BEGUILED BY A BARON – CHRISTI CALDWELL’S NEWEST HISTORICAL ROMANCE AND THOSE CRAZY BIBLIOMANIACS

Excerpt from : Beguiled by a Baron

His brother may have failed to find an appropriate housekeeper in the last woman to hold the post, but there could be no doubting this one’s skill and knowledge. “Shall we?” Not waiting to see if she followed, he guided her from his most rare Collection Room to the one in the next hall. “In here, you’ll find all works of Western artists. From Shakespeare to his friends Herminge and Condell, you’ll find all the greatest here.”

He stole another peek at his housekeeper in time to detect the disapproving way in which she wrinkled her nose. “Only Western artists?”

Tamping down a grin, he guided her across the hallway to the adjacent room. “The finest of the Oriental literary masters is shelved in here.” Letting them inside, Vail displayed some of his finest books. “The Tale of Genji—”

“Genji Monogatari,” she whispered, touching a hand to her mouth.

“As well as Makura no Soshi,” he finished, supplying that Japanese title. He tamped down his tangible surprise at the depth of her proficiency in text. He wasn’t so snobbish that he’d be startled by a young woman’s mastery of Oriental literature, but neither was he so connected to women who had a grasp of even Western texts. His appreciation grew for the composed Mrs. Hamlet. “Shall we?”

The lady nodded eagerly. “Have you read all these titles?” she asked, as they resumed their tour.

“Many. Not most. My collections are too vast,” he said without inflection. It was a matter of fact, more than anything. “Not as impressive as Lord Dandridge’s, whose floors caved in from all the books he kept.”

A startled laugh spilled from the lady’s lips. Enchanted by the husky beauty of it, he looked over.

“You joke,” she charged, a sparkle in her eyes.

He swallowed hard. Blast if he wasn’t captivated by her wit and her bloody smile. “Indeed, not,” he forced himself to answer. Affixing a grin to his face, he leaned close to her ear. “Hardly as shocking as Lord Templeton who has a problem with rats and shoots them at all hours of the night to keep them from his texts.”

The lady widened her eyes. “Surely you jest now?”

Actually he’d didn’t. Mrs. Hamlet revealed her naiveté where his world was concerned and he far preferred her as just a woman with a deep appreciation for literature. Not wanting to disillusion her with the ugly he’d witnessed, Vail winked, earning another laugh. The sound of it did funny things to his heart’s rhythm. Unnerved, he hurried through the remainder of the tour, showing his housekeeper the seven rooms where his titles were kept. After they’d finished, the lady fell silent.

“Well?” he urged as they arrived at his office.

She gave her head a wistful shake. “It is a shame someone else will have possession of all these great works.”

And just like that, she’d brought them ’round back to her earlier disapproval. Not knowing why that should matter, just that it did, Vail rang the bell, needing for a restoration of his own logic where Mrs. Hamlet was concerned. “Mr. Lodge will show you to your rooms. You may have the day to familiarize yourself with the residence and have Mr. Lodge perform your introductions to the staff.”

 

This delightful excerpt from Christi Caldwell’s wonderful new historical romance hints at the hero’s knowledge of the Regency phenomenon – bibliomania. The author does an amazing job of setting a passionate love story in the middle of the world of the antique book dealer and the lengths to which Regency gentlemen went in order to acquire new volumes for their collections.

To read more about bibliomania, check out our previous post here :

HIS LORDSHIP DID IT IN THE LIBRARY – And Here’s Why…

And to read a poignant, witty, and moving love story set in the world of books and mania, check out Beguiled by a Baron, out today !!

A Lady with a Secret… Partially deaf, with a birthmark marring her face, Bridget Hamilton is content with her life, even if she’s been cast out of her family. But her peaceful existence—expanding her mind with her study of rare books—is threatened with an ultimatum from her evil brother—steal a valuable book or give up her son. Bridget has no choice; her son is her world.

A Lord with a Purpose… Vail Basingstoke, Baron Chilton is known throughout London as the Bastard Baron. After battling at Waterloo, he establishes himself as the foremost dealer in rare books and builds a fortune, determined to never be like the self-serving duke who sired him. He devotes his life to growing his fortune to care for his illegitimate siblings, also fathered by the duke. The chance to sell a highly coveted book for a financial windfall is his only thought.

