or most humans. See above.
Most embarrassing moment: I had cancer under my arm a few years ago and, after the surgery, I had to have special bandaging that went over my shoulder and down to my toes. It was replaced every two days and I was very embarrassed having it done, and walking around like that. I'm sure the other dogs were laughing at me.
Special Skill: I can leap like a racehorse. I tuck up my front feet and I sail through the air. I have to be very excited to do it though. Say, if one of my humans walks me up the top of our hill and I hear the other human come outside the house and call me, I run very fast down the hill and leap over fallen trees as I go. It's exhilarating!
***
Update on the favourite toy question - Ollie still loves his teddy bear, but he's discovered the joy of squeaky balls. He now has two of them and spends our twice-daily dog-tennis time burying them, then finding them the next time, digging them up and burying them somewhere else.

If he catches us watching him, he'll abandon that location and find a more private place to bury his treasure. And when he's looking for a new spot, he carries them very carefully in his mouth so they don't squeak. As he said above, he hates kerfuffles or noise.
That photo above is Oliver on his first ever trip to the beach. Who knew such things existed?

Revealing My New Trailer!

I'm very excited to be able to share my book trailer with everyone! It was made by the fabulous Nikki Logan and I'm thrilled with the final result. Thanks to Nikki and to the models who posed with my books. :)

Winner of Book Pack!

The winner of the three book prize pack is Alli Sinclair!
Alli, send an email to rachel (at) rachelbailey (dot) com with your snail mail address and I'll send you:
The Wayward Son, by Yvonne Lindsay
Bed of Lies, by Paula Roe
What Happens in Charleston... , by me. :)

And here's a sneak peek into the stories Alli won:
The Wayward Son - Yvonne Lindsay
The Best-Laid Plans Judd Wilson finally has his chance for revenge. He will dismantle his estranged father's cherished business empire and—the icing on the cake—steal the man's ravishing mistress. Certainly the sizzling attraction Judd feels for Anna Garrick will only make his vengeance sweeter. But as fascination becomes insatiable desire, Judd begins to question his intent. He'd believed the worst of his father, and of Anna.
Now, when long-buried family deceits are uncovered, Anna's fierce loyalty to his father forces Judd to rethink his plans—because destroying the man who hurt him will mean losing Anna, too.…


Bed of Lies - Paula Roe
Her Darkest Secret… Revealed Banker Luke De Rossi must sell the Australian beach house he inherited from his mobster uncle, fast. But then he runs up against Beth Jones. Is she the rightful tenant? A reporter out for a scoop? His uncle's lover? Luke wants answers - almost as much as he wants Beth.
The last thing Beth needs is this hunky magnet for media attention breathing down her neck. She has a lot to hide. And falling hard for Luke as he gets closer - and tries to evict her! - isn't helping things. Separately, they have each made their bed. Now they'll lie in it… together.


What Happens in Charleston... - Rachel Bailey
Money has always given Matthew Kincaid whatever he wanted. Yet now his son needs something even his millions can't buy. The widower's sole recourse is the surrogate who gave birth to his child - for she is also the boy's true biological mother.

Susannah Parrish needs no prodding to offer her assistance - a child's life is at stake. But to their mutual surprise, the minute she's back in Charleston and residing in Matthew's home, passion consumes them. Is this a relationship doomed by deception? Or is it the one chance at a love they both secretly crave?

Jazzie May

Since this is a new blog, I thought I'd introduce the family. First is Jazzie! That photo on the left is her posing for me this morning on the veranda - she's always happy to be in a photo!

She goes by many names: Jasmine Maybelline (for formal times or when she's in trouble), Jazzie May, Jazz, and Jazmina.
She did an interview with Mel Teshco for the LoveCats a couple of years ago that I'll pop in here, or you can read the original post here.
***
Name: Jazzie May. Or Jasmine Maybelline. Or Jazz.

Abode: My brothers, my humans and I all live in house surrounded by trees.

Human Slave: Rachel Bailey.

