Now We're Cookin'!

We certainly are! I’m delighted to announce that Book View Café’s first cookbook, BVC Eats: Recipes from the Authors of Book View Café, which I co-edited with fellow BVC author Shannon Page, is out today.

So why did a bunch of fantasy and science fiction and mystery and romance writers decide to publish a cookbook? Several reason, actually...the main one being that most of us love to cook. After all, cooking is as much a creative endeavor as writing is, and writers tend to have an itch to create more than just stories: we knit, sew, quilt, carve, paint, draw…and cook. Over the years we’ve published dozens of recipes on our blog, and as a way to commemorate our fifteenth year in business, a cookbook seemed like a fun way to celebrate.

The fun part is that this isn’t just a collection of recipes. Each contributor has prefaced their recipes by an origin story, the inspiration for the recipe, or a memorable occasion at which they served it. It’s as enjoyable to read as it is to cook from, whether you wish to make cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, a Sunday brunch, an elegant dinner, a pig roast, or what's being served on Mars at a well-known girls’ school.

BVC Eats is releasing exclusively from Book View Café until November 20, when it will be available from all the usual online bookstores and in print. We hope you’ll check it out, because in this case, good eating is also good eating.

Cinderella Meets Her Handsome Logger

The third book in my Frontier Matches series, Frontier Cinderella, launched April 17. I wasn’t sure who to match with the crowned prince of the loggers, Harry Yeager. If you’ve followed the series, and the Frontier Bachelors series that preceded it, you may recall that Harry has courted several ladies, and lost them all! For someone so sure of himself, and for a fellow who is such a prime specimen, those losses had to go down hard.

And then Katie Jo McAllister walked onto the scene in Her Frontier Sweethearts. Shy, quiet, and used to making her own way in a man’s world, Katie Jo has admired Harry much in the way we might admire a Renoir painting—gorgeous to look at but far above what we could pay. And then something amazing happens.

Katie Jo McAllister never considered herself a prim and fussy sort of gal. Men are more likely to ask her help in chopping down a tree than taking a turn on the dancefloor. But when Katie Jo stands up with her friend, Ciara O’Rourke, at her wedding, all gussied up, suddenly every man in miles is angling for an introduction. Even the area’s most eligible bachelor, Harry Yeager, who has ignored her for months, comes calling. It’s enough to give even a strong gal a case of the vapors!

After being orphaned young and passed around among relatives, Harry Yeager is determined to start his own family. He has the claim, the cabin, and the income to support a wife and children. In an area with eight bachelors to every unmarried woman, finding the wife has proven problematic. But the sweet-natured Katie Jo McAllister just might be the perfect bride to rule beside him in his little frontier kingdom.

When danger comes calling along with a host of suitors, Katie Jo finds herself turning to Harry for help. But can he see the heart of the woman beneath all her finery, a heart that beats for him alone?

You can find ebook and print at my own bookstore, fine online retailers, and bookstores near you:

My store 

Smashwords 

Amazon (affiliate link) 

Barnes and Noble 

Apple Books 

Kobo  

Bookshop (benefitting local bookstores) 

Books-a-Million   

Enjoy!

Beguiling the Bodyguard

Fortune the cat is back with another set of matches to make, this time with the Batavarian Imperial Guards. These four elite soldiers find themselves up to their medals in romance and adventure as they start new lives in Regency England. First up is Finn Huber.

When Finn was released from his duties to his king and crown prince, he never dreamed his first position in England would be bodyguard to a governess whose sweet nature calls to him. He fell for a lady he was guarding years ago, with devastating consequences. He learned the hard way that bodyguards must be vigilant, valiant, and in control, always. Loving who they guard is strictly forbidden.

Governess Abigail Winchester beguiles her charges with warm smiles and gentle words, but her composure is hard won. Someone knows about her connection to a family scandal and is bent on destroying her. How kind of her benefactress, Lady Belfort, to hire Finn to keep her safe as she hides at the lady’s country estate. He is everything a lady might admire, but she cannot give in to her growing feelings for him. Finn’s honor and her past can never be reconciled.

But Lady Belfort and her cat, Fortune, are renowned for making matches—in employment and in romance. With their help, Finn and Abigail must uncover who is threatening her and stop the villain before it’s too late. In the end, will honor or love prevail?

