Dear Mr. Clemens,

As a faithful reader of your publication, I must say, I’ve never heard such awful drivel in my life as what’s come out of Eunice Fillmore’s pen! Why, her comments about the gentlemen and ladies visiting Reabridge for the harvest season are dreadful calumny. The French ladies she complained about are as proper as any Englishwoman and a good deal more refined than Eunice. Why one of them is a titled lady–an English lord’s widow. Another has taken it upon herself to tend to an orphaned child until the vicar can work out a home for the babe.

And the French girl who Eunice says appeared out of nowhere? What poppycock that is, for I myself remember her as a tiny young girl–another orphan–residing with one of our most prominent families as their ward.

Send a reporter, if you will. I’m sure he’ll be able to warm the hearts of your readers with a story about the town’s efforts to restore a frightened young babe to his family. Otherwise, you’ll not find anything more than a group of happy villagers celebrating both the return of their loved ones from war and a very fine harvest.

Yours sincerely,

A lady of much better standing in Reabridge than Miss Eunice Fillmore!

About the Book: Under the Harvest Moon

As the village of Reabridge in Cheshire prepares for the first Harvest Festival following Waterloo, families are overjoyed to welcome back their loved ones from the war.

But excitement quickly turns to mystery when mere weeks before the festival, an orphaned child turns up in the town—a toddler born near Toulouse to an English mother who left clues that tie her to Reabridge.

With two prominent families feuding for generations and the central event of the Harvest Moon festival looming, tensions rise, and secrets begin to surface.

Nine award winning and bestselling authors have combined their talents to create this engaging and enchanting collection of interrelated tales. Under the Harvest Moon promises an unforgettable read for fans of Regency romance.

Story blurbs here: https://bluestockingbelles.net/belles-joint-projects/under-the-harvest-moon/

Preorder now: https://books2read.com/UnderHarvestMoon

Includes Under the Champagne Moon, by Alina K. Field

Orphaned as a child by the French Revolution, Fleur Hardouin’s road has not been easy. Homeless again, she seeks an advantageous marriage as a matter of security. But when she crosses paths with a handsome young captain who, years ago, came to her rescue, she must choose between her heart’s desire and practicality.

Saved from French troops by a French vintner, Gareth Ardleigh promised to find his rescuer’s granddaughter, Fleur, for a marriage that will unite two branches of the family business. But when he finds her, he must choose between honoring a promise or pursuing the woman he loves.

Release Day October 10, 2023

Dear Readers,

Today we bring you evidence, written in the hand of Lady Aileana MacDonald, that all was not always well between clans MacLeod and MacDonald. This report, found in an old trunk provides a fascinating look into the past of Scotland.

My sister-in-law, Lady Brighde, has fallen in love with our clan’s gravest enemy, Tormund MacLeod, the Demon of the Seas! A secret she has begged me to keep, for her brother who is my husband, Jamie, would never approve. I just caught them nuzzling each other, except… Tormund wasn’t the monster We’ve always thought, but gentle. They were teasing each other secretively, laughing. The fearsome demon can laugh? Can smile?

Now Tormund has stripped his tunic and is lumbering onto the field to compete in the corn cutting, joining Jamie and the other lairds, and sakes, it seems as if the royal seneschal has…paired the two together? Every year enemies are paired to clear the barley fields, in attempts to force them to work together and broker truces betwixt them—for the winners split the harvest to take home to their people. But have there ever been greater enemies than Tormund, the Demon of the Seas and Jamie, the Devil MacDonald? The blood feud betwixt them spans generations!

Yet I can see the verra stars of heaven blooming in Brighde’s bonny blue eyes as she watches him and he, her, like a hawk tracking its quarry. And Brighde seems so…happy. Of course, she’s always happy. But oft I fear her smile is a mask that hides deeper wounds. Yet as Tormund, all muscle, dark braid woven down the crest of his shaved head, and his body adorned with tattoos, casts his battle-hardened glances at her I realize I see…fondness returned. Tenderness? From a demon?

Sakes, she even wears his talon necklace about her throat. She is too far smitten and I fear, so is he—

Nay, what is this!

Jamie is confronting Tormund! They’re…arguing! Goodness, knives are unsheathing! Brighde is fretting beside me, twisting her necklace about her finger, for it’s clear Jamie is antagonizing Tormund and Tormund isn’t one to back down from a challenge. Our clansmen have charged the field! As are Tormund’s men! A sea of red tartans and yellow kilts snapping together like the jagged jaws of a dragon—

Wait, Brighde! “Where are ye going!” She didna’ hear me! She’s crying out for them to stop but if she’s caught in the melee, oh, I cannae bear to think, for the men have drawn weapons and she’s…wait, Tormund is…shouting at his men to back down! Racing down the field for Brighde who is beseeching them to stop and he has scooped her into his arms and carried her from the fray. He cares more about her safety than about his fight with her brother!

