Guest Review - - No Place for a Dame

No Place for a Dame

By Connie Brockway

Publisher:  Montlake Romance

Release Date: December 1, 2013

The thing I adore about a Connie Brockway book is the guaranteed surprise I’m sure to find in every single one of them.   Whether it’s a twist of phrase, a word choice, a quirky character, or an unusual plot development, Brockway never fails to give me this gift.

What’s more, she draws her readers in with a particularly polished skill I like to call “the vulnerability of character” lure—a vulnerability that is so relatable, so fragile, yet both tragic and humorous, I can’t get out of her books until I’ve scarfed the pages down in one sitting.  

No Place for a Dame is no exception.

Avery Quinn, beautiful and brilliant but of no standing in society, has a deal to propose to her late guardian’s handsome heir, Giles, Lord Strand:  she will save him from a disastrous marriage if he promises to present her to the Royal Astronomical Society.

And he must present her dressed as a boy since the Astronomical Society only includes male members. 

And, actually, she proposes this deal after she saves Giles from said disastrous engagement.   Hopefully he’ll accept (and hopefully he didn’t want to marry his pea-brained fiancée in the first place).

Giles has always had a thing for redheads so when his late father’s beautiful crimson-haired ward tells him of her ridiculous scheme he has trouble refusing her.   But then again, he’s always had trouble refusing her.   And, perhaps, it was Avery who first introduced him to his penchant for redheads.   Meanwhile, he’ll strive to ignore her while he looks for a missing colleague.   And how hard will ignoring her be?  She’ll be dressed as a man and he has more important things to attend to. 

With biting repartee and moments that had me both cackling and sighing, Brockway has paid worthy homage to a favorite character first introduced some 15 years ago in her beloved novel, All Through the Night.      

And if my review hasn’t convinced you to buy No Place for a Dame
immediately, perhaps these two paragraphs will—found within the first 15 pages, no less: 

            The morning sun had burnished his golden head as he rode up the lane, lithe and graceful, his face alive with the pleasure of homecoming, his gaze traveling with pride over Killylea’s ancient façade.  He must have felt her gaze for he’d looked up and spotted her.   She’d frozen, red-faced at having been caught spying, and scowled down at him because she hated feeling awkward.  Then he’d compounded the injury by winking at her.  Winking.

                  It had been Avery’s first experience with masculine charm and it proved a disconcerting one.  She could not explain it—it was ineluctable, mysterious, and confusing—and even at such a tender age she had distrusted anything she could not explain.  It also irritated her.  He wore the unassailable certainty of his own consequence with as little self-consciousness as another man wears shoes and used his magnetism as easily as another breathed, and she’d despised herself for falling prey to it after just one wink just like everyone else, because she was not like everyone else.

            As I said.   “The vulnerability of character” lure!  

~J. Perry Stone

New Releases for December

December is finally here! The hustle and bustle of the holiday season is upon us and keeping us all busy. As crazy and stressful as it can get, don’t forget to take time for yourself and, well, read a good book! J There are so many to choose from this month. 

I have read Twilight with the Infamous Earl by Alexandra Hawkins and thought it was the perfect ending to Hawkins’s Lords of Vice series! Right now, I am reading No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean and I can already tell it will be a Top Read for 2013 for me! Wow! So good! I’m looking forward to Suzanne Enoch’s The Devil Wears Kilts and Erin McCarthy’s Full Throttle. 

Which December releases have you read? Of those, which ones do you recommend? Which ones are you most looking forward to reading? Tell us and one lucky commenter will win a random book from my prize stash!

Until January, happy reading!

 

 

Historical 

Dangerous Seduction – Zoë Archer

Close to the Wind – Zana Bell
No Place for a Dame – Connie Brockway

Shadowdance – Kristen Callihan (Paranormal)

Legend of the Highland Dragon – Isabel Cooper (Paranormal)

Daughters of the Nile – Stephanie Dray (Historical Fiction)

The Devil Wears Kilts – Suzanne Enoch

Gentlemen Prefer Mischief – Emily Greenwood

Twilight with the Infamous Earl – Alexandra Hawkins

The Pirate Bride – Sandra Hill

Highland Master – Hannah Howell

Wicked Little Secrets – Susanna Ives

Everlasting Enchantment – Kathryne Kennedy (Paranormal)

Falling for the Highland Rogue – Ann Lethbridge

No Good Duke Goes Unpunished – Sarah MacLean

Running from Scandal – Amanda McCabe

The Pursuit of Mary Bennet – Pamela Mingle (Historical Fiction)

