Tuesday, August 2, 2022

A Horse of a Different Color: AN EVENT AT EPSOM is here!

 

Annabel and the lady patronesses of Almack's are about to embark on their sixth adventure, this time venturing farther from London for their latest investigation in AN EVENT AT EPSOM.


It’s June, which means that the fashionable of London are off to Epsom for the annual race meet. A newcomer is favored to win the Oaks Stakes—a mysterious filly who came from nowhere to win the spring races left and right. It will be up to the Lady Patronesses to discover her identity—while Annabel discovers what her true feelings are for Lord Quinceton… 

I knew almost nothing about Epsom and Regency-era horse-racing before writing this story, and barely scratched the surface of racing history. My favorite bit is probably the origin story around the Derby Stakes: in 1778 the Earl of Derby and a group of friends had sponsored the first Oaks Stakes, a race for three-year-old fillies, and decided the following year to establish a race for three-year-old colts--but what to name it? According to legend, a coin toss between the Earl and his friend and fellow racing enthusiast Sir Charles Bunbury decided the matter, though some think that Sir Charles deferred to his host--after all, the race was run on his land. Sir Charles's horse, Diomed, won the first Derby Stakes the following year--not a bad consolation prize!

And the larger story that's been simmering in the background of the series is about to come forward--so fasten your seatbelts!

An Event at Epsom is available directly from Book View Cafe as well as from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, Smashwords, and others, as well as in print from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Book View Cafe

Amazon (affiliate link)

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

Apple Books

Smashwords

Books2Read

Enjoy!

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In other news, What Lies Beneath, my WWI young adult fantasy, has been gaining some exciting recognition: it is a finalist in Georgia Romance Writers' Maggies Award, in Orange County Romance Writers' Book Buyers Best Award, and in the young adult category of the Silver Falchion Award (sponsored by Killer Nashville).



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