Kay Springsteen's Blog, page 10

Sweet Saturday Sample 03/17/12

A bit more from Abiding Echoes this week. If you want to read more of th e McGee family, check out Lifeline Echoes and Elusive Echoes available now wherever e-books are sold and at AstraeaPress.com.————-click me———->

 

Beth opened the door and slid to the ground before Justin could get there to help her…which was just as well.

"I want to check on the puppies." She sent him a smile over her shoulder on her way to the barn.

"Go ahead. I'll catch up." Justin rested a hand on the open door of his pickup and watched her taking bouncy steps away from him. She'd be doing that for good soon.

At the barn, Gus met her in the doorway. Justin was too far away to hear what he said but the tinkle of Beth's delighted laughter echoed across the stable yard and he suddenly wished he'd walked with her, that he was part of what was going on…that he'd been the one to make her laugh.

Beth caught his eye and gestured for him to come over. "Hurry up, pokey!" she called with a laugh. "Gus has a surprise!"

Justin slammed the door to the pickup with a little more force than it required and stomped across the yard, taking care to ease the glower he knew was etched across his face before he reached the barn.

"So…a surprise, huh?" Justin looked between the pair as he approached.

"After Doc Douglas looked at 'em, we left the pups in one of the stalls here and checked on a couple of the girls that're gettin' close to deliverin'." Gus shifted from foot to foot. "After Doc left, I came back and the one with the bum leg was the only one here."

Alarm rushed through Justin and he frowned, but from the grin splitting Beth's face, she already knew what had happened to the pups…and it wasn't anything bad. He concentrated on drawing his next breath, knowing Gus would get to the rest of the story in his own time.

"I didn't see no blood or anything so I didn't think a wild critter'd gotten in." Gus took off his hat and scratched his head. "As I stood there trying to figure out what'd happened to 'em, one-a the old barn cats came slinking into the stall from the tack room. Then the durndest thing happened. The old biddy grabbed the lil' pup before I could stop her and dragged it off."

Justin shook his head, mystified. "So what did she do with them?"

With a smirk, Gus indicated they should follow him as he sauntered into the barn. It took a second for Justin's eyes to adjust to the dim light, but he could walk the barn in the dead of night if he had to. He captured Beth's hand as Gus led them to the tack room at the back of the building.

He heard them instantly, squealing and mewling from a hole in the wall behind the workbench. Gus handed him a flashlight and he crouched to look into the makeshift den. "Well, I'll be," he murmured at the sight of the four pups curled up next to a litter of three gray tabby kittens all suckling on a matching mother cat. He motioned for Beth to join him and shined the light through the crack in the wood.

She caught her breath and then made a crooning sound in the back of her throat that instantly gave Justin a few inappropriate thoughts. "Well aren't you just a natural mama?" she asked the cat.

Amazingly, the mostly feral barn cat mewed in response instead of hissing or growling. When Beth reached through the hole, however, the new mama covered all the babies with her scrawny body and edged back from the opening.

Beth turned her head to catch Justin's gaze. "What are we going to do with them?"

He jerked, startled by the question. "Do with who?"

Beth tilted her head and threw him one of her killer smiles. He didn't even know what she was about to ask of him but he knew he'd do it. "What will we do with the new family?" she asked.

"Uh, leave 'em there?" he asked weakly.

Thanks for reading!  Return to Saturday Samples for more sweetness! And have a happy and safe St. Patrick's Day!

 

Sweet Saturday Samples

FROM WORK IN PROGRESS, Abiding Echoes(Justin and Beth)…

(available now)

Hope you enjoy!

"You ate my ice cream," he murmured in disbelief. Where had she found room in that tiny body for roughly six scoops of ice cream?

Laughing softly, she guided the cone to his lips and he slurped the last of the French vanilla scoop. The sugar cone tumbled from Beth's fingers as she leaned forward and pressed her chilled lips against his. The sweetness of the ice cream lingered in her mouth as she parted her lips slightly and invited him in.

Justin hovered at the edge for just a moment, parried with her teasing tongue while he tunneled his hand through her silky curls to gently cup the back of her neck. Holding her still, he gave himself over to the moment and tasted every bit of her mouth. He would have urged her closer, pulled her into his lap, but she was already there, leaning into his kisses, giving more of the sweetness he'd just plundered.

