One Year Lady Alkmene; Review of Proposal to Die for by Vivian Conroy

A murderous beginning!

With her father away in India, Lady Alkmene Callender finds being left to her own devices in London intolerably dull, until the glamorous Broadway star Evelyn Steinbeck arrives in town! Gossip abounds about the New York socialite, but when Ms Steinbeck’s wealthy uncle, Silas Norwhich, is found dead Lady Alkmene finds her interest is piqued

Because this death sounds a lot to her like murder…

Desperate to uncover the truth, Lady Alkmene begins to look into Ms Steinbeck’s past – only to be hampered by the arrival of journalist Jake Dubois – who believes she is merely an amateur lady-detective meddling in matters she knows nothing about! But Lady Alkmene refuses to be deterred from the case and together they dig deeper , only to discover that some secrets should never come to light…

The twenties have never been so dangerous…

My View

This is book one in the Lady Alkmene Mysteries and the first time I have read Ms Conroy and I love it, her writing is fresh and entertaining, it’s like an episode of Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries sprinkled with what I can only describe as a good old-fashioned Miss Marple.

With her father, out of the country until at least Christmas, Lady Alkmene has the freedom to do as she pleases the only problem is she bored with the usual amusements. She goes to all the functions, parties and the theatre and yet it’s the same over and over again, she wants something else to occupy her days. The answer to her prayers comes when at a party she unintentionally over hears an intriguing conversation between the beautiful American Evelyn Steinbeck and a mysterious man. They are discussing being together and eloping but Ms Steinbeck is more worried about money and living the life that she has become accustomed to and she is also worried about what her wealthy uncle will think especially as she is his sole heir. Alkmene is intrigued especially as mere days after she had heard their conversation Mr Silas Norwhich, the uncle to Evenlyn Steinbeck, is found dead in his home.

Well, obviously Alkmene thinks that this is highly suspicious, her over active and intelligent mind starts turning as she is caught up in the moment and the thrill of the case. This is just thing that she needs, it’s too good to pass up so, she decides to do a bit of digging. She knows that there is something not quite right about all of this, it’s just too much of a coincidence and more than that she is feeling excited about something.

Unexpected death always had an unhealthy appeal to Alkmene, and she perused the few lines underneath with great interest…..

On the first day of her case she meets charismatic, handsome and often gruff journalist Jack Dubois – who like her sees something more to this man’s death – soon team up and start to investigate together, but not before a few mishaps and her irritating him so much he can’t refuse her.Things don’t go as smoothly as Alkmene had originally thought as she and Jack find themselves deep into something that proves to be very dangerous, and things get tangled and confused with blackmailers and stolen precious heirlooms and there is something very fishy about Evelyn and her strange visitor.

Could she be in on her uncle’s murder?

It’s slick our leads just ooze sophisticated glamour of the era, Jack and Alkmene despite their difference in stations they make a great team. Alkmene is your stereotypical aristocrat, she has lived her entire life in the glitz and glamour and she really has no idea of how life is beyond her front door. Like a lot of aristocratic ladies of the time, she is spoilt and naive and too wrapped in cotton wool to be able to do anything for themselves – it is highly amusing when she attempts to launder Jack’s handkerchief and she makes a right pigs ear of it. Whereas Jack Dubois is a man of the world who has many skeletons in his closet that he is determined to keep well hidden, Monsieur Dubois has a certain Gaelic charm mixed with his slightly rough around the edge aura and you have a highly attractive and intriguing man. Between them they can get any information they want, have access to any home or authority as they both have connections in very different places which only aids their case.

Now this man made it sound like a crime that she didn’t know how to get this handkerchief cleaned up herself. Probably a communist dead set against English aristocracy…..

What I really like about this though is the relationship between Jack and Alkmene, they are as different as you can get, her being a sophisticated aristocrat and him a rough ex-convict and yet they find a common interest and they do rub along rather well.

A Proposal to Die for is a none taxing and cosy “who dunnit” which is thrilling, witty and oozes old school glamour. It is one of those books that can be read by any one, not matter what genre you favour this is very good and I very much recommend it.

Warm and cosy!

This was a Complimentary copy via the author in exchange for an honest review.

A Proposal to Die for can be purchased at Amazon.

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Author Interview, Exclusive Excerpts and Review of The Pirates Bride by Cathy Skendrovich;

Today I have the great pleasure of teaming up with Cathy Skendrovich, author of Historical Romance/Pirate Romance The Pirates Bride to celebrate the release of her up and coming Christmas Pirate Romance Novella; The Pirate Brides Holiday Masquerade. I have an exclusive Interview with Cathy, two exclusive Excerpts plus my reviews for both of the Pirate Bride stories.

Cathy Skendrovich has always loved a good story, and spent her formative years scribbling what is now called Fan Fiction. The current heartthrob of the time featured heavily in all her stories. Unfortunately, once she went to college, her writing took the form of term papers, written on typewriters instead of computer keyboards.

Upon graduation, Cathy took a job as an English teacher in a middle school. Along the way, she married her husband of now thirty-three years, had two sons, and moved to southern Orange County, California. She chose to work part-time in the school system there.

Now she has returned to writing. Prisoner of Love is her first published novel, followed closely by The Pirate’s Bride. The sequel to The Pirate’s Bride, The Pirate Bride’s Holiday Masquerade, is due out Oct. 1. Another contemporary romantic suspense, entitled Protecting the Nanny, is due
out in 2018.

She likes writing romance because she feels it’s lacking in today’s technological world. While she enjoys writing contemporary stories, creating romance in bygone times fascinates her. She hopes
her ability to write in both genres will be the beginning of a long and satisfying writing career.

Interview

Frankie Hi Cathy, Welcome to Chicks, Rogues and Scandals! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me today.
Firstly, what five word’s would you use to describe yourself?

Cathy Introvert, smart, cautious, creative, funny

Frankie If you could live in any era and place, When and where would it be? And Why?

Cathy I love the Old West. I find that men were strong, yet courteous, and women were ladylike, yet smart and fearless. I like the Tombstone area of Arizona, as well as Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Frankie Who was your childhood hero?

Cathy My dad. He could do anything, and solve any problem.

Frankie What is your favourite time of the year?

Cathy Fall. I love the changing leaves, the autumn breezes.

Frankie Out of all your work, who is your favourite character and why?

Cathy Captain Andre Dubois from The Pirate’s Bride, because he’s such an Alpha male, yet he’s surprisingly gentle and understanding, in or out of the bedroom.

Frankie Where does your inspiration for your books come from?

Cathy Everywhere! My first book’s inspiration came from seeing a prison work crew working along the freeway. Its entire premise popped into my head then. My pirate series came from the POTC movies. I wanted Jack Sparrow to get a love interest, and he didn’t, so I wrote my own pirate novels. I like to write about strong women, so my ideas usually showcase them.

Frankie What three tips would you pass on to an aspiring author?

Cathy 1. Start sending your manuscripts to publishers earlier than I did. I was too worried about
rejection, and wasted a lot of time.
2. Build up your social media base!
3. Make sure you keep your author’s voice throughout edits. Don’t let your book be edited to the point you don’t recognize it anymore.

Frankie If you were hosting a dinner party what three people would you invite? (They can be real/fictional, from any era)

Cathy Hmm. There are so many different possibilities. My mom, because she died so suddenly and I’d like to say I love you; my aunt, because she threw the best dinner parties; and Shakespeare, because I think he could entertain us all.