Likes: My brothers. I love them all. I like to kiss them and sniff them and sit near them. And if they growl at me and tell me to stop, I have to put a paw on their head to hold them still while I kiss them. Sometimes it's hard work being adoring.

Dislikes: When my brothers misbehave. Sometimes I have to tell them to obey the humans. A couple of times I had to tell Fergus a *lot*. The humans took him to the vet afterwards, but, honestly, if he'd been a good boy it never would have happened.

Special Skill: I can smile. They say it's only Dalmatians who can do it, but the vet told my human that very clever dogs can copy the action from humans around them. What, they doubted I was clever?

Sociable or Aloof: Sociable! I love people and dogs.

Night Owl or Early Bird: Early bird. I start nudging my male human from when the sun comes up. There's *so* much to do - we can't waste time sleeping!

Favourite Pastime: Tennis. My human hits the ball for us twice a day and Dougal and I have the job of retrieving it. It's an important job but I'm up to it. (And I get way more than half the balls.)

Best Friend: Dougal. He's just so handsome - maybe because he's a Border Collie like me?

Most embarrassing moment: There's such a thing?
***

Update on the tennis situation: Jazzie is now the proud owner of a spikey, squeaky ball. Did I mention it was squeaky? Best. Ball. Ever. So now during dog tennis, she wants that one hit to her, though she still tries to supervise Dougal's game with the tennis ball at the same time and occasionally catches his. In fact, she's learned to hold two balls in her mouth for just this purpose. That skill took a lot of practice to master, which her humans found endlessly amusing.

The photo on the left here is Jazzie showing us her Kissing Spot. Such a perfectly placed spot on her head is hard to ignore and she has to suffer through many kisses placed there. She'd actually rather a tummy rub, but she accepts the kisses quite graciously.

February Giveaway: The contest to win a pack with Yvonne Lindsay's The Wayward Son, Paula Roe's Bed of Lies and my What Happens in Charleston... is still open. I'll draw it in a couple of days.

Welcome to my new blog!

As you can see, I've started my very own blog - and couldn't think of a better day to launch it than Valentine's Day!
To celebrate, I'm giving away three February Desire books written by Downunder authors:

The Wayward Son, by Yvonne Lindsay
Bed of Lies, by Paula Roe
What Happens in Charleston... , by me!

And here's a sneak peek into each story:
The Wayward Son - Yvonne Lindsay
The Best-Laid Plans Judd Wilson finally has his chance for revenge. He will dismantle his estranged father's cherished business empire and—the icing on the cake—steal the man's ravishing mistress. Certainly the sizzling attraction Judd feels for Anna Garrick will only make his vengeance sweeter. But as fascination becomes insatiable desire, Judd begins to question his intent. He'd believed the worst of his father, and of Anna.
Now, when long-buried family deceits are uncovered, Anna's fierce loyalty to his father forces Judd to rethink his plans—because destroying the man who hurt him will mean losing Anna, too.…


Bed of Lies - Paula Roe
Her Darkest Secret… Revealed Banker Luke De Rossi must sell the Australian beach house he inherited from his mobster uncle, fast. But then he runs up against Beth Jones. Is she the rightful tenant? A reporter out for a scoop? His uncle's lover? Luke wants answers - almost as much as he wants Beth.
The last thing Beth needs is this hunky magnet for media attention breathing down her neck. She has a lot to hide. And falling hard for Luke as he gets closer - and tries to evict her! - isn't helping things. Separately, they have each made their bed. Now they'll lie in it… together.


What Happens in Charleston... - Rachel Bailey
Money has always given Matthew Kincaid whatever he wanted. Yet now his son needs something even his millions can't buy. The widower's sole recourse is the surrogate who gave birth to his child - for she is also the boy's true biological mother.

Susannah Parrish needs no prodding to offer her assistance - a child's life is at stake. But to their mutual surprise, the minute she's back in Charleston and residing in Matthew's home, passion consumes them. Is this a relationship doomed by deception? Or is it the one chance at a love they both secretly crave?

Just leave a comment to be in the draw all three books. Maybe tell me about any firsts you've had recently!