Category: Teatime Tattler Page 45 of 152

Congratulations to the Bluestocking Belles

On March 12, 2022

Dear Readers,

The Teatime Tattler is delighted to share this note of thanks from those mavens of marvelous stories, The Bluestocking Belles. We like to think of ourselves as purveyors of discreet truth and vital news for those who wish to be au courant of England’s noble society. We return our thanks in kind to these seven ladies of the pen and pray they will continue to provide wholesome and loving entertainment for years to come. Their letter is copied below along with an image of the bouquet of yellow ‘friendship’ roses (pictured to the right) that accompanied the letter.

Mr. S. Clemmens, Editor

—————————–

Dear Mr. Clemens,

I write on behalf of The Bluestocking Belles who are this day, March twelfth, celebrating seven years of writing and publishing collections of our novellas. We wish to thank you for your continued and unbiased support of our group and our publications. We know that not all of your readers love or even like our work or that we are seven gently bred women who have dared to follow the lead of Miss J.A. and successfully write, publish, and sell–to some small acclaim. Yet despite the expressed displeasure of some of your readers (none of whom have, as I understand it, dropped their subscriptions), you continue to report on our successes and failures–this last much to our embarrassment we acknowledge to be true–without any bias positive or negative whatsoever. What author, what person could ask for more from London’s most popular and highly regarded scandal sheet. It has been our pleasure to meet you in person once or twice. Your discretion and truthfulness in reporting are most sincerely appreciated.

With kind regards,

Lady RA and the Bluestocking Belles

PS: In honor of our celebration we are placing all of our collections on sale until March 17th. Your readers may find them here https://bluestockingbelles.net/belles-joint-projects/

Available for Pre-order NOW: Desperate Daughters: A Bluestocking Belles with Friends Collection

The Belles are also happy to share that their newest collection will be released on May 17th this year. The collection is now available for pre-order at the very low price of $0.99. The price goes up after release.

Love Against the Odds
The Earl of Seahaven desperately wanted a son and heir but died leaving nine daughters and a fifth wife. Cruelly turned out by the new earl, they live hand-to-mouth in a small cottage.
The young dowager Countess’s one regret is that she cannot give Seahaven’s dear girls a chance at happiness.
When a cousin offers the use of her townhouse in York during the season, the Countess rallies her stepdaughters.
They will pool their resources so that the youngest marriageable daughters might make successful matches, thereby saving them all.
So start their adventures in York, amid a whirl of balls, lectures, and al fresco picnics. Is it possible each of them might find love by the time the York horse races bring the season to a close?

Buy Links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3qG6WGs
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3HoEVcm
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/2YOhqIm
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3qL5GlH
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Caroline_Warfield_Desperate_Daughters_A_Bluestocki?id=Ok9gEAAAQBAJ
Books2Read: https://books2read.com/u/bMwL17

International Links:
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Angus & Robertson:
Thalia: https://bit.ly/30q8dqI
Vivlio: https://bit.ly/3qGqxqc

News of Arrival of most noted Military Hero!

By Cerise DeLand

On March 7, 2022

In gossip, Guest author, Teatime Tattler

Dear Readers,
I’m sharing with you a letter from one of my faithful correspondents:
Dear Mr. Clemmons,
I hope that this letter finds you well. I myself was agreeably settled for a time to take the waters in Harrogate, with all the conviviality that entails. Goodness! I might have had some delicious news to share with you, had I not received a most surprising letter from my grandson which required me to rush off to York!
Oh, this news is not in the nature of titillating on dits for your readers (Of which I number myself one!), but the happiest sort of news to thrill the hearts of honest Englishmen and Englishwomen. For, a hero of the seemingly unending wars with the French has arrived in York, Major A.K. (Oh, I may not use his name, for he is a creature of the most humble and self-effacing disposition where his military service is concerned). I am quite proud to say that he is a relation of mine, and his late mother was my dearest friend.
So I write to you from York, having only just arrived and had the pleasure of dining with said hero, as well as my grandson, and my widowed daughter-in-law, Lady H.T. She has taken a house in York for the season—wisely, one that accommodates all of us! I daresay she is young enough to marry again, though her years with my late son may discourage… no, I will not go there.
But should she decide to dip a toe into matrimony again, I daresay she and the Major are of an age to be quite suitable, if he is so inclined as well. And what man is not better off for having a wife?
I shall write again and tell you more of the Major’s heroics, as he has promised me the tale at another time.
Do ensure that my copy of the Teatime Tattler reaches me at the direction I’m providing.
I am as ever, your faithful reader,
Lady G.T.

