I can’t believe how time has flown by, nor can I comprehend where the whole year has gone. That said, I’m incredibly excited about this release and all the amazing authors I got to work with. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with these amazing authors:
Claire Delacroix, Kathryn Le Veque, Barbara Devlin, Suzan Tisdale, Eliza Knight, Hildie McQueen, Tina DeSalvo, Laura Landon and Emma Prince.
So about a little teaser from my regency short in the collection: All She Wanted for Christmas.
Andrew watched as the sleepy woman walked toward the dining room, figuring she hadn’t been asleep for very long when everyone barged into her room earlier looking for his son. He smiled remembering how adorable they looked lying there together.
Before she had woken up hours ago, he took a moment to appreciate her beautifully formed lips. He wondered what they’d taste like. Sweet like berries and cream, or would they rope him in like a siren at sea with soft words and tender, chaste kisses. Never in his five and thirty years had he been so drawn to a woman. Clara was an enigma for a fine and proper young lady. If she only knew how much charm she held over him.
After approaching a servant to inform them of the spill, Andrew joined the family in the dining room as the food was being served and took the open seat across from Clara who sat next to her brother. It had been sometime since he enjoyed a family meal, or a holiday for that matter. Having inherited his father’s land’s, he was beginning to spend a great deal of time away from home, and at the end of the day, when he stayed at one of the empty cottages, he preferred the solitude. There was something so profoundly different about taking meals and spending the holidays with friends and family—a concept he didn’t know very much about, but enjoyed nonetheless.
She kept looking up at him from time to time and smiled while he returned the favor, and when her brother began regaling tales from the battle front, she elbowed Frederick to remind him of his manners. Alec, who sat with Mrs. Sedgewick, was completely enraptured with Frederick’s tales and expressions, so much so he wriggled out of her arms, landing on the floor, and then climbed onto Clara’s lap.
Her expression warmed the instant Alec rose his arms to be picked up. No sooner than the child was in her lap, he reached out to her plate grabbing a fist full of potatoes.
Heat raced to Andrew’s cheeks with embarrassment. Everyone including Clara had laughed and continued on eating. Children would be children.
“I can see he has a healthy appetite, Andrew.” Clara chided him jokingly.
“That he does. If you want, I can have the nurse retrieve him and feed him away from the adults.”
She waved him off. “Nonsense. He’s fine where he is…”
~ * ~
In celebration of this fabulous release day, I’ll be giving away a copy of the collection. All you have to do is leave me a comment below about what is favourite Christmas ornament and why. The winner will be selected on Friday, October 20th, 2017.
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