Christmas In The Duke's Arms Archives

As some of you may know, my novella One Starlit Night is in the boxed set Seven Wicked Nights.

Last week, Seven Wicked Nights hit the USA Today Bestseller list at #126. This means Yours Truly and the rest of the authors in the set are bestselling authors! It’s still sinking in that that includes me. This boxed set will only be available for another month or so, so if you have $0.99 ….

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Tuesday, A Notorious Ruin came out. Risky readers of this book might well recognize some of the elements in the book:

Geneva Wafers: In this post, I blogged about making Geneva Wafers from a period cook book, one of the most delicious desserts I’ve ever had. Seriously. Geneva Wafers make an appearance in A Notorious Ruin.

Running the office football pool: A post in which I masterfully brought together gambling, The San Francisco 49ers, and the Regency. In A Notorious Ruin, my heroine, Lucy, does the non-computer-aided version of what I did when I was running the office football pool, which is to say, compile statistics and slice and dice them to find out … The 49ers were pretty much a lock to win the Superbowl that year. Which they did. Lucy does this with the results of boxing matches and an upcoming heavyweight battle.

Boxing. The hero of A Notorious Ruin is a nobleman and a boxer. Not a professional boxer, but a very very good amateur, and he discovers that Lucy is more expert than he is. Lucy and Thrale box. Just saying.

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Christmas in The Duke’s Arms

Coming your way in October will be Christmas In The Duke’s Arms, an anthology of new and original Christmas novellas from Grace Burrowes, Carolyn Jewel, Miranda Neville, and Shana Galen. This is such a great anthology! I should have buy links shortly. In the meantime, here’s some information about the stories:

A Knight Before Christmas by Grace Burrowes

Sir Leviticus Sparrow is a man of business who means business when it comes to offering Penelope Carrington marriage under the mistletoe.

With her year of mourning at an end, Penelope Carrington must remarry in haste, or her portion of her late husband’s estate won’t be enough to dower her younger sisters. Shy, handsome man of business Sir Leviticus Sparrow longs to give Penelope a marriage proposal for Christmas—and his heart—but Sir Levi must first foil the other bachelors scheming to meet Penelope under the mistletoe in his place.

In The Duke’s Arms by Carolyn Jewel

What’s a Duke to do when he’s made an awful impression on the love of his life?

The Duke of Oxthorpe lost his intensely guarded heart to Miss Edith Clay when Edith’s rich cousin sought to attach the duke’s marital interest. So smitten is Oxthorpe with the former poor relation that he’s gone through intermediaries to sell Edith a property adjoining the ducal seat.

Edith doesn’t much care for the haughty duke, but as Christmas approaches, Oxthorpe reveals himself to be reserved rather than arrogant, considerate, and—blame the mistletoe!—an accomplished kisser. Will Edith hold Oxthorpe’s earlier behavior against him, or will she learn that the best holiday gifts can be the most unexpected?

Read Chapter 1 of In The Duke’s Arms

Licensed to Wed by Miranda Neville

If Lord Carbury could learn to take no for an answer, his marriage proposal might earn him a yes.

Wyatt, Viscount Carbury is much too busy to court a bride, but when his childhood neighbor, Robina Weston, is left orphaned and penniless, Wyatt dutifully adds marrying Robina to his list of responsibilities. Wyatt is dismayed to learn that for Robina, poverty and pride are preferable to sharing life with an arrogant, infuriating man who always thinks he knows best.

When Wyatt and Robina must endure Christmas in the country together, antipathy turns to interest, and then to unexpected attraction. Will they fight their feelings, or yield to the surprising gifts the holidays offer?

The Spy Beneath the Mistletoe by Shana Galen

Fledgling spies Q and Moneypence pursue love and a highwayman in The Duke’s Arms.

A Regency Christmas with a Dash of Intrigue…

When weapons designer Eliza Qwillen (Q) and Pierce Moneypence, clerk to the mysterious M, arrive in the English countryside, they’re unprepared for the dangers that await. The operatives are intent upon capturing the highwayman styling himself as the New Sherriff of Nottingham. Secret rendezvous, mistaken identities, and cat-and-mouse games challenge these fledgling agents, but rediscovering their passion for each other is the most rewarding mission of all.

This is a newsy post of news. To make it worth your valuable time, there are pretty book covers AND at the end of the post, a way to read my upcoming December release before it’s actually released. Consider yourself teased. And now, on to research books, holiday stories, a hot deal, a boxing hero, a free book, and a demon.

Boxing Book!

Most of you know by now that A Notorious Ruin features a boxing hero, among other things boxing. I did a lot of reading about boxing and boxing culture of the period for this book. There are lots of great resources in publications of the time, subject, of course, to any and all agendas that a given author might or might not have. It was fun reading.

You might recall that I posted about some great research from David Snowden, particuarly his book Writing the Prizefight, which yesterday won the 2014 British Society of Sports History’s Lord Aberdare Literary Prize. It’s a book you should consider having on your reference shelf. Snowden is on twitter as @PierceEgan so if you’re curating lists and the like, he’s a good follow.