Lady Twisden’s Picture Perfect Match, in Desperate Daughters, A Bluestocking Belles Collection with Friends
After years of tolerating her late husband’s rowdy friends, Honoria, Lady Twisden, has escaped to York where she can paint, investigate antiquities, and enjoy freedom. Then her stepson appears with a long-lost relation in tow, the perfect image of a long-ago relation whose fierce portrait made her shiver with mad imaginings.

Promised York’s marriage mart and the hospitality of his cousin’s doddering stepmother, Major August Kellborn is shocked to find that his fetching hostess is the one woman who stirs his heart. To win her heart, however, he must convince her he’s not just a perfect image, but her perfect match.

Excerpt:
“Where is the footman? We need him to fetch in our trunks.”
We?
Looking past the broad shoulder she saw another figure approaching and…
Good God. Heat swamped her and flamed in her cheeks. Dark eyes shot darts at her over a grimly set, thin-lipped mouth. The palpable sternness of Wes’s companion sent a shiver of awareness through her. It was a familiar shiver, one she’d indulged during her tedious days at Twisden Manor when she’d found herself fighting off mad imaginings.
Wes’s laughter shook her tongue loose. “My goodness, sir,” she said. “You bear an uncanny resemblance to—”
“Old Ebenezer Twisden,” Wes said. “Yes, it is as if the old Warden has come back to life, Mother. As soon as I laid eyes on him in Brampton, I knew he must be a relation. And do you know who he is, Mother?” He laughed again. “I’ve written to Granny to tell her. She’ll be in alt when she reads the news.”
A man of perhaps forty, he was about the same age as Wes’s ancestor, the Warden in the painting at Twisden Hall who’d been in the King’s service for many years when that portrait was done. This new incarnation of Ebenezer wasn’t a particularly tall man, not as tall as Wes, but he still towered over her.
Old Ebenezer cleared his throat.
“But of course,” Wes said. “Where are my manners? Mother, may I present my cousin, Major Augustus Kellborn. Gus, this is my dear stepmother, Lady Twisden.”
While she curtsied, managing not to wobble, he dipped his head, never taking his gaze away.
Good holy heavens. A hero returned from the wars!

Desperate Daughters: A Bluestocking Belles with Friends Collection

Love Against the Odds
The Earl of Seahaven desperately wanted a son and heir but died leaving nine daughters and a fifth wife. Cruelly turned out by the new earl, they live hand-to-mouth in a small cottage.
The young dowager Countess’s one regret is that she cannot give Seahaven’s dear girls a chance at happiness.
When a cousin offers the use of her townhouse in York during the season, the Countess rallies her stepdaughters.
They will pool their resources so that the youngest marriageable daughters might make successful matches, thereby saving them all.
So start their adventures in York, amid a whirl of balls, lectures, and al fresco picnics. Is it possible each of them might find love by the time the York horse races bring the season to a close?

Buy Links:

Angus & Robertson:
Thalia: https://bit.ly/30q8dqI
Vivlio: https://bit.ly/3qGqxqc

Author bio:
USA Today bestselling author Alina K. Field earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and German literature but prefers the happier world of romance fiction. Her roots are in the Midwestern U.S., but after six very, very, very cold years in Chicago, she moved to Southern California where she shares a midcentury home with a gold-eyed terrier and only occasionally misses snow.

Website: https://alinakfield.com/

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Alina-K.-Field/e/B00DZHWOKY

Who is the dowager Countess of Seahaven?

By Bluestocking Belles

On March 5, 2022

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

Who is the dowager Countess of Seahaven? It is a question that will be on the lips of many this Season in York.

You may remember that the Earl of Seahaven produced no legitimate sons, despite an effort that almost matched that of the famous Tudor king. Indeed, some wits dubbed him Henry the Fifth!