Frankie Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with me today, Cathy. I have just one more cheeky question, just for fun . . .
What is your all-time favourite naughty but nice food?

Cathy Chocolate-covered strawberries. Naughty in so many different ways. 😉

Oh, yumm! Delicious, Thank you!

If you want to find out more about Cathy and her work then why not follow her on social media and check out the links below?

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Instagram / Amazon

Excerpts

The Pirate’s Bride

All Sophie Bellard wants is her freedom, freedom to sail the seven seas, and freedom to be her own person without interference from some controlling husband. But an arranged marriage to handsome and dangerous Captain Andre Dubois derails all her hopes. After a disastrous wedding night where a ruinous secret is discovered, the two go their separate ways with hopes of never meeting again.

Sophie becomes a pirate, while Andre sets off for the Orient where he makes a murderous enemy. After escaping with his life, Andre returns to home waters, and in an unexpected twist of pirate fate, reunites with his estranged and unwilling wife. 

When Andre’s murderous enemy threatens Sophie’s life, he vows to protect what is his, and attempts to win his wife’s forgiveness and love, once and for all.

Excerpt

“No, Papa, I do not want to marry. You know that.” Sophie Bellard stamped her foot in the salon of her father’s house on St. Charles Street, outside of the decadent Vieux Carre.
Tall, with alabaster skin and ebony hair, Sophie Bellard knew she was a beauty at twenty years of age, but the strong-minded personality she’d inherited from her father lessened her chance of a good matrimonial match. Not that she wanted one. After four coming out seasons,
one disastrous, Sophie resolved to hang up her dancing shoes and become a captain in her father’s fleet. He didn’t agree.

“No Bellard woman has ever gone pirating and you will not start. I understand your lack of interest in marriage, but this is one decision I must enforce. Our family has always had arranged
marriages. I gave you the chance to choose a husband—”
“Papa, please.” She teared up at the very thought of giving herself to a stranger, a pirate. Forget the fact that she came from a pirate family herself, that the house she stood in had in fact
been purchased with pirate booty.

She didn’t know the man her father had chosen for her. What would happen if he were mean-spirited? A drinker? A womanizer? Sophie knew Papa needed money, but why did she have to sacrifice herself for his transgressions? It wasn’t fair. She stamped her slippered foot
once more.

“Papa, it’s just not fair. I do not want a man to boss me around. Why can’t we simply charge more percent from the plunder you already get from your captains? Please?”
Her father wouldn’t be swayed. “The deal has been struck, ma chère. From what I know of the Commandant’s son, he is not a man prone to excesses. In addition, he will afford you more protection than I can give you.

“The two of you will meet this evening at a soiree at your Tante Michelle’s, the bans will be read, and you’ll marry within two weeks. I’ve gotten the good Father’s blessing ahead of time.”
Sophie looked down. “But he may find out about—you know, Papa.” She heard her father shift his stance; come to pat her shoulder awkwardly.
“Once you’re married, he will definitely find out. But it will be too late then, my sweet, for him to do anything

Who doesn’t love Pirate? I for one am not immune to their dangerous and roguish charm and this filled to bursting with sinful Pirates.

The most feared and lethal Pirate to ever sail the sea’s, Andre Dubois is summoned by the Confederation of Pirates to attend a meeting none only than the Commandant himself, or more commonly called to Andre; Father! Andre and his father have never been on the best of terms, so he’s not ecstatic about having to see the great Luis Dubois but he knows that his father holds all the cards and Andre has no choice but to go and see what the old man wants with him this time or more importantly how much more of Andre’s plunder does his father want to take from him this time?

But what his father actually wants from his son is more horrific than Andre could ever imagine, Luis Dubois is being challenge for his Commandant position in the Confederation and the only way for him to keep his position he has to have heirs to hand the title down to which mean that Andre has to marry and bear heirs. But the good news is that Louis and the very man who is challenging his position have made a deal, that both their children marry each other. Andre has no choice but to do as his father and Commandant tells him and he must marry Anton Bellard’s daughter; Sophie.

Sophie doesn’t want to be forced into this marriage any more than Andre does, she would much rather follow in her magnificent father’s footsteps and become a pirate. She wants her own ship, her own crew and she wants the independence to do and go where she likes, she doesn’t want to be tied down to a man she hasn’t ever met. But she also has another reason that she cannot marry and one that shames her, her dirty little secret could be found out if she marries. But her father firmly put’s his foot down and she has no choice but to do as she is told.

Within a two week’s Sophie and Andre are man and wife and Andre and he finds out her secret, and he without waiting to hear her explain he runs out and sails off on the Jade Princess without a backwards glance at his innocent young bride. Just weeks later after being deserted by her so called husband Sophie’s papa passes away, leaving her alone. She decides now is the time she can finally do what she has always wanted to do, be a Pirate! So, she goes to the one man who can help her do just that her father-in-law; Louis Dubois.

Nearly a year later Andre returns to his old stomping ground after being around Asia only to find that he is being challenged for his rights to plunder his part of the ocean by a new ship; the Phoenix. He is furious that this new Captain would be so brazen and dare tread on his ground but what the real surprise is when he meets the Captain.
Who just happens to be his wife!

Captain Sophie Ballard Dubois at first wanted revenge on her estranged husband for his callous behaviour but once they come face to face all things change, she has transformed herself from the meek little abandoned young girl to this proud, brave and ruthless pirate who in her own right has won over her crew of equally ruthless pirates and has taken her estranged husband’s place on what he claims as his part of the sea. She has done all this with shear brazen gut and intelligent, she has never shown fear and always done what is best for her and her men but when she comes face to face with Andre she is in a bit of bother. She may have been forced to marry him but she began to have feelings for him, feeling that she has squished and now have come to the surface.

Can she hold her own as she has done so many times before, with her own husband?

He is just in pure shock that the lying little hoyden who turned his world upside down has the nerve to do this to him, she has been nothing but trouble the minute he met her but his body and his senses are responding to this brazen female. He hates to admit that she has got under his skin and he is drawn to her more than he has ever been with any other woman, Andre has always prided himself on being able to have his fun and move on but everything is different with her.

I like Sophie and Andre’s complicated relationship it started off rough as they were forced to marry one another and then when he finds out her dark secret the gap between them grows and over the months they grow further and further apart and they also grow as people. Yet, you do sense that sexual tension between them they are both so reluctant to trust the other. They have both built up this wall around them – which does make them the great Pirates they are, but once they reunite those barriers slowly come down.

Sophie went through an awful ordeal and the way that Andre has treated her is just as bad as what she went through to begin with, he wouldn’t give her the chance to explain he just saw what he wanted to see and that gave him the opportunity to leave again. The way Sophie has gone and rebuilt her life and come out the other side as this strong, ruthless woman who gets what she wants, she is quite the inspiration!
Whereas Andre, he did take some time to come to like. I at first thought him to be very callous and harsh and he was very cold, but once all that was stripped away and they start getting to know one another he is genuinely a very attractive and interesting man.

Over all, I did really like this it isn’t your regular Historical Romance and I like how different it is to other book’s in the genre. Skendrovitch is a charming and imaginative author who takes the reader on a thrilling ride across the sea’s, with the most intriguing and complicated couple you will come across.

If you like handsome Pirates, thrilling adventure, and twists and turns that can make your head spin than this is perfect for you and I do very much recommend it.

