Spotlight on Sunday

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Spotlight on The Lady

The Lady, by Ava Bond

Lady Flora met Doctor Caton at seventeen. She fell in love with him. However his overheard comment about her youth and naivety has ruined her affection for him, and she vows revenge. Ten years later Doctor Philip Caton desires to wed and who better to ask that the beautiful, clever Lady Flora?

An excerpt: from The couples’ meet cute in the opening chapter:

“Excuse me, miss.” A low voice broke into Flora’s contented thoughts, unsettling her in her front row seat and causing her to look up. Her gaze fixed on the young man who had just walked down the aisle to come and stand before her.

And this new world which Flora was happily settling into, shifted entirely, and was sent utterly spinning.

A warm reddening blush started at the base of her neck, creeping higher as she stared up at him.

He was a god.

For a good, long moment she froze as she gazed wide eyed up at the man. He looked remarkably similar to one of the bridegrooms—to the rakish earl in fact. He might have been Langley’s twin with just a few subtle differences, and yet there was something more sincere and earnest about his expression, about the intensity of his gaze, around his chin, face, and build—a physical strength of purpose which marked him out as somewhat different from the earl.

The young man saw her quick glance and gave barely a nod of acknowledgement, but his face relaxed into something warmer when Flora shifted, so he could sit down next to her. Bravery flooded through her as the voices continued to flicker on behind them. It could not just be the ton’s interest in a duke and rake’s wedding—it had to be directed towards this new man. She had heard whispers about the earl’s baseborn brother, and here he was in the flesh. Sat next to her.

He was a matter of great interest to the beau monde. But Flora was fascinated to note this young man did not seem to mind, perhaps he was simply used to everyone watching him.

“I thought,” Flora whispered as the young man sank into his seat, “it is not normally acceptable to be late to a wedding.”

The man smiled as he looked sideways at Flora, “I was seeing a patient. My brother will forgive me, and hopefully, my future sister-in-law will as well.”

He was a doctor. Memories from when Elsie had been sick and had been treated by Langley’s doctor came rushing back to her. It had to be this young doctor. The man had been recommended by the earl. Flora, though, had been too busy, delighted with her recent arrival into Town. The Season was going on, and so she had not been remotely interested in meeting a doctor, who she assumed was probably portly, four times her age, with grey hair…

A swell of regret plummeted through her.

This man was better described as an angel. With gleaming, dark-gold hair bronzed light brown at the curled edges, it needed a slight trim to be truly fashionable, but Flora rather liked his bucking of these trends. Flora judged him to be around twenty-six or seven, but she was not certain. He was certainly older than her, but she rather liked this too.

His eyes were bright, a clear green colour that reminded her of lime, or something fresher, that made her stomach tighten. There was a depth and wisdom wrapped in them too. At least, that was what she told herself. He was a touch shorter than the earl but a little more muscular, which Flora suddenly decided she very much liked.

“I am called Philip Caton,” the doctor said, offering his hand to her with a formality that was again uncommon amongst the ton. Flora was used to bowing and kissed knuckles, but Caton did not look remotely interested in such gestures.

“Flora,” She found her voice as she took his hand. He was warm, and she wished to lean into the touch. “Lady Flora Fitzsimmons,” she corrected, forgetting for a moment her title.

“My lady.”

Meet Ava Bond

Ava has been a lover of regency romance novels since the age of ten, and she started writing whilst at university. She is the author of The Oxford Set and The Daughters of Dishonour series. In 2026 she will be publishing with Dragonblade, her next series The Lyme Ladies. She lives in Scotland, with her family and her cat, Gwen.
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Spotlight on The Secret Word

What does the tale of “Rumplestiltskin” look like set during the Regency, and written without magic?

My answer is The Secret Word, which – once I started writing it – took on a life of its own. This book is published on September 6th.

The Secret Word

(Book 10 in A Twist Upon a Regency Tale)

When Christopher Satterthwaite rescues Clementine Wright from would-be kidnappers, he is offered an opportunity he can’t refuse. Clemmie’s father, a wealthy coal magnate, has been looking for a husband for his only child. Someone with aristocratic bloodlines and no family—someone who can give him the blue-blooded heir he craves, without the interference of noble relatives.

Chris figures he and Clemmie can work together to keep Wright from controlling their every move. As their partnership develops, they fall in love. Wright doesn’t stand a chance against them. Or does he?

