Book Blast - The Indispensible Wife - Phillipa Lodge (#Giveaway)

I'm a huge supporter of fellow historical romance writers and it is my pleasure today to introduce 'new to me' author, Phillipa Lodge who is 'on tour' with her latest release THE INDISPENSIBLE WIFE.

Philippa will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter. You can click HERE to enter or go to the links at the end of this post. 

THE INDISPENSIBLE WIFE

Aurore was delighted when a marriage was arranged with the boy she loved, her older brother's friend Dominique, Comte de Bures. But in a few years the first rush of joy has worn off, and their promising life seems ruined by loss, betrayal, and misunderstanding.

One terrifying morning mercenaries overrun their château and usurpers take Aurore hostage. Miles away at Versailles, where he is required to dance attendance on Louis XIV, Dominique is nearly killed by a crossbow bolt.

Escaping, Aurore travels with a troupe of itinerant musicians, hiding in the open while discovering hidden resources within herself.

Dom sets out to find his wife. He needs his old life back. He needs revenge. But his lands, his title, and his honor mean nothing unless he can win back the love of his indispensable wife.

BUY LINKS:  AMAZON, Nook and Wild Rose Publishing

READ AN EXCERPT

From atop the battlements, Dom signaled to the men. A musket ball whistled past his head at the same moment he heard the report of a musket. He ducked, still exposed to the courtyard but making less of a target of himself. He yanked the monk’s robes off over his head and fit an arrow to his longbow, then let the arrow fly at the large man who had ducked behind a low wall to reload his musket. The angle was bad and the arrow glanced off the wall, but it scraped across the man’s chain mail and went through the exposed sleeve of his tunic.

Dom cursed his sore bow arm, wondering briefly if it would ever regain full strength. The man pulled back further behind the slight cover the wall gave him, his arm pumping as he jammed a new musket ball into the barrel of his gun. Dom shot another arrow, just a hair higher, and sank it into the man’s right arm. The musket flew to the side as the man spun and fell.

Dom and Henri scanned the courtyard for other traitors as horsemen thundered through the gate, shouting and brandishing sabers. Jean-Louis had arrived, followed by Le Fèvre and some others of Dom’s personal guards. Cédric and his group would be on foot right behind them. The baron led a division which would guard the gates from the outside in case any mercenaries were in the village and came to their leaders’ aid.

Pâques was with him. The man had insisted on coming, seeking vengeance for the loss of his left arm. It was probably only because of Pâques that Dom had not tried even harder to leave Aurore behind. Pâques still could not fight well, though as he was less of a target than Aurore, and he had extensive training before his injury; he would not be a liability.

Dom shook thoughts of Aurore, tiny and vulnerable, from his mind, swung his bow to his back, and left Henri and Paul-Bénédicte on the battlements as he rattled down the stairs, eager to be among the first into the château itself, eager to flush out the enemy leaders. He noted that a crowd of villagers armed with shovels, axes, and pitchforks was streaming through the gates behind Cédric’s troops and the man he had shot with an arrow was no longer in the corner. He brandished his sword and pushed past the few men who were fighting back, barely glancing at Jean-Louis as he dismounted to follow. Cédric’s friend de Ligny bashed a man in a nightshirt with the pommel of his sword and stuck close to Dom’s left side, helping shove through the confused crowd. Cries of “It’s the comte!” rose up around him.

ABOUT PHILLIPA LODGE

Philippa Lodge has been an avid reader since she asked her mother to point out where it said "Ma" in Little House in the Big Woods. She read everything she could get her hands on until grad school in French Studies, at which time she lost her reading mojo. Only through the twin discoveries of Harry Potter and romance has she gotten her groove back and gone back to the stuff she loved about seventeenth century France: kings, swords, opulence, and love. She lives in the suburbs of Sacramento, CA with her husband, three children, two cats, and a head full of courtesans (Oo la la!). She does the newsletter for her local chapter of the Romance Writers of America.