This was an ARC copy vis the author in exchange for an honest review.
The Pirates Bride is out now and can be found at Amazon

The Pirate’s Bride Holiday Masquerade

This sequel to The Pirate’s Bride is a fun piratey romp!

Pirate captains Sophie and Andre Dubois have finally reunited and are enjoying marital bliss. However, their good fortune wanes when Sophie contracts a mysterious illness. Andre is at a loss for how to help his wife, so when she asks to return to La Nouvelle-Orléans to throw a ball for Christmas, he doesn’t hesitate to acquiesce.

Once on land, Sophie regains her strength, and preparations for the party begin. Those plans take a dark turn when an old enemy appears. Sophie is left to make the choice between her honor and her husband’s life. Will she have the strength to make the right decision?

Excerpt

“Sophie? Sophie Bellard? Is that really you?”
Sophie’s head snapped up at the sound of the unforgettable voice from her past, while her purse fell to the cobbled street from suddenly nerveless fingers. Her body began to shudder and vibrate at the nightmare that was Gilbert Harrington’s silky voice. She felt faint, in danger of collapsing, her past hurtling toward her like an out-of-control mining cart threatening to jump its track. She reached out a steadying hand against the brick wall of the flower shop.

No longer did she occupy a cobbled street of the Vieux Carré during Avent. She’d been
transported, trembling and afraid, to that time, five years ago, when she’d lost her innocence. Her
innocence, and her youth. Just the sound of his voice, the timbre and its cadence, was enough to
catapult her into a shivering mass of fear and dread.

She had no defense, carried no weapon. How could she? Gone was her pirate garb, her protective armor. In its place, she wore silk and brocade, gilt buttons and a feathered hat. There was no hiding place for a deadly dagger or a one-shot pistol. Just as there was no devilish pirate
to come swinging in on a line, clenching a curved blade between his teeth and racing to her rescue. She was his defenseless prey.

As she continued to stare dumbly at the man before her, one part of her mind, not frozen in fear, noticed that Gilbert Harrington hadn’t changed much in five years. He’d bulked up slightly, bore a man’s frame instead of a youth’s, and his eyes glittered like hardened chips of ice.
Gone was the thin, gentlemanly veneer he’d used to woo a star-struck young girl experiencing the first throes of romance. In its place stood a man used to getting what he wanted with little or no resistance; a man stimulated and aroused by feminine defiance. She recognized these traits after living in the company of men for those same five years. Recognized, but could not articulate a properly scathing response.

Like a predatory shark, he moved in, grabbing hold of her upper arm in a tight grip and leaning forward until his mouth rested mere inches from her ear. “I remember you, Sophie. I remember every moment we were together like it was yesterday. Every touch, every sound,
every movement.”

His hand began to smooth up and down her brocade-covered arm in an unsettling caress. She remained statue-still, incoherent whimpers erupting from her throat. This could not be happening. He could not be standing here, in her present life. But he was, she acknowledged
through the haze of fear blanketing her, as she stared straight into his smiling visage. He stepped back a short pace.

The Pirate Bride Masquerade is the sequel to “The Pirate’s Bride” it is years later from where we last saw our couple and I am pleased to say that Sophie and Andre Dubois have gone from strength to strength they have got over their initial complicated relationship of each other and now they have got to know each other they are finally living as man and wife.

It is nearly Christmas and as always Andre has set a course to one of their island to spend the holiday on the “Jade Princess” as they always have done but for some reason – that will be understood at the end of the book – Sophie wants to spend the holiday on land, Andre has become quite the doting husband since we last saw him. Gone has the manipulative and selfish man that dominated the previous book and in his place, is a really endearing, protective man who loves his wife with all his heart and he will do anything she asks of him. Even risking his life by going back to home and possibly being caught by the British for Piracy, something he would never have contemplated before.

They land at La Nouvelle-Orléans where hey set to celebrate the festive season with the Commandant; Louis Dubois, who I am pleased to say is as fun and dashing as he was in the previous book. Louis is so pleased to have his son and daughter-in-law with him for Christmas that he decides to hold a festive masquerade party, but all doesn’t exactly go to plan as two things happens that could ruin everything, firstly Sophie becomes seriously ill and Andre is in turmoil as he can’t help his sick wife. He is on the edge and all his power and fierceness cannot help her all he can do is watch and hope and pray that whatever ails her will leave her.

Secondly a blast from Sophie’s past makes an unexpected and unwanted appearance that could ruin Christmas, now this creature who raped his wife thinks he can get away with what he did all those years ago but what he doesn’t realise is that the fierce and deadly Pirate is on the edge and this is one thing that Andre can help with.

Will Sophie recover and will Andre settle old scores? But more importantly, will they have their masquerade?

This is a sweet and festive Novella and like The Pirates Bride it is hugely enjoyable, The Pirate Bride Masquerade is perfect for those that are first starting out in Historical Romance, with it being a Novella it’s not taxing to read but very enjoyable.

I highly recommend Both the Pirates Bride and The Pirate Brides Holiday Masquerade.

This was an ARC copy via the author in exchange for an honest review.
The Pirate Brides Masquerade is released on 1st October and can be pre-ordered at Amazon.

* Excerpts, Cover Pictures and Profile Picture were provided by the author to Chicks Rogues and Scandals in conjuncture with this Interview and Spotlight.

New Review – The Missing Duke (Heart of a Hero Series #9) by Heather King

When his father dies, Lord Adam Bateman refuses to succeed to the dukedom which rightly belongs to his missing elder brother. Whilst performing secret and sensitive missions for the Duke of Wellington, he continues his efforts to find his twin. The search has become Adam’s all-consuming passion, leaving no time for affairs of the heart.

Miss Lucy Mercier is also seeking answers. Her father, a tailor, had been used to make hot air balloons for various noble patrons, including Lord Adam’s sire. Believing the deceased Duke of Wardley had been involved in her papa’s failure to return from the Continent, she takes employment in Lord Adam’s household in order to discover the truth. Then she accompanies him on an important commission for the Allied Army, and finds herself having to guard against a growing attraction for a man she knows she can never have.

Are the two disappearances connected and will two heads prove better than one in the pursuit of answers? Will Adam and Lucy find true happiness together or will the past – and their different stations – rise to keep them apart?

Although part of a loosely connected series, this Regency novel can be read on its’ own.

My View

Book nine in the Heart of a Hero series sees Ms King take up the reigns as we once again step into Regency world of heroic heroes. This one is very much along the lines of your more traditional regency Romances with the added thrills and suspense that we have come to expect from this series and, it’s still intriguing but with a charming Bronte-ish feel to it. Which I adore.

Our story starts in 1788 where the young Robert and Adam Bateman sons of the powerful Duke of Wardley are taken out on a day trip by their maid come nanny; Mary. A nice afternoon enjoying cheesecake and good company turns sour as Robert, the elder twin and heir to the dukedom suddenly goes missing. After an extension search, all they find of him is his little hat, but Mary swears that as they were making their way to the park they were being watched by two unknown men. But, as no one else saw these men and Mary was newly hired her account of what happened isn’t entirely believed and she is soon dismissed. The search carries on but Robert is never found.

