A Regency Christmas Blog

This blog runs from the 3rd or 10th December

 

Welcome to Astraea Press's Regency Christmas Blog hop, where there will be lots of prizes on offer at each stop.
Each stop will include certain information

The first is an author Bio:

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.

The second is a copy of Mrs. Peabody's scandal sheet whic covers information about my story, Vidal's Honor, and  Kristin Vayden's Redeeming the Deception of Grace.

Earlier this year Astraea Press invited several authors to write a Christmas Rgency story that must include certain perameters.

a) A character called Lord Kringle.
b) the sotrty must take place in the year of 1812
c) there must be a scene that included a Christmas Eve Ball at Holy  Hall, the home of Lord and Lady Kringle.

For the rest of the story - the sky, as the saying goes, is the limit.

Eleven authors participated and thier stories couldn't be more varied if they'd tried.  :-)

Here is the Blurb for Vidal's Honor

Which will Honor lose first? Her head or her heart?

 

When plunged into a world of spies, agents and espionage during the Peninsula wars, Honor, Lady Beaumont, flees for her life when the French capture her husband at Salamanca, and relies on his batman to arrange her safe passage back to England.

Viscount Charles Vidal is ordered by Robert Dumas, the First Lord of the Admiralty, to travel to Spain and escort the only woman he’s ever loved, Lord Devlin Beaumont’s widow back home before the French discover her whereabouts.

Their journey is fraught by danger, least of all knowing whether they are surrounded by friends or foe. Will they survive long enough to explore the possibility of a future together or will whispers of treason be enough to see Honor dispatched to Tyburn first?
 
Excerpt:
While Vidal joked with his cousin, the viscount scanned the room. The smell of fine wine, whiskey and cigar smoke blended into a rich aroma that was as much a part of Whites as the card games, the background chatter, and outbreaks of lewd laughter from the younger members of the club.

One member in particular interested Vidal tonight, and he watched Robert Dundas, second Viscount Melville, and First Lord of the Admiralty, take leave of his friends and head in his direction.
 
He wondered why the man spent the best part of the night watching his every move, and paused in the act of fobbing his snuff box while he waited for the viscount to join him.
 
“Take a walk with me?” Although couched as a question, Vidal noted the quiet steel of command in the other man’s voice. Dundas laid a hand on his arm; a companionable gesture for anyone interested enough to observe the two men leaving the club together. “I believe I live not far beyond your own house. I’d appreciate your company, and this is not the place for such a discussion. ”
 
With an indolent twist of the wrist Vidal returned the modish lacquered box, unopened, to his pocket and nodded agreement. A man’s club was no setting for private conversation, and it was plain the man wanted to talk about something away from flapping ears.
 
Together they strolled across the room stopping to take leave of several mutual friends.
 
What are others saying about Vidal's Honor ~~
"Vidal's Honor" is a captivating book. It's rich in history and beautiful descriptions...
 
"This is a full-length novel, not a traditional Regency but a surprisingly intricate cloak-and-dagger, spy-and-adventure story with a generous splash of romance...The clever, well-sorted resolution, and the sweet romance, are more than satisfying...."
 
 

GIVEAWAY ~ PRIZES

 

Astraea press have published three of my stories,

and I am giving away three prizes -

winners will be chosen by random.org

 

All you have to do is leave a comment,

and the winners will get a book of their choice

 

 

 

Before you take off for the next hop, this is what people are saying about Kristin Vayden's - Redeeming the Deception of Grace.

 

"I really enjoyed this story. The chemistry flew off the pages..."

 

"This is a great, short read that will warm your heart!"

 

"This is my first from this author. And I LOVE it!!! Since I love Christmas and love story this is definitely for me. I would recommend it to anybody."

 

Don't miss this opportunity to visit Kristin Vayden's hop. 

I hope you have a wonderful and romantic holiday.

All authors included in this hop are:-

 

Kay Sprinsteen - The Toymaker

Vivian Roycroft - Scandal on Half Moon Street

Sherry Gloag - Vidal's Honor

Lindsay Downs  - Christmas Surprise

Patricia Kiyono - Partridge and the Peartree  

Ruth Hartman - Time for a Duke

Christina Graham Parker - Ghosts of Christmas Past 

Kim Bowman - The Duke Of Christmas Past

Rachel Van Dyken - The Devil Duke Takes a Bride 

Leah Sanders - Two Turtledoves

Kristin Vayden - Redeeming the Decption of Grace

Find more information about all these books

 

Christmas is a Time for Giving Blog Hop

CHARITY: Wounded Warriors
Blog HOP

Christmas is a time for giving.  Whether that gift is a hug, a present, a smile or letting those who are not home at this time of year knowing they are in our thoughts, it -- they, all boil down to a variation of a gift.