Beth crawled up Justin's body and clung to him like a cat and he swiveled in his seat so the steering wheel would stop crushing her in the small of the back…not that she appeared to notice. He kept one hand buried in her hair while he allowed the other one to travel beneath the hem of her blouse to tickle her spine.

Never in his life had Justin experienced such a rage of passion surge through his blood. Never had he been as aware of another person as he was of Beth. His whole body strained against the boundaries of decency as he explored her softness with his hands and mouth.

He pulled back, gasping for breath as consciousness of where they were filtered into his overheated brain. Beth flopped back into her seat, her green eyes nearly glowing with stirring emotion.

"I'm sorry," began Justin, feeling the need to apologize more than the sentiment behind the apology itself.

"I'm sorry, too," murmured Beth, a curving her lips gently upward.

Her words turned his heart to lead and it sank to somewhere near the vicinity of his stomach. But she snagged his fingers like a frog snapping up a fly. Then she gently tugged his hand and placed it over her heart.

Her chest rose and fall rapidly with the deep gasps of air she drew in. "Feel that?" Her voice was as unsteady as he knew his would be if he could speak.

Her heart leaped so violently against his touch, he wondered if he wouldn't soon be holding it in his palm.

"So…" she whispered. "Maybe we should establish what it is we're sorry about." She touched the fingers of her free hand to his lips. "Because I'm only sorry that we have to stop."

Justin stared. No other woman.

She eased up on her hold on his hand and laced their fingers together, sending a pointed glance across the baseball diamond. "So…did you bring me here so we could play ball?" Her hair spilled to her shoulders and shrouded her face like a veil. She shook it back but it only fell forward again.

"No," answered Justin quietly, reaching out to push the hair from Beth's face so he could see her brilliant green eyes. "But I didn't stop here to make out like teenagers at a drive-in, either."

Interest flickered in her gaze and her lips twitched into a smile. "You still have drive-in theaters here?"

"Not in Orson's Folly, but up in Oslow there's one still operating." He grinned. "Why? Got a sudden hankering to see a movie?"

Beth twisted in her seat and shifted her gaze to stare out the window for a few heartbeats. Justin held his breath. She was definitely up to something now.

The gaze she leveled on him seared him with heat and captured his imagination with its suggestion of wildness. "I'm pretty sure we wouldn't see much of the actual movie. I'd much rather save the money and make out under the stars tonight."

Justin stopped breathing. Oh, man. From zero to engines revved and ready to go in six words or less. He had to get away from the enclosed space with her or they'd quite likely get picked up for public indecency. He popped open the door and hopped out, striding on shaky legs to the back of the truck. He took his time searching through the brown paper sacks for his own impulse purchase, hoping to recover his self-control before Beth climbed from the pickup to join him.

"What's that?" she asked as she approached, eying the roll of red tissue paper wrapped around two balsa-wood sticks. Squinting at the label, she read, "Sky Master?"

Grinning, Justin grabbed the spool of string from the bag and headed for the center of the ball field.

"Wait a minute!" she cried out from where he'd left her. "Wait…you brought me here to fly a kite?"

Justin glanced over his shoulder but didn't stop walking when he noted her trotting to catch up.

"You ever flown a kite?"

"Ah…" Beth chuckled nervously. "Not since I was about ten. And it landed in a tree."

Suddenly he was on top of the proverbial world. "Then it's time you try again." He gestured to the open field. "See? No trees. Nothing to get snagged on."

Beth stood stock still except for two slow blinks of her eyes. She swallowed once, and then launched herself at him. Justin dropped the kite kit and stepped back with one foot to avoid falling over as he opened his arms. She was warm and squirmy and laughing…happy. And when she drew back to gaze into his eyes, she'd lost the little line that had been pinching her brow since they'd run into Alice in the general store.

Leaning forward again, she laid her lips on his for a quick, hard kiss that was somehow more intimate than the hot and heavy caresses they'd just shared in the cab of his pickup. Then she pulled out of his arms, bent to retrieve the kite and grabbed his hand, taking off for the center of the field. "Come on," she said, laughing. "I wanna fly this kite."

As Justin joined her in a flat-out run, he noticed the little things. The glint of gold in her hair as it bounced against her shoulders…the warmth of her hand in his…the delighted peal of her giggles when she turned and caught his eye.

No. Other. Woman.

