Save a Bundle, This Week Only

Okay, so I run sales once in a while. Maybe more than once in a while. I love to see books flying off the virtual shelves! So, this week only, August 21 through 25, 2023, I am putting an entire series bundle on sale for 99 cents.

Gasp!

Shock!

If you haven’t tried the Spy Matchmaker series, this is your chance. The three-book ebook bundle generally costs $9.99, so this is 90% off cover price. What’s included in the series?

The Husband Mission (formerly published as Lord Borin’s Secret Love). Lord Borin cannot understand why he’s under surveillance, but it seems to be connected to the intriguing Katherine Collins. He’s been encouraged by England’s spymaster to marry, but what wife can compare to espionage? Unless, of course, she’s up for a little espionage too. “I highly recommend this book to all romance readers who like heart-warming, unique love stories with delightfully original characters.” Romance Fiction Forum

The June Bride Conspiracy (once a novella, now a full-length book). England’s top intelligence agent Allister Fenwick, Lord Trevithan, is shocked when a mysterious stranger attempts to stop his marriage to the sweet Joanna Lindby. Though he promised to leave espionage behind, he must take this case. Can a little espionage unmask hidden hearts in time for a June wedding? A Top Pick from RT Book Reviews.

The Heiress Objective (formerly published as The Bluestocking on His Knee). Heiress Eugennia Welch is stunned when charming Corinthian Kevin Whattling proposes marriage. Once a spy, Kevin is deep in debt. But as he tries to convince Jenny he is besotted, he falls for her. When danger threatens, can they trust each other to win a love greater than any fortune? “A very entertaining story with a fresh approach.” Rendezvous

You can get the ebook bundle

Directly from me 

Smashwords  

Amazon (affiliate link) 

Barnes and Noble 

Kobo 

Apple Books 

Enjoy!

What’s in Your Cabinet?

We’ve talked about La Belle Assembleé, Ackermann’s Repository, and Godey’s Lady’s Book for ladies magazines of the nineteenth century, but I recently came across one I hadn’t heard of before. The Ladies Cabinet of Fashion, Music, and Romance was published monthly in England in the mid-nineteenth century. It offered stories (some rather gothic), poetry, and fashion news, featuring columns on the latest looks in Paris and London. I’ve perused through several digitized issues and haven’t located the “music” part, but it may be that the sheet music was meant to be removed and so would not be found in extant versions. 

The Ladies Cabinet had several things going for it. At a modest schilling per issue, it was favored by those in the middle class. It was also apparently small, being called by some “pocket sized.” Unlike many of the other ladies journals of the time, which were edited by men, it was purportedly edited at least for part of its life by a pair of sisters, Margaret and Beatrice de Courcy. However, some think those might have been pseudonyms, and the sisters might have been men as well.

Still, some newspapers of the time applauded it as being by women for women. Critics called it prudish, the poetry melancholy and sentimental, and the fiction harking back to an earlier era. The Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century Journalism in Great Britain and Ireland, edited by Laurel Brake and Marysa Demoor, calls it “high quality” with “beautifully engraved fashion coloured plates.” Though the National Portrait Gallery in London carries several of these fashion plates, the prestigious art gallery notes they were “badly drawn and crudely coloured.” I’m no art critic, but I must admit the print above doesn’t have the detail or elegance shown in the ones our dear Marissa shares from other sources.

Perhaps most intriguing is that, in creating the magazine, the editors claimed to be offering an antidote to cholera! 

The Ladies Cabinet ran from 1832 to 1870, but several sources noted that, from 1840, the contents were identical the new monthly Belle Assembleé. Interesting that the two audiences didn’t seem to coincide.

Now, may I offer you something that probably isn’t the antidote to cholera or any other health surge plaguing the world. I’ve collected the three novels in my Spy Matchmaker series into a boxed set.

In Regency England, one man is known as the spymaster, recruiting his daring agents from among the best and brightest of the aristocracy. From the eager, newly initiated to the world-weary campaigner, these are men used to accepting challenges, righting wrongs. Perhaps their greatest challenge awaits: finding the perfect bride.