The Heart of a Duke – Victoria Morgan

Not Just a Wallflower – Carole Mortimer

The Housemaid’s Daughter – Barbara Mutch (Historical Fiction)

The New Countess – Fay Weldon (Historical Fiction)

The Texas Ranger’s Heiress Wife – Kate Welsh

Stowaway Bride – Adrianne Wood 

 

Contemporary 

Welcome Back to the Apple Grove – C.H. Admirand

Just Like Heaven – Lacey Baker

Out to Lonch – Stacey Ballis (Women’s Fiction)

Strong Heat – Niobia Bryant

Suddenly Royal – Nichole Chase

Suspicious Ways – Lexxie Couper

Sea of Love – Susan Donovan

Undressing Mr. Darcy –Karen Doornebos (Women’s Fiction)

Secrets on Cedar Key – Terri DuLong (Women’s Fiction)

The Chocolate Heart – Laura Florand

Finally Home – Lois Greiman (Women’s Fiction)

Morning Glory – Sarah Jio (Women’s Fiction)

Ten Reasons Not to Date a Cop – Amie Louellen

Full Throttle – Erin McCarthy

The Oieces We Keep – Kristina McMorris (Women’s Fiction)

In the Night of Time – Antonio Muñoz Molina (Women’s Fiction)

So Irresistible – Lisa Plumley

Searching for Someday – Jennifer Probst

Things We Set on Fire – Deborah Reed (Women’s Fiction)

Foolish Games – Tracy Solheim

Temptation Bay – Anna Sullivan

Cowboys & Angels – Vicki Lewis Thompson

Naughty Christmas Nights – Tawny Weber

Drifter’s Heart – Karen Wiesner

Nothing to Lose – Angela Winters (Women’s Fiction)

Conduct Unbecoming – L.A. Witt

Delicious – Lori Foster, Lucy Monroe, Sarah Title

No Place Like Home – Linda Lael Miller, Kat Martin, Mary Carter, Laura Florand 

 

YA/Teen 

Pawn – Aimée Carter (Futuristic)

Snakeroot – Andrea Cremer (Paranormal)

Crystal Fire – Jordan Dane (Paranormal)

Pushed – Corrine Jackson (Paranormal)

Racing Savannah – Miranda Kenneally

Crash Into You – Katie McGarry

True Story – Ni-Ni Simone

Elect – Rachel Van Dyken (New Adult, e-book)

Rain of the Ghosts – Greg Weisman

These Broken Stars – Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner (Sci-Fi) 

 

Romantic Suspense 

Law Man – Kristen Ashley

Hot Pursuit – Jo Davis

Hard as It Gets – Laura Kaye

Phoenix Legacy – Corrina Lawson

Down Range – Lindsay McKenna

Deep Rising – N.R. Rhodes

Wake to Darkness – Maggie Shayne 

 

Paranormal 

Real Vampires Know Size Matters – Gerry Bartlett

Dark Wolf Running – Rhyannon Byrd

The Accidental Werewolf 2: Something About Harry – Dakota Cassidy

Edge of Darkness – J.T. Geissinger

Prince of Shadows – Tes Hilaire

Unclaimed – Sara Humphreys

Reaver – Larissa Ione

The Grove – Jean Johnson

Nightmaster – Susan Krinard

Warrior Untamed – Melissa Mayhue

Dragon Awakened – Jaime Rush 

 

Urban Fantasy 

Flamebound – Tessa Adams

Lightning Rod – Vaughn R. Demont

Darklove – Elle Jasper

Alien Research – Gini Koch

Kicking It – Multi-author anthology 

 

Erotica/Erotic Romance 

Texas Surrender – Delilah Devlin

All He Needs – C.C. Gibbs

Unrestrained – Joey W. Hill

Three Wicked Wishes – Raina James

Breathe – Lauren Jameson

Necromaning Nim – Katriena Knights

Restless Spirit – Sommer Marsden

Bound by an Angel – Mackenzie McKade

For Desire Alone – Jess Michaels

There All Along – Lauren Dane & Megan Hart

Today's Special - - Tracy Solheim

Today, we welcome back Tracy Solheim and her Foolish Games Blog Tour.  Tracy has written her share of best sellers and note-worthy books. Unfortunately most of them line the shelves of dusty government offices around the world never to see the light of day. She hopes to change that with her series of contemporary romantic fiction novels published by Berkley Books.

