Home of the Bluestocking Belles

A New Season

On September 9, 2020

London April 1821

Welcome lords and ladies to a new London Season! It is sure to be an exciting one, as fresh doe-eyed debutantes embark on an untested journey in life. The art of husband hunting! How exciting! Among the arrivals are a pair of wealthy cousins, the ladies J and O St. J. I’m told that lady O has a rather large problem. I’m sure she will not gather the special attention of anyone in particular. She may gain notice for her rather large dowry. There are a number of fortune hunters who would be happy to assist her. At the top of the list is one Baron B, who’s finances are in such dire straits that if he does not marry soon, he may find himself in debtors’ prison. The list of eligible gentlemen is long and prosperous, one could only hope to snare one. A lady has many options from the boyish blonde-haired Marquess of H, who is possibly the only true bachelor looking for a wife. Perhaps Lady J, who I’ve heard is full of energy, could catch his eye. Unfortunately, his family’s twenty-year scandal doesn’t paint him in a favorable light.

The bachelor that every mama will be hoping to attach their eager daughters to, is none other than the Duke of K. known to all as the Bachelor Duke. It has been ten years since he inherited the dukedom, which is one of the wealthiest in England. His estate in Norwich is bountiful, and dare I say, he is one of the handsomest men I’ve ever had the pleasure to behold. When a lady finally wraps her delicate gloved hand around his arm, she should hold on and never let go. How terribly disappointing.

Last Season our Bachelor Duke found himself pursued by the now Countess of W. There were a select few among us who even thought that the widow Lady E had a chance with him, alas another season went by without our duke even glancing at a lady. Will this Season irrevocably change all of our lives? Will the Bachelor Duke finally marry? I don’t particularly see circumstances changing for him, but in matters of the heart one never can be sure.

Word has reached this reporter that the Bachelor Duke has just arrived in town for the Season! I am sure there will be broken hearts from here to Bath. It is an unfortunate truth that he shall never marry.

Whatever happens this Season, it’s sure to be a wild carriage ride. I suggest you hold on and watch it all unfold. I know I will.

About the Book

The Bachelor Duke meets a beautiful, curvaceous lady.
Remington Warren, The Duke of Karrington, lives his life by the name society has thrust upon him. Having witnessed cruelty against the fairer sex with his own eyes, he vows never to marry to prevent himself from becoming like the monster who raised him. After ten years of being The Bachelor Duke, his life is irrevocably changed when he sees Lady Olivia St. John across the ballroom floor.
Having lived a sheltered, pampered life, surrounded by her loving family, Lady Olivia St. John longs to know passion and love. She is beautiful, bold, and has a rather large dowry. According to society, she would be a diamond in the first water of this season if it wasn’t for her one flaw.
Will she find all she longs for and more in the arms of The Bachelor Duke, or will heartbreak be her demise?

Excerpt from The Bachelor Duke

Remington led Livie into the secluded opera box, drawing the curtain closed behind him. They were utterly alone for the first time. He cupped her cheek and gazed into her eyes. Heat spread throughout her body. Her heart began to beat wildly in her chest. “Livie, I am very sorry you had to be subjected to their gossip.” His hand traveled to the nape of her neck, guiding her head back as he leaned down, their lips a whisper apart. Her tongue wet her dry lips in anticipation. “Let me assure you that I find every single inch of you pleasing, and I cannot wait until the day I may call you mine.” Remington’s lips pressed to hers. His free arm encircled her waist and pulled her closer to him. A groan of pleasure escaped him. Livie was excited, knowing she was the one that caused him to react in such a way. He brushed his lips softly against hers, allowing her time to become accustomed. She relaxed in his arms. Her lips parted, releasing a sigh of contentment. Taking her bottom lip into his own, he sucked gently, before gliding his silky tongue along it. Livie whimpered, the pure ecstasy of his lips touching hers was a feeling she had never felt in her life. His hand spread wide on her lower back branding her through the fabric of her dress. “Remington,” she sighed against his lips, hearing voices all around them. She wanted to stop the madness with all of society just on the other side of the curtain. But she could only grasp his lapels and hold on tight as she opened to him, allowing him the freedom to devour her. Time stood still while they kissed for what seemed like forever, their lips unable to part, even for something as basic as breathing. The dull sound of voices all around her was drowned out by the rushed beat of her heart. Remington trailed kisses down her neck, and she tilted her head back, gasping for sweet air while new sensations traveled down to the apex of her thighs. “Livie, my God, Livie,” he groaned out before he covered her mouth again with his.