You can find it at fine online retailers such as

Smashwords  

Amazon 

Barnes and Noble 

Kobo 

Apple Books 

Free, Free!

No, I’m not being redundant, although I am being enthusiastic. Until March 13, you have two ways to read one of my books for free.

1.  Sign up for my e-mail alert. I don’t call it a newsletter, because it’s not chatty. I figure you get enough of that here. 😊 What it will provide is a notification when a new book is out or an older book is on sale. I do not share your e-mail with anyone, and neither does MailChimp, my alert distributor. And after signing up, you will be directed to a webpage where you can download a free copy of my Regency novella, “An Engagement of Convenience,” originally published in Summer House Party. 

2.  Head to your favorite online e-book retailer and download a copy of The Husband Mission, book 1 in my Spy Matchmaker series. Lord Wescott cannot understand why he’s under surveillance, but it seems to be connected to the intriguing Katherine Collins. He’s been encouraged by England’s spymaster to marry, but what wife can compare to espionage? Unless, she’s up for a little espionage too.

Here are the links to the U.S. stores for your convenience (but it’s free in the UK, Australia, Canada, and India, too):

Smashwords

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

iBooks

If you’ve read both, thank you! Feel free (see what I did there) to share with your friends and family. “An Engagement of Convenience” will remain free for a few months when someone signs up for my alert, but The Husband Mission will only be free through March 13, because Never Kneel to a Knight launches the very next day. Squee!

Happy reading!

Redefining a Bluestocking

Bluestocking—an educated or literary woman. Derogatory.

Hey! Derogatory? I wear the bluestocking label with pride. That’s one of the reasons Marissa and I named our reading club The Young Bluestockings. I like to think most of my heroines are bluestockings of one sort or another. But only one truly epitomized the breed as viewed by early nineteenth century Society.

Eugennia “Jenny” Welch reads widely, discusses the books with a select group of friends (who also include a gentleman or two—shock!), and puts what she learns into practice. For example, when she was trying to learn how a tailor creates gentlemen’s coats, she stopped by that famous clothier Weston and asked him questions. The poor man he was measuring at the time was so embarrassed he hasn’t been the same since. She’s captured insects for study, invited the Egyptian expedition to practice digging in her rear yard so she could observe, and categorized English pottery of the last century. But something is missing, and she isn’t sure what.

In fact, she’s afraid to tell her bluestocking friends the truth: she secretly wishes a handsome prince would ride in and propose marriage. When charming Corinthian Kevin Whattling does just that, she is stunned. He claims to have admired her for some time, but only came forward now because he must marry an heiress to discharge his debts. Her head warns her to beware, while her heart begs her to pull him closer.

Once one of the most successful intelligence agents among the aristocracy, Kevin Whattling gave up his commission when his younger brother was killed in an illegal boxing match. Now deep in debt, his only hope is to marry a wealthy wife. But as he tries to convince Jenny he is besotted, he finds himself falling under her spell. When a danger from Kevin’s past threatens them both, they must trust each other to win a love far greater than any fortune.

Thus, The Bluestocking on His Knee has been transformed into The Heiress Objective, now available from fine online retailers such as

Smashwords     

Amazon    

Barnesand Noble 

iBooks 

Kobo 

Here’s to bluestockings everywhere!

A June Bride Again

Once upon a time, a previous publisher invited me to write a story for an anthology on the theme of June Brides. Perhaps it was that song from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (“Oh they say when you marry in June, you’re a bride, all your life,” perhaps it was all the talk about brides being such a “thing” in romance, perhaps it was the humor that pokes up from time to time in my writing. But the title that sprang into my head was The June Bride Conspiracy.

Hm.

The story quickly grew, centered around a Regency James Bond who wanted to retire and his sweetheart who wasn’t so sure she could compete with the glamor he’d once known.

I guess I’m old school, but I can’t imagine a more dashing James Bond than Sean Connery, with the possible exception of Pierce Brosnan. My father was a huge James Bond fan—he had me read Ian Flemming when I was in high school and see all the movies even if we had to rent them. So it’s little wonder that Allister Fenwick, Lord Trevithan, should bear a striking resemblance in word, action, and looks to an idealized James Bond.