Connect with Phillipa on her website, Twitter (@plaatsch) and Facebook 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER 

Philippa will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn host.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What's not to love about a spy? Great and Unfortunate Desires - Gina Danna

Great and Unfortunate Desires

Victorian England c. 1870

Operating as a British spy, Tristan St.James, the new Marquis of Wrenworth, barely escapes Afghanistan with his life in the spring of 1869. He plans to seek vengeance against the traitor who exposed him and for the agent he’s forced to kill. Returning to England, as a lord, he must marry. Haunted by guilt from the horrors of war, he avoids love at all costs, but finds himself drawn to the only woman who is disinterested in him.

Lady Evelyn Hurstine has waited over two years for the return of her love, a man who left for war in the East. But during that time, she suffered a brutal assault, resulting in a child and fear of any man touching her except for the man she once knew. The pursuit by the marquis scares her but her excuses against his proposal dwindle.

Their marriage strengthens into love until she discovers her husband isn’t the safety she believed but the one who killed the man she once loved. Caught in a world of intrigue and mayhem, Tristan must prove his love to her before the traitor destroys them both.

ENTER GINA'S RAFFLECOPTER CONTEST FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A $10 AMAZON OR BARNES & NOBLE GIFT CARD.

Click HERE TO ENTER

READ AN EXCERPT FROM GREAT AND UNFORTUNATE DESIRES...

“I shall talk to him shortly.”

Evelyn raised her brows, eyeing over his shoulder. “Shortly may be now, my lord.”

Tristan turned. Barreling down the lawn, creating a wake in in his path, Evelyn’s father stormed toward them. Not far behind him was Huntington and his son. Tristan gauged their pace and the distance. He had a few seconds and could hear Evelyn’s foot tapping against the grass. Frankly, he was surprised she hadn’t crossed her arms in anger or left him. With every second, her behavior and decision to stay put only made him more interested in her. Damn! Her dowry and position made her exactly what he needed his English bride to be like, with a ramrod backbone and a defiance of societal rules. As Evelyn’s father got closer, there was only one thing Tristan could think of to ensure she become his. In one swift move, he turned, pulled her close, bent her backward, and pressed his cheek to hers. She gasped.

“Considering the situation, you need me as much as I need you. We are the perfect match,” he whispered, smiling and gesturing as if to kiss her.

They both knew in that moment she became his forever. The compromising position between two single people in a public setting was shocking to the ton.

Tristan heard the grass crunching under the footsteps of the Baron and his party. He didn’t look in their direction but eased back from Evelyn, watching her reaction. Suppressed fury blazed in her eyes, and her body was rigid.

“Naught, naught, naught,” he murmured. “To slap me would be appropriate but would serve you no purpose.”

Despite the fire in her gaze, she relaxed a little within his arms. “But it would give me satisfaction nevertheless,” she whispered defiantly, although she didn’t move.


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MEET GINA DANNA


Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Gina Danna has spent the better part of her life reading. History has been her love and she spent numerous hours devouring historical romance stories, dreaming of writing one of her own. Years later, after receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees in History, writing academic research papers and writing for museum programs and events, she finally found the time to write her own stories of historical romantic fiction.

Now, under the supervision of her three dogs and three cats, she writes amid a library of research books, with her only true break away is to spend time with her other life long dream – her Arabian horse – with him, her muse can play.

You can connect with Gina on her website  www.ginadanna.com, Facebook ww.facebook.com/GinaDannaAuthor and Twitter:  @GinaDanna1

BUY GREAT AND UNFORTUNATE DESIRES 

Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and reputable on line bookshops.

Launch Day for How to Beguile a Duke: Ally Broadfield

This post is part of a book blast organized by Goddess Fish Promotions for the launch of Ally Broadfield's How to Beguile a Duke. One randomly chosen winner via Rafflecopter will receive a $25 Amazon/BN gift card.


