C.D. Hersh's Blog, page 130
May 18, 2017
Friday Feature Scents and Scentsabilities’s
Guest talks about
Top Romantic Shop Products
by
Leigh Goff
In Disenchanted, sixteen-year-old Sophie’s quirky Aunt Janie runs a shop called Scents and Scentsabilities. The shop is situated in downtown historic Wethersfield, Connecticut and resembles a picturesque Pottery Barn for enchanted bath and body products. The products are all made from plants and flowers growing in Janie’s enchanted garden. The list below includes favorite items I would definitely purchase.
1. Forbidden Passion Potion A potion made with a combination of lemon verbena, valerian, and rose petals. That flower combinations symbolizes ‘lovers uniting’ and Sophie comes across these flowers when she meets Alexavier for the second time. The meeting reveals his dangerous streak and leaves her intrigued.
2. Tulips To Kiss Stick A lip gloss Janie crafted that contains enchanted tulip pollen, which lushifies ones lips. Sophie tries to offer this product to the strange Puritan-looking girl who enters Scents and Scentsabilities in the first scene, but she soon realizes the girl is more interested in giving something enchanted to Sophie.
3. Phyto-Glo Powder An organic powder crafted by Aunt Janie to illuminate one’s complexion when sleepless nights wreak havoc on the face, which happens a lot to Sophie as a ghost from the past haunts her dreams. The powder is guaranteed to erase under eye circles and it also creates a sparkly glow when you want that someone special to notice you.
4. Forever First Love Lip Balm This lip balm enhances feelings of affection in the other person when applied before a kiss. Sophie opts to not use this shortcut when it comes to love, preferring to take the long and difficult road which makes falling in love with a forbidden ordinary all the more sweet.
5. Waning White Willow A hemorrhoid relieving ointment made from the bark of the white willow, which reduces pain and swelling. This comes in handy when Alexavier’s brother, Zeke, tries to come between Sophie and her true love, Alexavier. She also enjoys watching her frenemy, Laney, apply a dab to her hand and neck, thinking it’s perfume.
Here’s a brief intro to Disenchanted where you can learn a little more about Sophie Goodchild.
Sophie Goodchild is a sixteen-year-old witch living with her eccentric aunt in the small town of Wethersfield, Connecticut—the sight of the first American Witch Trials. She is descended from a powerful black witch, but struggles with her erratic white magic while dealing with a mean girl witch clique known as the Glitterati, who love to make Sophie feel like she is less than they are.
Sophie is beautiful with wild waves of sable-colored hair, eyes the color of dark blue sapphires, and heart-shaped pillowy lips. More importantly, she is beautiful on the inside, although she hides it well behind her impatience and impetuousness, which makes her very relatable.
It is those heart-strong characteristics that lead her into trouble, and since she is ruled by her heart, she’s all in once she finds trouble. She is fiercely loyal, determined, and fearless and there is nothing she wouldn’t do or sacrifice for the ones she loves, especially when she learns of the true love curse her ancestor cast on the Mather family.
When Judge Mather, a descendant of the reverend who condemned Sophie’s witch ancestor to hang, finds out his handsome son (who has recently returned to Wethersfield with a sexy British accent and a face that could melt a black witch’s heart) has fallen hard for Sophie, things get even more dangerous for her. Dark secrets come to light and impossible choices are made as Sophie sacrifices everything, including her soul to save her forbidden true love.
Buy Links:
Mirror World Publishing – Amazon
Leigh Goff loves writing young adult fiction with elements of magic and romance because it’s also what she liked to read. Born and raised on the East Coast, she now lives in Maryland where she enjoys the area’s great history and culture.
Leigh is a graduate of the University of Maryland, University College and a member of the Maryland Writers’ Association and Romance Writers of America. She is also an approved artist with the Maryland State Arts Council. Her debut novel, Disenchanted, was inspired by the Wethersfield witches of Connecticut and was released by Mirror World Publishing. Leigh is currently working on her next novel, The Witch’s Ring which is set in Annapolis.