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Surprise Party for Stephy Smith

Congratulations to Stephy Smith – not only for her new release but because her first novella was published a year ago and she's entertained us with several really cool stories between now and then. Well, I'll let her tell in her own words:

Today is a day of celebration for me. One year ago today my first novella, Lizzie and the Rebel released with Astraea Press. Today my seventh novella, Swim the River released. Let's take this celebration one-step further and add Women's History Month. Who can forget the great lives of Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane, Amelia Earhart, Jane Austin, Willa Cather and many more that came before us to leave their marks in history?  Pioneer women who took the journey with or without their men carved their names in the world armed with only the determination and bravery the held within their own hearts. Check out her books at www.astraeapress.com as well as on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

In honor of these celebrations I am going to give away one of each of my novella's. To enter the drawing send me an email to stephysmith1976@lycos.com with 'contest entry' in the subject line. If you already have one of my eBooks, please include the title in the body along with your name and email address. Good luck everyone. I look forward to hearing from you!

With the solar storm , I am extending the registration for the drawing. From March 8-11 you will have the chance to enter. One copy of Lizzie and the Rebel, Rescued From the River, Shawnee's Creek, Sanders Cross, Gentry's Gallery of Angels, The Long Moon and Swim the River will be awarded on March 12, 2012.

Congratulations, Stephy! And may you add many books to these!

Sweet Saturday Sample 03/03/12

From upcoming release (March 2012)  A Lot Like A Lady, co-written with Kim Bowman:

Juliet set her gaze on the iron fence they walked beside. Small sticks and twigs, casualties of a harsh winter and a spring shower a few days before, littered the ground at the base of the fence and she kicked at them.

But I am a servant, your grace, and I do not know why you haven't discovered that, or what happened to my letter…but when you find it… She sighed.

"That was a very sad sound, Magpie." Grey squeezed her hand against his arm.

More unsettled by his compassion than she cared to admit, Juliet pulled her hand from Grey's arm and bent to pick up a particularly sturdy stick. She caught his frown of confusion from the corner of her eye. One day—soon—he would discover the truth of her identity and send her on her way.

But not today.

She allowed the laughter to bubble forth and took off at a run, ignoring Grey's startled outcry. She dragged the stick along the iron bars as she ran, unperturbed by the din.

"What the—Magpie what are you doing?"

"I'm not sad, your grace," she called over her shoulder. "And I wanted you to know it."

"Really…" He stood with his arms crossed over his chest. "And just how is making such a racket imparting this information? We are standing in front of a cathedral, you realize."

She whirled around and ran back to him, dragging the stick as she went. Standing in front of him, breathless as much by his nearness as from running, she studied him. Sandy brown hair fell across his eyes. His coat was unbuttoned over his white shirt, which was also unbuttoned at the neck, lending him an uncharacteristically rumpled air. Suddenly, it occurred to her that neither of them had taken care toward being appropriately attired for their impromptu outing. Grey had never looked less like the Sixth Duke of Wyndham…and she'd never found him more attractive.

"Well?" Merriment in his blue eyes belied the sharpness of his question.

Juliet laughed and slid her gaze to the imposing brick and mortar church. "Why…I'm making a joyful noise, your grace."

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Sweet Saturday Sample

From upcoming release, A Lot Like a Lady, a Regency Romance by Kay Springsteen and Kim Bowman:

Magpie pressed one hand to the gown at her chest, closing the gap, as she reached with her other hand and plucked Will's letter from the floor. When she bobbed upward again, she stood just outside arm's reach. Her eyes widened and her nostrils flared like a scared horse when her lips parted and she drew in a sharp breath. But she didn't step back.

"This must have fallen from your desk, your grace," she whispered. "It may be of…impor…tance." Her voice wobbled ever so slightly.

"Thank you," murmured Grey, accepting the paper and tossing it on his desk. "It is…merely a letter from my brother."

"Your brother?" Magpie blinked several times, confusion clouding her gaze. "Oh, yes. William."

The sound of Will's name on her lips raised Grey's ire, and he took a step forward. "Why is it you seem to have such trouble using my name yet the names of other men so easily roll past your lips?"

Magpie retreated a step. "I-I…don't know what you mean."