HOW TO BEGUILE A DUKE

The spirited Catherine Malboeuf has just arrived in England to reclaim her ancestral home, Walsley Manor, and a valuable missing heirloom. Nicholas Adair, the attractive and frustratingly inflexible Duke of Boulstridge, however, is quite unwilling to sell the estate back to Catherine. Unless, of course, she accepts a small wager...

Nick will sell Walsley Manor if--and only if--Catherine secures an offer of marriage from an eligible member of the ton before the end of the London season.

Of course, Nick is certain he'll win. After all, no proper gentleman would ever marry a woman who conceals a cutlass in her skirts. Yet something about Catherine's unconventional disposition seems to ignite a need deep inside him. A need that won't just cost him the wager, but the very heart he swore to never give away...

Enjoy an excerpt:

He ought not to have let her take the journal. It wasn’t appropriate reading material for an innocent. 

“If you like, I will reread the journal and make note of all of your great-grandmother’s…acquaintances so we can narrow down the possibilities.”

She clasped the journal to her chest. “Good heavens, no. I shall do it.”

“Why?”

“I would never be able to look you in the eye again knowing that you had read about her…exploits.”

“Catherine.” She cast a startled glance at him. Stifling the laughter threatening to erupt, he said, “I’ve already read the journal. There is nothing in there with which I am not already familiar.”

Casting her eyes downward, she said, “Well, there is much with which I am unfamiliar.”

Laughter burst forth from him, refusing to be contained. “Well I certainly hope so. It is not appropriate reading material for you. Give it back to me, and I will make a list of everyone mentioned in the journal. We must be thorough.” Casting his eyes toward the spire of a church in the distance, he attempted to dispel the images of Catherine reenacting her great grandmother’s escapades with him. His imagination was very thorough. Too thorough.


About the Author: Ally lives in Texas and is convinced her house is shrinking, possibly because she shares it with three kids, four dogs, a cat, a rabbit, and several reptiles. Oh, and her husband. She likes to curse in Russian and spends most of her spare time letting dogs in and out of the house and shuttling kids around. She writes historical romance set in Regency England and Imperial Russia.

She loves to hear from readers and you can find Ally on her website, Facebook, and Twitter, though she makes no claims of using any of them properly.

Website: http://allybroadfield.com/

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

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abroadfield

Group Blog: http://embracingromance.com


Buy the book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Kobo, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, or Google Play.

CLICK HERE FOR a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lisa Fernow guides us through the tango

My husband cannot abide what he calls the "crying shows"... you know the ones?  "So You Think You Can Dance", "Dancing with the Stars"... etc. I LOVE them. Mostly because I have no sense of rhythm and cannot dance to save myself. So I watch them covertly when he's not around.

I particularly love the Latin dances - my favourites being the Pasa Doble and the Tango and it is my great pleasure today to welcome 'new to me' author Lisa Fernow to introduce her romantic suspense DEAD ON HER FEET and the research she undertook to learn all there was to know about tango... Tango and mystery... does it get any better?

Lisa will be awarding a $30 GC to winner's choice of online bookseller to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour

TO ENTER THE RAFFLECOPTER CONTEST: CLICK HERE

INTRODUCTION TO THE TANGO

Thanks for having me!

In writing my tango mystery, Dead on Her Feet, I did a lot of research on the music.  My original plan was to include lyrics and audio links so readers could directly experience tango’s heart-wrenching power. 

Ultimately it proved too difficult to identify who owned the copyrights.  But here’s an excerpt where I’ve put the lyrics and link back in for you. This translation of Discepolo’s Uno comes from maestro Alberto Paz. 

Our heroine, tango instructor Antonia Blakeley, is introducing her class to tango culture: 

“Tango can be about many things – seduction, longing, nostalgia, intimacy, tenderness – you get the picture. Whatever the music and the moment inspires. This song isn’t one we normally dance to but I happen to think it’s a beautiful piece, especially if you understand the words. It’s called Uno. One.” Uno, oh yeah, she thought.