Learn more about Leigh Goff on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
May 16, 2017
Wednesday Special Spotlight The Soul Mate Tree book five
Shares
Make Me a Match
by
Mackenzie Lucas
About Mackenzie Lucas[image error]
Mackenzie Lucas is an avid reader of genre fiction. She writes contemporary and paranormal romance, and listens to an eclectic mix of music. She loves a good story, whether it’s an erotic short, a full-length romance novel, or the narrative slice-of-life found in country music. In any story, emotional integrity and authenticity are most important to her as well as a big dose of romping hot sexual tension. She enjoys smart-mouthed, sexy heroines, hunky alpha heroes who know how to take care of their women, and plot twists that surprise her, but most of all, she just wants to experience the satisfying emotional arc of a character falling in love and finding what he or she needs most in life.
Mac is a small-town country girl with a world-traveler’s heart. She grew up in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania and she’s lived in Dublin, Ireland, within spitting distance of New York City in Long Island, and now in the Washington, D.C. area. She obtained her undergraduate degree in English Literature from Dickinson College and received her M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She’s currently an author for Soul Mate Publishing and is represented by Otis and Mackintosh Literary Agency.
With Mackenzie Lucas—whether you’re reading her light paranormal romance or her small-town-based contemporary romance—you’ll always find a heart-warming love story about connectedness, community, and emotional authenticity. And, no, it doesn’t hurt that all her heroes are panty-melting gorgeous alphas and all their sexy, sensually aware heroines know how to stand up to them, give no quarter, and love them just as they are.
THE LEGEND OF THE SOUL MATE TREE:
I am old, I am ancient, my purpose is clear
To give those who are needy a treasure so dear.
They who come to my roots, touch my bark, stroke my leaves
Find the soul of their lives if they but believe.
When I call and you listen, your prize will be great
If your heart remains open and you don’t hesitate.
Do you yearn? Be you lonely? Is your time yet at hand?
Reach for me and I’ll give to you. I’m yours to command.
For your trust, for your faith, keep my secrets untold
And I’ll gift you forever, to have and to hold.
An ancient legend spanning eras, continents, and worlds. To some, it’s nothing more than a dream. To others, a pretty fairy tale handed down through the generations.
For those in critical need of their own happy ending, a gift.
Widower Mark Cage is rusty at relationships. He owns the micro-brewery that supplies the restaurant and bar at St. Augustine’s premiere spa resort, Essence, with its award winning local craft beer. And he’s been focused on building his business and raising his teenage daughter ever since his wife died ten years ago. Nothing else.
When he runs into a sweet kindergarten teacher who is vacationing in St. Augustine and staying at Essence everything changes. A sudden, inexplicable encounter with a mystical tree known for its legend of bringing lovers together, convinces Mark the schoolteacher is his destined match. However, his encounters are disastrous.
His only hope of persuading the woman he wants to even consider a date with him is working with Essence’s on-site relationship guru, Athena Sullivan. A reknowned relationship coach, Athena is the opposite of everything Mark wants in a woman. She’s feisty, independent, and challenges him at every turn. Sparks fly between the two from their first meeting and flare into a blazing inferno as Athena helps him navigate the dating scene.
After a series of too-perfect, mis-queued dates, Mark realizes maybe the woman of his dreams is not a sweet schoolteacher after all. Maybe she’s a feisty, independent, sexy relationship coach who stands up to him and is everything he’s always wanted or needed in a woman.
If he opens himself up to true love, he might just find second chances at love are possible and that his perfect soul mate is closer than he thinks.
Click here to get your copy today!