The novella was hands down the easiest story I ever wrote. The words flowed, the plot came together, the characters sparkled. When people ask me my favorite among the stories I’ve written, The June Bride Conspiracy is always near the top of the list. It was earned my first “Top Pick” from RT Book Reviews, a rare honor for the industry publication.

But as I drew the story out to polish up for republication, I found myself surprised. The novella seemed to have changed, or, better stated, I’d changed. Places that had to be tightened to fit the space for a novella cried out for more.

So I gave it more--15,000 words, to be precise.

The June Bride Conspiracy is now available, deeper, stronger, and more vibrant than ever before. I hope you’ll give it a try.

Engaged to the dark and dashing Lord Trevithan, Joanna Lindby should be the happiest of ladies in Regency London. But every once in a while she wonders—why would this enigmatic lord choose her? She’s shy, quiet, unassuming, never arguing, always polite. But when a note arrives calling off the wedding, Joanna vows that she will be married in June, no matter the cost.

England’s top intelligence agent Allister Fenwick, Lord Trevithan, is shocked when his demure fiancée demands an explanation. He never sent that note. Someone is trying to come between them. Though Allister promised himself he would leave the world of espionage behind, he cannot help but be drawn into this case, if only to protect his surprisingly headstrong bride-to-be. Yet, is it an old enemy or an old friend causing the mischief? Can a little espionage unmask hidden hearts in time for a June wedding? 

You can find it at the following online retailers:

Amazon 

Smashwords 

Coming shortly to Barnes and Noble, iBooks, and Kobo as well. Enjoy, and happy Independence Day next week. Marissa and I will be celebrating with our families, so we’ll catch up with you the week of July 10th.

Spying Out a Spy: The Husband Mission

The elegance and charm of early nineteenth century England seems to cry out for the daring espionage agents embodied by the works of Ian Flemming. It was one of the few disappointments of my research into the Regency period of England to find that espionage wasn’t nearly as glamorous as the movies make out. Oh, there were code breakers, determined men who cracked the secret messages being employed by the French. There were even code makers, who created similar languages for the British to pass critical information without fear of the enemy learning the truth.

However, actually carrying those messages, or, worse, prying into people’s lives to uncover their darkest deeds, was seen as a dirty business by the British. That sort of spy was generally considered a  dishonorable creature. Certainly no gentleman would serve in such a function.

Or would he?

Enter Lord Hastings, a fine, upstanding gentleman, father to Lord Leslie Petersborough from The Unflappable Miss Fairchild and The Irredeemable Miss Renfield. Affable, charming even, with big brown eyes, a walrus mustache, and a nose for trouble. He recognized early in the war effort that French spies found it terribly easy to pry secrets out of the aristocracy. Therefore, hee recruits among the aristocracy, to keep watch over the aristocracy, and few know which men and women are truly his. He is loyal, determined, practical. He is England’s spymaster.

And he is a hopeless romantic.

I have several books in which his lordship and his cadre play a part. I’ve now revised the three key books and am reissuing them under the series title, Spy Matchmaker. The first, The Husband Mission, is out now. Formerly titled Lord Borin’s Secret Love, it is one of the books of which I’m most fond, and one that tends to get overlooked. Here’s a little about the book:

Katherine Collins is on a mission. With no means and few prospects, the spirited spinster is financially beholden to her stepsister Constance, who stands to inherit a large fortune--if she marries in the next six weeks. What better than to present Constance with the perfect husband, Alexander Wescott, Lord Borin? After all, Katherine has been spying on the handsome, wealthy viscount, just to make sure he’s the man she hopes.

Alex cannot understand why he’s under surveillance, but it seems to have something to do with the intriguing Katherine. Rejected for service by England’s spymaster and encouraged to set up his nursery instead, he ought to be searching for a wife. But what wife can compare to the excitement of international espionage? Unless, of course, she’s up for a little espionage herself.

The Spy Matchmaker: all the intrigue of love.

Smashwords    

Amazon   

Kobo  

Barnes and Noble 

iBooks