And what about the other men who are showing an interest in the child who is soon on the way? Chris’s reprobate grandfather is hanging around like a bad smell, and clearly has a scheme in mind. Chris’s more respectable relatives have not disowned him after all, and are eager to show the as yet unborn child with every advantage—because they regret not helping Chris as a child? Or for purposes of their own?

And then there is Ramping Billy O’Hara, the most sinister of them all, and Chris’s patron.

Some are villains. Some are on the side of the couple and their child. Only time will tell which is which.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FM8R25VP

 

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Spotlight on Dukes All Night Long

Welcome to Dukes All Night Long…
One of the sexiest Historical Romance collections ever!

Get ready to fall in love with a delicious lineup of never-before-published stories filled with passion, scandal, and irresistible dukes.

Whether it’s a marriage of convenience, a fake engagement, or a rake ready to reform, these dukes know exactly how to turn up the heat after dark…

From glittering ballrooms to scandalous house parties, this steamy anthology brings together some of historical romance’s biggest names in over 1,000 pages of heart-racing, sigh-worthy, late-night reading.

Because let’s face it, dukes do it better after dark.

The Duke’s Delayed Wedding Night by Chasity Bowlin

Amnesia and an evil twin? What could be better. The Duke of Rosemere is summoned to the Hellion Club, more officially known as the Darrow School for Girls. He does not expect to meet the wife who abandoned him after four months of a marriage in which she made life hell for him and all around him.

Forever with a Pirate Duke by Gina Conkle

Miss Susan Pryce has been sent by her father to with the assignment of preparing the newly minted rough-around-the-edges Duke of Hawkland for Society. Not to fall in love with him, and decidedly not for him to fall in love with her.

With a Valet in a Wardrobe at Midnight in Dukes All Night Long by Jude Knight

Gareth Lord Versey comes in disguise to Congleton Hall, home of the Earl of Congleton and his six daughters. Garry wants freedom to observe Lady Jenna, the second daughter, before he goes through with the marriage arranged by his grandfather, the Duke of Dellborough.
The Seducer Comes to Call by Edie Cay
After being driven out of medical school and Society by lying rumours, Sibyl has been hiding out on her brother’s estate, living in the hermit’s cave. Until her childhood friend Archie stumbles upon her. He is a rake, a scoundrel, a fortune hunter, her brother’s best friend–and the man whose kiss ruined her.
Trusting the Duke’s Son by Christiana Diane
Jenny met Fin, the second son of a hard-headed, jerk of a duke, in her first season out, and they shared a few tender moments. She believed he would offer for her, once he convinced his overbearing father to support that match.
But then a scandal erupted amongst the ton painting Fin as the monster. Can she ever trust him again?
Midnight Masquerade by Christine Donovan
Widow Lady Charlotte Beauchamp dances with a stranger she has just met at a masquerade ball held at the private Club Knight. After one night with her, the Duke of Tremont feels things he has never felt before. But he fears that she will reject him when she sees under his mask.
Duke by Dawn by Sheridan Jeane
Evan Eldridge never asked to be Duke of Westbridge. He’s lost his family, his purpose, and the only woman who ever truly saw him. Now Violet Heatherington is back, carrying secrets that could shake the Empire–and a mission that puts her directly in harm’s way.
The Duke of Covent Garden by Kesley Swanson
When Lady Kate Bell is delivered to Duke, proprietor of a gaming hell, as collateral for her brother’s debts, she expects humiliation, ruination, and worse. But Duke was once the stable boy Kate had comforted in the wake of her brother’s cruelty. Passion flares, and a forgotten love fights to rise from the ashes of vengeance.
The Wanton Maid by E.L. Johnson
She is the eldest daughter of a disgraced baronet, now stuck working for a rude mistress. He is the cheerful nephew of a duke, holding his first-ever party after his return from university. Together, sparks will fly at a masquerade ball, but a thief might be among the guests.
A Duke at the Opera by Peri Maxwell
When Zara Blake agrees to play opposite Silas Archer on stage as the Duke and Duchess of Adderley, the widowed star soprano has no idea that her vagabond tenor co-star has long been in love with her. In a run-down theatre full of quirky artists who are more like a found family, can she find true happiness?
Dawn’s Light by Tess Thompson
At an exclusive Twelfth Night party, Lady Arabella Kingsley is partnered with Lucian Rothmere, the Duke of Rothmere. The man she once loved. The man who abandoned her. Then the hostess locks them together in a room, with a series of clues designed to help them dig up the past.
A Deal with the Duke by Margaux Thorne
Jo, a widow, is told by a fortune-telling witch that it is time to move on, to marry again – and immediately after bumps into the Duke of Winchester, Oliver, the first man she ever loved. Jo and Oliver are two secondary characters from Margaux’s Cricket Club series. This isn’t their book. Not yet. But it is part of it.
Music in the Night by Caroline Warfield
Expect a musician visiting an almost empty ducal mansion, two loyal servants for company, the nightly strains of a Beethoven sonata in the music room, a pianist who repeatedly escapes into the night, a haughty opera singer long gone, an evil uncle, a complicated past, fraud and manipulation, past sorrows, dual identity, and second chances.
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Backlist Spotlight on Thrown to the Lyon