"Indeed. 'Are you unwell, your grace?'…'The ball was lovely, your grace.'" Grey inched forward. "'Thank you for seeing me to bed, your grace'…"

With a soft gasp, the little bird took another step away, but found herself trapped with her back to his desk. "I'm sorry, your—I…"

Her chest rose and fell rapidly and she seemed to shrink into herself. Grey was well aware he intimidated her, even more so as he stepped closer to her. She swallowed hard. The spun gold of her hair reflected the firelight as it caressed her shoulders, and he ran the flats of his thumbs across the ends of his fingers, yearning to thread his hands through those silky tresses. The heat from the fire was as nothing compared to the need that seared him, beginning in his belly and flashing through his veins.

She trembled…or perhaps he did.

He sighed. "Do you think—just this once—you might find it within you to call me by my name?"

Of a sudden, the tension drained from her and Magpie straightened her back. Then she smiled, and a hint of mischief sparked in her eyes. "Which name would that be, Graeme Roland Dominick Markwythe?"

Grey's throat went dry when she spoke his name. He struggled to swallow back the rise of emotion from his chest.

"Or perhaps I should just call you…Grey," she whispered as he crowded her against the desk.

"Grey," he murmured as his mouth brushed over hers and retreated a fraction. "Definitely Grey." He crushed his lips to hers. His body exploded in a conflagration of shameless desire, and Grey settled his hands on the magpie's waist, spanning it with splayed fingers. When she didn't resist, he gave himself over to the moment and molded her gentle curves against him.

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Sweet Saturday Sample

Once again, we're visiting the Regency Romance I've co-written with Kim Bowman, A Lot Like a Lady, available soon from Astraea Press.

"Very good, my dear." Charity clapped her hands together. "Now do it to the music, and remember the hop at the end. Step lively now."

Charity put her fingers on the keys and the notes spilled into the air. This time Magpie danced several steps before the music stopped.

"Now what's the matter?" she asked, barely breathing heavily, though she'd just performed a lively bit of dancing.

"Well, nothing, I suppose, only…" Charity sighed. "You're supposed to be dancing…not walking to a funeral."

Coming soon! Follow me on on Facebook for the release dates and cover reveal.

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Romancing the Valentine Winners!

Romancing the Valentine ~~ And the winners of a PDF copy of Operation: Christmas Hearts by Kay Springsteen are…

1.  Jean P.

2.  Ashley

3.  Monica

Assuming your post leads to your email address, winners will be notified by email later today.

Want a little Valentine's Day fun?  Who can see the hidden picture?Tell me what you see for another chance to win.

Romancing the Valentine

Happy Valentine's week! And welcome to my leg of the blog.

Consider how hard it is for our military personnel to do their jobs, while they spend months, sometimes a year or more, away from their families and loved ones. Consider how spouses and significant others feel knowing the men and women they love are not only far away but very often in harm's way 24/7. Sure, there is a sense of pride, but there is also fear, sadness, loneliness… And all of these feelings are amplified 100-fold during holidays-all holidays, but especially those which are about family and romance. Enter Valentine's Day. If you think it's hard to be single on Cupid's Day…try being part of a couple who is half a world apart. Please a prayer for our military personnel and military families.

I'm offering a PDF or Kindle version of Operation: Christmas Hearts, my Christmas story. Yep! That's right, I said Christmas! Partly because this book isn't just for Christmas and partly because I wish the great feelings of Christmas could last all year long. 

BLURB: Ashley Torrington never cared much about Christmas before. But this year she's having a particularly blue holiday because Marine Special Operations Team member, Nick Turner got under her skin just before he was deployed to Afghanistan. With her neighbors' precocious daughter Bella volunteering Ashley for a special project at school, and a mysterious white-haired stranger named Estelle in town buying gifts from Ashley's shop, not to mention the odd assortment of presents Ashley's been receiving from an anonymous source, she shouldn't have time to worry about her guy. But when he and his team go missing the week before Christmas, she realizes only a Christmas miracle will reunite them.

Captain Nicholas Turner never backed down from challenges—on the battlefield or in his personal life. But he'd never met a challenge like Ashley, who doesn't want to be anyone's "girl back home." Now he's on the other side of the world, wanting to be anywhere but in Afghanistan for Christmas. About to embark on one of the most dangerous missions of his life, he needs Ashley to know she's much more than the girl he'd left behind, and he does plan to come home to her. But in the meantime, a little Christmas magic would be appreciated. Little does he know, he's about to get his wish.

