#NewRelease from Terry Graham: A Matter of Manners

Terry Graham stops by with a look at her new release, A MATTER OF MANNERS, from The Wild Rose Press. This is an historical romance with a BDSM twist. Enjoy a blurb and an excerpt!

How far will a duke go to insure his line? Will he wed an Irish rebel with a treasonous secret?

Jeremy Wyles believes himself sterile. He's also a sadist and fears no lady would agree to marry him. When a woman shows up on his doorstep, pregnant and claiming to be his wife, he'll do whatever is necessary to ensure his dukedom has an heir. A loveless marriage in name only seems the perfect solution, but his disobedient duchess stirs his desire for discipline...and something more.

Irish rebel Kathleen "Katy" Brennan only seeks recompense from the husband whose cousin married her by proxy and left her with child. The bargain he offers is tempting. He'll claim her baby as his own, and she can become the grand lady she's always imagined. There's just one condition she's not sure she can live with. The delicious-looking duke refuses to touch her...ever.

Can Jeremy put aside the wicked urges that rule his life, or will Katy's rebellious spirit destroy his tenuous control?

Note: A Matter of Manners contains explicit BDSM and sex. If this offends you, please don’t buy it.

Excerpt:

He’d messed up again.

She didn’t want to leave.

She wanted to talk. About being his wife.

He swallowed, the ember of hope dying. Outside, a rumble of thunder rolled.

“What did you want?” Maybe it wasn’t what he feared.

“I want to be your wife. I want to lie with you.”

Her hand soothed over his arm, caressing the raw area where she’d ripped the skin.

“I can’t, Katy.” Jeremy squeezed his eyes shut, cheek sliding along the top of her head.

“Why? Tell me why.”

 “I can’t.”

She drew a deep breath and pushed away from him. Her gaze locked on his face, her lips hard with determination. “You can’t tell me, or you can’t lie with me?” A note of anger crept into her voice. Another crack of thunder rocked the house.

He wasn’t prepared for this. He should have been but wasn’t. “I won’t. I won’t tell you, and I won’t lie with you.” His jaw set. It wasn’t up for discussion.

He was certain her eyes flashed with lightning as she slipped from his lap. She stomped toward the door, turning as the heavy slab swung open.

“You’re a coward, Jeremy Wyles. I told you I’d do anything you wanted.” Her eyes fastened on his crotch, brows dropping, lips pinched. “I told you my secrets,trusted you with the fate of my family. But you can’t even tell me why you won’t love me. So, it doesn’t matter if I leave or not. You’ll always be alone. And so will I.”

Buy Links:

Amazon link   https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081K3WYGR

Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-matter-of-manners-terry-graham/1134929874?ean=2940163160600

Author Bio:

Born in a tiny town in upstate NY, Terry Graham never wanted to go out and play. Her first memory of kindergarten consists of sitting before the bookcase vowing she’d read every colorful story on its shelves by the end of the year. When she complained she was bored, her mom handed her a book or sent her to the library. First she read Nancy Drew and the Hardy boys, but at about age ten, Mom handed her a Barbara Cartland and Terry was hooked on romance. Thanks to her liberal minded aunt, she soon graduated to Victoria Holt, Kathleen Woodweiss and Rosemary Rodgers. Somehow, her favorites always involved women in jeopardy – kidnapped, forced into marriage, rescued by men whose intentions weren’t always honorable. Scottish heroes and Vikings made her heart race, and when she picked up a Julie Garwood novel she wouldn’t come out of her room until she finished it.

Terry never dreamt of writing such wonderful stories, though. At thirteen she’d decided to become a chemist, to insure she never had to struggle for money the way her parents did, and spent her high school and college years accomplishing that. It was in college that she started writing – poetry and love letters to her first true love, David. David was the one who planted the seed in her brain, telling her she should write. The romance didn’t last, but David is one of her best friends to this day, and the idea of writing germinated. After marrying and having a child, Terry picked up a book one day and threw it down in disgust declaring “I can write better than that!”

That proclamation began a twenty plus year journey to where she is today. On January 27th, 2020 she proved to herself and others that one can accomplish one’s dreams. Only her readers know for sure if it was better than the book she threw down. If even one of her novels lights a spark similar to the ones Kathleen, Rosemary, and Julie lit in her she will consider all the hard work worthwhile.