“I guess you could say I’m a frustrated sports writer at heart, but I love writing—and reading—books centered around sports. I can thank my dad for that. He introduced me to Dick Francis novels when I was a teenager and I was hooked. I am also a big fan of the happily ever after endings of romance novels, so it was only natural that I combined the two elements in my fiction debut.”

To find out more about Tracy Solheim, visit her at:

Website: http://www.tracysolheim.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TracySolheimBooks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TracyKSolheim

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6519003.Tracy_Solheim

Five Fun Facts about Foolish Games

          I’m a journalist in my real life, so I try to ensure that my books are factually correct.  Here are some of the fun facts associated with my latest release, Foolish Games:

5.         The town of Second Chances, North Carolina is based on the real town of Southport, North Carolina.  Yep, it’s the same one where Nicholas Sparks based Safe Haven.  But I saw it first, Nick!  My family and I have vacationed in Southport for nearly twenty years and my mom is a permanent resident there.  Stop by and visit sometime.  Just don’t look for any of the shops or inns I mention in the book.  I made them all up.  It’s what I do.

4.         The real Bountygate was an incident in which several defensive players on the NFL's New Orleans Saints were accused of operating a slush fund that paid out bonuses, or "bounties", for in-game performance in violation of NFL rules. It marked the first time in modern NFL history that a head coach (Saints coach, Sean Payton) has been suspended for any reason. 

3.         Gwen Stefani really does have a line of clothes for kids.  It’s called Harajuku Mini and the pants are decorated with french fries and cheeseburgers.  It’s true although I don’t think the clothes are meant to be edible.

2.         Bald Head Island was where Weekend at Bernie’s (1989) was filmed, as well as The Butcher’s Wife (1991), and Pirate Kids II: The Search for the Silver Skull (2006).  I haven’t seen the other two, but Weekend at Bernie’s is classic in my house.

1.         Yes, Brody Janik gets his own story!  It’s called Risky Game and it will be released May 6, 2014.

Readers, do you enjoy sports-themed romances?  What are some of your favorites? Has reading a romance ever caused you to visit a certain place such as the town of Second Chances a/k/a Southport, North Carolina?

Tracy is giving away a $50 Amazon gift card and signed copies of GAME ON and FOOLISH GAMES to one random blog tour winner.

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SOMETIMES THE BEST DEFENSE IS A STRONG OFFENSE….

Bridal gown designer, Julianne Marchione knows better than to lose her head at a client’s wedding.  But much to her embarrassment, a mix of migraine medication and a smoking hot football player lead to a steamy one night stand resulting in a surprise pregnancy. Julianne has every intention of leaving her NFL hookup far in the past until her son, Owen, is born with a life-threatening blood disorder that requires a transfusion—and Julianne is not a match.

Will “William the Conqueror” Connelly grew up tough shouldering the stigma of being a bastard child born on the wrong side of the tracks.  He refuses to let any child face the same discrimination. When he finds out about Owen, he’s furious that Julianne kept his son a secret. But when he sees her again at the hospital, he realizes that his feelings for her go far beyond anger.

Will insists that Owen recuperate at his home in North Carolina, and he’s adamant that Julianne become his wife—even if it’s only a temporary marriage in name only. But will their simmering attraction ever lead to a real connection?  Or are they just playing foolish games?

Amazon- http://www.amazon.com/Foolish-Games-Tracy-Solheim/dp/0425266648

B&N- http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/foolish-games-tracy-solheim/1114829738

iBooks- https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/foolish-games/id620239146

Books-a-million- http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Foolish-Games/Tracy-Solheim/9780425266649

indiebound- http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780425266649

Powell’s- http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9780425266649-0

Tour Schedule:

November 24- Ramblings From This Chick http://ramblingsfromthischick.blogspot.com/

November 26- Herding Cats and Burning Soup http://www.herdingcats-burningsoup.com

November 27- SOS Aloha  http://www.sosaloha.blogspot.com/

November 29- The Book Pushers  http://thebookpushers.com/

November 30- Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance http://romancingrakes4theluvofromance.blogspot.com/

December 2- What I’m Reading http://sillymelody.blogspot.com/

December 3- Book Binge http://bookbinge.com/

December 5- The Romance Dish  http://www.theromancedish.com/

December 6- Stitch Read Cook  http://www.stitchreadcook.com/

(STOP 2) - Seductive Musings http://seductivemusings.blogspot.com/

December 7- Give Me Books http://givemebooksblog.blogspot.com.au/

December 8- Eclectic Passions http://eclecticpassionsbc.blogspot.com/

December 10- The Book Queen’s Palace  http://tbqspersonalbookpalace.blogspot.com/