Fast forward twenty-six years and Adam Bateman hasn’t given up on his brother, he truly believes that Robert is out there somewhere. Adam is adamant that his brother is alive, he keeps saying that if his brother had died then he would know. Being a twin, he has a sixth sense that tells him Robert is out there somewhere. He has been searching for him all his life and until he gets absolute proof that his brother is dead Adam will not stop looking. On the death of his father Adam became the Duke, but he refused to take on the title as it still belongs to his big brother. He decides to do as the Prince Regent has with the King and merely look after things until his brothers return.

“Turn with me,” he muttered “e, two, three….” he could feel the warmth of her skin through her thin ball gown where his hand rested in the small of her back. The sensation, coupled with the scent of orange blossom from her hair, was intoxicating. “I did not intend to shame you…”

But even though he is powerful in his right, there are still places and resources that elude him, so six years before he made the journey to Ireland and he became one of Wellingtons secret information agents. In doing so he can utilise the groups resources to take his search for his brother even further than he could have alone. In return, he does a few little jobs for Wellington the latest is to convey the Italian opera singer and former mistress to Napoleon Madam Grancini to France in a very secret mission, that only himself, Wellington and Adams secretary Lucian knows about.

Lucian Mercier is undercover, acting as Lord Adam Bateman’s secretary to gain information, but Lucian isn’t just acting as a secretary he is a she. Lucy Mercier’s father went missing at the same time as Robert Bateman, Lucy has always thought that the old Duke may have had something to do with it as her father was stuck in between the Duke and his enemy. The only way she can find the proof she needs is to infiltrate the Bateman household and look through the old Duke’s papers and the only way a woman is going to be able to do that; is dress as a man and pretend to be a secretary.

What should have been an easy get in the old Dukes office and look through his files and journals plan, turns into something else. She finds herself in the middle of something else, something darker and more dangerous than she could have ever expected. As she realises that Adam isn’t just the handsome as sin, rake that she had always though him to be but he is a secret agent for Wellington and now with association with Adam she is in the middle of a deadly game of cat and mouse.

“When I look at you, I wonder at the ease with which you received me.”
“I daresay you did not penetrate my disguise because you did not expect me to be anything other than a simple secretary”
“ if I am sure of anything , my live, it is that you were never a simple secretary…. ”

Lucy is a resilient and stubborn woman who knows her own mind, once she has got an idea in her head she doesn’t let up. She is like a dog with a bone. Her father has raised her not conform to what woman usually must be in the regency era and I like that, she has a brain and being from working class stock she understands the ways of the world so much more than most ladies of the era and yet, I think she is quite naïve too and in certain times throughout the book you get a sense of that naivety. I still really like her though, she is just an ordinary family orientated woman who trying to do her best and find out what happened to her father.

When Adam finds out that his quiet but intelligent secretary is a woman and he is sent an innocent into the spider’s web, his protective and heroic instincts kick in and he soon makes his way over to France too. Once there he meets this, beautiful and enchanting young woman who is as far removed from the quiet secretary, he is instantly transfixed with her.

It is when he finds out who she really is that you really see what a great man Adam is, he is brutish masculinity personified with a steely intelligence. His mind works faster that a bolt of lightning, he can work out puzzles as well as fight with his hidden sabre in his cane. He’s not exactly what you would come to expect from an aristocrat, he far darker at times when he is focused on finding his brother he seems so far away and that’s where Lucy’s kind heart comes into its own, she helps him far more than she could ever imagine.

They instantly connect and their fiery personas mix and entwine, they bounce off each other. As they get to know each other for who they are, as an attractive man and woman and not just lord and servant their difference in station does pray very heavily on Lucy’s mind, even though he has assured her that she is a silk merchants daughter and working class he insists that, that doesn’t matter but she knows society will think differently and it her reluctance and internal conflict that really makes him work harder to prove that this relationship can work. Amongst the danger and the passion and the pent-up conflicts will our hero and heroine finally give in to what they both want? And more importantly will they find their loved ones?

“One thing you need to understand about me, my lord,” she answered sweetly, “ is that I do not take kindly to being arbitrarily forbidden to so support and protect my family.”
He felt his lips twitch “ Not even when it’s for your own safety?”
She smiled, a teasing bewitching twinkle of mischief. “Most assuredly not, then!” she answered at once.
Her expression Dared him to gainsay her masquerade. What sort of baggage had he fallen for?

I do love this it is very different to the other’s in the series but I like King’s writing, she has a flare with words and a voice that echo’s the great Bronte sister’s. There is just so much to like about The Missing Duke, the plot ties seamlessly in with the rest of the series and as ever you get to see some of the past heroes like the cunningly intelligent, master spy Joanna Devlin from the prequel Novella. The characters are strong and well-constructed that you instantly like them, as ever with Historical Romances what I always look forward to is the detailing and the history and I can say that King’s got all aspect’s spot on.

A real winner and a great episode in this series that keeps getting better and better and I whole heartedly recommend it, what I like about The Heart of the Hero series is that each book can be read very as a standalone. For those that haven’t read this series, yet you can start anywhere in the series, and I really like that.

This was an ARC via the author in exchange for an honest review.

The Missing Duke can be found at Amazon.

New Review – The Lyndhurst Affair by Elizabeth Quincey

When William Fitzalan, Earl of Lyndhurst, inherits his title in mysterious circumstances, he discovers that his legacy includes a remote Northumbrian castle.

Goldsborough Castle holds many surprises, not least the wayward, orphaned daughter of the previous owner. Lady Angeline has secrets she must keep, especially from William, who she is convinced is not the gentleman he pretends to be.

A brutal murder and rumours of pagan sacrifice puts everyone on their guard —who can be trusted?

William and Angeline are drawn into a whirlpool of intrigue and irresistible passion that threatens to destroy them both.

My View

The Lyndhurst Affair is a Gothic Style Historical Romance, it is as much dark and intriguing as it is a good old-fashioned Regency Romp. I haven’t read a Gothic-ish style Historical Romance for an age and this is really very good.

William Fitzhalen has just become the new Earl of Lyndhurst after his brother died in mysterious circumstances, he has got that hanging over his head as many look on him with suspicion which is the last thing he want’s – or needs to be perfectly honest. His family are on the brink they are on serious need of funds, his ancestral home Lyndhurst Manor is falling down around their heads, with any other aristocrat they would find a way to barter and borrow their way out of the hole that William is currently in. But that’s not’s going to work with William as his family name “Fitzhalen” is regarded with scorn and suspicion.

All the previous Earls of Lyndhurst have used and abused the title and the money to their own selfish gain, they are said to have bad blood due to the previous Earls fondness for the drink and for gambling what they didn’t have, and in some cases for opium. Now, that bad name is what William has to try and overcome, he has to try and prove that he isn’t like his relatives, but as with everything in society that takes money – money he doesn’t have.

She was being out manoeuvred. She scowled at lord Lyndhurst, who seemed to take some satisfaction from her reaction. He was high handed and pompous, but she reluctantly admired his intelligence and his sense of duty. He had surprised her. She had begun to believe that her land, her people would fare well under his protection. But would she?

When first he thinks that inheriting the Goldsborough estate in Northumberland is his saving grace so him and his rakishly handsome and opium soaked best friend Nikolous; Count Debrussy set out to have a look at his new house. Only to find that thing’s aren’t as what they seem everything from the people to the place is a bit off, and then he meets Angeline.

Angeline is the daughter of the previous Lord of Goldsborough the very man that William’s brother got the manor off, in yet again suspicious circumstances. She is like a beacon of light in this grey and dark place where William has suddenly found himself, he can’t get enough of her she is mysterious and vibrant and holding on to so many secrets, secrets that could be dragged out into the open. When during a sacred ritual a woman and Angeline’s oldest friend and maid is brutally murdered by a beast that is said to be wondering the area, a beast so terrifying that even the hardest country men and ex-soldiers are terrified of it.

