Home of the Bluestocking Belles

Because history is fun and love is worth working for

Is the Well Truly Magical?

By

On July 4, 2026

In Aileen Fish, Teatime Tattler

 

Dearest Reader:

It has come to my attention, thanks to our correspondent within the village, that Fenwick on Sea has a most unique claim. It is said that anyone who drinks of the water will find true love. Do we believe in this unusual claim? Well, it has happened to some guests at the Queen’s Barque Inn.

Now, I tend to be of the skeptical sort, but our correspondent assures me that Lady Beatrice Johnson arrived claiming to be engaged to Mr. Edwin Mills, but in a matter of weeks, she was engaged to Mr. Charles Robinson! How does such a thing happen? What does Mr. Robinson have to say about this?

I understand if the owner of the inn, Mr. Brewster, was making such claims to draw guests to fill his rooms, but as I understand it, the inn is undergoing renovations, so it seems to be a bad time to draw crowds.

Mr. Brewster, himself, wrote me recently, as you dearest readers might recall, but now that my correspondent has confirmed another occurrence of love at first sip, it has one contemplating sending one of my nieces to call there. If she has similar luck, I shall inform you all posthaste.

 

Along the Road to Ruin

Forevers in Fenwick Book Two

Aileen Fish

Somewhere along the road to Gretna Green, Lady Beatrice Johnson fell in love—but not with her betrothed!

Desperate to escape the life her guardian and brother Lord Shermer has planned for her, Bea accepts the proposal by Edwin Mills, whom she’s known for only a short time. Instead of taking her to Gretna Green as she’d been told, he takes her to the tiny town of Fenwick-on-Sea, where she’s soon found by her brother’s man, Charles Robinson.

Years ago, Charles realized the futility of any romantic feelings he had toward Bea and forced them aside. When Shermer sends him to find Bea he’s more than happy to go. Knowing that Shermer has already arranged a marriage for her to another man, Charles isn’t eager to return her to her brother.

Old feelings reawaken as Charles and Bea await the carriage Shermer is sending to bring them home. All the reasons Charles has for not confessing his love to Bea seem less important. Could she love him in return? And is he bold enough to do what’s best for Bea?

Order Now!

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling Author Aileen Fish is an avid quilter and auto racing fan who finds there aren’t enough hours in a day/week/lifetime to stay up with her “to-do” list. There is always another quilt or story begging to steal away attention from the others. When she has a spare moment, she enjoys spending time with her two daughters and their families.

She also writes steamy romance under the pen name Ari Thatcher.

Social Media Links:

Website: http://aileenfish.com

Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Aileen-Fish/author/B005EEER4M

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

X: https://x.com/AileenFish

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/aileenfish/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aileenf17/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/aileen-fish

 

 

Message From Afar

By

On June 27, 2026

In Teatime Tattler

The Teatime Tattler has it on good authority (Lady Z, currently temporary resident of Rome and long time subscriber of this publication) that odd goings on are occurring. She writes,:

“Odd behavior is as one might expect in this papist kingdom, and one fears that our young men abroad are not always as they should be. One need only look at that Byron fellow. He fled England in scandal and brought his outrageous behavior with him.”

While visiting the offices of one Arthur Wentworth, a “middling sort who is nevertheless the closest thing we have to British officialdom in this city,” she encountered a suspicious character. She might have ignored the man, poorly dressed and shabby as he was, except Lady Z was quite certain she had met him before. In London. Could he be a gentleman underneath all that? Is it a disguise? This thought was further confirmed by his speech, which “insofar as one could hear through the door,” was that of a gentleman.

What man, known to the government agent and familiar from the drawing rooms of London, could be dragging about Rome looking like an out of work laborer. Why would he not make his presence known to the wider English community?

Intrigued, Lady Z has made it her business to keep track of him for us. She last saw him entering a Papist convent of all places with a plain sort of English woman. Shocking!

About the Book, Tattered Honor

He languishes in Rome, his honor in tatters. Will love and promises help him piece it together again?

Jamie can’t let Nora know the secrets he has hidden from everyone, even his closest friends. Nora can’t trust any man who drinks. She had enough of that in her marriage. Either one, however, will dare anything for her niece, the little imp that keeps them together, even enter a sham marriage to protect her.