Two Paths Collide… When Bridget masquerades as the baron’s newest housekeeper, he’s hopelessly intrigued by her quick wit and her skill with antique tomes. Wary from having his heart broken in the past, it should be easy enough to keep Bridget at arm’s length, yet desire for her dogs his steps. As they spend time in each other’s company, understanding for life grows as does love, but when Bridget’s integrity is called into question, Vail’s world is shattered—as is his heart again. Now Bridget and Vail will have to overcome the horrendous secrets and lies between them to grasp a love—and life—together.

 

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/2rmLp6l

iBooks: http://apple.co/2rvOEXZ

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2qSnoRr

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/2rBMuHL

 

USA TODAY Bestselling author CHRISTI CALDWELL blames Julie Garwood and Judith McNaught for luring her into the world of historical romance. While sitting in her graduate school apartment at the University of Connecticut, Christi decided to set aside her notes and pick up her laptop to try her hand at romance. She believes the most perfect heroes and heroines have imperfections, and she rather enjoys torturing them before crafting them a well deserved happily ever after!

Christi makes her home in southern Connecticut where she spends her time writing her own enchanting historical romances, chasing around her feisty seven-year-old son and caring for her twin princesses in training!

HYDROTHERAPY IN GEORGIAN ENGLAND – NOT YOUR MOTHER’S SPA TREATMENT

BY LOUISA CORNELL

Taking the waters during the Georgian age was prescribed by physicians for everything from stomach troubles, to gout, to a nervous disposition. This cure usually involved a trip to one of England’s many spa towns, like Bath or Tonbridge Wells. It might entail a trip to the sea, to Brighton perhaps, to enjoy the efficacious benefits of the ocean breezes and the salt air. These treatments were basically harmless and, at times, quite helpful (so long as one did not mind the taste of the water at the Roman baths. Shudder!)

However, the last thing one wanted by way of medical treatment was hydrotherapy or water therapy as it was administered for cases of mental illness or madness, as it was more often called in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. The various forms this treatment took in this era ranged from mildly discomforting to death, not to put too fine a point on it.

The original proponent of water therapy for afflictions of the mind was Jean Baptiste Van Helmont. His method was first  recorded in his magnum opus, Ortus Medicinae, which was translated into English in 1662. He believed in the full immersion of the patient in ice cold water to the point of unconsciousness. This near death experience would, he declared, result in the death of the mad idea which caused the derangement in the first place. Sometimes, in addition to the extermination of the mad idea, the treatment resulted in the extermination of… well, the patient. At least he was no longer mad. Dead relatives were far more acceptable during the Georgian age, especially the Regency era, than mad ones.

Yes, this is what you think it is. The patient is tied to a crossbar and dropped into an ice cold body of water until they stop struggling. Only then are they raised from the water. Miraculously cured of madness. Or dead. Whichever comes first.

To be fair, this form of water therapy was not widely used after its side effects became apparent. Yes, even in the 17th century death was seen as a side effect.

Eventually methods of hydrotherapy that did not involve drowning the patient outright became popular among mad doctors, as they were called. For some practitioners it was a particularly appropriate title. By the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the two major forms of hydrotherapy were the douche or cold shower and the balneum or bath.

The bath was used more often for nervous disorders, to calm patients. The shower consisted of cold water poured over the patient’s head or sprayed directly into their face, and it was for the more violent forms of madness. Rather like turning a hose on dogs fighting. Even into the Regency era, the theory was madness was a spiritual rather than a physical or mental disorder. Therefore, a mad doctor had only to arrive upon the proper method to change the patient’s spiritual thinking to invoke a cure.

These doctors came up with a wide variety of methods by which to dispense this cure. Patients were wrapped tightly in sheets and placed in a cold bath, sometimes for hours on end. More inventive facilities had tubs with wooden doors over them with a hole for the patient’s head to stick out. Thus, the patient might be locked into the bath and left there until they saw the error of their ways.

The shower was the more violent form of hydrotherapy and was used for everything from murderous rages, to fits, to refusal to sleep with one’s husband (but we’ll get to that one in a moment.) There were cold shower rooms where the patient might be locked in and sprayed with water from all directions. The most common method was for the patient to sit in a tub or barrel of cold water whilst a number of attendants ran up and down a ladder on the other side of a screen and doused them with bucket after bucket of water. These sessions might go on for anywhere from twenty minutes to several hours, or at least until the attendants ran out of energy and/or water. All of this was done to force the patient to let go of his or her mad behavior and revert back to what was considered normal, upright, Christian behavior.

Not a bad way to take a shower if it weren’t for the whole not being able to get out of the tub until the mad doctor said so. And the whole entire buckets of cold water being dumped on you one after another technique.