Book Trailer for The Soul Mate Tree:
Find Mackenzie at:
Web Page
Amazon author page
Other blogs/info on The Soul Mate Tree books:
Book One: Realm of the Dragon, by CiCi Cordelia, Blog post
Book Two: Can’t Stop the Music, by C.D. Hersh, Blog post
Book Three: Between Venus and Mars, by S.C. Mitchell, Blog post
Book Four: The Trail to Love , by Tina Susedik, Blog post
May 15, 2017
Tell Again Tuesday New Story & Dating
A blog series where we shamelessly share posts from others that we have enjoyed.
10 Similarities Between Searching For A New Story & Dating
I am currently searching for a new story to work on. Story hunting is not easy. Just because you are a writer doesn’t mean you have a queue of ideas, all waiting patiently for you to do something with them. No, you have to spend ages feeling glum about not having anything to write about and then force yourself to go out and find new story ideas.
Things don’t run smoothly either when you do stumble upon a new story and get excited about it. You can quickly lose that ‘loving feeling’ for
For the rest of the blog go to: https://blondewritemore.com/2017/03/05/similarities-between-searching-for-a-new-story-dating-sundayblogshare-writer/
May 11, 2017
Friday Features Jude Knight
Guest talks about
Baked apples & Custard
by
Jude Knight
Baked apples and custard Regency canal boat style
Put two pots on the brazier. One needs to be large enough for the four apples. One needs to hold the dish of custard, and allow room for your hands to get it in and out. (Or, in 2017, set the oven to 350 degrees Celsius.) Add a cup of red wine to the apple pot and two cups of water to the custard pot.[image error]
Take the apples and remove their cores. Pierce their skin in several places. Place in the pot and sprinkle a teaspoon of raisins and a teaspoon of coarse sugar (brown sugar is fine) in each hole. Scatter some cloves in the dish, being careful not to get any in the apple. Put the lid back on and leave on the heat for 50 minutes to an hour. The apples are ready to eat when they’re soft right through. They won’t look beautiful, but they’ll be delicious.[image error]
Once the apples are baking, beat together four eggs, one tablespoon of sugar, and one cup of single cream. Pour into a dish large enough to hold the mixture and small enough to fit in the pot. You can use individual custard cups, but you’ll need to reduce the cooking time. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Put in the pot of hot water. The custard should be cooked around the same time as the apples. When the point of a thin knife comes out clean, remove the dish from the pot.[image error]
Their marriage is a fiction.
Their enemies are all too real.
Ella survived an abusive and philandering husband, in-laws who hate her, and public scorn. But she’s not sure she will survive love. It is too late to guard her heart from the man forced to pretend he has married such a disreputable widow, but at least she will not burden him with feelings he can never return.
Alex understands his supposed wife never wishes to remarry. And if she had chosen to wed, it would not have been to him. He should have wooed her when he was whole, when he could have had her love, not her pity. But it is too late now. She looks at him and sees a broken man. Perhaps she will learn to bear him.
In their masquerade of a marriage, Ella and Alex soon discover they are more well-matched than they expected. But then the couple’s blossoming trust is ripped apart by a malicious enemy. Two lost souls must together face the demons of their past to save their lives and give their love a future.[image error]
Genre: Regency romance, historical romance, historical suspense, Regency noir, gothic
Heat rating: PG-13 ISBN: 9780473393670
Page count: 382 pages on Kindle Publication date: 9 May 2017
A Raging Madness
In the following scene, Ella and Alex have been discussing what to do with Ella’s only possession, the colt Falcon’s Storm.
“I expect Rede would find him a place if I asked. He keeps a stud in Essex at his wife’s estate there. You remember? I told you how I had to reorganize the stables when I reviewed the place for them. That could be a good place for Falcon’s Storm. Rede and Anne should rebuild them, actually. If they are serious about breeding…”
Alex began to explain the changes he proposed, using several sheets from his sketch pad to illustrate the best layout for stalls and how he would connect the stables, fields, and training grounds to greatest advantage.
She had a few ideas of her own, and more of the sketch pad was sacrificed to creating the ideal stud and training farm, a project that ate the entire afternoon and so absorbed them, they did not notice how the day had passed until Alex said, “We had better light a candle, Ella. It is getting dark.”