My latest release, The Lyon’s Dilemma, is the sequel to Thrown to the Lyon. The Duke of Kempbury, who is something of an antagonist in this story, is the hero in the next.

Thrown to the Lyon

When Dorcas Anderson saves Mrs. Dove-Lyon from being crushed by a passing dray it sets up a chain a series of events she could not have imagined. The grateful lady insists on presenting to her rescuer a tinder box containing three tokens. Each can be exchanged for a favor from The Black Widow of Whitehall herself.

She needs the first sooner than she expected, when her dead husband’s twin, brother to a powerful duke, has her and her four-year-old son arrested for theft.

When Mrs. Dove-Lyon asks him to help rescue a wrongfully arrested widow, Ben, the Earl of Somerford, is glad to aid Mrs. Anderson, whom he knew and respected when he was with the army in the Peninsula.

Dorcas uses the second token to enlist Mrs. Dove-Lyon in catching Ben’s attention, little knowing that Ben is already wondering if Dorcas is just the wife he needs.

Ben is too slow to declare his interest. Dorcas’s brothers-in-law threaten, and Mrs. Dove-Lyon may have the answer: Another marriage, this time to a man powerful enough to stand against a possibly malevolent duke.

The plan is set. A game of cards will decide the groom. Can Dorcas use the third token to change the odds? Anything can happen when a lady is thrown to a Lyon.

https://www.amazon.com/Thrown-Lyon-Lyons-Connected-World-ebook/dp/B0DGMYS3W9/

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Spotlight on Tempting a Lonely Lord

Book 6 in The Rakes of Mayhem

A determined viscount…

William Dudley never expected to inherit the title of Viscount—or the neglected estate in Kent that came with it. But duty is something he has never shied away from. Now responsible for his spirited young brother, William is juggling guardianship, estate matters, and his ongoing secret work for the Crown. Though he has officially resigned as an agent, he still deciphers coded messages and remains relentless in his pursuit of a criminal smuggling ring wreaking havoc along the coast. Marriage is the last thing on his mind—until fate quite literally drops into his arms.

A fateful fall…

Lady Bella Conolly’s search for her mischievous dog, Lacey, leads her to the newly inhabited neighboring estate. But when her chase ends with a misstep down an embankment, she finds herself swept into the arms of a stranger. A golden-haired Adonis with striking blue eyes, a devilish grin, and the kind of effortless charm that could make any woman weak in the knees.

Yet beneath his easy smile and godlike beauty, there’s something else—something elusive. A quiet intensity that speaks of secrets carefully guarded. Bella should know better than to be drawn in by mystery and charm alone, yet she cannot deny the pull of curiosity… or attraction.

A dangerous dilemma…

Yet Bella’s troubles are far from over. Her uncle is determined to marry her off to a ruthless earl with sinister motives and a chilling hold over her family. As danger tightens its grip, Bella must decide whether she can trust the debonair and dashing viscount who has unexpectedly entered her world. Together, they must navigate secrets, schemes, and the undeniable pull of a love neither of them expected.

Can William unravel the web of deceit before it’s too late? Or will Bella be lost to the shadows of a perilous plot?

The Rakes of Mayhem
The Earl of Excess
The Marquess of Mischief
The Duke of Disorder
The Baron’s Return
To Win a Viscount’s Heart
Tempting a Lonely Lord

Note: This series is part of Dragonblade’s Sweet Dreams line, so this is a sweet, wholesome Historical Romance where passion beyond the bedroom door is left to the reader’s imagination.