Oh, he has protected her! There’s no denying the love and worry contorting his visage. Silence has fallen. The menfolk have stopped. Except now Jamie knows the truth about his sister’s secret tryst, too. How can one ignore what we have all just witnessed? Both men love Brighde dearly, I can tell. Perhaps a peace between these two headstrong men is possible…if their love for her is stronger than their feud?

About Highland Rogue to Ruin: Known as the “Demon of the Seas,” Tormund MacLeod only wants vengeance for his brother’s murder. At this year’s Lughnasadh festival, the vicious and unyielding Laird of the powerful MacDonald clan will know the bite of his sword. But the festival offers many distractions—including a fair and bonny masked vixen whose touch disarms Tormund, body and soul. And och, like the cursed MacLeod he is, he wants what he shouldn’t have…

Lady Brighde MacDonald might understand her brother’s overprotectiveness—but she doesn’t have to like it. What she needs is the reckless freedom in the arms of an imposing, rough, and sweet-talking Highlander. Only too late, they both recognize that they’re enemies. She’s the sister of the man Tormund wants dead. And he is the brutish blackguard of the clans…

Now their tryst could mean war. Brighde would see a truce, but it means she must convince her brother and the man she loves to lay down their swords. But Tormund hides a long-buried secret that could destroy both clans.

Available Now:  Amazon   B&N   Kobo   Apple   Amazon AU   Amazon CA   Amazon U.K.

About E. Elizabeth Watson:  Elizabeth is an Amazon Top 100 and #1 Barnes and Noble Ebook bestselling author. She is convinced life is better with good coffee, chocolate, and a pair of hiking boots. Ever since her elementary school librarian “published” her epic childhood tales–complete with laminated handmade covers–she’s enjoyed exploring the world through literature.

While studying prehistoric Britain at Newcastle University, Elizabeth found story inspiration in the tumultuous history of the British Isles and the folklore of Scotland. As an undergrad at the University of Texas at Austin, her rock art research drew her to the harsh Texas desert where she imagined charismatic cowboys and the stubborn women who tame them.

An archaeologist and biomed research coordinator, Elizabeth spends her days penning heroes ranging from Scottish and Medieval warriors to Texas cowboys crowned with Stetsons. Whether in kilts or pearl-snaps, her heroes wear plaid! She currently lives on a mountainside in West Virginia with her husband, sons, and various pets.

Always honored to hear from readers, make sure to follow her on:

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Goodreads – E. Elizabeth Watson

 

No proper lady goes in search of scandalous on dits. When those on dits land on one’s own doorstep what is a lady to do? Why, share them, of course!

Whilst not in possession of the details, that certainly won’t stop me from telling all I have observed from a few casual hours watching my neighbors. Having a footman to open the windows just enough to allow the breeze and the conversation to flow into each room is most efficacious.

There is increased activity at the St. James Square home of Lady Camilla Bowles Attington Carrington Whitby. (How pretentious is she to have buried three wealthy husbands? Any lady of good breeding would have stopped at two and left at least one of them to the rest of us.) Her nephew, Lionel Carrington-Bowles, has had a scandalous reputation for years, he and those friends of his. Captain Atherton, who paints those naughty portraits. The barrister, Mr. Forsythe, who has had as many lovers as he has won cases before the King’s Bench. That frightening Bow Street Runner, Archer Colwyn. I cannot begin to tell you what I have heard about his bedchamber adventures!

Speaking of bedchambers, I have it on excellent authority (my own, of course) these four have done something which may create a ripple of scandal throughout London. This impending disaster includes the sinful bookshop run by the Duke of Chelmsford’s brother, a lost journal that names names, the search for said journal, and most frightening, the proprietor of Goodrum’s House of Pleasure!

The pirate queen, Captain El, has been in and out of Lady Camilla’s townhouse in the night (thank goodness for gas lighting on St. James Square.) Lady Honoria Eveleigh was seen with Captain Atherton, alone! Mr. Forsythe called upon Lord Trevellyn’s mysterious widow not during calling hours. Broad sheets are full of horrific murders that have something to do with chess masters and blood rituals, and Mr. Colwyn of Bow Street has been seen challenging the masked chess mistress in residence at, of all places, Goodrum’s.

What does this have to do with a missing journal? From the desperate measures these four scoundrels have taken? Everything! London is rife with rumors of kidnappings, London’s foremost barristers in a remote village up to heaven knows what, brawls at the Earl of Livingston’s exclusive club on Bruton Street. (So I have heard. I have no idea if such a place even exists.) Reports of gunfire at the home of Mrs. Julia Amherst, a widow of unimpeachable morals. Much of this activity takes place under cover of night and even with the gas lighting the view from my windows doesn’t allow me to see everything. More’s the pity.