Gracious. He was right. The sun had gone down, and any minute now, the three workers would dock the boat and arrive expecting their dinner. Sure enough, even as she had the thought, the boat swung into the canal side where cottages and an inn hinted at a substantial village. Moments later, Big Dan poked his head in the doors.
“We’ll just be dealing with Bess, Ma’am. That stew smells proper decent, and so it does!”
Ella hurried about, checking the stew she had set on the brazier earlier in the day, hunting out the bread they’d bought fresh in a village that morning (no time for potatoes and turnips and carrots), setting four fresh apples in a covered pot to cook while they ate their meal. She could make a custard, too. They had milk and eggs, and it would be a silent apology for forgetting her self-imposed duties.
“They will be happy with whatever you give them, Ella,” Alex reassured her. “If I bought pies from the local tavern, they would be happy with that. They do not expect you to cook for them and nor should they.”
“I expect it, Alex. I do not like being idle any more than you do, and if I say I will do something, I expect to do what I say.”
Buy links
Jude Knight’s book page Smashwords iBooks Barnes and Noble Amazon US
Meet Jude Knight[image error]
May 9, 2017
Wednesday Special Spotlight Sara Daniel
Shines On
Fun Appetizer for Family, Parties & Any Time
by Sara Daniel
Bacon-Wrapped Wienies
1 package bacon
2 packages wienies/ lil smokies
1½ sticks butter, melted
1½ cups brown sugar
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Cut bacon into ¼ inch – ½ inch pieces. Wrap bacon around each wienie. Secure with a toothpick and place in a single layer in 9 X 13 inch pan.
Combine butter with brown sugar. Pour over wienies.
Bake for 20 minutes. Turn up heat to 400 and cook for 5 minutes longer to make bacon crispy.
Here’s a little teaser from my contemporary romance for your reading pleasure.
Love is his enemy…and her answer.
A nationally televised bombshell revealing a secret son turns marriage therapist Caleb Paden’s life upside down. While others focus on the public relations disaster for his company, he can only think of rescuing his baby and providing the stable home dictated by his marriage theories—one devoid of love and emotions.
Olivia Wells might not be the baby’s biological mother, but she loves him as much as any parent could. Letting him go will break her heart. Letting him go to a man who doesn’t believe in love will tear her apart.
As she helps Caleb bond with his child, Olivia finds herself falling for the man behind the stuffy therapist persona. However, he wants nothing to do with her love and emotions, and those are the only things she has to give. If she can’t convince him love is the answer, not the enemy, she will lose both the baby she loves and her heart.
EXCERPT
“Scones?” He recoiled as if she’d announced the kitchen teemed with roaches.
“You don’t like them?” She set the tin on the side table and arranged the dishes of butter and strawberry preserves.
“No.”
She bit her tongue over the urge to tell him how much she detested his books. “I use a recipe my grandmother brought over from Scotland. I serve plain scones along with two other flavors of the day.”
“Coffee will suffice.” He picked up his cup. “Thank you, Olivia, for your hospitality. I’m in need of a room tonight for myself and my, uh, son. A suite would be best, if possible. I’ll pay the going rate, naturally.”
He had no idea what “going rate” she offered to misguided marriage therapists. Not that it mattered. Whether he paid for his stay or not, he had to sleep under her roof. The storm didn’t leave either of them a choice. And she had plenty of rooms. Her other scheduled guests for the week had cancelled due to the weather. “Of course you need to stay. But Liam already has his own room and he’s currently asleep there.”
“From now on, he’ll stay with me.”
Her heart fell to the pit of her stomach. “Dr. Paden, you’re chilled and must have had a terrible drive. Why don’t you relax and worry about yourself this evening. Liam is on a schedule where he goes to sleep before dinner and sleeps through to the early morning. I’ll introduce you to him then.”
He set down his coffee cup with an ominous clank. “I didn’t come here for coffee and scones. I came for my son. Take me to him now.”