Excerpt from Tempting a Lonely Lord

A few moments later she heard his voice from somewhere below her, which only confused her more. “I want you to trust me—what’s your name?”

“B-Bella.”

“Bella, I’m William. I’m standing below you and just to your right.”

“H-how can you be…?”

“There’s a ledge beneath you—about ten feet below your feet. I found a path to take me down here.”

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t see the ledge.”

“That’s all right, Bella. I’m going to catch you. But you must promise to do exactly as I say.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“Good girl, Bella. When I say let go, I want you to let go and just let yourself drop.” He must have noticed her stiffen at his instruction because he added, “This ledge is wide enough and sturdy enough to hold us both.”

“Are you certain?”

“I’m certain, Bella,” he said in a deep, calm voice.

Lacey barked wildly as if she were telling Bella to trust him.

“I do, girl,” she said, her voice faint. “But I can’t hold on much longer.”

“You don’t need to. I’m here,” the soothing male voice said below her. “I’m going to catch you.”

Bella’s heart pounded as she clung to the ledge, too terrified to look down. “You promise to catch me?”

“Yes, I promise. Trust me. I’m right here. Just let go,” he murmured, voice steady and sure.

Her fingers ached, frozen stiff, and unresponsive, as if they no longer belonged to her. She squeezed her eyes shut, whispered a desperate prayer, and released her grip.

For an instant, she was weightless. The wind roared past her, pulling her downward. The jagged rocks below seemed to reach up, hungry and waiting. A scream tore from her throat, sharp and involuntary—

But then she stopped falling.

Strong arms wrapped around her, solid and unyielding.

“I’ve got you, Bella. I’ve got you,” he rasped, his voice rough with exertion.

The impact of her fall must have jolted him, and for a harrowing moment, his footing slipped. Her panic surged, and she let out a frantic yelp, flailing against him.

Then there was a thud—a hard, jolting stop.

Bella lay still, gasping for breath, her senses spinning. Was she alive? The air felt too rich, too vibrant to belong to Heaven. A warm, grounding presence surrounded her—sandalwood, citrus, and leather mingled with the sea’s salt.

She stirred, feeling the solid heat of his body beneath her. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and the world came into focus: not the endless blue of sky or water, but the deepest, most mesmerizing blue she’d ever seen. Her rescuer’s eyes.

He lay beneath her, chest heaving, his arms still holding her securely.

“You’re safe,” he murmured, his breath brushing her cheek.

For the first time since the fall, she believed him.

Meet Anna St Claire

USA Bestselling Author, Anna St. Claire, is a big believer that nothing is impossible if you believe in yourself. She sprinkles her stories with laughter, romance, mystery, and lots of possibilities, adhering to the belief that goodness and love will win the day.

Anna is both an avid reader and author of American and British historical romance. She and her husband live in Charlotte, North Carolina with their two dogs and often, their two beautiful granddaughters, who live nearby. Daughter, sister, wife, mother, and Mimi—all life roles that Anna St. Claire relishes and feels blessed to still enjoy. And she loves her pets – dogs and cats alike, and often weaves them into her books as secondary characters. And she loves chocolate and popcorn, a definite nod to her need for sweet followed by salty…but not together—a tasty weakness!

Anna relocated from New York to the Carolinas as a child. Her mother, a retired English and History teacher, encouraged Anna’s interest in writing after discovering short stories Anna would write in her spare time.

As a child, she loved mysteries and checked out every Encyclopedia Brown story that came into the school library. Before too long, her fascination with history and reading led her to her first historical romance—Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, now a treasured, but weathered book from being read multiple times. The day she discovered Kathleen Woodiwiss,’ books, Shanna and Ashes In The Wind, Anna became hooked.

Today, her focus is primarily the Regency and Civil War eras, although Anna enjoys any period in American and British history.

 

https://www.annastclaire.com

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/anna-st-claire

https://twitter.com/1AnnaStClaire

https://www.facebook.com/authorannastclaire

https://www.amazon.com/Anna-St-Claire/e/B078WMRHHF

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17419205

https://www.instagram.com/annastclaire_author/

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Spotlight on The Lyon’s Dilemma – published this coming Wednesday

She shattered his heart—now she’s his perfect match.

Felix Seward, Duke of Kempbury, does not want to be at a house party. Any house party. But the matchmaker Mrs. Dove Lyon has promised him that his perfect match will be there, and Felix yearns for a wife.