5 Stars! “Well written, engaging, and does not slow down.” The Huntress Reviews

You can find Never Beguile a Bodyguard at fine online retailers and bookstores near you as well as directly from me! My store has ebook versions of all my books published through Edwards and Williams, delivered via Book Funnel. Or try

Smashwords 

Amazon 

Barnes and Noble 

Apple Books 

Kobo  

An independent bookstore near you (paperback) 

Books-A-Million 

The Book Depository, free shipping worldwide

Launching a Lord

I have loved Petunia Bateman since the day she walked on screen as the youngest sister of Sir Matthew Bateman in Never Kneel to a Knight. She was outspoken, bighearted, and intrigued by the world around her. That hasn’t changed now that she’s all grown up and the heroine of her own story!

Spunky Petunia Bateman may be a commoner, but she is far from common. Anyone who cannot appreciate that is not worth her time. Then her best friend’s fiancé, the deposed crown prince of Batavaria, awards her a title, and the man she once loved decides she might be worth another look. Think again, sir!

Lord Ashforde had considered the lovely Miss Bateman for his bride three years ago. But his family history convinced Ash that cool heads and calm demeanors must prevail. There is nothing cool and calm about his feelings for Petunia, which have only grown since he rashly decided against her. But can he convince her, and himself, to give their love another try?

When the prince asks Petunia to persuade Ash to take up their cause to see their kingdom restored, the two are thrown together, and the enemies of Batavaria take note. Can love blossom amid skullduggery? Especially with an unlikely couple that might be made for each other?

The book is available in print and ebook at fine online retailers and soon a bookstore near you:

Smashwords 

Amazon (affiliate link)

Barnes and Noble 

Kobo  

Apple Books 

FYI—Marissa and I will be out November 22, celebrating Thanksgiving week with family and friends. Hope you have an opportunity to do the same. Be sure to catch Marissa’s post next week, and come back on November 29 for a special guest post by the amazing Alissa Baxter!

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!

 

Baking Her Frontier Sweethearts

I have featured recipes and dinners—from elaborate multi-course events to simple fare cooked over a campfire—in many of my books. But Her Frontier Sweethearts, out now, was the first time I dreamed up an entire restaurant, complete with menus! I hope you’ll enjoy returning with me to the frontier of the Pacific Northwest in 1876.

Ciara O’Rourke learned to bake sweet treats from the best, her older sister. Now determined to step out on her own, she agrees to start the first cookhouse and restaurant at Wallin Landing, a tiny settlement north of frontier Seattle. But nothing goes as planned, from the local loggers, who seem more interested in courting than being paying customers, to the baby who’s thrust into her arms by a stranger who rides off whispering warnings. 

Kit Weatherly sailed away from his controlling family on a tea clipper to explore the world. He’s since found a true family in the Wallin Landing logging crew. That is, until the pretty new cook informs him he’s uncle to a niece he never knew he had! One look in little Grace’s face, and Kit knows he’ll do anything to protect her. And one taste of Ciara’s cooking has him wondering what he’d have to do to convince her to take a chance on them both.

“Her Frontier Sweethearts was a winner for me. I love books about protecting children and books about fake engagements so this was a special treat for me. A+” Hott Book Reviews 

You can find the story in print and ebook at fine online retailers such as

Smashwords 
Amazon 
Barnes and Noble 
Apple Books 
Kobo 

Make your reservation for a sweet treat today.

The Ladies Have Triumphed!

Tomorrow, the third book in my Regency steampunk alt-history adventure with Shelley Adina, The Lady’s Triumph, launches! I can hardly wait for the book to be in reader hands. The series was so much fun to write!

After their daring adventures behind enemy lines in France, Loveday Penhale and Celeste Blanchard cannot settle into everyday life at home. Has the Tinkering Prince forgotten them entirely? What of the prize he promised? Then, with the flourish of a royal messenger’s hand, their lives are changed. Not only have they won the prize, they are to join the Prince’s Own Engineers in London!

They must overcome many a stone in the path, however—leave all they love, find a suitable house, and worst of all, cope with a chaperone—before they can take their rightful places among the most intelligent and forward-thinking minds in the kingdom. Their goal? To develop an airborne fleet that will end Napoleon’s dreams of conquering England forever.

But the saboteur who has been plaguing their efforts for months has not yet been caught. And along with battling for acceptance among the engineers, tiptoeing closer to falling in love, and receiving invitations to Almack’s, they must discover the traitor’s identity … before the Prince Regent steps forward to command the fleet and finds himself playing right into Napoleon’s hands.

Rest assured, all threads are tied up, including the romances! You can find the story in ebook and shortly in print at fine online retailers like the following:

Amazon (affiliate link)   

Apple Books 

Barnes and Noble 

Kobo 

Google Play 

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!

* * * * *

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 Pilot Launches!

Ready for some more steampunk Regency adventure? Tomorrow, July 27, sees the launch of The Prince’s Pilot, the second book in the Regent’s Devices trilogy, and I can’t wait for you to see what Loveday Penhale and Celeste Blanchard are up to now!

