Friday 18 September 2015

Guest blog: Veronica Bale - 'A Noble Deception'

Forced to wed a landless knight in order to protect her home, Moira MacInnes intends an annulment of her marriage to the arrogant Lachlan Ramsay as soon as possible. Falling in love wasn’t part of the plan. 

THE ONLY THING MORE DANGEROUS THAN A LIE IS LOVE. 

Scotland 1455 – The Douglas clan is at war with their king. To protect his lands from confiscation, Lord John Douglas, the dying Earl of Kildrummond, must find an heir that doesn’t carry his name. 

A landless knight, Lachlan Ramsay expects no more of life than battles, blood, and the occasional warm bosom. But when Lord John makes him his heir, Lachlan has a chance at something he never dreamt of—a home. There’s just one condition: He must marry the earl’s bastard daughter, the fiery, eccentric Moira MacInnes. 

Lachlan has no desire for a headstrong, sharp-tongued wife. Moira has no need for an arrogant, too-handsome husband. To save Kildrummond they will marry and seek an annulment immediately upon the earl’s death. But deception is never simple, and passion once inflamed is impossible to ignore. Soon they will no longer be deceiving the earl but themselves.

Buy at Amazon.

Visit the author at http://www.veronicabale.com/


A Noble Deception - Excerpt


Bundled against the icy wind, Moira pushed her mare onward through the deteriorating weather. That morning, she had set her mind on making it to Glendalough by mid-afternoon (Highland wind be damned). She wanted to leave well before the evening meal to avoid being guilted into staying.

Except now, she was starting to regret her zeal; her new priority was to simply reach the castle’s walls before dark.

One way or another, she would confront Viscount Strathcairn. After a considerable amount of thought, she’d made up her mind.

She would accept his proposal—sweet heaven above, she couldn’t even think the words without gritting her teeth!

As much as she detested the arrangement, for however brief a time it may be, she had to concede that it was logical. As long as he was willing to uphold his end of the bargain and have the marriage annulled when the time came—and Moira had no choice but to trust that he would—then she would agree.

And why wouldn’t he make good on his promise? A man like Lachlan Ramsay wouldn’t want a plain, simple lass like Moira for a wife under more natural circumstances. Any more than Moira would want a vain, over-confident, self-important brute like him.

Vain he certainly was!

Well, he probably was, at any rate. All men that good looking were.

Sunday 13 September 2015

ANGEL HEART by Marie Laval

ANGEL HEART by Marie Laval
Regency with a paranormal twist

Excerpt

Who did the woman think he was to summon him to her room like that? A lackey, probably. His lips twisted in an angry snarl as he climbed the stairs two by two. Madame Norton might live in a ramshackle manor house on the bleak, windswept Devonshire moorland, but she was still a Beauregard on her mother's side and a member of the English gentry by marriage. He should have followed Martin's advice and stayed at the club a while longer.

He walked down the draughty corridor and drummed impatient fingers on her door.

‘Who's there?’  A timid voice answered from behind the door.

‘Saintclair. Did you want to talk to me?’ His tone was short.

The door opened just enough for Madame Norton to peer through.

He exhaled sharply to control his rising temper. ‘Are you going to let me in or shall we talk in the corridor?’

She opened the door wider and he strode in.

‘Is there a problem?’ He looked down at her. Barefoot and swamped in an old dressing gown, the woman hardly reached his shoulder. He wondered what she wore underneath, if anything. His pulse quickened and a sudden rush of heat coursed through his veins. He stuck his hands in his coat pockets.

She stepped back and folded her arms on her chest.

 ‘You said you would be back early, yet you left me waiting here all day.’

Her icy tone did nothing to cool his blood. In fact it had just the opposite effect. He took a deep breath and walked to the fireplace to put some distance between them. His lips stretched in a thin smile.

‘Sorry. I got…distracted.’ He shrugged. ‘I did arrange a carriage and a driver for us. We're leaving for Lyon on Saturday.’

She looked at him again in the way a queen might look at a mangy dog.

‘Why wait until Saturday? Your instructions are to take me straight to Beauregard. Monsieur Malleval won't be pleased.’

 If she meant to intimidate him, she had failed. She was starting to amuse him greatly—in more ways than one. 

‘I have things to do. Anyway, what's the rush? I thought you might like to come to town with me tomorrow and see a play in the evening.’

Her eyes flashed in anger.

‘I do not go to the theatre, Capitaine. I am in mourning.’

He arched his eyebrows. ‘After six years?’

‘My husband was a wonderful man. I will mourn him all my life.’ Her eyes filled with tears, she bit her lip.

He didn't answer. There was one thing to be said for her. She was convincing—a first-class actress. He had almost been taken in by her wistful sighs and tearful eyes, by her drab mourning dresses and the almost virginal blushing on her cheeks every time he looked her way. He had almost believed her grief-stricken widow act…until he saw young Norton leave her room in the middle of the night with a wide grin on his face. He knew better than to be fooled by a woman, especially a pretty one. 

Blurb

Devonshire, 1815.

Marie-Ange, the young widow of an English officer, accepts an inheritance in France only to find that everything in Beauregard is not as it seems. Why is the sinister Malleval so obsessed with her family? And could her darling Christopher still be alive? Marie-Ange finds herself trapped in a dangerous web of lies, intrigue and mystical possession, and the only person to whom she can turn for help is Captain Hugo Saintclair. Yet the enigmatic Hugo represents a danger of a different kind …

‘Angel Heart’ is a lavish mix of romance, adventure and a hint of the supernatural, largely set in France against the turbulent background of Napoleon’s return from Elba.