He is horrified to find that the woman who meets the matchmaker’s description is Adaline Beverley. His nemesis. His Achilles heel.

The one woman on God’s earth he will never marry. Not after what she did last time they were betrothed.

Published July 30th

Excerpt

Felix did not go back to the house. More than ever, he needed to be alone. He needed to think. He took a path that led further out into the park. His mind was reeling.

In his country seat, Felix had a miniature of himself as a child of nine or ten. Melody Beverley could be that child’s twin, green eyes and all. It was easy to tell where her name had come from, for Adaline had once told him that her mother’s name was Melody.

Felix remembered everything she had told him in the brief few weeks of their romance. Everything she said and did, though his memories were colored by what came after.

He should have expected her to be a wanton. She was, after all, the baseborn child of Arthur Fairbanks and his mistress, even if she was raised in the Fairbanks house with the legitimate daughter. She had been honest with him about that even from the first.

He had admired her for it, he remembered, had said that he was a duke and could do anything he pleased short of treason, had said she would be a duchess and—even if people did find out about her tarnished birth—it wouldn’t matter, because she would be ranked above all but the queen and the royal princesses, and a score or so of other duchesses.

Even when she came to his bed, he didn’t despise her for it. They had made promises to one another, after all. He had thought only that she loved him too much to wait, or to make him wait, for them to repeat those vows in a church.

He had, at the time, believed her to be a virgin, though he had doubted that later. Whether or not it was true, he could no longer doubt that the child—of whose existence he had so recently learned—who went by the surname of Beverley was conceived on that night.

She was his daughter, and Adaline had kept her from him.

Felix was, he realized, being a little unfair. She had visited him at his townhouse and been turned away. She had written to him twice, and he had ordered the letters returned, refusing even to touch them.

He did not feel like being fair. He did not know how he felt, in fact. His mind, heart—his soul even—echoed with the beat of the repeated words. I have a daughter.

A daughter who was four months past her ninth birthday, if she was born nine months or so after the night that Felix and Adaline spent together. Felix had missed more than nine years of her life. It hurt more than he could bear, like an ache over his entire being. He felt as if he had missed her all his life, though two days ago, he had not even known she existed. “Adaline will not keep me out of my daughter’s life anymore,” he swore.

Melody. She seemed a nice child. She spoke politely and curtseyed beautifully, and there was obvious affection between her and her mother.

But was Adaline a fit person to raise a child? A daughter? If he did not intervene, would he not be condemning his own child to the kind of life Adaline must have lived? Condemning some poor fool to the kind of betrayal he had experienced?

He could take Melody from Adaline, citing her immoral conduct as a reason. The legal ground would be shaky, but he had no doubt he could succeed. Wealthy dukes had few limits. But was it the right thing to do?

No child deserved to lose a loving, even if unfit, . Felix did not remember his own mother, but he had seen his sister-in-law Dorcas with his nephew Stephen and her new baby. The impersonal attention of servants was no replacement for maternal affection.

No matter how far he walked, he could not make up his mind. “Felix, you need more facts,” he decided, as he made his way back towards the house. “Talk to Mrs. Stillwater. Talk to others who know Adaline. Talk to Adaline herself, as distasteful as that may be, to Melody. You are no longer a cub, still wet behind the ears. You won’t be taken in again.”

Felix was not altogether confident about the last point. Even with everything he knew about her, he still felt the tug in Adaline’s direction. But he was a man in his thirties, a respected peer, and a gentleman. He could trust himself to resist Adaline’s wiles and to do the right thing.

Couldn’t he?

 

 

 

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Spotlight on The Knight Falls First

The Knight Falls First is volume 7 in the Ladies Least Likely, a series of romances set in Georgian Britain featuring ambitious, determined women and the heroes who win their hearts. Knight is the sequel to the first book in the series, Viscount Overboard, and continues where that book ends.

The Knight Falls First

Anne Sutton has the beauty and breeding to make a gentleman’s wife, but not the dowry. When her parents offer her to the vile Calvin Vaughn, Anne does something a gentleman’s daughter would never do: she decides to ruin herself. And the best means at hand is Calvin’s prodigal older brother, Hew, lately returned from war.

Hewitt Vaughn is either the hero of Acre or under a cloud of disgrace—he’s yet to find out which. He’s home to recover from his wounds and take charge of the family estates; stealing his brother’s fiancée is decidedly not a way to redeem himself. But when the lovely, desperate Anne entreats Hew’s help, how can he, as a man of honor, deny her?