Antonia translated the lyrics from the liner notes:

If I had the heart,

The heart I gave away…

If I could, like yesterday

Love without a premonition…

It’s possible that your eyes

That cry out to me their love,

I’d close them with my kisses…

Without thinking that, like these,

They were other wicked eyes

That ruined my life.

“He gave his heart to a woman who betrayed him, and now he can’t love the way he used to.  That’s life and death stuff.”

Tragic, yes?  Julio Sosa performs Uno here:

Doesn’t this just make you swoon? 

It’s not an accident that Antonia chooses this particular tango, Uno, which is not meant for dancing - a curious choice for the class.  But Antonia has walled herself off from love.

We eventually learn why. 

I hope you enjoy Dead on Her Feet.  Visit www.lisafernow.com and let me know!

(PS: the dancer above is Tomás Howlin, a wonderful teacher!)

DEAD ON HER FEET

What happens when a dancer violates the tango code?

Tango instructor and chronic rule-breaker Antonia “Ant” Blakeley has no respect for authority. So when a much-hated member of the Atlanta tango community is stabbed in the middle of the dance floor, leaving her troubled nephew Christian first on the list of suspects, the last thing she wants to do is use her tango expertise to help the police work out how someone could have struck the fatal blow, unseen. As someone who has experienced police incompetence first hand Antonia doesn’t trust them to find the real killer. So she lies to give Christian an alibi, and the coverup begins.



Unfortunately for Ant, former marine Detective Sam Morrow is on the case and he will do whatever it takes to solve the crime. He’s not about to let Antonia hijack his case. As both Ant and Sam investigate (or in Ant’s case, interfere), the two sleuths are about to find out the more antagonistic meaning of “it takes two to tango.”

BUY DEAD ON HER FEET

Available on Amazon and all reputable e-stores

ABOUT LISA FERNOW

Lisa Fernow grew up on the classic mysteries of Ngaio Marsh and Elizabeth Peters. Lisa has danced Argentine tango since 1996, studying with such legendary masters as Cacho Dante, Susana Miller, and Brigitta Winkler, as well as other inspiring instructors in Atlanta, Seattle, and Portland. Lisa’s short story,Death of a Tango Dancer was featured in King County Library’s Take Time to Read program. She lives in Seattle, Washington. Dead on Her Feet is the first book in a planned series set in the tango world. Read more at www.lisafernow.com.

Lady Beauchamp's Proposal: Amy Rose Bennett

It is always a pleasure to give a shout out to for a good friend and its a very happy release day for the lovely Amy Rose Bennett and her Regency Noir Romance LADY BEAUCHAMP'S PROPOSAL... a runaway countess and the Scottish highlands... does it get any better?

Yes it does -- leave a comment and go in the draw to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card - Just enter this Rafflecopter contest!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE RAFFLECOPTER CONTEST

LADY BEAUCHAMP'S PROPOSAL

 A runaway countess finds love when she least expects it…but she can’t hide from her past forever.

Elizabeth, Lady Beauchamp, fears for her life. When she discovers her dissolute and long-estranged husband has syphilis—and he wants to beget an heir no matter the cost—she flees to a remote part of Scotland to begin a new life as the widowed governess, Mrs. Beth Eliott at Eilean Tor Castle.

When Mrs. Eliott unexpectedly arrives on his doorstep, the reclusive and recently widowed Marquess of Rothsburgh is both irritated and intrigued. No longer in need of a governess—his young daughter now resides with his sister’s family in Edinburgh—he proposes the beautiful widow fill a position of a different kind…

Torn between staying true to her marriage vows and her wanton attraction to the devilishly handsome marquess, Elizabeth struggles against the temptation to become his mistress. But living a lie is not easy when you have fallen in love. And secrets always have a way of coming out…

READ AN EXCERPT

Set-up: Elizabeth, Lady Beauchamp—after leaving her husband and now in disguise as the widowed governess, Mrs. Eliott—arrives at Eilean Tor Castle, where she hopes to gain employment within the household of James Huntly, the Marquess of Rothsburgh.

