While away a couple of hours in the pages of a book this weekend.

 

While away a couple of hours in the pages of a book this weekend. Enter another world, where nothing is quite as it first appears.

A little trouble, a little laughter, love, and a whole lot of sensuality feature in this Regency romance, In Devlin’s Arms.

Devlin Rochdene, the fourth Earl of Cariston, is at his wits’ end. He has been backed into a corner by Lady Clarissa Dravenbrook—a young woman he was caught in a compromising position with—a situation she orchestrated. Now she is insisting that he announce their engagement in The Scottish Daily Times the next day, or she will destroy not only his good name but his reputation in the shipping business.

He is only one voyage away from solvency, so now, faced with losing either his financial freedom or his personal freedom, he must make a choice. But just when he thinks things can’t get any worse, in walks his young neighbor Lady Chantal Havonford—Tally, with a dueling pistol, demanding his assistance with a problem of her own.

Can he solve one problem with another? As he is leaving on his ship the next day he has to act quickly. If he marries Tally, Clarissa will be thwarted, but will that be the end of it? Or is it just the beginning? And is the feisty Clarissa all that she seems? That lies with his best friend Vincent Harper, Viscount Braden, to discover. (This book contains two love stories in one.)

In the US Find In Devlin's Arms here 

In the UK Find In Devlin's Arms here

In Australia Find In Devlin's Arms here 

In Canada Find In Devlin's Arms here

Favorite Quotes

 

I love this quote from Jane Eyre. "I would always rather be happy than dignified." Jane was ever the practical heroine. I think it is something that happens to us all when we fall in love. We worry far less about how we might appear to the world. And in most romance novels, it's not long before the hero or heroine are getting their priorities straight and realizing what truly matters. Love conquers all. Especially in romantic comedy.

Stuck inside because of the heat?

 

If you're stuck inside, whatever the reason, take a little time to read a lighthearted romance. Need a new book boyfriend? Well, I have just the one for you. He will take you to another world. Regency England awaits. A fun and playful story, filled with mischief and sensuality. 

The Third Dance

Rex Rosslare, the Duke of Remstone, is back in England, it’s not his favorite place, but duty calls. He’s a self-sufficient adventurer who has spent more than a decade travelling the world, and has learned a task or two most dukes would never contemplate undertaking themselves.

So when his horse casts a shoe and the blacksmith is somewhat ‘indisposed’, he takes on the challenge himself; his prize Thoroughbred is more friend than mount and he wants to assure his well-being. But while rendering the new shoe in the blacksmith’s stead, he meets Lady Caprice, a capricious young woman whose horse has also cast a shoe.

Caprice, he’ll never think of her as anything else!

Young Lady Caprice is enjoying one last afternoon of freedom before going to London to begin her Season. In a compromise with her grandmother, she informs him, she has agreed to attend just the Little Season. She is a year or two older than the typical debutante, and a whole lot more worldly-wise.

She rides astride without a groom in tow, carries a small flask of brandy on her hip. And is not even remotely cowed by meeting him—an unknown man complete with scars and an eye patch—wielding the heavy tools in the blacksmith’s stead. He agrees to shoe her horse for her, but in return he requests one small thing—a kiss—and he is instantly aware that the kiss is her first.

Unfortunately, she is leaving for London the following day. So obviously he must follow. Daggert, his manservant/friend and helper is highly amused by the way Lady Caprice is able to twist his jaded employer around her little finger. But then Daggert has never seen the man fall in love before.

Only days into his sojourn in London, Caprice is tying Rex in knots. And Daggert can’t wait to see what will happen next. The girl doesn’t even bat an eyelid when Rex, who is known for his infamous temper, roars like a baited lion when she attempts to sneak into his home via the garden trellis.

But the question is, when Caprice asks Rex for the one thing a debutante would never dare risk, a third dance with the same man—almost the ton’s equivalent of a public declaration—will he comply? Has he met his match? Or does the thrill of travel and adventure call once more?

In the US Find The Third Dance here  

In the UK Find The Third Dance here

In Canada Find The Third Dance here  

In Australia Find The Third Dance here

Pineapples Were Once A Sign Of Great Wealth

 

Pineapples Throughout History

If you have ever attended a stately home and wondered why there are so many carvings of pineapples on finials, panelling and even newel posts, wonder no more.

For about 250 years, up until the Victorian era, pineapples were so expensive that they literally cost a small fortune. Initially called pine apples, the name later became one word. But few people actually ate the sweet fruit. At dinner parties it was displayed usually in a specially designed ceramic dish, surrounded by other sliced fruits for the diners to eat, while the pineapple remained untouched. The pineapple itself would be displayed until it became rotten.

Shops sprang up where one could rent a pineapple for a special event, much like someone renting an exquisite piece of jewelry or a fancy car today.

If you want people to believe you are wealthy, you have to look the part.

In the Victorian era, it became easier to both grow and import pineapples so they quickly lost their cachet.

The next fad? Celery. Did you ever look at a humble bunch of celery and imagine simply owning it in Regency England would have made you appear wealthy? It was particularly hard to grow, and just as in the case with the pineapple, it was displayed in specially designed vases for the owners to show it off to their guests, and was often a target for thieves.

We often think of thieves stealing into a stately home in search of valuables, silver, jewels, etc, but did you ever imagine that they may have simply been there to make off with the pineapple and celery? Well, its food for thought anyway.

 

This is why I write romantic comedy!

This is why I write lighthearted books and romantic comedy. With a hero who can laugh and a heroine who likes to tease him into it, the possibilities are endless. All of my books contain humor, some more than others.