Every participating author in this blog hop has ...


PROMISED: to donate $30 to Wounded Warriors at the end of the hop.

(If anyone else feels inclined to add to the donation, that is their choice alone.
Here is the link: https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/Default.aspx?tsid=66)

While I am a Brit and and it is many years since my brother was in the airforce, he is not the first family member in the services, my father was in the army and highly commended, as was my brother, for his actions. So I am only to happy to be a part of this Blog Hop. 
Thank you to everyone at Secret Cravings Publishing for their part in this Blog.

I am delighted that Secret Cravings Publishing started a Sweet Cravings Publishings genre, and am delighted that they accepted my sixth book, but first Regency story, No Job for a Woman, which is available at.
 

Sweet Cravings Publishings

Amazon

Amazon UK

 

Although it has nothing to do with service life, my heroiine, Deborah Stavely, has to dig deep within herself, to fight off harrassment from her neighbours, and come to terms with her growing feelings for her brother's best friend.

 

Blurb:

Julian Fanshaw answers a call for help from his life-long friend Lord Worth to help keep his friend’s widowed sister, Deborah, safe from her increasingly vindictive neighbours. It doesn’t take long to realise him or Freddie long to realise the Grangers aren’t using her as a long-promised act of revenge against them; but are playing a deeper and far more sinister game of their own.

Deborah Stavely is determined to overcome the increasing harassment from her neighbour without calling on her brother for help. So she is not pleased when Freddie intervenes and involves his friend, Julian Fanshaw.

Circumstances demand Julian and Deborah learn to work together and Julian dares to dream that he might gain the love of the only person he’s ever given his heart to.

But will Deborah live long enough to discover that by releasing everything she values, she will gain everything her heart desires?

 

Excerpt:

Julian Fanshaw ignored the other letters in front of him when he recognized one from his long-time friend Freddie Dalrymple, now Lord Worth. He broke the seal and scanned the single sheet with growing concern.

 

Julian, my friend, I am writing to implore you to put aside whatever plans you have in hand and to set out immediately to stay with us for an indeterminate period of time.

 

Thoroughly alarmed, Julian flipped the page in his hand to discover it had been dispatched more than a week ago.

 

If I bring to mind a certain student up at Oxford with us, and reveal that he and his wife are, and have been, my sister’s neighbors for several years, it will give you but an inkling of the root of my concern.

 

It has come to my attention, due to the arrival of his brother upon the scene, and recent events concerning my sister, Deborah, I am persuaded you need not only to know what is happening here, but be on hand to assist in circumventing any consequences of actions taken against her.

I have taken the liberty of gathering some friends together for a couple of shooting parties, thereby creating a reason for your presence.

Since his return from the Peninsular, Julian kept promising himself a trip to Worth’s Norfolk estate. Unfortunately in the last eighteen months, time and circumstances had worked against him.

Casting the letter aside, Julian strode to the door and called for his butler.

“I am leaving immediately for Norfolk. Please see that my bags are packed and have my horse ready within the hour.”

“You do not intend to use your chaise, sir?”

“No. I’ll ride, with a stop to visit Mr. Sewel. Arrange for Becket and French to follow me in the chaise with everything I’ll need for a month.”

Not by so much as a flick of an eyelid did Thomas reveal he recognized the name of his master’s man of business.

“Very good, sir.”

GIVEAWAY

I am giving away two e-copies of

No Job For A Woman

To be in with a chance to win, please leave a comment and tweet about this blog hop or dierect them back here or to
http://secretcravingspublishing.blogspot.com 

 The full list of  paprticipants' links can be found on the main SCP blog: http://secretcravingspublishing.blogspot.com

 

[SCP, and their authors, are hoping to raise $600 or more
for Wounded Warriors!! ]

 

Thank you to everyone who visits.
Please leave a comment for a chance to win an e-copy of

No Job For a Woman

The Big Thing Blog Hop

Thanks to Carol Bond for inviting me to participate in The Big Thing Blog Hop

https://www.theunseenpromise.com
http://www.facebook.com/TheUnseenPromise?ref=hl
https://www.theunseenpromise.com
https://twitter.com/chocolategirl61
http://theunseenpromise.blogspot.com.au/
http://www.booksie.com/chocolategirl46

And here are my answers to Blog hop questions.

What is the name of the book? 

No Job For a Woman

Where did the idea for the book derive?

A single word.  Forfeit.

What genre does your book fall under?

 Regency Romance

What is the one sentence synopsis for your book? Will Deborah live long enough to discover that by releasing everything she values, she will gain everything her heart desires?