December 11- Ms Romantic Reads http://msromanticreads.wordpress.com/

December 12- Cocktails and Books http://www.cocktailsandbooks.com/

December 13- Rookie Romance  http://rookieromance.blogspot.com/

December 14- Miss Ivy’s Book Nook http://seawitchreviewsfromthebookshelf.wordpress.com/

Today's Special - - Heather Ashby

We're delighted to welcome military romance author Heather Ashby back to the Romance Dish.  Heather is a Navy veteran who taught school and raised a family while accompanying her Navy husband around the United States, Japan, and the Middle East. In gratitude for her Army son’s safe return from Afghanistan and Iraq, she now writes military romance novels, donating half her royalties to causes that support wounded warriors and their families. Her debut novel, Forgive & Forget was voted “Best of 2013” by Suspense Magazine. She lives in Atlantic Beach, Florida with her husband and three rescue cats.

Please give Heather a warm welcome!

Well, What Do You Know?

Thanks for inviting me to The Romance Dish today, PJ. I always enjoy your blog, both as a visitor and a guest.

The best feedback I receive on my Navy romance novels is: “I learned a lot.” I, too, enjoy learning interesting information through settings and scenarios in novels. Two of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Essex and Rachel Grant, not only write with terrific voice, but I learn so much when I read their work.

Elizabeth Essex writes romance set in the 19^th Century Royal Navy. She holds a Masters Degree in Nautical Archeology and it shows in her work. Almost A Scandal hooked me as I read about everything from the heroine (who is impersonating a ship’s lad) scrambling up the rigging, to bowsprits and forecastles and mizzenmasts. I loved learning the derivation of cockpit when the disguised heroine is sent to sleep in “the dark area at the stern-most portion of the lower deck, where the midshipmen messed, hung their hammocks, and fought like bantam cocks.” Essex is masterful at putting the nautical speak in context so the reader is never “at sea,” but still gets the flavor of being on a 19th century ship.

Rachel Grant also has a background in Archeology—the land kind. I had no idea that architectural and engineering firms employ archaeologists, nor did I understand the type of work they do—besides digging up artifacts left by ancient cultures. In Grant’s steamy romantic suspense novel, Concrete Evidence, the heroine, Erica, must research a house that is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The house is made out of an historic concrete called Thermo-Con, which rises like bread dough after the pour. No one knows the history of the concrete, but Erica sleuths out its origins and its connection to a notable historical figure. Interestingly, Thermo-Con is real and the connection to the historical figure was based on Grant’s actual research.

I enjoy sharing my “Love in the Fleet” series with civilian readers so they can vicariously join the Navy and see what it's like to live and work at sea.  Many are shocked that my heroine in Forgive & Forget  has fifty cubic feet of personal living space aboard her aircraft carrier for a six-month duration. And that the space is under the runway of a major airport with jets taking off and landing on her roof at all hours of the day and night. Many are surprised that she isn’t allowed to “fraternize” with the hero because she is enlisted and he is an officer, but it makes for a perfect conflict in the story. Elizabeth Essex and Rachel Grant inspire me to work the military details into the context of my stories instead of inundating the reader with technical instruction.

My military advisor for Forget Me Not was a patient—and handsome—Navy helicopter pilot. It was difficult to pay attention on the days when he wore a flight suit, but I did manage to learn a great deal about drug interdiction. He explained how drug runners drive their go-fasts at night. A go-fast is a speedboat with multiple uber-expensive engines. The drug mules tarp up at sunrise and spend the day under blue tarpaulins that camouflage them with the ocean. Since their fiberglass boats don’t show up on radar, the helo crews have to go on visuals, like spotting wakes—which is why they run at night. This became the perfect scenario for my external conflict with my hero and his crew tangling with the drug mules.

Adding this firefight with the bad guys to an already hot and conflicted love story really ramped up the action. And while enjoying this suspenseful romance novel, I hope readers will learn about the scourge of the cocaine trade, helicopter operations, and hot helo pilots in flight suits along the way.

I’d love to hear what books or authors your readers enjoy because “they learn something while reading a good story.” I have a copy of Forget Me Not for one lucky commenter.