To follow her or learn more she can be found at @TGrahamWriter on Twitter, https://www.facebook.com/TGrahamWriter on Facebook or at https://terrygrahamromance.com

Quick 5 with Jean Adams

Jean Adams stops by today with 5 Quick things about her. I didn't know a person could become allergic to caramel! This Wild Rose Press author gives us a peek at HONEY'S GREEK BILLIONAIRE, and she tells me she has a new book coming out soon. Watch this space! Welcome Jean!

Jean's Quick 5

Fav color: Yellow, it’s bright, happy and reminds me of the sun.

Fav drink: I love water, but  I also like to make my own veg and fruit juices.  Lots of nutrition and no sugar.

Show to binge watch: Laredo,  I love Neville Brand.

When I’m alone I like to... play ancient Egyptian solitaire while thinking up new stories.

Chocolate or caramel: Chocolate. I had so much caramel, I made myself allergic to it.



BLURB, Honey's Greek Billionaire:

When Honey Preston asks her a billionaire Greek boss to marry her, solely as a ploy to stop him flirting with her, she gets the surprise of her life. He says yes.

Paris Magdalinos knows it’s a joke, but has his own agenda for agreeing. For the sake of his father’s health he will do whatever it takes.

Honey, too, wants to avoid marriage to a man who is pestering her, seeing her as a drudge and a mother for his son. Paris is offering her a way out for a brief marriage of convenience.

But when the newlyweds fall in love, will they still want to call it quits.



EXCERPT:

So that was the man himself. Paris Magdalinos. The one they drooled over when anyone mentioned a man to die for. He was that, all right, no doubt about it. And didn’t he know it?

Honey’s gaze flicked around the room. Good grief, some of the women were practically dissolving at his feet.

She’d seen pictures of him in staff magazines and now admitted, grudgingly, that the photographs—usually taken of him looking amazing, tanned and healthy, seated at the boardroom table in Athens—didn’t do him justice.

There were other pictures, too: women clad in nothing more than skimpy bikinis on the deck of his super yacht, Aphrodite, usually moored at his island home of Limnos. She was willing to bet he more than earned his playboy reputation. A yacht so aptly named had to have some high-old shenanigans going on there on a regular basis.

He was usually pictured in dark suits, with a few black hairs peeking over the top of an open-necked shirt. Today was different. He wore a cream suit teamed with a pale gold-colored shirt and matching tie. She was forced to admit, reluctantly, that his cheeky, sexy grin would make a toothpaste advertisement look dull. His smile lit up the entire room, like much-needed sunshine on this wintry-gray day.

She took every opportunity to study him under her lashes while he engaged others in conversation. He was the kind of man every woman dreams about, and yes, she had to admit in a weak moment, herself included. Luckily, men like Paris Magdalinos, with dark good looks, million-megawatt smiles, and money to burn, were way out of her league.

He wasn’t merely boss of the London office. He was head of the entire company worldwide. And he had come all the way from his sunny Aegean home base to take over the reins of this investigation for however long it took to trace the stolen money.

A shiver of awareness scooted down her backbone. She was the one who would have to work closely with him.



Buy Link: https://www.thewildrosepress.com/books/honeys-greek-billionaire

Twitter: #genie5



Honey's Greek Billionaire, TWRP

No Other Love, TWRP

jeandrew@xtra.co.nz

Book Spotlight with Melody DeBlois: THAT APRIL IN SANTA MONICA

Fellow Wild Rose Press author Melody DeBlois stops by today with a look at THAT APRIL IN SANTA MONICA, including an additional excerpt about Madison's slightly unhealthy relationship with clothes. Welcome Melody!

Blurb:

Madison receives acclaim for running a talent agency for people with disabilities, but she doesn't know how to take care of herself. When her altruism becomes life-threatening-a matter of either develop healthy habits or die-she joins a reality TV show that pairs her with hot, raven-haired Brandon. He is witty, sexy, and her teacher. That makes him off limits.

After a successful run on a soap opera, Brandon stepped away from empty fame and now focuses on his work as TV's most noted health teacher. He has one fast rule-never fall for a student. But when he meets Madison, their chemistry is combustible. There's no hiding their conflict or their attraction, especially when it's all caught on film.

Clothes Make the Character:

When Brandon and Madison are cleaning out her closet, frustrated, she asks, “Is there not some clothes-horse support group I could join? That pretty well sums up her addiction. Here is a short scene in which Brandon rewards her for clearing out the stuff she doesn’t need by taking her to Bloomingdales to pick out new yoga outfits.