Enter the scene of mad doctoring in 1725, one Patrick Blair. He was firmly ensconced in the mental illness as spiritual failing camp of treating madness. Therefore, his use of water therapy was punitive to the point of torture. Eventually he created his own apparatus consisting of a pump capable of raising 18,000 gallons of water 35 feet and dropping it, in its entirety, onto a patient strapped into a chair. He even added water sprayed into the patient’s face at the same time as extra incentive.

If this doesn’t persuade you to resume your “marital duties,” nothing will.

Blair used this inventive piece of hardware most often to persuade women to return to their marital duties, aka go back to sleeping with their husbands. Yes, this was considered a form of madness no matter how nasty, abusive or sexually unimaginative the husband. His method consisted of stripping the patient naked, strapping her into the chair, blindfolding her, and subjecting her to the constant shower of cold water for thirty minutes to an hour at the time. This was done several times a day for as many days as it took for the woman to be cured of her dislike of her husband. Frankly, after this sort of treatment, most women would agree to go to bed with Jabba the Hut. One can only assume should the woman ever evince a further dislike of her husband, the threat of more of Dr. Blair’s cure would bring her back into line.

Modern psychiatrists, after reading Blair’s own account of this treatment on a number of women, have pronounced it nothing short of a kind of rape performed at the request of a husband to force the wife to take him to her bed. A fair assessment? I’d say so.

Whilst later practitioners in mad hospitals put aside water therapy in its most punitive forms in favor of good nutrition, pleasant environments, and what we call now, occupational therapy; water torture in the same form used by earlier mad doctors found its way into the prison systems. One of these techniques in particular is used today. It’s called waterboarding. Psychiatry has evolved. Mankind, a little less so.

 

MEET ME AT THE LYCH GATE

BY  LOUISA CORNELL

When I was nine years old, my father’s Air Force career took our family to the little village of Kelsale in Suffolk, England. Some of the most magical memories of my childhood are of the three years we lived in this quaint and unique place. It did not take long for my brothers and I to become part of the “gang” of village children who played together every day. It was the 1960’s in a small, rural English village. Which means, our playground was the entire village and we had free run of it so long as we didn’t make too much mischief and were home in time for supper.

Kelsale is an old village. The Guildhall was built in 1495. The pub, the Eight Bells, was built early in the 17th century. The highest point in the village is at the top of Church Street. There stands the 11th century Norman era Church of St. Mary and St. Peter. This church and the surrounding cemetery with its leaning tombstones with ancient dates and inscriptions was the site of many a game of Robin Hood and His Merry Men, King Arthur and His Knights, and any variety of hide and seek you can imagine. And where did all of these adventures begin? Where did we meet to plan a day’s mayhem as only a group of children ages 6 to 11 could do?

At the Lych Gate

Lychgate Church of St. Peter and St. Mary Kelsale, Suffolk, England

Lych is an Anglo Saxon adjectival form for corpse. In addition to lych gate (which can also be spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke gate or lychgate,) the term is incorporated in other funereal terms from the Middle Ages. The lych bell was a hand bell rung before the corpse as it traveled from the home to the church and possibly from the church to the cemetery, depending on the distance. The lych way was the path along which the corpse was carried to burial. The lych owl was another name for the screech owl because its cry was thought to be a portent of death. And a lyke-wake was a night watch over the corpse.

There were no mortuaries during the Middle Ages. People died at home and were placed on a bier to be taken on their final journey. The first stop on that journey was often the lych gate, where the body might remain until the funeral a few days later. More often than not, attendants or guards remained against body snatchers, no matter what the weather. The corpse bearers carried the body of the deceased under the lych gate at the entrance to the churchyard and placed it on a communal bier. Bodies were buried in shrouds, not caskets. The priest would then perform the first part of the funeral service there.

Lych gates were built at the entrances of churchyards as early as the 7th century. These early lych gates were basically a covered gate built of wood, and very few of these earliest examples have survived in any form. They became more commonly built beginning in the 13th century. They were crafted of older timber construction and traditionally were roofed with wood tiles, clay tiles, or thatch. The large timber beams framing the gateway were often carved with decorative elements. Some had lichstones, large flat stones in the middle of the gate upon which the body might be placed. Many had benches inset into the sides of the gateway to seat the watchers and / or corpse bearers whilst shielding them from the elements.

The oldest surviving lych gate is thought to be the one leading into St. George’s churchyard in the Beckenham area of South London. It has been restored in part, but the roof and much of the structure is over 700 years old.