One hopes these young men will find said journal soon. These chess murders are unsettling. Murder isn’t the done thing in our part of London. So undignified. Such a mess for the servants to clean up. All over some lost journal and the bedchamber antics of four of the most notorious…

Captain Atherton and Mr. Forsythe have just come out of Lady Camilla’s. Do open the window, John. I cannot hear a word they are saying.

More to follow, dear friends!

Lady Gladys Kravitz

About Claiming the Chess Mistress: By night, she’s a masked chess mistress who challenges and trounces all takers; by day, she’s the ethereal white-blonde beauty who volunteers at the children’s refuge in Seven Dials — Charlotte Smythe lives a luxurious double life of ease as the mysterious chess genius at Goodrum’s House of Pleasure..

After spending years as a gifted investigator extricating others from their peccadillos, dedicated Bow Street runner Archer Colwyn has landed in a suds of his own making. The light-hearted journal of sensual exploits he and his school chums kept while students at Cambridge has gone missing, and the secrets within his particular pages, if revealed, could set off deadly consequences.

The dangerous Captain El Goodrum, proprietress of the most infamous house of pleasure in London, holds the key to their retrieval. In exchange for her cooperation, she demands he run a gauntlet of secrets to deliver a master criminal to justice. His only path to the damning pages is the inscrutable chess mistress who not only resents his attempts to romance away his journal pages, but seems to relish his dread and panic at the prospect of the pages becoming public knowledge.

Charlotte craves the kind of refuge she provides to the orphans she rescues from London’s stews. The respite she seeks away from the world in her St. John’s Wood villa with her two house companions is all that keeps her sane, but sometimes, late at night, she needs something more, something even she cannot name.

Excerpt:  “Madame Goodrum, there is a good deal about me of which you are unaware. Many others have underestimated me…” He paused a long, silent moment before finally uttering, “At their own peril.”

“Ah, but there you are wrong. I don’t know whom you’ve dealt with in the past, but I see no peril in front of me now.”

“What do you see?” He leaned close again, his voice tense.

“I see a man desperate to reclaim something which could harm someone very close and dear to him.”

He jerked back as if seared by flames.

“Ah, yes. Now you see – I understand fully what is at stake here.” She kept her voice low and soothing, but she was sure he hadn’t missed the meaning of her words. His eyes had widened and he’d sucked in a sharp breath.

Even though she was certain she’d shattered his nerve, he straightened and demanded, “Stop baiting me. Just tell me. What is it you want?”

She slid a leather portfolio across the desk. “Read the papers inside and then bring me proof of the elimination of the man they concern.” She then placed an expensive vellum card into his hand. “This woman is the key to the return of your journal pages. She’s unlike any other woman you’ve ever encountered, so do not think to deal with her the same way you’d deal with the simpering females of your acquaintance.”

He took the card and studied the expensive, gilded printing.

She knew by heart what was on the carefully crafted card: “Madame Domino, Chess Mistress Extraordinaire” Beneath the name were gold edged letters for four nights of the week – Tuesday through Friday. The bottom line was stamped with the symbol of Goodrum’s House of Pleasure – a ship under full sail, flying a pennant etched with a tiny skull and crossbones. The card was the face of the lucrative worldwide business El had built with her own blood and sweat. The hard-won empire was hers to use as she pleased.

When he made to pluck the card from her grasp, she tightened her hold. “If you take this card, you are bound by your word to deliver this man to justice.” She gave the leather bag between them an ominous tap.

He snatched the card from her grasp and shouldered the bag before heading back out through her office door. He said nothing further. He didn’t have to.

She’d successfully leveraged the deeply held secret that could destroy not only him, but his sole reason for continuing to walk among the living.

Available now: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CBZSCCXL

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LOUISA

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LOUISA CORNELL BIO

After retiring from a European career as an opera singer, Louisa returned to her first love, writing Regency romance. A two-time Golden Heart finalist, three-time Daphne du Maurier winner, and four-time Royal Ascot winner—she is a member of RWA, Southern Magic RWA, and Regency Fiction Writers. She is both indie published and published by Scarsdale Publishing. Her first published work, the novella A Perfectly Dreadful Christmas from Christmas Revels, won the 2015 Holt Medallion. Her novel A Study in Passion won the historical romance mid-length category of RWA’s 2021 Vivian Award.

ANDREA K. STEIN BIO

The daughter of a trucker and an artist, she never knew it would take the hard-work ethic of her father to achieve the light-filled magic of her mother’s art. She grew up a scribbler. The stories just spilled out. A newspaper and publishing professional for thirty years, she ran away to sea for three years, delivering yachts to the Caribbean, earning a USCG offshore captain’s license. Now, she writes about love and adventure on the high seas from her writing room in Colorado. The first of the Men of the Squadron series, Pride of Honor, was a finalist in the RWA Beau Monde Chapter’s coveted Royal Ascot Contest. Rhum Bay, a prequel to the Men of the Squadron, snagged First Place in Romance in the Colorado Pikes Peak Writers Fiction Contest.