Being a small community and with William and Nikolas being strangers they are instantly in the lime-light for the murder, he sets out to catch the beast and clear his and Nikolas’ name before someone else gets killed by whatever or whoever is behind this horrendous attack. In his search, he finds more than he bargained for, in the shape of brave and beautiful Angeline.

The horn once more as a warm breeze stirred and stroked Angeline’s skin.
He is here!
Angeline heard the whisper on the wind, she looked up, could sense his presence. She scanned the crowed and her breath caught at the back of her throat when she laid eyes on him. No one but she would have known it was lord Lyndhurst behind that mask….

William and Nikolas are both ex-soldier’s, William having been a spy for the King and they are both scarred by not only their exploit’s through the war but both of their personal, family history have scarred them too.

William is a good man, he has always been in the shadow of his father and brother’s scandalous behaviour and as such as always been treated with the same scorn and distrust and he is always trying to prove that he isn’t like them. First, he goes into the army and through that he gained a reputation that he can be proud of, but when his father and brother died he felt like he had gone right back to square one.

Angeline is a lovely young woman, she is like a mystical, ethereal little wood nymph she lives her live around the pagan rituals and it is very funny that when William and Nikolas first find out about how the village lives and about how she is the focal of all seasonal rituals they think her as some kind of witch. She is stubborn, intelligent and when in her own home of Northumberland, she is so self-assured but take her out of her little bubble and she is highly naive.

She at first doesn’t trust William she think’s him to be nothing but a London rake, that illusion soon fades as she sees with her own eyes just what a kind man he is, never happier than when he is protecting those he loves and getting his hands dirty, which is very unusual for an aristocrat. Fancy that a titled man who knows the concept of a hard day’s work!

William looked like a man possessed as he approached her, with long prowling strides. They stood facing each other waiting for the other to make the first move. Her breathing became fast and shallow.
“Do you want me?” She asked, her voice shaking with emotion.
“More than anything else on earth.”
“Then break the chains that fetter you.” She pleaded.
The look in his eyes were as raw as anything she had ever seen, and fear fused with longing for him. She removed his mask….

I really, really like The Lyndhurst Affair it’s charming and spell bounding, it has characters that are lovable and seductive as well as being intriguing, you find yourself rooting them one as they find their feet with not only what’s going on but with each other and their personal circumstances. The plot is just so good it draws you in and makes you think what the hell is going on and who –or what – is behind all these terrible things. The Lyndhurst Affair reminds me of Sherlock Holmes and Hound of the Baskervilles, but with a lovely Romance, It’s at times dark and moody and very atmospheric. Quincey’s writing is fresh and enjoyable she sprinkled the entire book with mystery and fun and from this she is an author that I can highly recommend and whom I am looking forward to reading again.

This is such a great debut from an author who I can guarantee will go far in the Historical Romance world, this is slick, enchanting and entirely consuming.

Dark and highly enjoyable.

This was a complimentary copy via the author in exchange for an honest review.

The Lyndhurst Affair can be purchased at Amazon.

Spotlight and Exclusive Excerpt on Unforgivable Love by Sophfronia Scott

Jazz may be king, but heiress Mae Malveaux rules society with an angel’s smile and a heart of stone. She made up her mind long ago that nobody would decide her fate. Marriage, money, freedom… Mae wants complete control. To have the pleasure she craves, control is paramount, especially control of the men Mae attracts like moths to a flame.

Valiant Jackson is accustomed to getting what he wants—and he’s wanted Miss Malveaux for years. The door finally opens for him when Mae is slighted by her former lover Frank Washington, and she strikes a bargain: seduce her virginal young cousin, Cecily, who is now engaged to Frank, a man who values Cecily’s innocence above all else. If Val is successful, his reward will be Mae.

Unbeknownst to Mae, Val seeks another, even more valuable prize. Elizabeth Townsend is fiercely loyal to her church and her civil rights attorney husband. She is certain that there is something redeemable in Mr. Jackson. Little does she know her most unforgivable mistake will be Val’s greatest triumph. But Mae and Val are unprepared for what can happen between a woman and man when the thrill of the chase spirals wildly out of control.

Scott deftly tackles themes of love, faith, lost innocence, betrayal, and redemption in this stunningly original novel. UNFORGIVABLE LOVE introduces readers to both the café society and upper crust Harlem and takes readers from the grand town homes on Lenox Avenue to the lush woods of Anselm, North Carolina, in a whirlwind of passion.

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Exclusive Extract

Harlem, May 1947
MAE

Mae loved herself with a ferocity that came of feeding too hard and too long on her own exquisite beauty. She could smile in the rearview mirror of her car and see the alabaster beam reflected back from her picture in advertisements for Malveaux’s Magic Hair Pomade plastered on every billboard and in the windows of every drugstore starting from West 53rd Street, going all the way up Manhattan and through Harlem for the next hundred blocks.

Even now she gazed happily into her vanity as her maid, Justice, applied the French pomade and arranged the dark folds of her hair into thick Victory curls perfectly framing her face. She never used the concoction her mother had created and made famous. Tired of having it smeared on her head since childhood, Mae had thrown away her own grease-filled powder blue tin in the days after her mother’s death.

She held out her wrists and Justice dabbed on fragrant dots from the crystal bottle of Caron Fleurs de Rocaille perfume. Mae’s cold-creamed skin glowed bright and her eyes danced with the sparkle of a girl, making her seem younger than her thirty-three years. She knew this feature made her irresistible. Mysteriously, each man thought he had discovered this light for himself and believed only he could see it in her. They never noticed her well-hidden contempt for their arrogance.

Mae was vigilant about her expressions. She learned long ago the faces she wore would always be more essential than any dress she put on, no matter if it were a Christian Dior or a Pierre Balmain. Her beauty was a formidable instrument because people liked to stare at her as they would a motion picture actress and, in the same vein, she could tell them any story she chose to project and they would believe it. So she practiced the lift of her cheeks, the turnings of her mouth, the shapes of her lips, and the conjured emotions that she flitted across her eyes.

Her masterstroke came when she could wipe her face smooth and present a look of calm so luminous it bewitched her admirers into claiming her a goddess.

In rare instances, though, she suffered a rebellion to her visage of serenity. It was an errant twitch seated in the muscles of her lower-left eyelid. She always felt it right before it surfaced. It was as though the weight of all the folly the eye had beheld was suddenly too much for it.

She saw how, though small and fast, it unmasked her disdain. Not everyone would notice, but someone less foolhardy—someone like Val Jackson—would never miss such a telling detail.

Regina, her white Polish maid, brought in Mae’s long, satin Dior that had arrived from Paris the previous day. Mae stood, stepped into the gown, and enjoyed the feel of the gold fabric flowing down her body in a shimmering cascade. She replaced one hand on Justice’s shoulder and lifted her right foot with the grace of a ballerina. Regina took hold of Mae’s ankle, guided her into leather sling back pumps,then pulled the strap through the buckle.

Too tight. Too tight.

“Ouch!” Mae lit out with her right hand, landing a blow upon the woman’s earand side of her face. Regina’s arm rose in defense.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

Mae looked away while she finished. The stacked heel added nearly two inches to her height so she had to sit again. This allowed Justice to fasten the necklace of marquise-cut diamonds while Regina clasped the diamond-and-platinum bracelet around Mae’s thin wrist.