Napoleon’s invasion of England is hidden in the clouds…

It is 1819, and Cornwall is agog at the daring of the two young lady aeronauts who, earlier in the summer, flew nearly to France and back in their homemade air ship. Much more is riding on Loveday Penhale and Celeste Blanchard’s new and improved vessel—they plan to win the Tinkering Prince’s prize, offered to anyone who can help England win the war against Napoleon.

To their dismay, they must take two local gentlemen aloft to report on the ship’s capabilities. While Captain Trevelyan and Emory Thorndyke are welcome in drawing room and ballroom, their presence on the air ship proves disastrous. Wildly off course, Loveday barely manages to bring the vessel down safely—in France! Now it is up to the gentlemen to keep the newly designed ship hidden while Loveday and Celeste secure supplies for its repair from Celeste’s former home, l’Ecole des Aéronautes in far-off Paris.

But much has changed since Celeste left the capital, and enemies lurk in its very walls. With her famous aeronaut mother dead in suspicious circumstances, and the flight school closed, there is only one thing to do—make up a story about her absence and approach Napoleon himself. He promptly makes Celeste his Chief Air Minister, and commands her to plan the invasion of England by air. Can she and Loveday stay alive in this nest of vipers long enough to help their stranded friends? Before they are unmasked as spies—and before their beautiful air ship is captured and used to attack England?

“Steampunk, historical fiction, and the wits of two amazing authors blend seamlessly to give readers an adventure that will long linger in their minds. I can hardly wait to find out what happens in the next episode.” Huntress Reviews

You can find the book in ebook and print at fine online retailers like

Amazon (affiliate link) 

Apple Books 

Kobo 

Barnes and Noble 

Google Play 

And look for the thrilling conclusion in The Lady’s Triumph, coming in September!

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.

Book View Cafe

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Kobo

Smashwords

Apple

Happy reading!

Romancing the Rogue

I’m having such fun delving back into my Fortune’s Brides world, and so are readers! This week, the third book in Fortune’s Brides: The Wedding Vow, launches, with a heroine who is young, but I hope, delightful. Here's a little about Never Romance a Rogue:

No one has ever refused a request from Lady Belle Dryden. Her pretty face and winsome nature almost guarantee it, and the fact that she’s the youngest daughter of the Duke of Wey doesn’t hurt. So she’s certain when she plays matchmaker between her dearest friend, Miss Petunia Bateman, and the charming, mysterious Owen Canady, both will be only too happy to fall in love. After all, Belle feels herself falling for Owen already. A shame a duke’s daughter must marry someone more impressive.

Owen Canady is a gentleman by birth, a pauper by circumstance, and a con man by necessity. Life has taught him he can rely only on his wits and a fast horse to get by. But when he is blackmailed into ferreting out the secrets of the Duke of Wey at a house party at the duke’s lavish estate, he finds his resolve crumbling. Belle is everything that is right and good in the world. He cannot betray her.

As her father’s enemies grow more daring, Belle and Owen must work together to protect all they hold dear. When his own secrets are revealed, can Owen convince the lady who’s never heard no to say yes to him?

Hott Book Reviews gave it an A+. “Wow! I loved Never Romance a Rogue. I can’t wait until the next one!”

You can find it in print and ebook at fine online retailers:

Smashwords 

Amazon 

Barnes and Noble 

Kobo  

Apple Books 

Book Depository (free shipping worldwide) 

Stolen for a Song?

It’s the beginning of the month, which means it is time for the next installment in the Ladies of Almack’s series, Lyrics and Larceny.

In Lyrics and Larceny, we meet Lady Patroness and shadow-shaper Annabel Fellbridge’s cousin Hartley, who has been shaken from his self-absorbed ways by Demetria Pouli, a bewitching Greek soprano who is taking London by storm. When a rash of jewel thefts seems to accompany her recitals, Annabel fears Demetria may not be what she seems. As it happens, she isn’t—but a happily-ever-after for Hartley and Demetria isn’t necessarily out of the question, thanks to the Ladies of Almack’s…

I’ve made use of my fondness for classical mythology in this story, as you will see…and have dropped a few hints that another figure from classical mythology—a little boy equipped with bow and arrows—might be making an appearance soon. I hope you’ll enjoy this latest story in the series: it’s light-hearted fun for not-so-light-hearted times.

Lyrics and Larceny 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. (affiliate links may be used)

Book View Cafe

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Kobo

Smashwords

Apple

In addition, the next three books in the series are available for pre-order at all vendors, so if you're enjoying them, you can grab ’em now. Happy reading!