Suffering from Peter Pan Syndrome and survivor guilt, Navy helicopter pilot and renowned playboy, Brian “Skylark” Crawford, swears he’ll never marry, uncertain he deserves happiness—besides there are too many hot chicks to choose from. 

War widow and veterinarian, Daisy Schneider, swears to love only animals after her Marine pilot husband is killed in Afghanistan—but work fails to ease her loneliness or the guilt that she might have saved him. 

Between one stray, matchmaking cat and a fiery battle with drug runners at sea, the fur flies as Sky and Daisy learn valuable lessons about life, love, and second chances.

www.heatherashby.com

Twitter: www.@HAshbyAuthor

Facebook: Heather Ashby Author

Amazon: http://alturl.com/wb6ru

Spotlight on Kisses, She Wrote

 From award winning author Katharine Ashe, comes an enchanting Christmas novella about a shy but imaginative princess and the rakish Earl who could make all her wildest fantasies come true….

The Christmas season has never been so steamy.

Handsome as sin and scandalously rakish, Cam Westfall, the Earl of Bedwyr is every young lady's wickedest dream. Shy wallflower Princess Jacqueline Sensaire knows this better than anyone, because her dreams are full of the breathtaking earl's kisses. And not only her dreams--her diary too.

But when Cam discovers the maiden's not-so-maidenly diary, will her wildest Christmas wishes be fulfilled in its pages . . . or in his arms?

Excerpt from KISSES, SHE WROTE, A Christmas Romance by Katharine Ashe

“At least you won’t be at a significant disadvantage when you wed,” the princess said thoughtfully.

“Disadvantage?”

“There is . . .” Her voice trailed off. She looked out the window and tilted her head. Her stance was relaxed. This conversation did not, apparently, agitate her as it did him.

“Princess?”

“The thing is, I have never kissed a man,” she said and looked over her shoulder at him. “Will my husband be disappointed to discover that I have no knowledge of kissing?”

Cam’s throat had gone entirely dry. If she had no actual knowledge of kissing, she certainly had excellent intuition.

“Why do you ask me?”

“I cannot very well ask my brother. How horridly embarrassing that should be.” She scowled but her eyes twinkled.

“You might ask your ladies in waiting, or the Duchess of Lycombe.”

“How would they know the answer? They are women.”

He was nonplused. “Well . . .”

She turned to him fully. “You and I are friends, so I trust you will answer me honestly. I know you have considerable experience kissing women.”

His cravat had shrunk again. “Do you?”

She lifted a single, eloquent brow. She was far too intelligent for him, and far too forthright, and he was far too accustomed to consorting with females of much less acute minds and much baser characters. She was not now flirting with him but making a statement of fact.

He nodded in silent admission.

Both brows perked now, like the shimmering feathers of a raven. “So . . . ?”

“I should think that your husband would be delighted to teach you the finer points of kissing.” And learn a thing or two in the process.

“I suppose you may be correct about that. Men like to instruct women. I think it makes them feel more in control.”

He could not hide his amusement. “You don’t say?”

“Well, doesn’t it? You are a man.”

“Good of you to notice.”

“Do you like it when you feel in control of a woman?”

“I like it when a woman feels she is getting what she wants from me.”

Her fine, expressive eyes widened. Then, slowly, she turned to the pianoforte and began rearranging the music on the stand. Cam studied the clean sweep of her back to her gently curved hips and the straight set of her shoulders. She was not petite, not enticingly round, not anything he had ever desired in a woman. But merely looking at her back and knowing what she imagined of him — of them together — made his heartbeats hard.

“I should like to give it a try before I marry,” she said without turning around. Her voice was pitched a bit low. “Kissing, that is.” She glanced at him. Her cheeks were ever so slightly pink.

“Should you?” He suspected where this was going. He’d been the object of countless women’s flirtations. But never this woman. She confined her attentions to him safely in her diary.

This was a different woman before him now.

“Yes,” she said. “I think it would be a useful experience to take into marriage. Don’t you?” She turned her hungry gaze upon him . . .

Steal your own Christmas kiss with a $100 gift card to Sephora! Follow Katharine Ashe on Twitter, like her on Facebook, or leave a comment with a diary story of your own to enter for a chance to win!

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Get Lost in a Royal Kiss

I'm delighted to welcome back good friend and fantastic author, Vanessa Kelly! Vanessa is an award-winning author who was named by Booklist, the review journal of the American Library Association, as one of the "New Stars of Historical Romance." Her sensual, Regency-set historical romances have been nominated for awards in a number of contests, and her second book, Sex and The Single Earl, won the prestigious Maggie Medallion for Best Historical Romance. Vanessa's next series, The Renegade Royals, is due to hit the shelves in November with an introductory novella, Lost in a Royal Kiss. Book One in the series, Secrets For Seducing a Royal Bodyguard, will release in January, 2014, and Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom will be out in April, 2014.

