Good Morning,
Only one more week and we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ! Are you ready? I am. It's been an exciting Lent for me and I'm ready to celebrate and commit. Today my Angel Girl (granddaughter) turns 17 and she's getting a surprise gift, another reason to celebrate. I can't wait to see her face. Might share pictures soon either here or in my newsletter so please be sure and sign up to receive it.
Our guest today is brand new to me and our blog so let's give Caroline Warfield a huge ...
W-E-L-C-O-M-E!
Eight
All-new Stories, One Catastrophic Storm
When a storm blows off the North Sea and slams into the village of Fenwick on Sea, the villagers prepare for the inevitable: shipwreck, flood, land slips, and stranded travelers. The Queen’s Barque Inn quickly fills with the injured, the devious, and the lonely—lords, ladies, and simple folk; spies, pirates, and smugglers all trapped together. Intrigue crackles through the village, and passion lights up the hotel. Grace Burrowes and Mary Lancaster lead a team of eight authors. Caroline Warfield enthusiastically joins in.
“The Tender Flood,” is Caroline Warfield’s
contribution to Storm & Shelter.
Among
the refugees who seek refuge at the Queen’s Barque are Patience Abney who
offers to work for the innkeeper, cleaning rooms, to pay for herself and the
six little boys she brought with her, and Zachary Newell, a coachman sleeps
above the stables and eats in tap room. Neither is entirely what they seem.
The
story
Neither battle nor loss of his leg destroyed Zachery Newell. Working as a coachman, he tries to build a life in spite of his injuries, while he plans for the sort of life he knew in childhood, happy and content above his father’s print shop, but when a woman races out of the storm and into the stable yard of The Queen’s Barque with a wagon full of small boys, puppies, and a bag of books, he is enchanted.
Dismissed by a charity school, Patience Abney struggles on her own to create The Academy for the Formation of Young Gentlemen to give every boy a happy and productive life. Now the roof has caved in. Though she managed to get her boys to the safety of an inn, she has no idea how she will rebuild.
Zach knows Patience, the granddaughter of an earl, is far above the touch of shopkeeper’s son. He tries to keep his distance, but when the two of them make their way across the flooded marsh to her damaged school in search of a missing boy, attraction grows into passion, complicating everything.
An
excerpt:
Two things struck him as the wagon
lurched to a halt in the shelter of the barn. The wagon’s cargo stirred and
shifted under an old patchwork quilt, and the driver, who scrambled down and
swept off the ugly hat, was no boy. No lad had eyes so warm and brown, lashes
so long, or so glorious a fall of hair; she held him transfixed.
“I need to talk to Mr. Brewster!”
The tiny bit of a woman cast wide, frightened eyes up at him as if he could
produce the innkeeper. “The road collapsed above town; it gave way and slid
down just as we passed.”
“If we were two minutes later,
we’d’ve all been tossed into the sea!” The boy who sat with her jumped down beside
her. This one, definitely a lad, looked to be fourteen or so.
Mallet set a hand on Zach’s
shoulder. “I’ll alert the innkeeper while Jamie tries to wake a groom. You do
what you can for the lady and her, er, cargo.”
Zach nodded without looking at his
departing passengers, his attention still transfixed on the woman: rum,
exhaustion, and a pair of deep brown eyes making it hard to think. One word
finally wormed its way into his consciousness. “All?”
He followed her gaze to where the
boy pulled back the wet blanket over the bed of the wagon. Five pairs of eyes
stared back at Zach, five boys soaked to the skin, and shaken with terror.
“Are we safe now, Miss Patience?”
one asked, his voice quivering.
“We are indeed safe, Walter, as I promised we would be,” the woman said with confidence. Only Zach heard her add “Thank God,” under her breath.
You
can buy it at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08L9X3TGF/
9 comments:
This looks like an amazing collection.
Thank you so much for having me, Pam.
What fun collection. I loved your excerpt, Caroline.
I've read this whole story (one of the perks of being an author in this collection!) and I can tell you it's wonderful.
This sounds like an interesting collection and your story sounds as though it would have lots of heart and warmth.
I collect all things owl. My camper is named 2HOOTS so I'm enamored as well. Thanks for sharing. Best of luck. Donna 🦉
What a fascinating excerpt! It sound like a lovely collection of stories. Best of luck with your release.
Great post Caroline. Pamela, thank you for hosting one of the Belles. We had a terrific time writing this collection and are eager for readers to enjoy as well.
The book sounds wonderful. And what a gorgeous cover! Congrats and best wishes!
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