Formerly entitled Dangerous Secrets. The first editon was an award winning best seller. The new edition is fully edited and enlarged with new material.

Pre-Order Now https://www.amazon.com/Tattered-Honor-Heart-Book-Four-ebook/dp/B0H4HLPQDN

About the Author

Caroline Warfield – Authorr

Award winning author, Caroline Warfield, grew up in a peripatetic army family, and the need to travel never left her. After a varied career (largely around libraries and technology) she retired to the urban wilds of eastern Pennsylvania to be closer to family and to write. She remains a traveler and adventurer, enamored of owls, books, history, and beautiful gardens (but not the act of gardening).

Caroline calls her books family-centered romance, and this one is no exception. Family makes her characters what they are, for better or worse. She takes them as they are, scarred and wounded, and sets them on their path to their own happily ever after, because love is worth the risk.

Soli Deo Gloria

Find Caroline on the Web:

Website http://www.carolinewarfield.com/

Amazon Author http://www.amazon.com/Caroline-Warfield/e/B00N9PZZZS/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/WarfieldFellowTravelers

Newsletter: http://www.carolinewarfield.com/newsletter/

BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/caroline-warfield

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCycyfKdNnZlueqo8MlgWyWQ

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carowarfield/

Whispers from Hartleigh Hall

By

On June 24, 2026

In Teatime Tattler

Dear Readers,

There is a saying among the villagers near Hartleigh Hall.

The house remembers.

Whether one believes such things is entirely a matter of personal taste. However, recent events have provided enough material to keep local drawing rooms occupied for weeks.

After years abroad, the new Duke of Hartleigh has arrived to claim his inheritance. Ordinarily, such an event would be cause for little more than polite interest. A new duke takes possession of an old estate. Accounts are reviewed. Servants are introduced. Life continues much as before.

Hartleigh Hall, it appears, has other ideas.

Since the duke’s arrival, whispers have circulated throughout the village and beyond. Strange discoveries have been reported. Long-forgotten rooms have attracted renewed attention. Estate records that ought to agree have proven unexpectedly troublesome. Even the oldest residents have begun recalling stories they had long dismissed as family folklore.

Naturally, none of this has escaped the notice of society.

Particular interest has centered upon Miss Clara Whitmore, companion to the Dowager Duchess and a lady who appears to know Hartleigh Hall rather better than most. One might even say the house has entrusted her with a remarkable number of its secrets.

Observers have noted that the duke and Miss Whitmore are frequently seen in conversation. Some report discussions concerning estate business. Others insist the subject matter is rather more personal. As always, the truth likely lies somewhere between the two.

What is known is this: wherever questions arise within Hartleigh Hall, the duke and Miss Whitmore seem destined to encounter them together.

And questions continue to multiply.

Why do certain records fail to align with the history everyone believes they know?

Why do stories long dismissed as rumor suddenly command attention?

And why do those closest to the house seem reluctant to speak openly about its past?

One cannot help but suspect that Hartleigh Hall is keeping accounts of its own.

Missing jewels.

Forgotten promises.

A legacy clouded by uncertainty.

And beneath it all, the growing awareness that some secrets are not content to remain buried.

Whether the greatest mystery proves to be the estate itself or the increasingly undeniable connection between its newest master and its most trusted guide remains to be seen.

Until then, dear readers, keep your ears open, your observations discreet, and your teacups full.

One never knows what Hartleigh Hall may choose to reveal next.

— The Teatime Tattler

❧══════════ ❦ ══════════❧

A Legacy of Lies

Welcome to Hartleigh Hall…

The house knows what the heart refuses to confess.

When Nathaniel Draycott inherits the Hartleigh title in name but not in blood, he expects ledgers, land, and the quiet burden of stewardship. What he finds instead is a house that resists accounting, an estate that balances on paper while something beneath it remains unclaimed.

Clara Whitmore has built her life on discipline and silence, serving at Eleanor’s side in a house that watches as closely as any living thing. She knows every passage, every locked room, and every rule that keeps her past buried. What she does not expect is the new duke’s gaze, precise, persistent, and far too perceptive.