All you have to do is comment for a chance to win.

RETURN TO THE HOP:

Available now (click on a picture for more information):

Coming in May 2012: Everlasting Echoes, book 3 in the Echoes of Orson's Folly series:

          And still 99 cents on Amazon:

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Come back next week for a special announcement regarding a special project – think HISTORY.

Sweet Saturday Sample 02/04/12

From work in progress The 13 of Hearts – tentatively scheduled for July 2012.

Her wallet was decidedly lighter when she returned it to her purse after paying for their meal, but it was worth it to give Nate and RJ just the tiniest bit of a normal Friday night. She wished their budget extended to renting a movie for the temperamental DVD player Mrs. Dalton had allowed her to set up in the room, but even a dollar in the Big Box was pushing it after their meal out. One day it wouldn't have to be one or the other, she vowed, picking up the tray of food and turning from the counter.

The man in line behind her stepped back out of her way, but too late. Lin ran blindly into his chest. The large vanilla milkshake slid forward and Lin could only watch with horror as it tipped over the half-inch lip of the tray and dumped the frozen concoction down the front of the man's olive green T-shirt. White globs slid slowly toward the floor like melting snowballs and landed with large plops.

"I-I-I'm s-so sorry," stammered Lin.

The man blinked once as though stunned. Then he looked down at the mess on his shirt and blinked again. Another shapeless blob rolled down and landed with a splat on the tip of the man's white athletic shoe.

Lin shook herself out of her daze and moved quickly to set her tray on the counter behind her. She grabbed a handful of napkins, and then used her other hand to grab even more. "I'm so sorry. It's completely my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going." She began wiping at the mess, dismayed to find all the cheap paper napkins did was push the slop around. "Oh, these aren't working." She brightened. "But I have some baby wipes in my car that'll probably help. We can just step—"

Without warning, the stranger clamped his hand around Lin's wrist. "Stop."

"Oh!" Lin cried out in surprise and then froze in place, trying to control the trembling that had started with his sudden movement. Her eyes went wide and she settled her gaze on his hand grasping her arm, struggling to catch her breath as her heart galloped madly in her chest.

The man followed her gaze and instantly released her, staring at his hand as though he couldn't believe it belonged on the end of his arm. "Sorry," he mumbled, and then raised his face and café au lait eyes looked into hers. "Sorry," he repeated. He removed the wad of napkins from her fingers and his mouth twitched upward into a weak smile. "It's my fault. I was crowding the line." He finished smearing the milkshake around on his shirt and chucked the napkins into the trash. "It's nothing that won't come out in the wash."

"I-I should have been watching where I was going…"

The scowl on the strangers face pushed the words on Lin's tongue back down her throat and she backed up a step.

"Okay, um, I have to get going. I'm really sorry." Lin turned to the counter where she'd left the meal, grasped the tray firmly in both hands and fled to the seating area.

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Also part of the series and available now (click on a picture for more information):

Coming in May 2012: Everlasting Echoes, book 3 in the Echoes of Orson's Folly series:

          And still 99 cents on Amazon:

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Come back next week for a special announcement regarding a special project.

Return to Sweet Saturday Samples.

Sherry Gloag Discusses the Origination of Ideas!

What are IDEAS? And where do they come from?

 by Sherry Gloag

Without ideas authors would be stumped. And yet ideas can either swamp, or desert an author in an instant, leaving them 'up-a-creak-without-a-paddle,' because they are either chasing their tails trying to keep up with the plots and plans racing through their minds or sitting in front of the blank screen uselessly drumming their fingers on the key board.

If an idea is no more than "something that 'is' before the mind when one thinks", where does it come from?

How does something that is nothing more than a conception, opinion, conviction, or principle, plan, scheme, or method become reality?

According to Plato "the concept of 'idea' is based in the realms of metaphysics, and implies knowledge is innate, so that learning is the development of ideas buried deep in the soul, often under the guidance of an 'interrogator'."

So are we, as authors, delving into the world of metaphysics every time we have an idea?  And why, you might ask, do so many people admit their ideas first 'came' to them in a dream. Even in sleep, or with certain brain areas anesthetized, other areas in the brain can perceive certain things and cause the body to respond to stimuli.

Scientist will tell you that people consciously use as little as five-to-ten per cent of their brain, so what is going on in the other ninety-five percent?