She clasped her shaking hands behind her back. She had no legal claim to Liam. But how could she give up the child she loved to such an overbearing, pompous ass?
BUY LINKS:
Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Kobo – iBooks – GooglePlay
Sara Daniel writes what she loves to read—irresistible romance, from sweet to erotic and everything in between. She battles a serious NASCAR addiction, was once a landlord of two uninvited squirrels, and loses her car keys several times a day.
Learn more about Sara on her website and blog. Subscribe to Sara’s newsletter.
Stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
May 8, 2017
Tell Again Tuesday Native Americans
A blog series where we shamelessly share posts from others that we have enjoyed.
When Being Civilized Was Not Enough
February 24, 2017 by Linda Bennett Pennell
War bonnets, teepees, Appaloosa ponies, and a nomadic lifestyle – these are the images that have been promoted of Native Americans living prior to the 20th Century. And for the tribes of the Great Plains and parts of the western US, this was somewhat accurate, but for eastern groups, nothing could have been farther from the truth. The eastern Native . . .
For the rest of the blog go to: https://historyimagined.wordpress.com/2017/02/24/when-being-civilized-was-not-enough/
May 4, 2017
Friday Feature from the editor
Guest talks
Formatting
by
Marci Clark
(writing as Marci Boudreaux and Emilia Mancini)
As an editor/designer, I see manuscripts come at me with all kinds of crazy, wonky, how-the-hell-did-you-do-that formatting. Be kind to your editor/designer, peeps. Clean up your mess a little before submitting it.
Some houses provide a style guide. Double check for any submission rules before sending your book and risking a default rejection. If the house is relaxed on their formatting, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bother cleaning up the formatting any less than you’d bother cleaning up the content.
If they don’t have a style for submissions, a pretty basic format is appreciated. Centered chapter headings, .3 to .5 indent on new paragraphs, 1.5 spaced lines, all black text in a basic font/typeface (making it “pretty” won’t impress your editor), and no all capped or underlined words (use italics for emphasis). Something like this:
Prologue
Jessica closed her eyes as the candles on her birthday cake flickered just a few inches away. Eleven of them. Eleven candles meant her wish was even stronger than last year. Just like last year, she took a breath and thought the one thing she’d thought on her birthday for as long as she could remember—I wish I had a mom.
Opening her eyes, she blew the candles out with one big breath. She smiled as everyone cheered like she’d done some great thing.
She wasn’t sure if it was because she was the only kid in the family—the only biological kid anyway, there were plenty of what her dad called Grandma’s strays—or if it was because she had Down syndrome, but everyone always seemed to overreact to what she did. Blowing out her birthday candles didn’t really call for applause. She rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair but couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face.
Here are a few shortcuts when it comes to cleaning up your manuscript. Note: I have a PC, so I don’t know if these translate to a Mac.
Extra Spaces:
We are no longer a society of the double space after ending a sentence. One space. One. But if you have a habit of adding two, no problem. There’s a quick fix. Open up your find/replace option. In the find box, hit the space bar twice. In the replace box, hit the space bar once. Then select replace all. Do that until the find/replace reaches zero.
Tabs:
No. Just no. Do not use the tab button when indenting. Go to the top of the document, select the page layout tab an set your indent for the document there. Sometimes hitting the tab is natural. You can fix that as well. In the find/replace option, find ^t and replace with nothing. Leave the replace box blank. Replace all. Then select all on your document and set your tab as indicated above-through the page layout option.
Spaces Before or After Paragraphs:
These hidden spaces may seem innocent enough, but if you are self publishing, these extra spaces can cause the designer a lot of stress depending on which program they use to convert your document. Remove extra spaces by again using the find/replace option. Find: space bar^p, and replace with ^p. Replace all. Do the same, but with the space on the other side of the paragraph break. ^pspacebar, replace with ^p. This will give you clean returns throughout.
Soft Returns:
These also are pain when formatting. Find/replace ^l with ^p.