Not that the late earl lacked children. Five wives produced ten daughters between them, the last born posthumously to the dowager aforementioned a little more than four years ago..

But what became of the dowager, her daughter, and her nine stepdaughters?

Until today, the Polite World has not been able to answer this question.

However, dear readers, your Teatime Tattler correspondent has been indefatigable in search of the truth, which will be of more interest today than ever, given circumstances.

For Lady Seahaven and her charges are about to burst on the social scene here in York. Your correspondent has learned that the dowager is related to a respected, if eccentric, stalwart of York Society, Lady Rose St Aubyn.

Lady Rose is once again off on her travels, and has arranged for her niece to take over her townhouse.

So we in York are going to be privileged to see the debut of the countess and six of her stepdaughters. (The eldest had a London Season more than a decade ago, but did not take.)

Your correspondent went hunting for more information about the mysterious ladies.

The current Lord Seahaven was unhelpful. All he would tell us was that the ladies did not live in any of his properties, and that the fifth and surviving wife of his predecessor was no lady.

“Her parents were tradespeople, and I will leave it to you to figure out how a female like that enviegled her way into the earl’s bed,” he said.

Given that the lady is an acknowledged St Aubyn, I think we can ignore the earl’s remark. He was, before his unexpected assension to the oak leaves, a minor merchant himself.

However, while we know where the Seahaven ladies will be by the end of March (in Lady Rose’s townhouse), we have been unable to discover where they have lived in the four years since the old earl died.

Dear reader, we will watch this York Season with great interest, and will be sure to keep you informed.

Desperate Daughters

The next Bluestocking Belles Collection with Friends is out on May 8th, and tells the story of nine ladies, all related, who discover happiness awaiting them in York in the season.

Now on preorder at only 99c. Price reduction ends with publication. Click on the project page for more information and buy links.

Is she ‘Accidental’ or ‘Intentional’?

By Cerise DeLand

On March 2, 2022

In Guest author, Teatime Tattler

“Psst.” The man beckoned to Miss Forsythe when he nearly bumped into her at his friend Saintfort’s engagement ball. He knew of her, but she didn’t hold his fancy like a certain platinum-haired beauty did. In fact, the first time he’d met Lady Laughton’s sister and had seen her in the Bath chair, his heart had become engaged.

If anyone were to describe him, he was a veritable Greek Adonis, for he had those looks, but to his way of thinking, he was only average. Or rather, perhaps a notch above that since he would inherit a title one day. “Come closer. I have a bit of gossip you might wish to hear.”

“Why, Lord Randolph?” But her eyes were wide as she followed him into a corner near a grouping of potted palms and ferns.

It wasn’t well done of him to share such Drury Lane drama, but he rather thought of the chit as a little sister, and any time spent in his company was bound to help launch her in society. “Do you see that man over there?”

“The Earl of Laughton?”

“Yes.”

“He’s been blacklisted in the ton.” Her tone was well scandalized.

“True, but, he’s my best friend, and I’ll wager he’s about to be dressed down quite splendidly at this event by the Duke of Bradford—the man who wishes him dead.”

She gawked. “Is it because he jilted His Grace’s daughter and married her instead?”

The gossip, of course had made its way around society. “Just so. But if he can stay away from the brandy, he shall hold his own against that threat.” Then Lord Randolph moved his finger to the opposite side of the room. “And that is his wife, Lady Laughton. Isn’t she a looker?”

“I envy her the brunette hair and her eyes.” Miss Forsythe followed where he’d indicated. The countess carried herself with regal authority. How she managed to ignore the vicious whispers and stares was anyone’s guess. “But she looks both nervous and sad. Why?”

“I suspect she’s hopelessly in love with her husband, but she doesn’t think he returns that regard.” Lord Randolph chuckled. He had conducted enough conversations with the earl to know that was far from the truth. “The trouble is, good old Laughton has been mucked up with grief over his first wife that he thinks he cannot love again.”

“Is that a lie?” Miss Forsythe frowned as the two approached each other to partner in a country reel.

“Oh, quite. Percival has fallen tip over tail for the lady but is so riddled with doubts, has been unable to break free from the demon drink, that his confidence is shot.” Lord Randolph shook his head. It was a sticky wicket. Until he saw what his friends did, he would always stay stuck. “Look at them together, though. If that’s not a well-matched pair regardless of how they came together, I don’t know what is.”

