I've been trying to find the perfect Valentine’s Day present
for my husband, and he’s tiptoeing around as if he’s trying to do the same for
me. As we've discussed here, here, here, and here, Valentine’s Day was very popular in the early
nineteenth century, both in England and America. And as a writer of romance novels, it ranks
pretty high as a holiday for me as well.
But I have another reason to celebrate this Valentine’s Day. This week saw the publication of a very
special anthology, with one of my stories included.
Premiere is the
first anthology from Romance Writers of America to showcase the diversity of
the romance genre. My story, set at
Christmas in Regency England, represents inspirational romances. Stories by Sabrina Jeffries and Courtney
Milan are also set in nineteenth century England and represent historical
romance. Additional stories cover
contemporary, romantic suspense, paranormal, erotica, and LGBT, among other
subgenres.
The stories are all built around the theme of “wrong
number.” My story, “A Light in the
Darkness,” is based on that horror for Regency hostesses, wrong number at
table. It was considered the very worse
faux pas to have an uneven number of ladies and gentlemen at a dinner party. That
mistake ends up reuniting two lost lovers.
Can the light of Christmas guide them back to each other?
Here’s an excerpt:
~~~
With Harriet safely caught up in
conversation, Ellie could focus on Percy.
How easily time slipped backward.
From the day they’d met, there was nothing they could not share, except
the love for war. They both preferred
their books to be rousing romantic adventures, their politics verging toward
Whig, and their faith in the Lord to lead them.
Now they shared as easily, their lives since they had parted, the
activities of old friends, the loss of loved ones, his mother and her father.
Conversing with Percy was unlike talking
with anyone else. He gave her his full
attention, leaning toward her, smile playing about his lips, gaze intend on
hers. He was quick to laugh at her
jests, could be counted on to nod approval to her heartfelt choices. He was always ready to ride to the rescue
should she need him but equally willing to let her solve the matter to her own
satisfaction. Just sitting beside him
made breath and thought come easier.
Yet when he shared his stories about life
with Wellington, she heard something behind the words, saw it in the shadow
that crossed his face. There was tension
in him, like a spring never released.
She could only wonder at its source.
Somewhere in the world beyond the glow of
Percy’s smile came the tolling of church bells.
Percy rose and drew back the drapes as his sister and the others
gathered around. Through the wreath that
hung against the glass, starlight brightened the countryside. In the distance, squares of colored light
showed where the village church was preparing to celebrate services.
“It’s midnight,” Amelia said with the
delicious shiver of a child anticipating sweets. She stood on tiptoe and pecked her husband on
the cheek. “Happy Christmas, my love.”
He wrapped an arm about her waist. “Happy Christmas, dear.”
Even Harriet and Edmund reached for each
other’s hand and stood a moment gazing out at the night, where a single star
shown brighter than any other.
Warmer was the way Percy gazed at
Ellie.
~~~
Premiere is currently available in e-book, print, and audio
versions. Learn more on the Romance Writers of America website.
It just might be the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for
romance lovers. Hm, maybe I should tell
my husband.
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