Shenanigans at the Shore?

In Betrayal at Brighton, the eighth and newest addition to The Ladies of Almack’s series, Annabel and the Lady Patronesses are in Brighton to do the unthinkable: investigate one of their own.

Annabel has, much against her inclination, agreed to spend a few weeks in Brighton with her fellow Lady Patroness, Frances Dalrymple, and Frances’s brother Lord Glenrick, now the Duke of Carrick. But much of the time she expects to spend investigating Frances’s alarming actions in Windsor gets taken up by playing companion to Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Prince of Wales…until her investigation and the Princess intersect in a shocking way. And then there are the bathing machines, the hundreds of ghosts in the cellar…and, of course, Lord Quinceton.

Betrayal at Brighton is considerably longer than the previous installments; it just kept getting longer and longer, rather to my bemusement, and so is a book rather than a novella. My apologies if you preferred the shorter format of earlier stories—it took me by surprise as well. But there’s a lot going on here, including discovering at last just what it is that Frances and her brother are up to. And did I mention Quin? 😊

Betrayal at Brighton can be purchased directly from the publisher, Book View Café, in both EPUB and MOBI formats as well as from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple, GooglePlay, Smashwords, and elsewhere. Print versions can be found at Barnes and Noble and Amazon...or ask your local library to carry it.

In addition, Countess of Shadows: The Ladies of Almack’s Omnibus No. 1 is available everywhere after its initial release only from Book View Café. You can still find it at Book View Café as well as from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, GooglePlay, Smashwords, and elsewhere, and in print from Amazon and Barnes and Noble or from your favorite local bookstore...and don't forget your library!

 

Blackmail is Such an Ugly Word…

 

In The Missing Missives, the seventh book in The Ladies of Almack's series, questions are answered...but more are asked.

Poor Annabel is still reeling from the shock of being cut dead by Quin when she receives a summons to a special investigation by the Lady Patronesses of a highly sensitive nature. Someone has stolen letters written by Princess Amelia, George III’s youngest daughter, to her secret love, and is threatening to send them to the king unless a substantial payment is made. Worse yet, the king’s health is so precarious that such a shock might send him back into madness. The Ladies need to find the blackmailer and get those letters, but nothing is as simple as it seems here.

This is a story of contrasts—the high emotion of Annabel dealing with Quin’s rejection and the sheer silliness of the lovelorn pigeon whom Annabel tries to help…and oddly enough (or perhaps not so oddly), everything is somehow connected. There’s a lot going on here, and the foundation for the remainder of the series is revealed—a little. And I should really stop teasing now…

The Missing Missives can be purchased directly from the publisher, Book View Café, in both EPUB and MOBI formats as well as from all the usual online bookstore outlets. Print versions can be found at Barnes and Noble and Amazon via the link below. And you can read a sample here.

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Happy reading!

 

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.

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Enjoy!

* * * * *

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).

A River Runs Through It: Turmoil on the Thames is here!

 

The Ladies of Almack’s embark on a watery adventure this month: Turmoil on the Thames releases today!

It’s the Fourth of June, the annual (if unofficial) celebration of the birthday of the King at Eton. Annabel is very much looking forward to attending, along with most of the fashionable portion of London: her elder son, William, will be rowing in the boat race, and picnics and fireworks festively conclude the day. But celebration nearly turns to lamentation until Annabel and Lord Quinceton (you knew he had to be there) avert tragedy…and the Ladies are left wondering how it happened, and what might happen next…

It was fascinating to research the Fourth of June, which became one of THE events of the social season through the 19^th century and is still celebrated to this day at Eton. It was also fun to start developing Annabel and Lord Quinceton’s relationship, and begin to set up circumstances and drop hints about later events in the series.

Have I wetted—ahem!—whetted your appetite? 

Turmoil on the Thames can be purchased directly from my publisher, Book View Café, in both EPUB and MOBI formats as well as from all the usual online bookstore outlets. Print versions can be found at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

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Happy reading!

The Volume Vanishes (But the Ladies Will Find It!)

 

The Ladies of Almack’s are back again, this time investigating mysterious book disappearances in The Vanishing Volume.

 Here’s the blurb:

In the second installment of The Ladies of Almack’s series, all of London is enthralled by E.C. Spruce’s latest three-volume novel, The Fifty Shades of Udolpho...until the third volume begins vanishing from bookshops and bedside tables alike, leaving readers dangling and desperate to know what happens next. The Lady Patronesses of Almack’s investigate, with unexpected results—and an unexpected new friendship for Annabel...or perhaps two friendships, if she’ll only admit it...

I’ll admit that I had way too much fun writing this story. There’s a guest appearance by Miss Allardyce from my Leland Sisters books, age 5, and a sneaky homage to another character from one of my all-time favorite books. There are books and bookstores and book fan-girls and a medieval—nope, not going to spill the beans. 😊

The Vanishing Volume can be purchased directly from Book View Café in both EPUB and MOBI, as well as from all the usual online bookstore outlets. Print versions can be found at Barnes and Noble and Amazon (and pardon me for crowing, but the print versions are simply adorable grouped together on a shelf.) You can also read an excerpt on my website.

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Amazon (affiliate link)

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The Forgery Furore is Here!

The Forgery Furore, first book in The Ladies of Almack’s series, is out today!

Young widow Annabel Chalfont, Countess of Fellbridge, has two small sons to raise, a mountain of her late husband's debts to pay off, and a secret: she's a shadow-shaper, able to manipulate shadow as anyone else might clay. She and six other high-born ladies with equally extraordinary abilities defend England against supernatural crime--but the world knows them only as the Lady Patronesses of Almack's, Regency London's most exclusive social venue.

The social season of 1810 starts out like any other year, but a sudden influx of strangers to Almack's exclusive balls means only one thing: someone is forging vouchers, and the evidence points to Annabel. And if finding the forger and clearing her name aren't challenging enough, there's dealing with her husband's old crony, the Marquess of Quinceton, and his hungry wolf stare...

The idea for a series of Regency-set stories featuring the Lady Patronesses of Almack’s as supernatural crime fighters came to me years ago. I’ve worked on it on and off for a long time, but it was only in the last couple of years that all of my ideas around it coalesced into an actual coherent series rather than a set of vaguely linked stories.

The Ladies of Almack’s mixes actual figures and events with my own characters and “speculation” on what might have happened behind the history we know about. Annabel and her fellow Lady Patronesses will go through many adventures together, eventually saving England from a dastardly Napoleonic plot…but of course, there’s a slow-burn romance wrapped up in it as well, along with (I hope) some light-hearted fun.

You can read the first chapter of The Forgery Furore on my website…and if you’d like a further taste of the Ladies of Almack’s, my short story “Just Another Quiet Evening at Almack’s” can be downloaded from BookFunnel by my newsletter subscribers.

Look for the second Ladies of Almack’s adventure, The Vanishing Volume, on April 5…and for their further adventures at the beginning of each month. All are available direct from the publisher, Book View Cafe, as well as from Amazon (affiliate link), Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple, and Smashwords, and in print from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.