Mae occupied the largest brownstone on Sugar Hill. Designed by the noted architect Branford Waite, it featured a double width façade and a broad stoop from the front door to the street. Perfect white shades on the windows muted thesun’s glare during the day but let in plenty of light.

The flower boxes on the ledges contained enough nicotiana, tuberose, and alyssum so their combined sweet fragrance would greet Mae each time she walked out the door.

That night she came gliding out of the building like a new moon rising. All down the block she knew quick hands snapped shutters closed than reopened them a crack so their owners could spy on her floating down the steps to where her man,Lawrence, held open the door to her forest-green Packard. She knew this because she knew exactly how her world was situated—how every single person thought,including and especially what they thought of her. She choreographed each step,each motion, and she moved through Harlem exactly as she pleased because of it.

What good was money otherwise? She laughed at the predictability of society and how no one but her seemed to understand how to wield this delicious power. And since her mother died, and then her own husband, Mae reveled in the added sweet freedom of answering to no one.

She settled into the caramel cushions of the car’s backseat. Lawrence steered in the direction of the Swan, her chosen nightclub. Mae knew in particular how it would be there. Lately the bandleader would make sure they didn’t play Duke Ellington’s gorgeous new piece, “Lady of the Lavender Mist,” her favorite, unless she was in the room and ready to dance. Her usual party would be seated and waiting at her table. The air already hummed with the expectancy of an unseasonably warm Saturday night. The scene was set. It only needed her to make it come alive.

*******
VAL

Before Val Jackson had left for the Swan he’d sat in his office above his own club,the Diamond. The handsome walnut clock on the wall struck the half hour: nine thirty. He felt the bass throbbing in the floorboards under his feet. Half of Harlem danced beneath his good graces tonight but Val, pulling on his crisp white tuxedo shirt, thought only of Elizabeth Townsend, who was quietly situated at his aunt Rose’s Westchester estate. She would be getting ready for bed about now.

His aunt always insisted on dinner at six—ridiculously early. Then she and Elizabeth would walk in the rose garden. Auntie turned in well before nine and that’s when Elizabeth wandered the great house alone, sometimes reading in the library. Her husband called each night at nine, an annoying detail. Then she would dress in her night-clothes, a thin cotton gown sleeveless, the maid Annie had said and sit on the balcony outside her room and gaze up into the sky before going to bed.

One night the housekeeper thought she heard Elizabeth praying out there.

Val fastened the silver cuff links at his wrists and recited Elizabeth’s routine to himself twice more as he finished dressing. He knew all the details, thanks to his man Sebastian’s unfailing ability to bribe just the right people in his aunt’s household. Elizabeth would be in bed by ten p.m. sharp; that’s what the latest report had said. He loved the potential of those two succulent hours between eight and ten. Just now, in May, they would be filled with air so thick with humidity no one’s mind would want the trouble of thinking straight. The end of a hot summer day was when a woman’s guard might be down just enough to entertain latent thoughts.

But that’s what he enjoyed about this particular conquest.

Elizabeth Townsend didn’t have any latent, smoldering desires. He had watched her long enough to know this, seen her loving eyes trained on her straight-as-a-board husband and her arm looped through his.

Val would change that. He knew he would be the one to light the match, and whatever thoughts burned in her from their would be entirely his own creation. For a few sweet moments he paused and allowed himself the pleasure of imagining Elizabeth in her bed, her bare skin sliding between the cotton of her nightgown and the famously soft sheets his aunt’s home was known for.

The prospect made him ache with satisfaction.

A long, slow smile ignited from one corner of his mouth and spread to the other as he sat down behind his desk and leaned back in the enormous burgundy leather chair. Was this what Satchel Paige felt like, coming to the mound to meet afresh opponent after so many years? Was he rolling in the life of it, so excited that there was still someone worth pursuing even after he had bedded and tasted the best? Elizabeth Townsend was so damn perfect not one of these pants down, legs up women easily charmed by his name alone.

He would savor Elizabeth Towns end when the time came and it would be so fine the streets of Harlem would want to open up and swallow him, engulfing him in praise and awe.

“Sebastian.”
The butler answered so fast it was as though he’d come at Val’s very thought.Without a word, he took his employer’s left hand and, with a silver file, smoothed the nails and cleaned underneath them.

“Any news?” Val used his right hand to remove a Montecristo cigar from the mahogany humidor on his desk. Sebastian pulled a lighter from his pocket and lit it. The smoke encircled Val’s head like a gentle fog and the spicy wood aroma filled the office as Val settled into his feel-good body for the night.

“Miss Malveaux, they say, will be at the Swan, sir.”
Val drew on the cigar with a long, deep breath. Nice. He and his wayward love would play their game tonight. There was nothing better than when he and Mae gotto perform before an audience.

Only one question remained—who would be their targets?

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About the Author

Sophfronia Scott hails from Lorain, Ohio. She was a writer and editor at Timeand People magazines before publishing her first novel All I Need to Get By. Her short stories and essays have appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, NewYorkTimes.com, Killens Review of Arts & Letters, Ruminate magazine, Saranac Review, Numéro Cinq, Barnstorm Literary Journal, and Sleet magazine. She lives in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, with her husband and son.

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Amazon

New Review – The Lion’s Embrace by Marie Laval

Arrogant, selfish and dangerous, Lucas Saintclair is everything Harriet Montague dislikes in a man. He is also the best guide in the whole of the Barbary States and the only man who can rescue her archaeologist father, from kidnapping by a gang of Tuareg fighters. As Harriet embarks on a perilous journey across Algeria with Saintclair and Archibald Drake, her father’s most trusted friend, she discovers a bewitching but brutal land where nothing is what it seems.

Who are the men intent on stealing her father’s ransom? What was her father hoping to find in Tuareg Queen Tin Hinan’s tomb? Is Lucas Saintclair really as callous as he claims – or is he a man haunted by a past he cannot forgive? In the heat of the Sahara, dangerous passions engulf Harriet. Secrets of lost treasures, rebel fighters, and a sinister criminal brotherhood threaten her life and the life of the man she loves.

Does forever lie in the lion’s embrace?

My View

The Lions Embrace follows on from Angel Heart in the last book we met Marie-Ange and Hugo Saintclair who are the parents of our hero in this one; Lucas Saintclair and oh, my word what a man! He is simply delectable!

It is thirty years on from when we last saw the Saintclair’s and Lucas is a fearsome but talented guide in Algiers, and he is also a bit of a pirate – Once you’ve met him you will understand why I say that. He is known as a selfish, devilishly dangerous and sinfully attractive man who knows the terrain better than any other man, he is handy with a dagger and speaks a dozen languages – Which it not only helps him in his trade but also when he’s seducing tavern wenches and charming aristocratic women into his bed. But under all that rock-solid rakish exterior he is a damaged soul, there is something lurking in his past something that he carries the guilt of it around with him every day, and it pushes him on to be the man he is now. A dark, hollow self-absorbed shell of what is a good man.

“Love? What’s that?” Sainclair shrugged. Darting his blue gaze straight at Harriet, he added in a low voice, “Isn’t it just a fancy word for lust?” Her heart skipped a beat and she looked away, annoyed to feel she was blushing.