As for the document, please, please, PLEASE do not hit the enter button multiple times to start a new chapter. Nooo!!! Use a solid page break. Ctrl+Enter will break the page and give you (and your designer) a clean start on the next chapter. The problem with hitting enter over and over is that while it may push the chapter heading to a new page on your computer screen, it doesn’t always work out that way on your editor’s screen. If not, your chapter headings end up in all kinds of crazy places. Just do a page break, and nobody has to wonder WTF.
There are a dozens of little things that could also be done, but this really hits the big ones. Follow these tips, and your editor/designer will love you just a little more.
[image error]
Marci Clark is a freelance editor, book/cover art/promo materials designer, published author, and all around publishing nerd. She’s worked for Kensington Publishing since 2014, as well as several indie houses over the years. She is proficient in self-publishing and would love to help you with all your publishing needs, including premade or custom cover art.
Reach out to her at marci.clark.editing@gmail.com if you’d like to discuss your project with her.
Sample taken from Jessica’s Wish (Stonehill Romance Book 4)
There is nothing Jessica wants more than to be like everyone else, but between her Down syndrome and her colorful family, “average” isn’t part of her vocabulary. This year when she blows out eleven candles on her homemade vegan cake she makes the same wish she’s made for as many birthdays as she can remember: she wants a mother.
Jessica’s father Phil has worked his entire life to create a more stable childhood for his daughter than he had. But a supportive mother, a recently returned father, rainbow pancakes, and princesses can’t heal the dark void left in Phil’s heart which he won’t even admit is there.
When Mallory’s mother’s life unexpectedly turns upside down, Mallory realizes her dreams come second to her heart, and she leaves her dream job in a big city to return home set on helping her fiercely independent mother recover. After forming a unique bond with Jessica—and a friendship with Jessica’s hot father—Mallory finds that in coming back to Stonehill she might just have found a way to make all of her dreams come true.
But as their families start pushing Phil and Mallory together, old insecurities and Phil’s worst fears threaten to break up the happy trio and catch Jessica in the emotional crossfire.
May 2, 2017
Wednesday Special Spotlight Dangerous Homecoming
Shines On
The talented and ever reigning Queen of Regency, Vonnie Hughes , just released her new Historical Romance novel that definitely isn’t sweet. This unique book begins in Portugal as the Peninsular Wars rage on, and moves to England where the hero and heroine expect to find peace. They’re in for a surprise.
Both of them are scarred by war; she because of the shattered men she nurses; he because of the loss of friends and the horrors he must endure daily.
Colwyn Hetherington has a chance to put it all behind him and return to England. Juliana Colebrook desperately wants to go to England to seek out her relatives. They take an almighty chance and travel together, setting in train a series of events that neither could have anticipated.
With only their love to sustain them, they clash head-on with the reality of England, 1813.
BUY LINKS
Amazon
Smashwords
Vonnie Hughes is a multi-published author in both Regency books and contemporary suspense. She loves the intricacies of the social rules of the Regency period and the far-ranging consequences of the Napoleonic Code. And with suspense she has free rein to explore forensic matters and the strong convolutions of the human mind. Like many writers, some days she hates the whole process, but somehow she just cannot let it go.
Vonnie was born in New Zealand, but she and her husband now live happily in Australia. If you visit Hamilton Gardens in New Zealand be sure to stroll through the Japanese Garden. These is a bronze plaque engraved with a haiku describing the peacefulness of that environment. The poem was written by Vonnie.
All of Vonnie’s books are available at The Wild Rose Press and Amazon.
Learn more about Vonnie Hughes on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Goodreads.
May 1, 2017
Tell Again Tuesday Romantic Character
A blog series where we shamelessly share posts from others that we have enjoyed.
My Most Romantic Character
by Sarah Raplee
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Hi, I’m Sarah Raplee, author of Paranormal and Steampunk Romance.