At last, she heard the unmistakable sound of bolts being pulled back, and then the door was thrown wide. A bright lantern was thrust toward her face, blinding her. She raised a hand to her eyes in a futile attempt to shield them and squinted upwards. An extremely tall man was holding the lantern aloft; she could discern little else about him as the intense light in her eyes obscured her vision.

“What do you want, woman?” The man’s voice was a low growl.

Elizabeth drew a deep breath and summoned her most imperious voice. She had come so far and she would not be cowed by an obnoxious servant. “I seek an audience with Lord Rothsburgh. Is your master at home?”

“What the deuce for?”

She immediately bristled at the insolence in the man’s tone. “I’d have a care to mind your tongue, sir. And lower that lantern. You’re hurting my eyes.”

The light was immediately lowered, and Elizabeth was able to see a little more of the man who seemed to be filling up the whole doorway. He must have been at least six foot four, with black hair that fell across one eye. She also noted that he was informally dressed in a loose, white cambric shirt that was open at the neck, black breeches and boots. The marquess obviously had low standards when it came to fitting out his staff in proper livery.

“Well, aren’t you going to invite me in?” she demanded.

The man—she assumed he was some sort of sloppy butler or footman—let out a snort of laughter. “What on earth for?”

She scowled and drew herself up, raising her chin. She would not be laughed at by the hired help. “I understand there is a vacancy for a governess. I’ve come to offer my services to Lord Rothsburgh.”

“Have you indeed?” There was still an annoying undercurrent of laughter in the man’s voice. Nevertheless, he stepped aside and made a grand sweeping gesture with his free hand. “Then by all means, come in.”

Elizabeth picked up her skirts and started to step forward when the toe of her boot caught on an unevenly laid flagstone on the threshold. With an unlady-like squeal she pitched forward toward the floor—until she was deftly caught about the waist by the vulgar butler. With a gasp of half-shock, half-embarrassment she found her midriff was bent across his muscular forearm, whilst her side was crushed roughly against his wide chest. One of her hands had involuntarily fisted into the linen sleeve of his shirt where underneath she could detect the bulk of a sizeable, iron-hard bicep.

The scent of the man flooded her senses; warm male, whisky and the tantalizing scent of exotically rich soap; it reminded her of sandalwood, leather and a spicy note she couldn’t quite place—perhaps it was cloves. She took all of this in within the instant that she was suspended above the floor before the man righted her. She took a step away, her cheeks flaming. “I’m so sorry, sir. How clumsy of me. And I’ve made you all wet…Mr.…”

The man’s arm lingered across her waist. Perhaps he thought she would fall again. She noticed he had dark eyes; his gaze travelled over her face, studying her. She must look a sight.

“James,” he said, his eyes holding hers. In the dim light she couldn’t work out if they were dark brown or black.

ABOUT AMY ROSE BENNETT

Amy Rose Bennett has always wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember. An avid reader with a particular love for historical romance, it seemed only natural to write stories in her favorite genre.  She has a passion for creating emotion-packed—and sometimes a little racy—stories set in the Georgian and Regency periods. Of course, her strong-willed heroines and rakish heroes always find their happily ever after.

As an unpublished author, Amy has been a finalist in contests in both Romance Writers of Australia and Romance Writers of America.  In 2013 and 2014, she has achieved a place in the top three of Romance Writers of Australia’s Emerald Award, and her debut Regency romance novel—‘Lady Beauchamp’s Proposal’—was the winning entry in the historical section of two Romance Writers of America Chapter Contests in 2013—the Chicago North Fire and Ice Contest and the San Francisco Heart to Heart Contest.

