*This originally posted on Evelyn Cullet's site
here, but I will post it as well.
Marie Lavender-Upon Your Return
Posted on June 3, 2013 by Evelyn Cullet
This week, I’m hosting romance novelist, Marie Lavender.
Marie
Lavender lives in the Midwest with her family and three cats. She has
been writing for over twenty years. She has more works in progress than
she can count on two hands.
At the tender age of nine, she began writing stories. Her
imagination fueled a lot of her early child’s play. Even growing up,
she entered writing contests and received a certificate for achieving
the second round in one. She majored in Creative Writing in college
because that was all she ever wanted – to be a writer. While there, she
published two works in a university publication, and was a copy editor
on the staff of an online student journal. After graduating from
college, she sought out her dream to publish a book.
Since then, Marie has published sixteen books. Marie Lavender’s
real love is writing romances, but she has also written mysteries,
literary fiction and dabbled a little in paranormal stories. Most of
her works have a romantic element involved in them. Upon Your Return is her first historical romance novel. Feel free to visit her website at http://marielavender.webs.com/ for further information about her books and her life. Marie is also on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
A list of her books and pen names are as follows:
Marie Lavender: Upon Your Return
Erica Sutherhome: Hard to Get; Memories; A Hint of Scandal; Without You; Strange Heat; Terror in the Night; Haunted; Pursuit; Perfect Game; A Touch of Dawn; Ransom
Kathryn Layne: A Misplaced Life
Heather Crouse: Express Café and Other Ramblings; Ramblings, Musings and Other Things; Soulful Ramblings and Other Worldly Things
Upon Your Return
Fara Bellamont has been back in society for a year after leaving
Cluny Abbey, where her uncle sent her long ago. When he chooses a suitor
for her for marriage, she fears that she will be forced to marry a
stranger and live a miserable life.
But, Fara finds herself thrust into an adventure of a lifetime when
unforeseen circumstances cause her to place her trust in a strange man
for protection. His intervention not only saves her, but puts her in an
even more compromising position.
Grant Hill, a trading captain, is
enchanted by the young heiress not only because of her beauty, but
because she is hardly conventional. Underneath her ladylike exterior
lies a tigress. Grant cannot help but offer his protection as she is in
need and he is far from immune from her charms.
Fara just never bargained on the passion that she feels for Grant
Hill. As events unfold, she must decide whether her desires and the
dictates of her heart should trump the rules of society in this exciting
tale.
Here is an excerpt:
Fara
fought the darkness to the coming light. It was so easy to stay in the
dark. It was comforting like a warm blanket. But, the light held such
possibilities. She knew she must rouse, as if something significant lay
there in wakefulness. She stirred and felt a pair of arms holding her.
Then she heard a heartbeat beneath a rough fabric, felt a coarse texture
of chest hair. It was so secure within that embrace.
When
she finally realized it was a man who held her, she gasped and tried to
retreat from the cord of muscles. She glanced up to be temporarily
blinded by the lamplight to her left.
“Don’t move,” said a soft but deep voice.
He
spoke with the assurance of authority, and she could tell he was used to
ordering people around. Well, he wouldn’t order her. She lifted her
heavy head and whimpered as a stab of agony sliced through her skull.
Fara squeezed her eyes shut tight. It was so much easier to be left in
the dark for it was as if her head was being cut with so many knives.
“I will have you more comfortable in a moment. Please do not move.”
How could she possibly move with all this pain and that large man rendering her limbs useless?
Suddenly,
she felt a light cushion beneath her. The glare from the lantern came
into her vision again when she opened her eyes and was then replaced by
the outline of a man towering above her. She gasped and crawled away
from him, but his hold on her waist hauled her back. Her head hurt so as
he studied her face.
“Madame, the pain will be less if you stay still. I promise I did not bring you here to harm you in any way.”
She
gradually settled back on the pillows and looked at her keeper. He was
an attractive man, if one liked the rough, indignant kind. Dark layers
of soft waves covered his head and ended at the nape of his neck. He was
large, but slim in the right places…it spoke of years of hard physical
labor.
His
eyes captivated her as she studied him in such proximity. The shade of
his eyes…a charcoal color; they were the most intense and unreadable
eyes she’d ever seen. It was an odd, yet strikingly beautiful color for a
man.
Oh, you silly girl, she thought. Really…how ridiculous for her to be wooed by only a pair of eyes. “May I ask you a question?”
“I insist you do, if you are not too unwell.” He gestured to her jaw.
Fara
nodded, acknowledging the wound provided by the man named Bernard. She
imagined what he referred to must indeed be a hideous sight. She looked
around the room. It appeared to be a cabin of sorts. “Monsieur…how did I
get here? Are we on a yacht?”
“A ship. My ship, La Voyageur,” he announced firmly with a lifted brow.
Purchase Links
No comments:
Post a Comment