I’ve written two romance novels (one published) and a number of romantic short stories. Our suggested theme for Februaruy 2017 is “My most romantic…” We get to finish the sentence.
I decided to write about my most romantic character, out of the dozens of characters I’ve written in my stories. It was a hard decision to make. But after sorting through the crowd, I have to admit that one character is . . .
For the rest of the blog go to: http://romancingthegenres.blogspot.com/2017/02/
April 27, 2017
Friday Feature Life, Family, Travel, Writing
Guest
Caroline Warfield
Caroline shares with us about life, family, travel, and writing.
Life often worms its way into our books. One scene in The Reluctant Wife is a good example.
Beloved and I travel whenever we can. We never met a world capital, scenic wonder, or museum we didn’t like. The vacation that stands out in my mind as our very best, however, happened long ago. I think of it as the night the stars fell.
When our children were small airplanes and distant lands were out of the question. One summer we packed up our tents and headed to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Anyone who has ever been there will understand that I knew it was a magical, blessed time when there were no bugs all week, not even the infamous no-see-ums. Every thing we tried succeeded. The kite went up, was tied to a tent pole, and never came down. We swam, hiked, and dipped for sponges with National Park staff on Ocracoke in peace and harmony.
One night the children crashed right after dark, worn out with fun. Our campsite was a multilevel sand dune, and we had two tents and a dining shelter. Beloved and I went up to the highest point to enjoy the quiet and the starry sky, with the Milky Way spread the length of the horizon. We were overwhelmed at the sight. Then the stars began to fall, and my heart lurched. By sheer good fortune we had camped far from city lights on a moonless night with no obstructions in any direction during the Perseid meteor shower. It was without question a gift from God. After a few stunned moments we ran down the dune and pulled the children out of their tent. They had no idea it was a once in a lifetime sight, but we made sure they saw it.
Fred and Clare see the Perseids in the excerpt below. He leaves the children asleep, however, being otherwise occupied.
The Reluctant Wife[image error]
Children of Empire, Book 2
Genre: Pre Victorian, Historical Romance Heat rating: 3 of 5 (two brief -mild- sexual encounters)
ISBN: 978-1-61935-349-9 ASIN: B06Y4BGMX1 Page count: 275 pages
Pub date: April 26, 2017
Blurb
When all else fails, love succeeds…
Captain Fred Wheatly’s comfortable life on the fringes of Bengal comes crashing down around him when his mistress dies, leaving him with two children he never expected to have to raise. When he chooses justice over army regulations, he’s forced to resign his position, leaving him with no way to support his unexpected family. He’s already had enough failures in his life. The last thing he needs is an attractive, interfering woman bedeviling his steps, reminding him of his duties.
All widowed Clare Armbruster needs is her brother’s signature on a legal document to be free of her past. After a failed marriage, and still mourning the loss of a child, she’s had it up to her ears with the assumptions she doesn’t know how to take care of herself, that what she needs is a husband. She certainly doesn’t need a great lout of a captain who can’t figure out what to do with his daughters. If only the frightened little girls didn’t need her help so badly.
Clare has made mistakes in the past. Can she trust Fred now? Can she trust herself? Captain Wheatly isn’t ashamed of his aristocratic heritage, but he doesn’t need his family and they’ve certainly never needed him. But with no more military career and two half-caste daughters to support, Fred must turn once more—as a failure—to the family he let down so often in the past. Can two hearts rise above past failures to forge a future together?
Find it here: https://smile.amazon.com/Reluctant-Wife-Children-Empire-Book-ebook/dp/B06XYRRR1R/
About Caroline Warfield[image error]
Traveler, poet, librarian, technology manager—Caroline Warfield has been many things (even a nun), but above all she is a romantic. Having retired to the urban wilds of eastern Pennsylvania, she reckons she is on at least her third act, happily working in an office surrounded by windows while she lets her characters lead her to adventures in England and the far-flung corners of the British Empire. She nudges them to explore the riskiest territory of all, the human heart.