Lych gate St. George’s in the Beckenham are of South London

A more modern custom, which began during the Victorian era, was the closing of the gates once a wedding began in the church. The children of the village were set as the gatekeepers and the bride and groom had to pay them in order to pass through the gate.

Below are some other examples of this unique and only slightly macabre structure.

St. Wulfran’s Ovingdean
Castle Eaton

 

 

 

 

Canterbury St. Martin’s

I knew none of the fascinating and tiny bit gruesome history of the lych gate when I was meeting my friends there as a child. Had we known, I am certain we would have spent far more time trying to frighten each other or telling each other ghost stories under the shelter of our childhood meeting place. Countless adventures began and ended at the lych gate over the three years I lived in Kelsale. Which was probably more appropriate than we knew. After all, death is often considered life’s final and most daunting adventure. And for innumerable thousands, the lych gate was the first stop on that journey.

A REVIEW OF ROMANCE READER’S GUIDE TO HISTORIC LONDON BY SONJA ROUILLARD

BY LOUISA CORNELL

All historical romance authors start out as historical romance readers. At least I hope they do. These same historical romance readers turned authors read, in all likelihood, one book that dragged them into the genre and refused to let them go. For me it was Pride and Prejudice, followed closely by Jane Eyre. No matter what the “gateway” historical romance novel, most, if not all, historical romance addicts dream of traveling to England to see the places they have only imagined when they were reading. For some it is an annual pilgrimage. For others it is a once in a lifetime trip.

Whichever it is, Sonja Rouillard’s charming and informative book is the perfect travel companion. From the brilliant short story featuring Jane Austen’s Emma on a visit to modern London to the Appendices of historical romance novels quoted throughout the guide and suggestions as to romance novels to read whilst on the trip, the book is well-researched, whimsical, extremely informative, and replete with useful ideas, descriptions, and tips to plan and execute a memorable romance reader’s trip to London and several outlying areas featured heavily in historical romance novels.

Whilst the introductory short story is entertaining and endearing, it also gives the traveler a prospective on travel across the ages. With that, the next chapter provides a brilliant set of criteria for the author’s grading of each of the suggested sites to visit. There is some wonderful information about history in general and as it pertains to the reader of historical romance. And there is also some practical travel advice for the romance traveler.

The author has done a fantastic job of picking sites appealing to almost any reader of historical romance set in a variety of eras. And the entries for each site are well-researched and delightfully written. She also grades the sites as to their authenticity to the historical eras in which they most often appear in romance novels. And, of course, she lets the reader know if a site mentioned in a historical era has since disappeared. I found myself reading the entries strictly for the information and entertainment in them. The Then and Now aspects of each site allow the traveler to decide which sites are most appealing to them.

Period maps and a quick list of museums, along with the fees one might be expected to pay is most helpful. And the chapter on staying in period authentic places and dining with historical style, on a winsome scale from “touring like a governess” to “touring with royalty” is amusing and timely. There is a chapter on period activities in which one can participate today that is a stroke of genius.

With numerous photographs, maps, suggested excursions from London to other places mentioned frequently in historical romances, and entertaining and intriguing entries on every page, the Romance Readers Guide to Historic London is the perfect traveling companion for the historical romance reader making a pilgrimage to the land where historical romance was born. With its other worthy qualities, it is also an excellent read. One I intend to add to my research library.

 

Romance Readers Guide Buy Link:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Romance-Readers-Guide-Historic-London/dp/099874090X

or

https://tinyurl.com/kso8qot

 

Written specifically for the 30 million historical romance fans in U.S., the Romance Readers Guide to Historic London offers everything you want to know about the famous London sights in romance novels. In the “Then and Now” chapter (nearly half the book), learn the back-stories of places such as Almack’s, Bedlam, and White’s, and whether they’re still around or can be visited. Hear fascinating anecdotes, like which princesses stayed where or which upstairs maid married up. More than 130 photos and “Then and Now” illustrations show how these places have changed over the centuries. There’s a foreword by NY Times best-selling author Sabrina Jeffries, and romance excerpts by Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, and today’s best selling authors (Mary Balogh, Tessa Dare, Elizabeth Hoyt, and more) add delightful flavor to the places described.