The most obvious answers are, breathing, balance, use of our eyes in assimilating information, co-ordination of our limbs, and how about that 'gut' reaction we all experience to certain incidents and sensations? I mean, how often have you met someone, and for no good reason you can later explain, you either take an instant dislike to them or know on some unexplainable level you could trust them with your life?  All this goes on at some subliminal level of consciousness.

But there is a more intriguing aspect to the subliminal mind at work.

People are immersed in subliminal stimuli all day long.  You only have to consider the various methods of advertising.  Some are in your face while others are so subtle you have no idea you have taken the information in, as it has buried itself deep in your sub- or subliminal consciousness.

The information is out there ready to be stimulated by the same trigger, or something similar. However it is created, these commercial companies spend billions annually wooing us on whatever level they can reach us.

So, in many cases our subliminal consciousness becomes the point from which we see, recognize and address the forces and influences at work around us, thus offering a clearer picture than is provided by our limited (five-per-cent) surface awareness.

The notion that the impulses and ideas we assume originate from within us, actually derive outside, beyond us, before entering our subliminal self, to take shape before rising to the surface as if newly created, is still a difficult concept for many people to accept.

Ask ten different authors where they get their ideas from, and you will probably get ten distinctly differing answers.

So where did the idea for the first, in my four book series The Gasquet Princes, From Now Until Forever, published by Astraea Press, come from?

Indirectly, from the Royal wedding of Prince William to his long time girlfriend Kate Middleton, now Duchess of Cambridge; and I say 'indirectly' because it wasn't until after the wedding I decided to create a short story involving a royal romance.

I am not a 'plotter' so even that decision was out of character for me.  Did that concept come from my subliminal consciousness?  I honestly don't know.

And what about my characters in From Now Until Forever?

All I can say about them is they certainly did not come from the 5% of conscious use of my mind.  The heroine, Melanie Babcot, and her hero, Prince Liam, turned up almost fully formed and knew exactly where and what they were doing from the first word to the last one.

And the characters in my Valentine story, His Chosen Bride, the second book of the series? Well the heroine turned up without fanfare, or even explanation, in a short story written for Tuesday Tales, an online weekly blog where a group of authors offers partial of complete clips of their stories. I did not know even she was going to be the heroine in Henri's story until the following week when he made his entrance.  They certainly emerged from my subliminal consciousness, but don't ask me what the unconscious triggers were that created them before they made themselves known to me, for I could not tell you.

Multi-published author, Sherry Gloag is a transplanted Scot now living in the beautiful coastal countryside of Norfolk, England.  She considers the surrounding countryside as extension of her own garden, to which she escapes when she needs "thinking time" and solitude to work out the plots for her next novel.  While out walking she enjoys talking to her characters, as long as there are no other walkers close by.

Apart from writing, Sherry enjoys gardening, walking, reading and cheerfully admits her books tend to take over most of the shelf and floor space in her workroom-cum-office.  She also finds crystal craft work therapeutic.

FOR NOW UNTIL FORE VER

For Prince Liam, families meant bad news, unwanted commitments, and the loss of his personal freedom.  Love spawned white picket fences, slippers at the hearth with a wife and kids making demands, so why did those images disappear when he met Melanie Babcot?

Melanie Babcot fought hard to escape the horrors of her youth and vowed to remain single and free, so when paid to protect Prince Liam from insurgents why did her personal pledge fly out the window?

TO PURCHASE:  Astraea Press      Amazon      Amazon UK      Barnes & Noble      Nook

Please enjoy a brief excerpt:

Liam Fitzwilliam Gasquet stared in amazement at the blooming patch of red milliseconds before the pain exploded in his arm. Some trigger-happy idiot had fired in his direction. Indignation didn't have time to take root before another bullet kicked the dust at his feet.

Not 'trigger-happy'.

Intentional.

The rebels had found the fourth and youngest son of Jean-Phillipe Gasquet, ruler of the tiny kingdom adjacent to the Swiss border. When had they discovered his whereabouts?

With a reluctant sigh, he faced the truth of it. They hadn't 'found' him at all. They'd followed him.

I want to thank Ms. Gloag for her visit, and to all of you, I'm encouraging you to give this book a try. I fell in love with this couple on the first page. This one is on my 5-star keeper shelf. ~Kay