About the Author

Cecilia Rene is a creative, happy, and outgoing Detroit native who majored in Broadcast Communication at Grambling State University. Immediately following her graduation, she started her new life in New York City. As a self-proclaimed New Yorker, her stimulating and diverse career in advertising sparked a drive for hard work and dedication. Her love and passion for writing followed her from childhood through adulthood, where she wrote short stories, poems, and screenplays. Always an avid reader, she stumbled across a book that ignited a deeper need for more and joined a fandom of like-minded individuals. Cecilia and her family made a huge move five years ago to the great state of Texas, where she currently lives with her loving husband, wonderful son, and spoiled fur baby, Sadie. Cecilia Rene loves romance, humor, and all things spicy. For this reason, she will always give you a Happily Ever After.

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The Wicked Widow’s Club

By Sherry Ewing

On September 5, 2020

In Sherry Ewing, Teatime Tattler

Gentle Readers:

This just in… A certain young widow (Mrs. J.B.) was seen entering the townhouse of Mrs. C.V. who has been known to recently take in several ex-mistresses of the ton. Is this the next damsel to join her Wicked Widow’s Club? Enquiring minds want to know…

S. Clemens
Editor of the Teatime Tattler

Cassandra Vaughn closed the newspaper, left her settee and went to pour herself a cup of tea. Well… that certainly didn’t take long.

“Is the news that grim, Cassie?” Patience Moore asked entering the room.

“That rag wrote about Josephine,” Cassandra answered a frown marring her brow.

“But… she just arrived last night!

“Exactly my point. How the devil did a reporter learn she was here? Do I have someone camped outside my front door just waiting for a bit of tittle tattle?”

Patience took up the news print and scanned the article. “At least it’s buried on the seventh page,” she said before her eyes widened. “They’re saying we belong to the Wicked Widows Club. Good heavens!”

Cassandra gave a short laugh. “I suppose I’ve been called worse but Josephine is barely hanging on, the poor dear. She’s devastated she was unable to convince Lord de Courtenay to continue their relationship.”

Patience sighed before taking a seat next to her friend. “He’s happily married now. I suppose that is the way of things and how we’ve all managed to find ourselves together here.”

Cassandra stood with a smile. “If the Teatime Tattler is going to say we are this newly founded club, I say let’s give them something to talk about for their next edition. Rouse Josephine and Moriah. I’ll have my carriage brought around in an hour for a ride in Hyde Park.”

Cassandra gave a wink to Patience as the two women continued to conspire as to what their outing would lead to. The possibilities were endless.

This is a short original piece referring to Mrs. Josephine Bouchard who was the ex-mistress of Lord Adrian de Courtenay from The Earl Takes A Wife.

Excerpt:

He watched when her perfect little mouth lifted up into an enchanting smile. This young woman needed to be kissed and often. “Do you think so?” he asked, stepping closer, wishing to teach her a lesson. Her eyes widened. Was this just a game to her? Was she as flirtatious as his younger sister Miranda had become? No… something sincere shone in her face. The girl had no hidden agendas… or did she?

“W-why, y-yes… of c-course, I am,” she stuttered, suddenly appearing unsure of herself as her confidence in their situation tipped and not in her favor.

He lifted her chin with one finger to stare into her sparkling blue eyes. If she was expecting to be kissed, she would be sadly mistaken. He did not dally with troublesome virgins. He did not. He had a mistress who could see to his needs. Still… he leaned forward, and a soft floral scent swirled around his senses.

“You have a lot to learn about men, little one,” Adrian whispered into her ear and felt her shiver. He should not be teasing her so, but he could not seem to help himself. “Trust me when I tell you to set your cap for someone else. You are far too young for me.”

Her hand went to his arm as though to hold on for support. “You sound as though you are ancient, my lord. I am certainly old enough to become your wife.”

“Wife?” he exclaimed, stepping back as though she had the plague. Heaven forbid! She was set on a marriage between them. “Whatever makes you think I am ready to take a wife?”

Her brows met as she pondered. “Certainly you must be considering marriage to someone, my lord. Why not let that lady be me?”

Damn, she was a brave one and far more outspoken than he thought for someone of her tender years. Before he could answer her outrageous bid to become his wife, they heard her name being called from down the hallway.

Once more taking hold of his arm, she pulled him forward before lifting herself up on the tips of her toes to place a quick kiss upon his cheek. “Please wait for me, Adrian…” she whispered in a soft plea against his ear. Without waiting for his answer, she picked up the hem of her dress and ran from the room.