“That’s a sad story, Lord Randolph. When a couple marries, shouldn’t they do so out of love?”

“Indeed, but you know how some things in the ton work.” He followed his friend’s progress with his gaze. Every so often, Laughton would grin and that would make his wife laugh. Damn, but why couldn’t the man see he was so much better off with the woman than without?

“Do you think they shall make a go of it?”

“It’s my fondest hope. Lady Laughton certainly knows how to handle him when he falls into a maudlin mood, and she’s been instrumental in keeping him off the drink, but even she has a breaking point.” Lord Randolph shook his head. “Only time will tell now… if the duke doesn’t drive a permanent wedge between them.”

“And doom them both?” Miss Forsythe tsked her tongue. “Surely love—and common sense—will prevail.”

“We can wait and watch.” But he frowned. He’d known Percival since their school days, and the man didn’t enter anything lightly. If he would just acknowledge how he felt for his wife, he’d be better off, but grief was as difficult to find distance from as the hold of alcohol. “However, I am of the mind that good always triumphs over evil.”

“Yes.” His temporary companion nodded. “That is indeed correct. Love is one of the most powerful things we can find. I wish your friend and his wife well.”

“As do I.” The country reel had come to an end, and the next set assembling was a waltz. “Perhaps you will do me the honor? I’ll tell you another story about Percival that happened while we were at Oxford…”

An Accidental Countess is a steamy, standalone Regency romance. It releases on March 3rd. Here’s the blurb:  True love doesn’t come from position or status but by the whispers of the heart.

Miss Lavinia Thompson’s life hasn’t been a bed of roses. Being born on the wrong side of the blanket ensures she’s not welcome within the glittering, respectable world of the London ton. Left with little choice, she embraced her status in the demi-monde, content to remain a mistress to whoever would pay the highest price. Until that life dimmed, and she wanted acceptance for herself.

Percival Hughes, the 12th Earl of Laughton is a powerful man who takes great pride in his title and position within society. Until one night of drunken revelry when he accidentally weds his mistress thinking her his real bride-to-be. As the repercussions of his ill-fated decision rock the ton and shift the foundation of his life, he struggles to make peace with the fact he married a highly unsuitable woman.

As the days go by, Lavinia and Percival grow close in their marriage of inconvenience. Outings in London with his young daughter form lasting bonds. While the new countess isn’t readily accepted into the beau monde, Percival’s determination to see her legitimate increases, but when forced proximity has romance blooming from desire, they retreat to keep their hearts aloof. To move forward together, they’ll need to rely on trust and love, and perhaps a bit of faith, regardless of what viper-tongued society gossips say.

You can preorder the book right now for .99 cents. The price goes back to regular after release: https://books2read.com/AnAccidentalCountess

And to make sure you don’t miss out on notifications of new books of mine, come follow me on Amazon: amazon.com/author/sandrasookoo

Is the duchess having an affair?

By Bluestocking Belles

On February 26, 2022

In Bluestocking Belles, Jude Knight, Teatime Tattler

“There’s a story here, Sam,” William Scattermole insisted. “Come on! Everyone will want to read it. The Duchess of Haverford is secretly meeting with the Duke of Winshire? The man she wanted to marry when she was a debutante?”

He waved the article he wanted Sam to print. “I saw them with my own eyes, going into the same private meeting room at your aunt’s bookshop. They were alone there for a full hour. What were they doing? I can’t tell you that. But I can guess, and so can our readers.”

“Not happening,” Sam told him. “We’re not printing that article, Will, and every newspaper printer in London will say the same.”

“But it’s news!” Will insisted.

Sam sighed. The boy was keen, he’d give him that. And a good writer, or he would be when he learned the use of a fullstop. One of the sentences in the article under discussion was one hundred and fifty three words long! But Will had not yet learned the realities of survival for Society commentators.

“Look, Will. Let me explain this to you point by point. First, what do you think the Duke of Haverford will do if I publish this story about his mother?”