As Nathaniel begins to uncover discrepancies between Hartleigh’s records and its reality, Clara becomes both his most valuable guide and the one person he cannot safely trust. Each corridor they share tightens the web of suspicion and attraction neither can afford. A storm-lit encounter shatters their restraint, binding them in a secret neither can name without consequence.

But Hartleigh keeps its own accounts. Missing jewels, a sealed inheritance, and a shadow from Clara’s past threaten to destroy more than reputation. To survive, Nathaniel must learn whether the woman who moves unseen through the house is its greatest danger, or the only one who can help him uncover the truth.

In a place where lineage is uncertain and every silence carries consequences, desire may prove the most perilous revelation of all.

A Legacy of Lies is a gothic romance of buried secrets, haunted inheritance, found courage, and a love that refuses to be silenced.

❧ ❦ ❧

The rustle of newsprint disturbed the morning quiet.

“Mr. Greaves, have you seen the latest from the Teatime Tattler?”

“Me, Your Grace?” said the butler sounding faintly scandalized as he settled a silver tray on the table with practiced precision. “Certainly not.”

The Dowager Duchess lowered the paper a fraction. Somewhere beyond the windows, rain tapped softly against the glass. The scent of tea drifted upward with the steam.

“I see.”

A pause. Then Greaves cleared his throat.

“Although…”

The paper lowered another inch.

“I did find one particular observation rather insightful.”

“Did you indeed?”

“‘Hartleigh Hall, it appears, has other ideas.'”

The corner of Eleanor’s mouth twitched. “A remarkably perceptive fellow, this Tattler.”

“So it would seem, Your Grace.”

Another pause settled comfortably between them.

“If that will be all, Your Grace.”

“Yes, Greaves.”

The butler turned toward the door.

“And Greaves?”

He stopped.

“Do tell the Tattler he did rather well with this one.”

“Very good, Your Grace.” The door closed softly behind him.

Whether Mr. Greaves ever delivered the message remains one of Hartleigh Hall’s lesser mysteries.

Links to A Legacy of Lies:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Lies-Historical-Hartleigh-Inheritance-ebook/dp/B0H37SQ5Q4

Universal Link:  https://books2read.com/HI-LegacyofLies

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/a-legacy-of-lies-a-regency-historical-romance-the-hartleigh-inheritance-book-1-by-ruth-a-casie

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252819794-a-legacy-of-lies

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling Author Ruth A. Casie writes historical romance filled with emotional depth, compelling characters, and stories where love is earned, tested, and ultimately triumphant.

Social Links

 

Miracles of Love

By

On June 20, 2026

In Bluestocking Belles, Elizabeth Donne, gossip, Regency (19th century Britain), Teatime Tattler

Dear Mr. Clemens,

As your local correspondent in Fenwick has no doubt informed you, our dear little village has been at the center of a miraculous discovery.

Mr. Barnaby Ash, a talented historian, has not only found true love here in our seaside home, but has paved the way for others to do likewise. Thanks to his diligence and the assistance of our own favorite spinster, Miss Joy Tully, a local legend was unearthed and solved.

We shall ignore the prattle about Mr. Ash growing wings and speaking in ancient tongues. That is mere gossip. But the truth is no less strange. According to a manuscript found in a local resident’s library, fae once dwelt in these parts. And one of them fell in love with a human traveler. To celebrate their love, they blessed the waters at a local spring.

As the owner of The Queen’s Barque Inn, I can proudly say that our well stands upon that very site. One has simply to drink from the well to find true happiness with one’s beloved.

Of course, a visit to the well would be impossible without staying on the property where it is found. Grand renovations are taking place to host all the hopeful lovers that make the journey to our isolated village. I assure you, you will not only find your happy ending but will make memories that last a lifetime.

Eager to welcome you,

Henry Brewster, Esq.

The Legend Begins, a novella

In the Forevers in Fenwick series

A mysterious manuscript promises a blessing upon the neglected village of Fenwick on Sea. It is up to a shy scholar and a free-spirited spinster to make it come true. And all they have to do is fall in love.