Adrian stood there, stunned. Where had his little sparrow found the nerve to leave him with her kiss? He lifted his hand to his cheek, still feeling the warmth of her breath on his face. He needed a few minutes to compose himself before he could join his sisters in their carriage. Taking a deep breath, he shut the library door and left Hollystone Hall. Once in London, he turned to his usual gentlemanly pursuits and tried to forget the lovely Lady Celia. She would haunt his dreams for many months to come…

The Earl Takes A Wife:
A de Courtenay Novella (Book Two)
By Sherry Ewing

It began with a memory, etched in the heart.

Lady Celia Lacey is too young for a husband, especially man-about-town Lord Adrian de Courtenay. But when she meets him at a house party, she falls in love and cannot get him out of her mind. Will he ever think she is old enough to become his wife?

Adrian finds the appealing innocent impossible to forget, though she is barely out of the schoolroom and a relative by marriage. If they are constantly in each other’s company, then how can he move on without her?

His sister’s deceptions bring them together but destroys their happiness. Can they reach past the hurt to the love that still burns?

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About Bluestocking Belle Sherry Ewing:

Sherry Ewing picked up her first historical romance when she was a teenager and has been hooked ever since. A bestselling author, she writes historical and time travel romances to awaken the soul one heart at a time. When not writing, she can be found in the San Francisco area at her day job as an Information Technology Specialist.

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A Duke and His Housekeeper!

By Bluestocking Belles

On September 2, 2020

In Guest author, Teatime Tattler

We have received a most interesting report from an American acquaintance now engaged in a grand tour of the far northern reaches of our fair isle. The events in question occurred several months previously, and have not been greatly talked of in London. Or at all!

Dear Readers, you are the first in our great metropolis to learn of this story! No less a personage than a new member of the loftiest of our toplofty ranks, formerly a mere Mr. Mac, has married none other than the lady he employed to tend to the domestic responsibilities of the castle from which he rules his realm.

His housekeeper!

Some of you may not find such a story surprising. After all, it is said that the society of those places my American friend describes as having “lakes with a quiet sheen of water surrounded by high, swelling, naked mountains” might be less genteel than that of our southern climes. Perhaps this is due to the great north’s scarcity of society, the harsh climate, and the ancient rigors of kinship. (Why, my friend has also reported that at the close of a hearty dinner, even the ladies take whisky!)

Landseer, Edwin Henry; Sunset in Scotland; National Trust, Mottisfont Abbey; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/sunset-in-scotland-220446

Astonishingly, however, my inquiries reveal that this former Mr. Mac and the lady in question, a certain Mrs. M, were in fact not of Caledonian extraction at all but of good English gentry stock!

How such a thing came about is a tale involving a long-standing feud, common in those climes. Our American friend, a minister of one of the churches hatched in the free-thinking country that renounces all noble titles, finds the matter vastly amusing. He claims, in fact, to have dined with the lofty personage and his lady and heard the whole story from the proverbial horse’s mouth!

He proclaims it a most heartening Christmas tale of revelation, forgiveness and in the end redemption.

Dear Reader, as soon as we learn more, we will be sure to provide the whole story!

About the Book: The Duke She Despised

The new Duke of Kinmarty has lost everyone who mattered and gained naught but a title, and debt, and an old pile of a castle. When a fetching new housekeeper appears on his doorstep frantic to ready the place for the Yuletide, he seizes the chance for a respite from grieving and pretends to be the new duke’s estate factor.

With her cousin’s children due to arrive from India, a vicar’s widow hides her identity and takes a position as housekeeper to their dreadful uncle, the man who years ago sabotaged her own chance for happiness. Overwhelmed by a castle understaffed and in disarray, she forges a bond with the new duke’s charming but not very competent factor, not knowing that he’s hiding something as well.

When allies become lovers, each senses the truth may rip them apart. Can their love survive when she discovers he’s the duke she despised?

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About the Author

Award-winning and USA Today bestselling author Alina K. Field earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and German literature, but she prefers the much happier world of romance fiction. Though her roots are in the Midwestern U.S., after six very, very, very cold years in Chicago, she moved to Southern California and hasn’t looked back. She is the author of several Regency romances, including the 2014 Book Buyer’s Best winner, Rosalyn’s Ring. She is hard at work on her next series of historical romances, but loves to hear from readers!

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Don’t tell a soul!