Other Book News

Did you get your copy of Christmas in the Duke’s Arms yet?

Christmas in The Duke’s Arms

There have been some very kind words about all the stories. So, hey! You should get your Holiday stories now!

My contribution is titled In The Duke’s Arms. Because you can never have too many dukes. Though I will admit I limited myself to one.

Fresh Fiction (Reviewed by Monique Daoust) had this to say:

An Exciting, Sensuous and Romantic Regency Christmas!

Ms. Burrowes’ story is ingenious, sensuous, and elegant, and her vocabulary is positively dazzling! It’s spectacularly well-written, the characters are engaging, and it’s very witty; it left me giggling several times. A delicious story of seduction!

In The Duke’s Arms is simply wonderful! The characters are very complex and the interaction between Ryals and Edith is utterly compelling; it’s a joy to watch Edith try to tame the gruff Duke. The story is unhurried, and it’s quite the feat that Ms. Jewel can turn developing passion into something quite suspenseful. The author possesses a perfect knowledge of the period’s language and idioms and writes in a fluid, flowing style that perfectly suits her characters.

Ms. Neville’s contribution is joyful, playful, as expected splendidly written, and quite funny at times. I loved that Robina is a strong and independent woman within the rules imposed by society; she’s a wonderful character as is the dour Wyatt.

Ms. Galen certainly does not disappoint! Those already familiar with this brilliant series will rejoice at getting a final glimpse at some beloved characters. The Spy Beneath the Mistletoe is fast paced, exciting, dynamic; the characters are delightful, and it’s also very passionate. A more than fitting conclusion to a fabulous book!

And then there’s A Notorious Ruin

A Notorious Ruin by Carolyn Jewel From a post at Avon Romance:

Ms. Jewel slowly exposed their good, bad & ugly & I loved peeling the many layers back & seeing their inner essence. Let chat about sex, because HELLO it’s a romance. Ms. Jewel uses all forms of NAUGHTINESS with swallowing-lightening shivers & quivers to all my girlie parts & assorted NEKKIDness!
— Patty McKenna Van Hulle

Make Kay of Fresh Fiction had this to say:

A long awaited sequel blends eroticism and Regency elegance…

Jewel did a superb job of evoking the era and locale. The lovely and explicit sex scenes also rang true and yet did not pull me out of the era, which I thought masterful. I am glad that Jewel has gone back to this series, and I’m looking forward to the next of the Sinclair Sisters to fall in love.

Seven Wicked Nights — Until November 16th!

Seven bestselling historical romance authors offer seven sexy stories featuring dukes, lords, rakes, scoundrels…and the unforgettable heroines who bring them to their knees. These stories range in length from long novellas to delectable little bites.

This $0.99 collection goes away November 16th. You should get this while you can.

Scandal — Still Free!

Scandal

RITA finalist and free at the vendors below. If you haven’t read me, this is a no-cost way to find out what you think.

This book took my breath away. – SBTB

WOW. Simply, wow. That is the only word I can use to describe this masterpiece. It has been such a long time since I have read such a rich, emotional and tension filled romance. Not only did Scandal have me hooked from the very first page, but this is the first book, in a very long time, where I had to read straight through into the wee hours of the night because I couldn’t put it down. When an author can write such a book, that book is destined for greatness. I wouldn’t be surprised if Scandal becomes one of the favorites of 2009, and perhaps placed on most reader’s lists for all time favorite historical. – Romance Novel TV

Readers looking for a deeply emotional and very well-written book will love this one. I have a certain weakness for flawed but redeemable characters, and this tale very much hit the spot. I cannot wait to see more historicals from this author in the future. –All About Romance

Jewel plays readers’ emotions like a virtuoso, ensuring they will eagerly follow her characters into dramatic, intensely passionate and gripping love stories that will steal your heart and make you beg for more. She grabs you at the first word and never lets go. – Kathe Robin RT Book Reviews

And lastly, I tease and tempt you with an upcoming release and a way to read it before it’s on sale…

Dead Drop – Not a Duke

Dead Drop turned out to be Book 6 in the My Immortals series. Demons instead of Dukes. It’s a short novel, at 42,000+ words.

I’m writing what I guess I have to start calling Book 7 in the series now. I have no buy links for Dead Drop yet since I don’t quite have final files yet. Sometime in the next two weeks. The on-sale date will be December 20th.

How, you are wondering, might you have the chance to read this before the book is on sale? Well, I set up a members-only section of my website, and I’m posting the chapters there every few days. Files are subject to update as I play whack-a-mole with typos lurking in the proofreading rounds.

If you happen to subscribe to my newsletter, you will get the login and password to the members only section and can start reading now. If you want. I’ve posted through chapter 6. I believe Chapter 7 will go up sometime tomorrow or the day after.

You can subscribe at my website.

There. That’s all the book news.