Amy is happily married to her own Alpha male hero, has two beautiful daughters, a rather loopy Rhodesian Ridgeback and a Devonshire Rex cat with attitude. She is a Speech Pathologist, but is currently devoting her time to her one other true calling—writing romance.

CONNECT WITH AMY:  Website, Facebook and Twitter

BUY LADY BEAUCHAMP'S PROPOSAL on Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks and Secret Cravings

  

Beverley Eikli's MAID OF MILAN: Giveaway and Excerpt

It is an enormous pleasure to open my door to a dear friend, Beverley Eikli.  Beverley is touring the cyber world with her latest historical romance, MAID OF MILAN.  We have an excerpt from that book as well as the opportunity to go in the draw for a $20 Amazon gift card if you call past and leave a comment.

A little bit about Beverley...

Beverley Eikli is the author of eight historical romances. In 2012 she won UK Women's Fiction publisher Choc-Lit's Search for An Australia Star competition with her suspenseful, Napoleonic espionage Romance The Reluctant Bride, which has just been shortlisted by Australian Romance Readers for Favourite Historical in 2013.

In 2011 she was nominated for an ARRA award for her Regency romance A Little Deception, and in 2012 for her racy Regency Romp, Rake’s Honour, written under her Beverley Oakley pseudonym.

Eikli wrote her first romance when she was seventeen. However, drowning the heroine on the last page was, she discovered, not in the spirit of the genre so her romance-writing career ground to a halt and she became a journalist.

After throwing in her job on South Australia's metropolitan daily The Advertiser to manage a luxury safari lodge in the Okavango Delta, in Botswana, she discovered a new world of romance and adventure in a thatched cottage in the middle of a mopane forest with the handsome Norwegian bush pilot she met around a camp fire.

Twenty years later, after exploring the world in the back of Cessna 404s and CASA 212s as an airborne geophysical survey operator during low-level sorties over the French Guyanese jungle and Greenland's ice cap, Eikli is back in Australia teaching in the Department of Professional Writing & Editing at Victoria University, as well as teaching Short Courses for the Centre of Adult Education and Macedon Ranges Further Education.

Find out more about Beverley and her amazing life (and books) at her website, blog, Twitter and Facebook

THE MAID OF MILAN

 

After three years of marriage, Adelaide has fallen in love with the handsome, honourable husband who nurtured her through her darkest hours.

Now Adelaide’s former lover, the passionate poet from whose arms she was torn by her family during their illicit liaison in Milan six years previously has returned, a celebrity due to the success of his book The Maid of Milan.

High society is as desperate to discover the identity of his ‘muse’ as Adelaide is to protect her newfound love and her husband’s political career.

Buy Links:

Amazon: Book Depository

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AND NOW READ AN EXCERPT from MAID OF MILAN

Chapter One

It was not the name by which she knew him. Since inheriting the title, he’d won celebrity as a poet and become the darling of the gossip columnists. Adelaide’s mother couldn’t keep those snippets of the real world from her, though she tried.

James. Fifth Viscount Dewhurst. Adelaide closed her eyes against the afternoon sun and tried to block her last memory of him: desperate, pleading. Not the James she knew – the irrepressible charmer who knew no woman could resist him, least of all Adelaide.

Tristan must have misinterpreted her shocked silence for memory failure, for he squeezed her hand and repeated,  ‘Lord Dewhurst. I’m talking about my old friend, James.’ Very gently he added, ‘He and his wife were very good to you, if you remember.’

If you remember…

Her husband’s reference to her previous life was almost more painful than the reference to James, though panic quickly succeeded shock at his next remark.

‘James is coming to visit us? Here?’ She gripped Tristan’s arm tighter and concentrated on the path. One foot in front of the other, head down so she didn’t stumble on the stones that bordered the hydrangeas from the neat gravel walkway.

Tristan continued to talk in the measured, comforting tone he used when her equilibrium was unsettled. In the past he’d sought her reassurances that she was comfortable with his plans; that there was nothing he’d neglected to facilitate her comfort. Always Tristan put Adelaide’s feelings first. Not today.