Will your book be self-published or represented by an Agency?

No Job For a Woman is published by Sweet Cravings Publishings.

How long did it take to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Several months.

What other books would you compare this story to – in your genre?

 I am in awe of Regency writer, Georgette Heyer, and would love to think No Job For a Woman would compare with hers.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
No Job For a Woman is character driven and they demanded I told their story. J

What about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
In Regency times a woman of the ton would be shunned if they discovered she worked for her living. When Deborah Stavely takes over the running her late husband’s estates she has no idea of the consequences of her actions.

 

No Job For a Woman is available at

Amazon             UK             SCP

 

 

Tuesdays Tales - Silence

Here we are again :-) and I really don't know where the days are going to. This week's Tuesday's Tales promt is Silence.  And my oofering this week is a snippett for a new WIP.

Lilly never really thought about it before, but now, as she listened to the silence, the song title slid into her mind.  The Sound of Silence.  It described the atmosphere in the house to a ‘T’.

Only the sunlight, fighting its way through the dust-storm created by wrenching open the heavy double-panelled wooden door offered any relief from the oppressive feelings she picked up when she walked into the vast, high-ceilinged hall.

Not even the sound of bird song penetrated.

She dug in her pocket for a handkerchief to stifle her sneeze and wondered why the urge to muffle the sound even entered her mind.

A wide staircase ahead of her rose to a half-landing then split, left and right. When she shifted to her right and looked up the sound of her high-heels on the wooden floor cracked like pistols shots and bounced off the walls.

“We’ve been expecting you.” The reproachful note in the soft female voice coming from behind her, stung. It wasn’t her fault the solicitor hadn’t found the letter until now.  And against her better judgement, Lilly had allowed instinct to over-rule logic and driven to Hollow-End hall within twenty-four hours of reading  its contents.

“I came as soon as I could.”  Lilly swung round to face the woman. Where had she gone?

“We’ve been waiting for you for months.”

A man’s voice, full of accusations came from above her.  She looked towards the landing  but saw no one. Fear skittered down her spine. Perhaps she should have headed Eric when he’d told her to ignore the letter.

“Written by a crackpot,” he’d dismissed and slung the quality sheet of paper onto the solicitor’s desk. “Otherwise he’d have signed it.”

There were times when Eric’s manner set her teeth on edge. She’d fought the sudden spurt of temper. “He?”

Certainly the writing was heavy, and strong, and yes, she agreed silently, could be considered that of a male. But… something, and at the time Lilly put it down to her irritation with Eric’s attitude, she disagreed.

 

You can find more offerings at Tuesday's Tales

Sweet Saturday Sample

For this week's Sweet Saturday Sample I am offering you another short sample from my current Regency Christmas Romance, Vidal's Honor

 

 

 

 

Blurb:

When plunged into a world of spies, agents and espionage during the Peninsula wars, Honor, Lady Beaumont, flees for her life when the French capture her husband at Salamanca, and relies on his batman to arrange her safe passage back to England.

Viscount Charles Vidal is ordered by Robert Dumas, the First Lord of the Admiralty, to travel to Spain and escort the only woman he’s ever loved, Lord Devlin Beaumont’s widow back home before the French discover her whereabouts.

Their journey is fraught by danger, least of all knowing whether they are surrounded by friends or foe. Will they survive long enough to explore the possibility of a future together or will whispers of treason be enough to see Honor dispatched to Tyburn first?

~ ~ ~ ~

       “Are you aware we’re being followed?”

“Impossible!” The denial exploded into the night air.

“Shh. I believe it is a fact.” Vidal grabbed Juan’s arm and hauled him into the shadows. “Mrs. Beaumont told me this afternoon she’s been aware of it for several days now, but was not certain enough to mention it before.”

“And she decided to confide in you today, why?”

“She didn’t, it obvious she’s been worried about something for a while but put it down to the loss of her husband and her concerns for the future.” He hadn’t but had no intention of revealing more information on anything than he had to.

“And you believe her?”

“Not at first, but I spent more time this afternoon watching our backs, and believe she may be right.”

The air filled with Spanish curses.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Return to Sweet Saturday Sample to visit many other awesome Samples.

Tuesday's Tales - Wine

I hope you have all enjoyed your Thanksgiving festivites and shopped 'till you dropped, or your keyboard groaned. Another week's come round and this week's Tuesday's Tales prompt is - Wine.
This is an unedited WIP so please be kind.  It is (I think) another excerpt from Simeon's story, but it true TT fashion.  none of the scenes are going down in sequence, so Ihave some stitching to do later. :-)

She cursed when her opponent’s foil whipped past her face, and pushed her thoughts away.