When not dreaming of plots for her next Regency historical novel, Vanessa also writes USA Today Bestselling contemporary romance with her husband under the pen name of V.K. Sykes.  She's also a member of Rock*It Reads, a group of bestselling traditional authors who are self-publishing, and of The Jaunty Quills. 

website:  http://www.vanessakellyauthor.com

blog: http: //www.vanessakellyauthor.com/vanessa-blog/

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanessakellyauthor

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/VanessaKellyAut

goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2728107.Vanessa_Kelly

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/vanessakellyaut/

Jaunty Quills:  http://jauntyquills.com/

Excerpt from Lost in a Royal Kiss

Predictably, Sir Anthony resumed perusing her garb. His eyes glittered with masculine appreciation as they traveled over her, and a blush burned up her neck to her cheeks.

“You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here.” She pulled her wrapper more tightly around her, struggling since quite a bit of it had become trapped under her bottom. She let out a dismayed squeak when she glanced down and noticed that both night rail and wrapper were bunched up around her knees, leaving her feet and calves naked. She snapped her gaze back up to find Sir Anthony inspecting her bare legs.

“Yes,” he answered in a distracted voice. “I was just getting to that.”

Linnet wanted to squirm, but instead she wrapped her arms defensively around her body. That movement had the unfortunate effect of bringing his gaze up from her lower limbs, where it settled on her breasts. To her undying horror she could feel her nipples bead, instinctively pulling tight in response to his heavy-lidded gaze.

“I couldn’t sleep in this dreadful heat,” she said, jerking her arms up over her chest. “I thought I might find a book in Lady Farnsworth’s study to occupy my time.”

“Ah. That explains it.”

He sat on the bench, propping his shoulders into the corner of the bay, looking entirely at his ease. Linnet, however, was anything but, since the seat was not nearly big enough for both her and his powerful frame. She tried to edge backward, but had nowhere to go. His long legs stretched in front of her, blocking her in. If she wanted to escape, she’d practically have to leap over him.

But she didn’t want to escape, even though every moral precept she’d ever learned insisted she flee.

“Didn’t you have anything in your room?” he asked. “I brought your book back to the house this morning after your rather precipitous exit from the gazebo. I made certain the butler brought it to your room.”

Was he teasing her? He sounded amused, but she couldn’t really tell. If anyone had the ability to mask what he was thinking, it was Sir Anthony.

“Yes, thank you, but I was looking for something else,” she said in a polite voice. “Something that would help me to sleep.”

He tilted his head, studying her.

Definitely amused.

“And was it only the heat that kept you awake?” His voice held a husky note that made all her muscles want to go slack.

She shrugged. “I can’t think what else it could be.”

Her attempt at a casual gesture made her breasts jiggle under the light fabric of her nightclothes, and drew his attention back to her chest. She winced, painfully aware of her immodest appearance. Her lamentably plump breasts bordered on the indecent, and she always made sure to keep them chastely covered.

He reached out and trailed a finger along her shoulder to her neck. “I can think of one other reason why you couldn’t sleep, can’t you?”

Blog Tour Giveaway:  one ARC of SECRETS FOR SEDUCING A ROYAL BODYGUARD, Book one of The Renegade Royals series, per the total number of stops. (US/Canada only)

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ALL IT TAKES IS ONE KISS…

In this thrilling introduction to her Renegade Royals series, Vanessa Kelly transports readers to the court of King George III—where a London street urchin unwittingly plays Cupid, ushering in a new era—and ultimately a new kind of royal…

With her widowed mother working long hours as governess to the royal children, Linnet St. Clare must look after her siblings and run the household. Now she must add to her worries the fate of Dominic, a poor orphan who has inspired the wrath of the king himself. Clearly Linnet has no time to consider her own desires—much less notice the attentions of a certain handsome, powerful magistrate…

Sir Anthony Tait is at a loss for how to capture Linnet’s interest. If only she would be still long enough for courting. Outright seduction seems the only answer. But will his kisses be enough to persuade her—or might Anthony have something to learn from young Dominic about matters of the heart? And in saving the boy’s future, might Anthony and Linnet at last create their own?…