Tristan was too excited at the prospect of seeing his boyhood friend to recognise her horror, assuming Adelaide would be delighted to play hostess since she’d foolishly voiced the desire just last week to entertain more often.

She remained silent as she walked at his side, contemplating her own strategy if this visit was a fait accompli. She just needed to know when, so she could prepare.

‘At the end of the week!’ She repeated Tristan’s calmly delivered answer to her question in the tone Black Jack, the South American parrot she’d owned in Vienna, used to mimic the death throes of a man at the end of the gallows. A good thing her husband considered Adelaide an invalid, that he’d misconstrue the flare in her eyes, the gasp as she pressed against the pain in her side – her heart?

‘Adelaide, you are discomposed. Perhaps I should not have invited James without consulting you, but I thought since…’ Concern clouded his kind blue eyes as he trailed off.

‘He was very good to me.’ She whispered the old litany. It’s what Tristan liked to believe.

‘He was. Shall we go back to the house?’ He stooped to cup her face in his hands, as tender with her as if she were another of his rare hothouse blooms. As if she might wilt at the suggestion of anything beyond the ordinary, the mindnumbingly mundane.

And yet today she more than wilted as she stumbled on the smooth, carefully raked gravel path. Her heart was in danger of tearing in half. James. Here, at Deer Park …?

She pushed away the fear, straightening of her own accord. Adelaide could be a good deal stronger than Tristan believed her. Than her mother painted her.

‘So silly of me,’ she murmured, smiling as she tucked her hand once more into the crook of her husband’s arm, firming her step, indicating with a nod that they continue their usual

morning walk. Minutely managed and predictable. Around the path that bordered the maze, over the little bridge and across the lawn, skirting the deer park beyond the iron gated border to the dower house where her mother would be waiting. Keeping up the pretence of recovery in  response to his troubled gaze, she added, ‘Really, I’m perfectly fine.’ How many times had she made similar reassurances?

Of course, she hadn’t been fine when Tristan had made her mistress of Deer Park three years before; a marriage offer she’d only accepted because she believed she’d be dead of grief within the twelvemonth. And if not dead, then at least free of her mother. Neither had happened.

‘So James has left Milan.’ She forced herself to say his name. It came out as a faint thread of sound. James. He needed to stay far across sea and land if she were to have any peace in this life.

‘James’s father died three months ago so of course he must return from the Continent and take up his responsibilities at Dingley Hall.’ Tristan stopped and put his hands on her shoulders to study her more closely. ‘Darling, you’re very pale. Perhaps we should call Dr Stanhope—’

‘No!’ She truncated the hysteria in her response, adding with commendable calm, ‘Please, let us carry on.’

Tristan was clearly not convinced by her assurances, but he returned to his commentary as they walked sedately through Deer Park’s beautiful gardens. ‘James’s standing has changed with his father’s death, and now that his book has become a sensation so have his fortunes. He’ll be able to put to rights all that his father almost destroyed through his love of gaming.’ He gave a half laugh. ‘I’m told my old friend is nearly as famous as those fellows up in the Lakes. I daresay I should read The Maid of Milan before he arrives. Perhaps you’d enjoy it, Addy.’

The Maid of Milan. Dear God! An image of herself and James, naked limbs entwined upon a vast expanse of white linen tablecloth in the Villa Cosi after the guests had gone,  seared her brain.

No, she was getting beyond herself. James had continued living in Milan with Hortense, the wife he despised. Of course there’d have been other women after Adelaide had been dragged, screaming, from James’s arms. Adelaide could not be James’s Maid of Milan. Not after the terrible finale to their affair. In three years Adelaide had heard nothing from him. Nothing, except that one terrible, terrible letter …

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT AND GO IN THE DRAW TO WIN A $20 AMAZON GIFT CARD.