But along with the next clash of blades they came right back again...

Before she knew his intentions, the stranger had whipped the marriage certificate out of her hand and marched down chapel's the weather-smooth steps to the street.

“What are you doing?  I need that!”  She made a grab for the paper and found his fingers clamped round her arm. One peek up at his face, lips sealed in a thin line, eyes narrowed, she hoped against the glare of the sun, but accepted it was probably because of her. And his brows, beetled together in a frown, reminded her of a glass of fine sherry in sunlight.  The glass of soft golden-brown glow of wine she bought from the nearby bar seconds before she’d crossed the street to the chapel only minutes before.  Was it only minutes, in some way it seemed like hours ago.

She’d expected her ‘groom’ to be waiting for her.  She offered the man enough money, but he hadn’t showed.  Instead she’d expected the authorities to catch up with her before the deed was done and cart her off to jail to wait an escort to see her onto a plane out of the country.

“If you think you can wed me one minute and run off with the evidence the next, you mistook your mark.” Even his voice reminded her of warm Christmas punch. 

Well, she thought now, that was a long time ago, when her parents were still alive and before her cousin had conned her out of her home and stolen her inheritance.

She parried the stranger's thrust, measured his footwork and shifted to her right before his blade slashed past her face for a second time.

And still the memories intruded.

“Only one sip,” her father’s smile shimmered in front of her eyes and disappeared.  “When you are older you can have a full glass of punch.”

“Why not now?” she’d asked.  An old game, that sprang up between them years ago. “Because you’re too young to drink wine,” he told her and laughed.

“But there’s only a little drop in there, I could have some couldn’t I?”

Even while her mother tried to turn her smile into a frown, her father had tipped his glass to her lips and let her sample the fruity warmth of the punch.

She’d been five the last time she’d tasted her father’s famous Christmas punch.

There's plenty more wonderful reads at Tuesday's Tales

Today Iris Blobel introuces Emma, her main character...

May I introduce you all to Emma? Emma is my main character in my latest release “Innocent Tears” and I’m sure you will like her as much as I do.

Please state your name:

Emma Gallagher

Age:

Early Twenties J

Hair /Eye Colour:
Curly, tawny hair / Nordic blue eyes

Job:

Receptionist at the All Star Hotel, Melbourne

Favourite food:

Auntie Mary’s Lasagne

Describe yourself in three words:

hopeless romantic, survivor, dreamer

Where do you live?

Melbourne, Australia. It’s a beautiful city and I love welcoming visitors to this special place. Well, actually now I live in Launceston, a small, but very pretty town in Tasmania.

What were three things you liked to do when you were younger?

Going camping with my parents, travelling along the Great Ocean Road, playing in the cubby house with my neighbour Lilly

Favourite Pastime

Hmm, so little time at the moment, because I try and study as well, but I like to go out with my friends. Lots of pubs here in Melbourne. Also like to see a soccer game or two. Go the Melbourne Victory FC !!!

What makes you happy?

People with a smile on their faces. And ice cream.

What would you change about yourself if you could?

My curly hair .... geez, I tell you it’s such a hassle to keep it in line. I mean it’s like constantly in my face.

What's the worst thing you've ever done? Why?

Some might call it bad some might shrug it off – but cursing in church when I lost my parents. Ahem, I’m sure I’ve told a fib or two as well .... AND not believing my friend Jacqui when she tried to help me. Oh, yes, I’ve ran the red light once too. Oh my, that was soooo embarrassing!

If you could be an animal, what would it be?

Dolphin .... I’d so much like to be a dolphin and swim the seven seas.

Innocent Tears – Blurb:

Becoming a parent can be daunting at the best of times, but for Flynn, a business lawyer in Melbourne, it almost pulls the feet from right underneath him. He’s become a father to six-year-old Nadine literally overnight! He had no idea about her existence, and the news throws him into chaos, even more so when he is asked to take over custody.
With the help of Emma, an employee at the hotel where Nadine and her grandparents are staying, and his parents, Flynn tries to do the right thing. Yet, the right thing in his eyes differs from his parents’, and Emma is voicing her opinion as well. And right in the middle is little Nadine, still grieving the loss of her mother and finding a wonderful friend in Emma. There’s no doubt she’s afraid where and with whom she will settle.
But in the end, it’s a letter Flynn receives that helps him figuring out what to do

Where you can buy “Innocent Tears”

Amazon:                                      Amazon UK:

Barnes & Noble:                          Bookworld:

Bookstrand:                                 All Romance Books:

Smashwords:

Where you can find me online:

Official Blog: http://www.iris-b.blogspot.com

Twitter @_iris_b:

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4067254

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/irisblobel