Harriett’s archaeologist father has been kidnapped by the ruthless and dangerous, Tuareg fighters gang they claim he was desecrating one of their sacred tombs and now they are holding the elderly archaeologist captive with the promise of release once his ransom had been paid. Harriett tracks down the one and only man in the whole of Algiers who can take her to the Tuareg territory and get her father back, the only problem is that the ruthless, manipulative and selfish but too handsome for his own good, man refuses.

He claims it is a waste of time as the Tuareg fighters will have already killed her father and his team, this was all said in his typically rather brusque and straight to the point way, Lucas doesn’t believe in tip toeing around matters. Hurt by his blatant words but not put off by his brusque and rude manner, she promises him the one thing that she knows a man like him will want.

The famous map or Barbarossa, a map that on its own is worth a fortune but it is what the map leads to that has caught his piratical eye. A treasure so big that he would be rich and famous, she knows by the calculating gleam in his blue eyes that she has hooked him. She had heard of his ruthless reputation and she knows a treasure hunter when she sees one – and Lucas Saintclair is just that! But she has a feeling that he is so much more than what he first appears to be, he has secret’s hidden with his black heart.

“Why should I worry indeed, when my life is in the hands of a second rate Casanova and his band of merry men?…..”

Harriett is really smart and savvy she knows that to get him into doing what she wants him to do, she has to dangle big bait in front of him. She isn’t a fool, no matter what Lucas may think, she has got brains she knows exactly what she wants and she is not going to give up, she will succeed and I really like her tenacity she is courageous and spirited and she is just so charming that where ever she is she is instantly liked and respected. It is especially funny how she first meet’s Lucas, which literally involves her jumping on his back and biting him. Something which he never lets her forget!

Lucas knows that this slip of a girl is going to be nothing but trouble and when she flaunts the legendary map of Barbarossa in front of him, how can he say no? The thing what Lucas isn’t telling anyone is that he had privately decided to take on the job anyway though, he has his own motives for accepting and not just the map. This fool hardy trek will give him the chance to follow his prey, the swindler and conniving Rashid, who has a very important document that if it lands in the wrong hands could mean death to so many. And Lucas wants it! He is quite a man, he just sizzles with pent-up tension, and he has an extraordinary good heart. He is a man who has just lost his way.

“A knife? I think I prefer these sharp teeth of yours.” He stepped back, a smirk on his face. “Come on, give it to me. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“Move back right, now. If you don’t, I will…”
“Kill me? I don’t think so.” He caught her wrist and shook the dagger out. It felt to the ground with a metallic sound. “Can we start again where we left off? I’m getting a little impatient…..”

So off they go into the hot, humid mountains making their way towards where her father is being held but Lucas and his best friend Ahmed soon realise that there is evil in the hills around them, and things keep happening on their trip causing a lieutenant from the hated French army to begin watching their movements more than they should. Lucas and his little band are not only being followed but watched and preyed on and it is up to him and Ahmed to keep them all safe, but things aren’t what they seem.

At first all Lucas does think about is money and how things can benefit him but soon his true thoughtful, I heroic self comes to the front and we see him in another, entirely different light. He does have a secret heartache one that has made him into brooding, dark man he is now but Harriet’s presence is calming influence on his tormented mind. She soothes his wondered heart and she makes him learn to be the man we all know he can, their relationship is such a beautiful thing to witness happen.

At first they do genuinely hate one and other they bicker and fight, she thinks of him as a bully, an arrogant Lothario and he thinks of her as a spoilt little madam, and yet there is so much sensuality and sexual feeling and tension that just sizzle and crackles. They do take their time about things, but I can tell you that they are so worth the wait because when they are on speaking terms they are a match made in heaven.

“What kind of life could you possibly have with me?” Her smile just grew wider.
“The most magical, wonderful life I could ever dream of.” She put her hand on his cheek in a soft caress then stood on her tiptoes to kiss his lips. He stiffened, willing to remain cold and unresponsive under her gentle touch, and stepped back.
“I have nothing for you,” he repeated.
“Yes, you have,” she whispered as she carried on kissing him. “You have this.” She put her hand on his heart. “That’s all I’ll ever want….”

The Lions Embrace is a thoughtful and fascinating tale that takes us on a journey not just as our little group make their way across and through deadly terrain, but you got on an emotional one with our lead’s.

Since reading Angel Heart I knew that there was something special about this Laval, her talent at entwining history of area and the cultures and languages, with a thrilling game of cat and mouse plus the tantalizing love story is faultless. Laval sprinkles The Lions Embrace with her customary Gaelic charm and she enhances your reading with detailing the sights, aromas and culture of each area we visit during the book and it enhances the reading experience. You become transported to this hot, dusty and dangerous place and it is utterly exhilarating. The twists and surprises in the plot are so unexpected and make you really think.

You close the last page and its saddening that this is the end of a beautiful story but yet you get a really warmth and happy feeling in the pit of your stomach, it’s an uplifted tale about moving on after things get bad and its exactly what you expect from Ms Laval. She is fast becoming one of my top shelf authors and I cannot recommend her work and The Lions Embrace enough.

The was a Complimentary copy via the author in exchange for an honest review.

The Lions Embrace can be found at Amazon.

 

 

Author Interview; A Chat With….Heather King

I have the greatest pleasure of chatting with best selling author, Heather King. Author of A Sense of the Ridiculous, Devil’s Hoof and one of the authors of the fantastic Heart of a Hero Series. So get your cuppa, take a seat and lets get to know a little more about Heather.

A confessed romantic and bookworm, Heather King has always made up stories. Discovering Georgette Heyer’s Regency novels began a lifelong love of the era, although she enjoys well-written books from other times too. Heather’s stories are traditional romps – light-hearted and witty, with bags of emotion. You walk with her characters through the world they inhabit. She also writes Paranormal Shape Shifter romance.

Visiting her Dark Side as Vandalia Black, she wrote Vampires Don’t Drink Coffee and Other Stories which includes a novella set during the English Civil War.

When not looking after her two hairy ponies, three cats and boisterous Staffie X, or frowning over keypad or notebook, she likes nothing better than taking long walks and curling up with a good book.

Frankie Hi Heather, Welcome to Chicks, Rogues and Scandals! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me today.

Firstly what five words would you use to describe yourself?

Heather Persevering (it sounds better than stubborn), loyal, considerate, protective, honest. I could add boring, tea-dog-and-horse-loving windbag, but that wouldn’t sound as good… and it’s more than five words!

Frankie LOL! Brilliant, If you could live in any era and place, when and where would it be? and why?

Heather Oh, golly. I’m pretty happy where I am. I would love the quieter pace of life; the elegance, the courtesy and respect, the furnishings and carriages of the Regency, but I don’t think I would like to live there, not even for men in breeches and neckcloths! I like my creature comforts and modern appliances too much. I also like modern jodhpurs!

If I had to choose, I would be a squire’s daughter, perhaps, like Jocasta in my novel A Sense of the Ridiculous, who is not hedged about by strict rules and pretty much does as she pleases. She also has a beautiful grey hunter, who leads her to her hero, the knee-meltingly gorgeous Richard.

Frankie I love the sound of that, Who was your childhood hero?

Heather After Champion the Wonder Horse, you mean? Sad child that I was, there were various fictional heroes, usually good looking actors! Although a legend, I devoured anything I could find about Robin Hood… can you tell I spent a lot of time in a dream world? Ahem; still do, for that matter.