 

The Guide is an entertaining read for the armchair traveler curled up by the fire with a warm cup of tea. But, it’s an essential resource for anyone who wants to experience old-world London first hand. Enjoy an authentic Afternoon Tea in a charming salon or play princess sleeping in a four-poster bed or even a castle! With historical maps, insider tips, and “~for the guys” highlights, the Guide will make it easy for even a rookie traveler to hit all the historic-romance highlights. The Romance Readers Guide to Historic London is your companion to the London of Elizabethan, Georgian, Regency, and Victorian times, whether in the comfort of your own home or on that once-in-a-lifetime trip.

 

Praise for the Romance Readers Guide:

 

“Not only does she point out places I have not seen, she has my love for all things romantic at the forefront. … If you are planning a trip to England, LONDON in particular, you should definitely purchase this book and keep it with you every day you are there.”

— Amazon customer review, 5 Stars

 

Author Biography:

Sonja Rouillard is a successful writer of fiction and non-fiction. Recently, she launched an erotic romance career under the name Kate Allure with two books from Sourcebooks (Playing Doctor and Lawyer Up), receiving high praise: “The sensuality and sexuality are palpable…4 Stars!” & “Escapism of the richest, most decadent variety.” —RT Book Reviews. “Intense chemistry, great characteriza-tion, and a kinky page-singeing ending will have readers clamoring for more.” —Publishers Weekly.

Besides being a huge fan of historical romance, Sonja’s other great love is travel and seeking unusual, off-the-beaten-path experiences. China, Monte Carlo, Bora Bora, Mexico, and Poland are among the many foreign countries she’s visited. Her extensive U.S. travel covers the gamut from exotic Hawaii, to historic Washington, D.C., and the indigenous cultures of six remote Native American reservations. Sonja lives in California with her husband of 26 years, 3 children, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and a Flemish Giant rabbit.

 

Social Networking Links:

Website:        http://www.romancereadersguides.com or https://tinyurl.com/m9bhhns

Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/RomanceReadersTravelGuides or

https://tinyurl.com/n6eu72d

Twitter:        @RomGuides or https://twitter.com/RomGuides

Goodreads:   https://www.goodreads.com/RomanceReadersGuides or https://tinyurl.com/lkr2stx

 

 

THE OLD BAILEY AND SMUGGLING TRIALS IN THE LATE 18TH CENTURY

 by Regan Walker

Inside the Old Bailey Court

 

Echo in the Wind, my new Georgian romance set in 1784, smuggling features prominently. Tea drinking was so popular that many people turned a blind eye to the activities of the smuggling gangs. Because it was an illegal trade, it is impossible to know exactly how much tea was smuggled into Britain during the years of high taxation in the eighteenth century, but it is clear that while tea drinking was becoming ever more popular and widespread, the official imports of tea were not increasing. By the 1780s, in areas where the smugglers operated most freely, virtually all the tea consumed was smuggled.

Echo in the Wind includes a smuggling trial at the Old Bailey. To portray the trial accurately, I dove into the Old Bailey archives. (Yes, the trials are available in an online database: https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/.)

How smuggling cases were portrayed:

Before the 1770s, England’s government portrayed smuggling as a crime against the nation, but after this time, smuggling became a crime of assault against revenue officers. During the first part of the eighteenth century, smugglers might refer to their trade in terms of tradition. They were surprised to find they awaited execution for such a commonplace activity. But after the 1770s, smugglers increasingly considered smuggled goods to be their private property. To them, the revenue officers were wrong for seizing what was not theirs by right.

Some of that can be seen in the trial scene in my story. To capture the trial as it might have occurred, I scanned dozens of transcripts of Old Bailey trials. In the end, I selected the trial of John Shelley for my model. He was accused of disturbing the peace, assaulting “officers of the king” and failing to pay duties on imported tea, otherwise known as “unaccustomed goods”.

Since my heroine, Lady Joanna West, is the “master of the beach” for a gang of smugglers operating off the West Sussex coast, she listens carefully as the trial begins:

With a word from the judge, a clerk at the end of the counsel table stood and began to read from a paper.

“The prisoner, one John Shelley, is accused of disturbing of the peace of our Lord the King on the nineteenth of November last. With firearms and other weapons, including bludgeons, a blunderbuss, a pistol and a sword called a cutlass, he did unlawfully, riotously and feloniously assault officers of the king. He and ten other persons took away three hundred pounds weight of tea, being unaccustomed goods liable to pay duties, and which duties had not been paid.”

“A smuggling case!” Cornelia exclaimed in a whisper to Joanna. At the mention of “unaccustomed goods” Joanna had known the nature of the case they were to hear. Her stomach was already tied in knots at the thought of what lay ahead.