The hangers click-clacked, rubbing together on a rail, as Madison Gray chose a cashmere pencil skirt, an off-the-shoulder romper, and a keyhole printed dress. She spied Brandon flagging her down. Being in the store she could never afford on her own, she’d forgotten his existence. 

 “Hey,” he said, puffing up next to her and shepherding in the cameras. “Don’t you remember your motto, ‘Only splurge if you can’t live without it?’ ” 

That catchphrase, coming from the king of catchphrases, had slipped her mind. Shopping without interference—a tribe of salesgirls on hand to supply her with all the latest fashion trends—meant a turf this side of paradise. 

 Brandon tapped the clerk who had been trailing behind on her shoulder. “What can you show Ms. Gray in the way of yoga wear?” 

The girl took off. “We just got a new shipment. Wait till you see.” 

Who cared about yoga? Madison whooped at gowns too gorgeous for words, chiffon, georgette, silk charmeuse—Givenchy galore. She was browsing through them, fingering the ruffles and tucks, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. 

Brandon wrinkled his handsome brow. “Did you forget why we’re here?”

Well, of course, she hadn’t. “No, how could I with the guru and his camera yahoos?” 

She’d be darn if he would make her feel guilty. After all, didn’t she deserve a reward for fulfilling all his demands for reform? The salesgirl awaited them with hands clasped at her waist. “Right around the bend,” she prompted with a slight turn in the opposite direction. 

Madison tried not to sound like a woman who had been locked away and denied shopping. “I’m right behind you.”

And another Excerpt:

“Don’t you feel the sun’s energy balancing and healing you?”

What Madison felt was Brandon’s body heat radiating through her, tightening her muscles, skimming up her spine. That kind of warmth should come with a warning— exposure might cause side effects. Maybe she could have blamed it on chemistry or like attracting like— called it a lethal injection. She was dying for want of him.

She managed to say, “I see a halo around the sun.”

“Feel it vibrate?” he asked, turning to look at her.

Somehow, she didn’t think watching the sky had anything to do with it. The heat had gathered at the sweet place between her legs— another side effect of her being close to him. If this didn’t end up in a kiss, she didn’t think she’d be able to bear it.

Drawing in a long shaky breath, she said, “I do feel the vibration.” Oh, did she!

“Being out in the middle of nature, with the birds and the sea creatures, it does something to a person, don’t you think?”

“Amen to Mother Earth,” she said dreamily.

“There’s harmony in the sounds.” His breath seemed to have caught in his throat.

“Yes, a more beautiful melody could not exist.”

“Do you feel your eyes blur? It’s the sun cleansing you.”

Cleansing? Try heating up as if some crazy so-and-so had switched on the gas.

She moaned, “My eyes have become pools of marvel.” No, that wasn’t right. They were pools of longing, no mistaking.

Buy Links: 

Kobo  ~   Amazon  ~  Barnes and Noble

Author Bio:

Born in California, award winning author, Melody DeBlois follows the sun. When she isn’t swimming laps, she’s writing sweet and sassy romances. Her heroines are self-reliant and smart and her heroes are kind by nature and love dogs. She lives in California during the summer and spends winters in Arizona with her husband. She has plotted her novels while hiking the beach or trekking across the desert. Her most treasured possession is family.

Social Media Links:

https://www.facebook.com/melodydebloisbooks/?modal=admin_todo_tour

https://twitter.com/DeBloisMelody

https://www.pinterest.com/deblois0181/


Melody DeBlois (@melody.deblois) • Instagram photos and videos

#NewRelease from Barbara Bettis: A WINTER KNIGHT

Medieval romance writer Barbara Bettis joins me with a look at her newest release, A WINTER'S KNIGHT. This novella is only .99 cents and is part of the Knights of Destiny series. Welcome Barb!

He’s running from his past; she’s running from her future. But on a snowy winter night, they find each other and the surprising gift of love.

Sir Nicholas has given up on marriage. These days he’s content to captain his friend’s troops and avoid entanglements—until one winter night when he rescues a half-frozen woman from a snowstorm. Her irrepressible spirit and kindness to others reminds him that all ladies aren’t like his former intended, who wed his brother while Nick was on crusade. But he can’t open his heart to Lady Clare. She’s bound to another, and Nick won’t forfeit his honor. Even if she were free, he has nothing to offer but love, and this lady deserves everything.