Caroline is a RONE award winner with five star reviews from Readers’ Favorite, Night Owl Reviews, and InD’Tale and an Amazon best-seller. She is also a member of the writers’ co-operative, the Bluestocking Belles. With partners she manages and regularly writes for both The Teatime Tattler and History Imagined.
Website http://www.carolinewarfield.com/
Amazon Author http://www.amazon.com/Caroline-Warfield/e/B00N9PZZZS/
Good Reads http://bit.ly/1C5blTm
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/carolinewarfield7
Twitter @CaroWarfield
Email warfieldcaro@gmail.com
Children of Empire[image error]
Three cousins, torn apart by lies and deceit and driven to the far reaches of the empire, struggle to find their way home.
Giveaway
Caroline will give a kindle copy of The Renegade Wife, Book 1 in the series, to one person who comments. She is also sponsoring a grand prize in celebration of her release. You can enter it here: http://www.carolinewarfield.com/2017blogtourpackage/
The prequel to this book, A Dangerous Nativity, is always **FREE**. You can get a copy here: http://www.carolinewarfield.com/bookshelf/a-dangerous-nativity-1815/
Excerpt
Get control of yourself, Clare, a small part of her brain urged, dimly aware that exhaustion and relief made her foolish. She didn’t care. His arms around her back and his shoulder firm beneath her cheek felt solid. Safe. Dependable.
“Easy, easy. It’s only a tent,” he soothed, one hand making gentle circles on her back.
“You thought about us. No one ever—” He had cared for her, she realized, from the moment he found her at the inn in Calcutta comforting his children. No man ever considered my comfort before.
She took a shuddering breath. Dependable? This is Fred Wheatly holding you, the man who— She couldn’t remember what made him undependable just then. She cared only for his kiss on her head, then her ear.
She raised her head. Bending his head down to meet hers, his gentle kiss made no demands, forced no response, and asked only trust. No man had ever kissed her like that. She couldn’t resist him. When he withdrew to search her face, she closed the distance and kissed him back, the taste and scent of sweat, sand, and the essence of male sending her reeling
“Papa? Are we there?”
He broke off the kiss and tipped his forehead to hers, silent laughter rocking him. “We have come to a place. That much is certain,” he responded. Clare didn’t think he referred to the way station.
It was a matter of some minutes to pitch the tent and create a nest for the girls to sleep. Clare stood with her back to the entrance, watching them drift off to sleep. The shelter had enough space to accommodate Clare and Fred as well, if they slept close together. Her heart began to pound.
Fred reached from behind her to take one hand and tug her out of the shelter, taking care to secure the opening. “They’ll be fine for a bit,” he said. “Come with me.”
“I—” Clare hesitated, unsure what to say or even what she wanted.
A crooked smile preceded his pull on her hand. “I won’t bite. I just want you to enjoy this.” He led her several feet away, out from under the scraggly trees of the way station.
Her gaze followed his free hand upward. The moon had sunk lower in the west. To the east, a riotous panorama of stars covered the sky from north to south. She had thought they were abundant in Dehrapur, but nothing in her life had prepared her for the overwhelming vastness of the universe. Her petty fears and concerns shrank to insignificance.
“Come, sit,” he urged. Only when he spread it out did she see the blanket he carried. He pulled her down next to him, and the two stared upward.
“Lie down, you’ll get a stiff neck,” he told her, and she knew it was only logical.
As darkness deepened, more appeared, and then the sky began to fall. She sat up with a gasp.
Fred let out a long sigh at the same time. “We’re privileged. Shooting stars come in showers at times. Only good luck puts us where they can be seen so clearly.”
She lay back down, content to nestle her head on his shoulder. The falling stars continued, one after another in rapid succession—two, three, four at once. All thought ceased, but after a time, her overwrought senses shifted focus from the delights in the sky above to the feel of the man next to her. When he leaned over and began to kiss her in earnest, her mouth opened under his.
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