My real-life hero will always be my Mum. She worked so hard throughout my childhood and was always there for us.

Frankie Aww, lovely! What is your favourite time of the year?

Heather It’s a tie between spring and autumn. I love the world coming to life after winter, the warming of the weather (perhaps), the blossom, bright blue skies (maybe) and lambs in the fields – the usual clichés. However, although it means the onset of winter, I love a crisp autumn day with leaves crunching underfoot and being able to take a long walk without melting into a puddle of sweat at the end of it. I love the autumn colours and that tingle of pleasure in the veins when you exhale a cloud of breath into a bright October or November morning.

Frankie Out of all your work, who is your favourite character and why?

Heather Ooh… puffs out cheeks. Whichever one I am writing at the time usually takes pride of place, but I have a very soft spot for Richard in A Sense of the Ridiculous and also my hero in my paranormal romance, Devil’s Hoof. Matt is a soldier, struggling to make sense of life after war and also battling a disease more usually associated with horses. Furthermore, he has a family secret which threatens to put everyone he loves in danger. He is a sexy Alpha male with a heart of gold and is just waiting for the right woman with whom to rebuild his life.

Frankie Now he sounds fabulous, where does your inspiration for your books come from?

Heather All over the place! My mother’s favourite story came about through a snippet of information about the Prince Regent she found in a country magazine. Other times, inspiration has come from an overheard conversation, a picture, a line of prose or a poem, something which has happened to me (that was the case with Ridiculous), a tiny piece of historical fact (Copenhagen’s Last Charge came from a little-known gem I discovered about the Duke of Wellington’s horse). Even smells can trigger creativity!

Frankie What three tips would you pass on to an aspiring author?

Heather Read as much as you can, especially about your proposed subject or era. This is particularly important for historical works. An author needs to be able in immerse him or herself in the era: clothes, foods, décor, fabrics, furnishings etc. and above all, dialogue.

Write, write, write. Keep on writing. Write every day, even if only for a few minutes. You have to develop your ‘writing muscle’, as it were. Something will grow from it, even from only five minutes a day. Write, even if you think it’s rubbish. Out of the fustian there will be a single thread of gold you can develop.

Carry a notebook with you everywhere. Record smells, flowers at different seasons, birds, snippets of conversations, buildings, people, way of speech… EVERYTHING!

Frankie If you were hosting a dinner party, what three people would you invite? (They can be real/fictional, from any era)

Heather Hugh Jackman, Richard Armitage and Colin O’Donaghue, she says at once, waggling eyebrows.

Seriously, I would love to chat with Jane Austen about real life in the Regency. I would also love to be a fly on the wall to a conversation between the great French riding master, Francois Robichon de la Guerinière and our own British King of Dressage, Carl Hester. That would be fascinating! De la Guerinière earned recognition as a rider and instructor at the renowned Riding Academy of Paris, became Director of Manège at the Tuileries and invented the unrivalled suppling school movements of shoulder-in, renvers and travers (head or tail to the wall). His aim, through systematic training, was to produce a horse which was calm, supple, obedient and pleasurable to ride. Carl Hester also follows these classical precepts and is the force behind the Dressage Super Horse, Valegro. He is also a thoroughly nice chap who unstintingly gives his time to support lesser riders and his fans.

Frankie That is a dinner party I would love to attend, Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with me today. I have just one more cheeky question, just for fun…

What is your all-time favourite naughty but nice food?

Heather The easy answer is chocolate… but the truth is it changes as my tastes change. I adore raspberries and don’t buy them very often because you get so few for your money. Raspberries in a meringue nest, with ice cream and cream… scrummy yummy! And then I also adore chocolate fudge, shortbread, Victoria sponge cake, egg and chips, bangers and mash… the list goes on. Oink.

Yumm! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me, its been a pleasure.

💜💜💜

The Missing Duke

When his father dies, Lord Adam Bateman refuses to succeed to the dukedom which rightly belongs to his missing elder brother. Whilst performing secret and sensitive missions for the Duke of Wellington, he continues his efforts to find his twin. The search has become Adam’s all-consuming passion, leaving no time for affairs of the heart.

Miss Lucy Mercier is also seeking answers. Her father, a tailor, had been used to make hot air balloons for various noble patrons, including Lord Adam’s sire. Believing the deceased Duke of Wardley had been involved in her papa’s failure to return from the Continent, she takes employment in Lord Adam’s household in order to discover the truth. Then she accompanies him on an important commission for the Allied Army, and finds herself having to guard against a growing attraction for a man she knows she can never have.

Are the two disappearances connected and will two heads prove better than one in the pursuit of answers? Will Adam and Lucy find true happiness together or will the past – and their different stations – rise to keep them apart?

Amazon UK
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A Sense of the Ridiculous

When a prank goes wrong, headstrong squire’s daughter Jocasta Stanyon wakes up in the bedchamber of an inn with no memory of who she is. The inn is owned by widow Meg Cowley and her handsome son Richard, who proves to be more than a match for the unconventional Miss Stanyon.

Having enjoyed a carefree childhood, Jocasta has refused all offers for her hand in the hopes of one day finding a soul mate who shares her sense of the ridiculous. She is drawn to Richard, but their stations in life are far apart and despite prolonging her stay by devious means, the idyll cannot last. When, by chance, her brother Harry turns up at the Holly Tree Inn, Jocasta has no choice but to return home. She hopes to persuade her father of Richard’s qualities, but then she is summoned to receive the addresses of a fashionable stranger…

Amazon

Devil’s Hoof

Laminitis or fever of the feet is crippling for horses. What must it be like for a man?

Matthew Swift, Special Forces veteran of the Iraq wars and invalided out of the army following an act of heroism, is struggling to adjust to civilian life. Suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, he is a loose cannon ready to explode, beset by horrific flashbacks and images. If that were not enough, Matt has broken up with his girlfriend and his father is fighting a hostile takeover, in the process hiding a heart problem from his family.

Sparks fly when Matt meets alternative therapist Shani Stevens, but then they become stranded in Rhandor Forest by unprecedented storms and have no choice but to help each other.

Both have scars, yet slowly they learn to trust. Mutual sympathy and understanding soon grow into an abiding passion, but Matt has a secret he cannot reveal…
A powerful love story and a poignant insight into the equine psyche, with a bit of mystery and adventure thrown in, Devil’s Hoof will grab your heart.

Amazon

Copenhagen’s Last Charge

When Meg Lacy encounters a broodingly handsome Light Dragoon at the Duchess of Richmond’s grand ball, she little expects that in the hours following the Battle of Waterloo she will be accompanying him around the streets of Brussels. Romance is the last thing on her mind as they seek a lost and valuable item belonging to the Duke of Wellington himself.

Lieutenant James Cooper is surly and unhelpful, but Meg senses the Dragoon will need her help if they are to succeed. As they bicker their way around the narrow streets, a strange empathy begins to develop as gradually glimpses of the man beneath start to be revealed. Meg finds herself drawn to that person, but when they finally recover and then return the item to the Duke, Cooper makes a grave error of judgement which jeopardizes their budding friendship…

When Meg Lacy finds herself riding through the streets of Brussels only hours after the Battle of Waterloo, romance is the last thing on her mind, especially with surly Lieutenant James Cooper. However, their bickering uncovers a strange empathy – until, that is, the lieutenant makes a grave error of judgement which jeopardizes their budding friendship…

Amazon

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