Lady Clare’s dying grandfather has arranged her betrothal, but the arrival of the man she’s to wed sends her fleeing into a snowstorm. Injured when her horse stumbles, she’s rescued by a mysterious knight. She recovers at his run-down manor, safe at last—until her betrothed tracks her down two days before Christmas. Trapped at home with the wedding imminent, she longs for the winter knight she’s come to love.

Only a miracle can bring Clare and Nick together. But at Christmas, anything is possible.

Excerpt:

The strange horse fidgeted in the bailey, tossing its mane and stomping the new white fall into mud. The stable lad grasped the reins and murmured to the nervous animal. After a few token twitches, it settled in to nose against the boy’s shoulder while Nicholas removed a bag from one side of the saddle. He pulled open the cord and peered inside. Tom had been right. A lady’s garments.

Nicholas swore under his breath. What feather-brained female would venture out in a storm with such few belongings? Any lady he’d ever known traveled with trunks of adornments.

No ignoring the evidence. Some lady or her attendant was likely trudging through the frigid December night after being tossed from this mount.

“Merde!” He sighed and ducked his head, then muttered another curse when kernels of icy snow melted down the back of his neck.

He had no choice. Couldn’t leave anyone to wander around in this weather. And a lady, at that. If God had any mercy, He’d see the lady’s party found her first. What would Nicholas do with her at the ramshackle manor he’d been tasked with putting to rights? You could do only two things with ladies—marry’em or mount’em. He’d sworn off the first and was too damned cold for the second.

The thought made him pause, and he winced with a flash of remorse. When had he become so cynical? These past months, he’d hardly known himself. He brushed a hand over his face and straightened.

“Take the mare to the stable, Tom, then help me get Solomon ready. I’ll see if I can find the lost rider.”

The wind had died somewhat by the time the gate disappeared behind Nicholas. How the hell was he to know what direction to search? Three roads passed by the manor, one south leading to Windom, one from the west, and one from the northeast.

Luck was with him, however. The snow, while blowing like a needle-toothed banshee earlier, hadn’t completely filled in the tracks left by the riderless horse. Faint, but Nicholas could make out the slight indentations. Northeast, then.

He and Solomon plodded along the path, stopping once to investigate a drift at the edge of the road, only to find a skiff of hardened snow covering a low bush.  When he remounted, he tugged the heavy wool cloak tighter around his shoulders. The wind might have laid, but the air was turning colder. He beat his hands together. They were numbing in spite of his sturdy leather gloves.

Only a reminder of snow lingered now. No longer falling as ice pellets, flakes sauntered in dips and turns through the air, settling on surfaces with deceptive grace. The clouds had chugged on, leaving a three-quarter moon to sparkle down on the glazed landscape.

Nicholas had about decided he’d missed the lady, or there’d never been one in distress. The mare might have wandered away from a party which had moved on and were now snug and safe by a friendly blaze. Where he’d like to be.

Then Solomon side-stepped and whinnied.  Nicholas pulled on the reins, reached forward, and patted the gelding’s neck. “What is it boy?”  The mount tossed his head.

Scanning the landscape, Nicholas spotted a mound in the road a few paces ahead. Odd place for a drift. He swung down and approached. Not a drift. He hunched beside the motionless form. A smattering of snow blended with the cloth that covered the mound. He pulled aside a corner of—fine, white wool? The inside of the material was lined in fur. The whole was tucked around a body.

Tugging gently, Nicholas freed more of the cloth to uncover a female, huddled in upon herself. When he turned the still figure, her head fell to the side, revealing bluing lips in a face as white as the ground.

Merciful God. 

She is dead!

He lifted her into his arms and stood. What was he to do with a dead female? He glanced at her form again. Dead—lady, his mind amended. No companion or maidservant would be dressed in such a fine gown or wear a fur-lined cloak worth more than Nicholas’s first set of armor. And that had been damned fine chain mail.

He turned toward Solomon, jostling the body higher against his chest. A soft “Umh” reached his ears.

 He paused.

 She lives? 

Merde. She lives! 

Buy Link: https://amzn.to/356xovq

Author Bio:

Award-winning author Barbara Bettis has always loved history and English. As a college freshman, she considered becoming an archaeologist until she realized there likely would be bugs and snakes involved. And math. Through careers as a newspaper reporter and editor, then a college journalism and English professor, she’s retained her fascination with history. Give her a research book and a pot of tea, and she’s happy for hours. But what really makes her smile is working on a new story. Now retired, she lives in Missouri where she edits for others and spins her own tales of heroines to die for—and heroes to live for.

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