Released on 2 June 2026

Buy Links: Find The Legend Begins

on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GZF9WJVH

and all your other favorite platforms https://books2read.com/u/mlv75v

About the Author

Elizabeth Donne writes award-winning sweet Regency romance, a natural outpouring of a lifelong love affair with English literature.

Although Elizabeth has lived in Cape Town, South Africa for most of her life, she has traveled to 5 continents and loves to learn about local culture. In 2015, Elizabeth moved to Iowa with her husband, their two children, two cats, and their African bush dog.

When she’s not writing, or discovering the secret wonders of the Midwest, she is enthusiastically introducing her visitors to the joys of drinking rooibos tea. With a biscuit, of course.

Social Media Links:

Free newsletter signup: https://www.elizabethdonnebooks.com/#subscribe

Website: https://www.elizabethdonnebooks.com

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/elizabethdonne

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093280712789

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/35270040.Elizabeth_Donne

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/elizabeth-donne

 

A Bucket of Water For a Lady

By

On June 6, 2026

In Jude Knight, Teatime Tattler

To S. Clemens, Teatime Tattler

Sam, I found this in the alley behind the Lyon’s Den. It seems like part of a letter and it must have fallen from a window or someone’s pocket. Interesting, don’t you think. Bill.

Something odd happened at work today, Frannie. I had delivered a tea tray to Mrs. Dove Lyon with a message that had just arrived. She told me to wait to see if there was an answer, so I was polishing the desk under the window when I saw Mrs. Dove Lyon take another sip of her tea and once again read the note in her lap. It must be amusing, for she was smiling when she looked up from it and spoke, as if to herself. “You have asked me for one match, child. I rather think I shall be giving you two.”

After that, she said to me. “I need two buckets of warm soapy water, Molly,” she said. “Order them from the kitchen and have them sent to the window immediately above the ladies’ entrance to the Den. Also, send Titan to me.”

I hurried to carry out my orders, but I was, I must admit, curious, and I made sure to linger near the window after delivering my messages.

Imagine my surprise when I saw two of Titan’s wolves pouring water on a lady who had was about to enter by the door below!

I could not understand it, so when I went to collect the tea tray and saw the note, I couldn’t help myself. I read it, Frannie. It was in a schoolgirl hand and as best as I can remember, it said, after the usual salutations:

My dear Lady Ellen, is reluctant to accept a new gown for the meeting, though I have assured her that first impressions are everything. Is there any way you could arrange an accident for her gown so that she has to change into the clothing you have prepared for her? And preferably, to have her hair done in a more becoming style. I shall ensure that we are early for the meeting with your proposed groom.

With my grateful thanks for everything you have done.

I remain your humble servant.

Fivepenny.

What do you think of that? Fivepenny, of course, is the handsome footman who has been delivering game and produce to Mrs. Dove Lyon from the Lady of Carr Abbas. How odd that a wealthy and landed young lady would not have a gown in which to meet a prospective groom.

Mrs. Dove Lyon was equal to the task, of course. No wonder she is the most preeminent matchmaker in London. But what do you suppose she meant by “two matches?”

To W. Snoop, reporter

Bill, forget it. It is interesting, yes, but I know better than to tangle with Mrs. Dove Lyon. Besides, we don’t want to cause trouble for a poor working girl. Sam.

Marriage is the only way to keep Kat’s lady safe…

When her mistress is put out of her childhood home, Kat goes too. She may be only Miss Ellen’s maid, but she has a plan to secure a future for them both. But first, she needs to give Miss Ellen a male escort, for propriety’s sake. Kat herself, dressed as a footman, complete with a fine pair of boots.

Jake has been looking after his employer since they both came home for the war. The captain drinks too much and gambles too much. And now he has come to the attention of the Black Widow of Whitehall. Could a wife be in the offing? Perhaps a wife is just what the captain needs.

But, while the captain is happy with the lady Mrs. Dove Lyon has chosen, Jake has discovered that the lady conceals a secret that could destroy everything. The Lady of Carr Abbass cannot possibly be who she says she is.

… and the one dream for herself Kat thought would never be fulfilled

https://www.amazon.com/Lyon-Lady-Fine-Pair-Boots-ebook/dp/B0GZ8YG4WL/

For more books from Jude Knight, see: https://judeknightauthor.com/books/

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