When Anne’s plan spectacularly backfires, the only solution is a forced marriage—to each other. But as she makes a home in Newport, Anne wonders if Hewitt Vaughn is the smartest mistake she ever made. And Anne might be the future he never dreamed he could have, but to win her, Hew has to persuade her he would have chosen her anyway—and he’ll have to defeat the dangerous enemy who wants to take everything from them, including one another.

Excerpt from The Knight Falls First:

The newcomer drew in a breath as the surge of voices rose to an excited babble. His gaze went to the hall leading to the refectory. “It’s time for the reckoning,” he said.

This ought to prove interesting. Anne wanted to see the impression this stranger made. More than that, she wanted to watch him a bit longer. He grew more prepossessing the more one looked at him, more discoveries to acknowledge and appreciate. There was something not quite right in the way he moved, though she couldn’t define what it was, and at any rate, as she turned toward the refectory, he was behind her. Hair prickled all over her scalp.

Why should she be so very conscious of his eyes on her, perceiving the cut of her gown, the drape of her shawl over her arms? She put a deliberate sway in her hips, a delicate, ladylike glide she’d been taught in endless grueling lessons in the Vine Court drawing room. Let him look. She wanted him looking.

The noise had resulted from the long, heavy refectory tables, there since the reign of Henry II, being moved aside to make room for dancing. Everyone in the room was on their feet, circulating excitedly, while musicians set up in one corner. Someone brought in Gwen’s traveling harp—Anne remembered her having it at Vine Court. She felt an imposter, an imposer on these revelries, watching from the outside but not part of the merriment.

And beside her this stranger, tall, lean, and alert, was an outsider, too.

“Oh, someone dropped a pin.” Anne spotted the small stick of bronze on the floor, about to roll between two flagged stones, and picked it up.

“The pin!” Prunella shrieked. “Anne found the pin!”

“The pin!” The cry spread, leaping from mouth to mouth like the sweep of wildfire. “The pin has been found!”

Anne stood bewildered. Pins were dear, yes, especially a bronze pin like this, but such an uproar. It must belong to someone important. Her heart took up its rabbit beat once again. Perhaps Lydia, the dowager Dowager Viscountess. Perhaps she would notice Anne at last and make a pet of her. Take her to London. Introduce her to men who were as handsome as this stranger, but less alarming in their manner. Perhaps she could marry someone proper and he would pay to keep her parents in their home.

Dovey clapped her hands. “Bodes a wedding!” she said with a smile. “Another wedding for St. Sefin’s.”

Gwen slung her way through the crowd toward them. “You found my pin!” she exclaimed. “That’s the custom, it is. You’re next to be married, Anne. Who’s the young man to be, then?” She turned to the newcomer with a frank, curious grin that faltered once she got a look at him.

A storm of wind shook through Anne’s head. Calvin Vaughn, back inside, pushed toward them like a fat pike swimming upstream. The smirk on his face was as smug and condescending as could be. He meant for Anne to marry him, and now this blasted pin was his opportunity to claim her.

Calvin marked the man standing beside Anne, and the smile dropped off his face.

The most curious silence followed the pin clamor. It spread swift and somber, like the ripples in a pond when something precious had been dropped and lost in it. The hush reached the edges of the room, including the head table, where Lord Penrydd stood, his eyes widening.

Beside him the Earl of St. Vincent shot to his feet, disbelief overtaking his placid features.

“You,” he exclaimed.

“Me,” the stranger agreed.

Lady Vaughn gave a scream like her soul had been torn from her body. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her limbs collapsed like a marionette clipped of its strings. Mr. Evans, Dovey’s new husband, caught her ladyship with his one good arm before she hit the floor.

Anne turned to regard the stranger. He started forward in a halting fashion, his eyes on Lady Vaughn, every line in his body as tight and pained as a rigged sail fighting the wind. The fragments of suspicion rushed together with a snap, and she knew him.

Calvin’s older brother, Lady Vaughn’s revered hero, Greenfield’s prodigal son and heir. Hewitt Vaughn.

Back from the dead.

