Here we are, Holy Thursday, the day leading up to the Last Supper. As I think about what this day means to me, I wonder....did I observe my Lenten practices as best I could? Was I successful? Did I learn anything new? To be honest, I didn't do as well as I'd hoped. Though not a complete failure, this is one year I'm happy to be Lent Free.
Today's guest is brand new to our blog and is the last of our eggcerpt exchange posts for me this year, so please welcome Alina K Field with her book, The Marquess and the Midwife, a Regency romance!
Finding the woman he lost turned out to be easy. Winning her is another matter.
Once upon a time, the younger brother of a marquess fell in love with his sister's companion. He was sent off to war, and she was just sent off, and they both landed in very different worlds.
Now Virgil Radcliffe has returned from his self-imposed exile on the Continent to take up his late brother's title and discover the whereabouts of the only woman he's ever loved.
Abandoned by her lover and dismissed by her employer, Ameline Dawes has found a respectable identity as a Waterloo widow, a new life as a midwife, and a safe, secure home for her twin girls. Called to London at Christmas to attend her benefactress's lying-in, she finds herself confronted by an unexpected house guest--a man determined to woo her anew and win her again.
But, is loving the new Marquess of Wallingford a mistake Ameline cannot afford to repeat?
EggCerpt:
Ye
gods, but her ladyship needed more maids,
and a couple more footmen with both arms and both legs, at least for this type
of fetching and carrying.
Ameline chided herself for being insensitive and balanced
the steaming bucket. She set down the lamp momentarily to gather her skirts,
along with the lamp handle.
A pair of men’s boots moved into view and the lamp bobbled.
Fine boots they were.
She sighed, gritting her teeth. Lord Hackwell’s visits had
unnerved his lady, and Ameline had counseled him to leave.
Very well, she’d thrown him out, once almost literally. He
would wonder what she was doing below
stairs. He might send for the accoucheur he was mumbling about, and his lady
would not like it.
“I’ve just popped down to the kitchen for a word with Alton,
my lord,” she said. “All is going well, except he’s a bit short on staff.”
“We have noticed that.”
The skin on her back rippled and she shivered. This wasn’t
Hackwell—it was him.
Panic flared in her and her hands and ankles began to
tingle. He carried no light. She let her own lantern dip lower and stepped to
one side. What was he doing on the servants’ staircase in the middle of the
night?
If he saw her, he would
remember her, but he would not want
to, unless he would think to befriend
her again. Heat flamed in her.
She took in a breath. “Let me pass, Lord Hackwell,” she said.
“Let me carry that bucket for you.”
“No.” She forced in another breath, willing herself to speak
calmly. “That is, no thank you. I shall send a servant for you when it is
time.”
Footsteps scurried on the stairs. “Mrs. Dawes?” Jenny
called, breathless.
Her heart raced again. She’d tarried too long in the
kitchen. “I’ll be right—”
Heat touched her hand as the bucket came out. The lantern,
too, lifted higher, and she looked up into the face of Lord Virgil Radcliffe,
now the latest Lord Wallenford.
“Mrs. Dawes?” His eyes widened and then
narrowed, and his lips curved down.
Anger spiked in her. “Lord
Wallenford.”
He moved down to the step below her, putting them at eye
level, and crowded her against the hand rail.
“Give me the bucket, sir. I can manage quite well without
your help.” Quite, quite well.
“Can you, indeed?” he drawled, sounding just like his
brother the day he’d sacked her.
Blast him. Blast the Wallenfords. Blast the Hackwells.
“Alton has a bottle set out. Best go and fetch it.”
His lips quirked.
She gritted her teeth. “Give me the blasted bucket, Virgil.”
Great eggcerpt, Alina! I know most Regency Romances are a bit steamy so thnk you for sharing a mild excerpt with us :-)
Now tell us a little more about you....
Award winning author Alina K. Field earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree
in English and German literature, but her true passion is the much happier
world of romance fiction. Though her roots are in the Midwestern U.S., after
six very, very, very cold years in Chicago, she moved to Southern California
and hasn’t looked back. She shares a midcentury home with her husband, her
spunky, blonde, rescued terrier, and the blue-eyed cat who conned his way in
for dinner one day and decided the food was too good to leave.
She is the author of the 2014 Book Buyer’s Best winner, Rosalyn’s Ring, a 2015 RONE Award
finalist, Bella’s Band, and a 2016
National Reader’s Choice Award finalist, Liliana’s
Letter, as well as her latest release, The
Marquess and the Midwife. She is hard at work on her next series of Regency
romances, but loves to hear from readers!
Visit her at:
Hope you enjoyed this year's eggcerpt exchanges and that you'll join me each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.
Until next time, take care and God bless.
PamT
4 comments:
Thanks so much for having me as your guest on this Holy Thursday, Pamela! This particular novella of mine is not as steamy as most Regency romances, partly because there are two little girls and the hero's mom playing big roles in the story. Have a blessed Easter!
Wishing everyone wonderful holidays! Alina, I am a fan of historical romance and Regency in particular. Many readers are. I confess to writing only one Regency romance myself and the research proved demanding. Wishing you much success with your novella.
Thank you for sharing a little of your book with us, Alina. The cover is beautiful.
So sorry I'm late. Love this excerpt!! Beautiful cover, too. Sounds like a great read.
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