“What can he do,” Will said, belligerently. “It’s the truth. Besides, we’d call her the Duchess of H. Like we usually do, to disguise her identity. People will know we mean her, but they won’t be able to do anything about it because we didn’t use her name.”

Perhaps the boy was an idiot. “That works for Mrs H., or even Lady H. But Will, how many Duchesses of H. and Dukes of W. are there? Disguising the name isn’t going to do us any good at all, and I don’t think you want two dukes out for your blood. I certainly don’t.”

“But it’s the truth,” Will insisted.

“Perhaps.” Sam held up his hand to stop Will’s objection. “I don’t doubt what you saw, Will, but my second point is that your article makes the direct inference that their graces are having an affair. You saw them enter a room, Will. You didn’t see what happened inside it. She’s a lady in her fifties with two adult sons. He must be sixty if he is a day. If they were having an affair, wouldn’t they be looking for more comfort than a room with upright chairs and a table?”

From the look on his face, Will was as uncomfortable with thinking about a dignified matron like the duchess in intimacy on said table or against the wall. He faltered, and then rallied. “We could soften that a little, perhaps.”

“Is there a story without it?” Sam asked. “They are both known for their charitable works, and the duchess has used my aunt’s rooms for philanthropic meetings before. Duke of W. and Duchess of H. meet to talk about scholarships for deserving students. Not much of a story there.”

It took a bit more persuasion, but eventually Will accepted Sam’s dictate. He cheered up when Sam gave him the job of looking into the rumour that the Earl of Ruthford had publicly accused his wife of infidelity, and the pair of them only married a matter of weeks.

“That’s safe enough,” he told Will. “There are any number of Lords and Ladies R.”

Once Will was gone, he counted off the other three points in favour of squashing the story.

“Three, one of our secret investors happens to be the Duke of Haverford, and while I’ve never hesitated to write about him, I’m not going to risk writing about his wife or mother. Not after what he said to me last year, when I published the rumours about Lady C, as she was then.”

He shuddered at the memory.

“Four, I know, better than most, how much good Her Grace does, using her status and her reputation as a most upright and moral lady. I’m a hardened newspaper man, but I’m not going to interfere with her work by painting her as a hypocrite.”

But the last reason trumped all the rest, and was the one he was least likely to disclose to anyone else. If there was one person in the world he feared, it was the formidable lady who ran the Book Emporium and Tea Shoppe. Miss Clemens prided herself on keeping the secrets of her guests (as she preferred to be known). He winced at the mere thought of her reaction to Will’s article.

He opened the folded paper that Will had left behind and read it again. Yes. William showed promise. But this article must never see the light of day.

Paradise Triptych

By Jude Knight

Long ago, when they were young, James and Eleanor were deeply in love. But their families tore them apart and they went on to marry other people. Paradise Triptych tells their story in three parts.

Paradise Regained

James Winderfield yearns to end a long journey in the arms of his loving family. But his father’s agents offer the exiled prodigal forgiveness and a place in Society — if he abandons his foreign-born wife and children to return to England.

With her husband away, Mahzad faces revolt, invasion and betrayal in the mountain kingdom they built together. A queen without her king, she will not allow their dream and their family to be destroyed.

But the greatest threats to their marriage and their lives together is the widening distance between them. To win Paradise, they must face the truths in their hearts.

Paradise Lost

In 1812, the suitor Eleanor’s father rejected in favour of the Duke of Haverford has returned to England. He has been away for thirty-two years, and has returned a widower, and the father of ten children.

As the year passes, various events prompt Eleanor to turn to her box of keepsakes, which recall the momentous events of her life.

Paradise Lost is a series of vignettes grounded in 1812, in which Eleanor relives those memories.

Paradise At Last

Now Haverford is deceased nothing stands between the Duchess of Haverford and the Duke of Winshire. Except that James has not forgiven Eleanor for putting the dynasty of the Haverfords ahead of his niece’s happiness.

Can two star-crossed lovers find their happiness at last? Or will their own pride or the villain who wants to destroy the Haverfords stand in their way?

Paradise Triptych contains two novella and a set of memoirs: Paradise Regained (already published), Paradise Lost (distributed to my newsletter subscribers) and Paradise At Last (new for this collection).

Order your copy now: https://books2read.com/Triptych