Meet Misty Urban

Misty Urban is a medieval scholar, freelance editor, and college professor who writes stories about misbehaving women who find adventure and romance. Her Ladies Least Likely series of historical romances, set in Georgian Britain and beyond, feature headstrong heroines who set out to carve themselves a place in the world and find soul-searing love along the way. Misty lived for several years inside assorted books and academic institutions, and now lives in the Midwest in a little town on a big river. She loves to hear from readers and give away free stories through her newsletter and on her website, http://www.mistyurban.com

 

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Spotlight on My Christmas Knight

For fans of Elizabeth Hoyt and Sherry Thomas comes a Christmas novella about how a mistaken identity forces two strangers to realize that love can bloom` from a marriage of inconvenience and social ruin.

Sir Dennis Fairplace, knighted war hero of Crimea, has had enough of England and family. Overwhelmed by Christmas Day celebrations, he flees his family’s home to board a train northward, but a run-in with brawlers interrupts his plans.

Blanche Badnarrow, cloistered ward of her uncle, the cruel Bishop Badnarrow, secretly plans to elope with her lover to Scotland. But at the last minute, he abandons her at the station. That leaves the bishop determined to make someone—anyone—wed his “ruined” niece.

Enter Dennis, who stumbles into the bishop’s private rail car while trying to avoid a brawl, and finds himself a captive bridegroom.

Blanche and Dennis must escape their prison before her uncle grows tired of their reluctance to wed and throws Dennis from the moving train. As they plot their getaway, the couple begin to wonder—would marriage to one another be so bad after all?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGFGQTSZ

Anne Knight has been writing stories since she was three years old. Before she could read or write, she followed her parents and babysitter around, begging them to dictate her words. Eventually she learned the alphabet and began writing herself. She sneaked her first romance novel when she was thirteen, but did not become an avid reader or writer of the genre until after college.

Anne lives in Arkansas with her real-life swoony hero, four children, and two cats. The cats are named Cyrano and Ivanhoe.

 

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Spotlight on Verity’s Choice

 

A man with a past could change her future.

Having failed to win the hand of the woman he loves, William Cole returns to his childhood home the same vain, shallow gentleman who relies too much on his charm and good looks. He wants to join the military, but his father decides William should take over the reins from the retiring vicar and—while he’s at it—marry the vicar’s daughter.

Unlike William, Verity Lockhart has changed in the five years since he saw her last. While he might remember her as a quiet, mousy sort of girl, she has developed opinions and habits deemed unsuitable for a young lady, the worst of which is a fascination with science and—gasp!—insects. No man, says her mother, would want a wife who is always running off with a butterfly net.

William and Verity can agree on one thing only: they have no desire to marry each other. They will have to encounter an utterly shameless rogue, an unusually honorable gentleman, and a very real war to form a love so deep, it could be the best choice either has ever made.

Buy Link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F3JYY2LX

Verity’s Choice is Book 3 in the 5-book “Ladies of Munro” series.

Ladies of Munro
1) Sophia’s Letter
2) Ellena’s Secret
3) Verity’s Choice
4) Jillian’s Wild Heart (Due for release in September)
5) Irene’s Fall (Due for release in December)

Note: This series is part of Dragonblade’s Sweet Dreams line, so this is a sweet, wholesome Historical Romance where passion beyond the bedroom door is left to the reader’s imagination.

Tropes you’ll love:
✔ Reformed rake
✔ Bluestocking heroine
✔ Small village romance
✔ Family expectations vs. personal dreams
✔ Sweet slow-burn romance
✔ Redemption arc & emotional growth

What begins as a mismatch may just become the love story neither of them dared to imagine.

A sweet Regency romance filled with wit, warmth, and the quiet courage to choose love on your own terms.

Read in Kindle Unlimited!

About the Author

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

She has spent most of her life in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2015, Elizabeth moved to Iowa with her husband, their two children, two cats, and their African bush dog.

 

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Spotlight on Just My Spy

An adventurous widow and a fugitive spy are thrown together in an international train journey where their attraction for one another is as dangerous as the vengeful enemy spies on their tail.

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DWM1RMN8

Meet Anne Knight

Anne Knight has been writing stories since she was three years old. Before she could read or write, she followed her parents and babysitter around, begging them to dictate her words. Eventually she learned the alphabet and began writing herself. She sneaked her first romance novel when she was thirteen, but did not become an avid reader or writer of the genre until after college.

Anne lives in Arkansas with her real-life swoony hero, four children, and two cats. The cats are named Cyrano and Ivanhoe.