The clerk paused and then began again. “The prisoner is charged with another count for forcibly assaulting, hindering, obstructing and opposing said officers.”

Looking up from the paper he held, he asked the accused, “How do you plead?”

The man responded from where he cowered behind the wooden railing. “Not guilty.” By the look on his face, Mr. Shelley well understood he faced the possibility of execution.

As a lawyer, I found the transcripts from the Old Bailey trials fascinating. As a writer, I recognized them as having the potential to add realistic drama to my story, adding to the heroine’s fear of ending up on the gallows.

The Old Bailey:

Newgate and the Old Bailey

By the time of my story, the Old Bailey had long been the place where criminals were tried. Between 1674 and 1834, over 100,000 criminal trials were carried out at the Old Bailey. In the late 18th century, the Old Bailey was a small court adjacent to Newgate gaol. Hangings were a public spectacle in the street outside the Old Bailey until May 1868

The result of the trials:

The majority of smugglers tried at the Old Bailey before 1787 had been charged with the capital offenses of armed assembly or carrying illicit goods. But this was to change. Between 1787 and 1814, 49 out of 64 smuggling cases featured assault and/or obstruction as the main charges.

Throughout the eighteenth century, the acquittal rate was seldom less than 25 per cent, and often more than 50 per cent of those indicted. As the century progressed, the conviction rate fell well below 25 per cent. In 1784, the year of my story, the conviction rate was only 14% (out of 1037 indictments, there were only 149 convictions).

A letter in the Morning Chronicle for 1 January 1773 complained, “The numerous acquittals at the Old Bailey, on some days greater than the convictions, are truly alarming.” They further observed, “Whenever any case admits of the least doubt, the Judge and Jury give it a cast in favour of life and liberty.”

It is no surprise that during the 1780s and later, communities were more frequently the smugglers’ willing accomplices than their terrorized victims. Then, too, the rule of law posed formidable problems for the prosecutors. The law was slow and costly, and biased judges and juries often failed to convict on the most straightforward evidence. Bribery produced many false alibis and witnesses “disappeared” or had convenient lapses of memory.

And what of Mr. Shelley?

 

Hanging in the street near Old Bailey

 

At the end of the trial in my story, Mr. Shelley is found guilty in one of those rare instances of conviction. Of course, this causes Lady Joanna much fear. After some upheaval in the court and much sobbing by the man’s relations, this is how the scene ends:

The prisoner was led away and the gallery began to empty. The women who had watched the trial beside them were dabbing at their eyes with handkerchiefs as they stood to leave.

Once they were gone, Cornelia abruptly stood. “Tea, I think, is in order. Twinings?”

Joanna got to her feet, her shoulders sagging with the weight of what she had witnessed. “Some refreshment after that is welcome, though I shouldn’t wonder if we ought to drink something stronger than tea.” Particularly if it were tea she knew might very well be smuggled. But then, so was most of England’s brandy.

 

ECHO IN THE WIND        

“Walker sweeps you away to a time and place you’ll NEVER want to leave!”

~ NY Times Bestselling author Danelle Harmon

 

England and France 1784

Cast out by his noble father for marrying the woman he loved, Jean Donet took to the sea, becoming a smuggler, delivering French brandy and tea to the south coast of England. When his young wife died, he nearly lost his sanity. In time, he became a pirate and then a privateer, vowing to never again risk his heart.

As Donet’s wealth grew, so grew his fame as a daring ship’s captain, the terror of the English Channel in the American War. When his father and older brother die in a carriage accident in France, Jean becomes the comte de Saintonge, a title he never wanted.

Lady Joanna West cares little for London Society, which considers her its darling. Marriage in the ton is either dull or disastrous. She wants no part of it. To help the poor in Sussex, she joins in their smuggling. Now she is the master of the beach, risking her reputation and her life. One night off the coast of Bognor, Joanna encounters the menacing captain of a smuggling ship, never realizing he is the mysterious comte de Saintonge.

Can Donet resist the English vixen who entices him as no other woman? Will Lady Joanna risk all for an uncertain chance at love in the arms of the dashing Jean Donet?

 

Echo in the Wind on Amazon:

 

US: http://ow.ly/jBtZ30bQ5km UK: http://ow.ly/DD3A30bSamm

 
Regan’s website: http://www.reganwalkerauthor.com/

 
The Pinterest storyboard for Echo in the Wind: https://www.pinterest.com/reganwalker123/echo-in-the-wind-by-regan-walker/