By Jude Knight

On August 30, 2020

In Jude Knight, Teatime Tattler

My dear, I have just heard the most scandalous thing, but you cannot tell a soul. Do you remember me speaking of Lady Selby? A poor little dab of a woman. Wouldn’t say boo to a goose. Of course, I befriended the countess. It was an act of charity, for she was not at all up to snuff.

How she captured herself an earl is beyond me, especially a rogue like Selby.

Not that he was faithful to her, for of course he wasn’t. She told me herself that one of his mistresses had the audacity to visit her in her own home. Can you imagine! Of course, the woman claimed that Selby had tricked her with a false marriage ceremony.

“Nonsense, dear,” I told her. “You mark my words; it’ll be a scheme to inveigle money out of you.”

Well, dear, it turns out that I may have been wrong, for I met the unfortunate female just as she was about to leave the manor with her two daughters in a cart bound for who knows where.

She seems to believe that Selby played the same trick on her, and if that is true, then she is not the countess at all, but just another fallen woman!

It is such a pity, for I am known to have been a friend of the countess, insofar as she had friends. To discover that I have been so taken in! I am deeply upset, as you must imagine. I tell you, next time I see Selby, I shall be very inclined to tell him precisely what I think of him, whatever his rank in Society.

The female who thought she was Lady Selby has left the neighbourhood, thank goodness. It would have been unpleasant to give her the cut direct, for it appears to have been not her fault at all, poor creature.

I won’t add to her burdens by spreading her story about, but I just had to tell you, my dear friend. And do show my letter to your sister, for I know she will be interested.

But apart from that, don’t tell a soul.

Lord Selby’s shocking behaviour is a subplot in the historical mystery novel Revealed in Mist, by Jude Knight. The former Lady Selby and Chastity Virtue, the other false wife mentioned, will one day also have their stories told. So many stories, so little time.

Haversham Places a Wager

By Guest author

On August 26, 2020

In Teatime Tattler

Seen in White’s Betting Book on Valentine’s Day, this year of 1814. It seems some officers hold their honour cheap. The Earl of Haversham is clearly involved in some action that will see him compete with Captain Clifton – and no one expects Haversham to win. These odds remain very long indeed.

My Dear Miss Haversham,

I have this moment been informed by our cousin the baronet himself that your brother has wagered a large sum on the outcome of a certain event, the details to which I am not privy.

I am ashamed to relate that the baronet saw fit to lay down monies on the blackguard Clifton. I scolded him most profusely but he would not be moved. I am aware of the grave insult you have suffered. I am sorrier than I can say, but will a blood letting restore you to favour with the duchy, or unstain your already unblemished feminine honour?

You must know that the wagers do not favour a successful outcome for the earl. Why, the gentlemen all believe in Clifton to win. It is said that he has never yet suffered a loss in such a contest. I hope such rumour to be ill-founded, however our cousin assures me that the odds are as short on this as it is possible to be. Scarce a pound bet against the Captain, to some hundreds against the earl. Such rumours have me much excited in distress.

Dearest Amelia, I ask that you write to your brother and beg him to reconsider his rash action. Your brother is not a soldier. I fear for him but I cannot claim the influence of a sister. I must request you petition him with all haste, lest the ‘action’ result in the most deplorable outcome for us both.

By Easter, we shall be sisters, dearest Amelia, if your brother will only remain in one piece long enough to wed.

Yours, very sincerely,

Catherine

It is to the credit of the Earl of Haversham that he seeks to defend his sister’s honour, but I do wish he faced a less formidable opponent. It’s hardly a wager when the outcome is forgone.

About the Book: Always a Princess

For Romany Princess Syeira, allowing herself to be loved by an Englishman is an act of bravery as great as facing a loaded duelling pistol.

A love that cannot be denied

When Captain Warwick “Wil” Clifton offers to assist the Romany family he has injured, he’s unprepared for the warmth of Romany camaraderie, and he is no where near ready for the force of nature that is Princess Syeria Brishen. Keeping a lid on his desire for the Romany beauty takes all his self-control. A notable rake, he is well out of practice at showing restraint and finds himself asking: What is he willing to risk for love?

As the eldest daughter of the Romany king, Syeira’s pride in her heritage is matched by her finely-honed distrust of Englishmen. Captain Clifton surprises her with his affection, passion, and…love. She trusts her heart, but is caught between family duty and an unrelenting desire to be with the man she loves.

AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER:

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About the Author

Clyve Rose is an award-winning author of historical fiction both in Australia and the US. She has been writing historical romance fiction for the best part of two decades. She works in the Regency and Georgian periods, with occasional detours into Ancient Greece.