BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Promise of a Gentleman by #MFRWauthor Linda Rae Sande @lindaraesa

The Promise of a Gentleman

Book 1, The Cousins of the Aristocracy

Linda Rae Sande

Erotic Historical Romance

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Will the third time be the charm? In 1802 London, Emma Fitzsimmons is determined to fend for herself in life as well as love. Her banker has other plans for her future, though—marriage—as does her best friend. Given the options, should Emma consider the tall broker? Or the rake who isn't what he seems? What of her employer? Six can become three in this sensual tale of mismatchmaking at its finest.

When it comes to matchmaking, will the third time be the charm?

Excerpt

Emma was shocked into silence. It was bad enough to be in a man’s bedchamber. It was worse to be in his bedchamber while he sat naked covered only by a quilt. And here she was pressed up against his naked flesh while under the same quilt! Wearing his dressing gown!
Emma finally turned and looked at him, her face mere inches from his. “Other than my father’s, I have never been in a man’s bedchamber ..,” she started to say and then turned to face the fire, a bit of panic rising inside. “This is a bit … inappropriate,” she whispered as she shook her head, sure he could see how flushed her face had become from her sudden embarrassment.
“No one else need know this happened. No one else will know,” Thomas replied quietly as he watched her profile. “And it shouldn’t have,” he added as he leaned forward and used the heel of one hand to scrub his eyes. A sudden weariness settled into his bones, and he found it difficult to hold up his head.
Emma angled her head and turned to look at him. “Whatever do you mean?”
Thomas shook his head as he dropped his hand and then pulled his hand inside the quilt. “I was such a fool tonight,” he whispered finally. “The weather was horrible all afternoon. I sent my warehouse manager home because he was sick, and then I ended up staying so late, there wasn’t a room at the men’s club. All the inns were full. I believed I could make it home on horseback in a blinding rainstorm, and the wind …” He paused for a moment and turned to face her. “If you hadn’t had that lamp in your window, I would have walked right past the road to this house,” he said, suddenly realizing he could have spent an entire night in the cold and wet. “Surely, I would have died,” he whispered as he turned to stare at the fire again. A moment later, he pulled her into a hug and clung to her as if his very life depended on it.
At first, Emma gasped and almost resisted. At the same instant, she became aware of something she had been denying to herself.
I want this man, she realized, the scent of him enveloping her senses.
The feel of his flesh pressed against her had every nerve ending jumping. A fluttering filled her belly as her pulse pounded in her ears.

About Linda Rae Sande
A self-described nerd and lover of science, Linda Rae spent many years as a published technical writer specializing in 3D graphics workstations, software and 3D animation (her movie credits include SHREK and SHREK 2). An interest in genealogy led to years of research on the Regency era and a desire to write fiction based in that time. She can frequently be found at the local cinema enjoying the latest movie. During the winter, she houses junior hockey players and is a fan of the San Jose Sharks. She makes her home in Cody, Wyoming. Read more about her books on her website.

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/lindaraesa
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Linda-Rae-Sande-Author/381743265303769?ref=hl
Blog: http://lindaraesande.wordpress.com/
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7008676.Linda_Rae_Sande
Google+ :https://plus.google.com/u/0/104459146396988139872
My Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/linda2612/

#Thursday13 Favorite Authors with #MFRWauthor Karen McCullough @KgMccullough

MFRW Author Karen McCullough shares her Thirteen Favorite Authors.
Karen McCullough’s wide-ranging imagination makes her incapable of sticking to one genre for her storytelling. As a result, she’s the author of more than a dozen published novels and novellas, which span the mystery, fantasy, paranormal, and romantic suspense genres. A former computer programmer who made a career change into being an editor with an international trade publishing company for many years, she now runs her own web design business to support her writing habit.

Thirteen Favorite Authors

J.R.R. Tolkien 

C.J. Cherryh

Lois McMaster Bujold

Mary Stewart

Barbara Michaels

J. K. Rowling

Andre Norton

Ellis Peters 

Robin McKinley 

Jim Butcher

Dorothy L. Sayers

Karen's latest book is The Detective's Dilemma, an Erotic Contemporary Romantic Suspense, with Kensington Lyrical Press.
Although Sarah Anne Martin admits to pulling the trigger, she swears someone forced her to kill her lover. Homicide detective Jay Christianson is skeptical, but enough ambiguous evidence exists to make her story plausible. If he gives her enough freedom, she’ll either incriminate herself or draw out the real killers. But, having been burned before, Jay doesn’t trust his own protective instincts…and his growing attraction to Sarah only complicates matters.

With desire burning between them, their relationship could ultimately be doomed since Sarah will be arrested for murder if they can’t find the real killer.

Her fingerprints are on the gun, but Sarah swears she’s innocent.

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Chapter One EXCERPT

The crash of something hitting the floor jerked her awake.
Sarah lay for a moment, listening, wondering what might have fallen, but not yet alarmed enough to drag herself out of bed and investigate.
An even louder thunk shook the house. She jolted upright in bed. Something had hit the floor again--something heavy. She reached for the bedside clock and pressed the button to illuminate the face. One-thirty. Vince might still be up. Maybe he’d bumped into something. She hoped it was nothing worse. She kept telling him to follow the doctor’s orders and lose weight. At fifty-three, he already had heart problems.
The thought of him lying on the floor after a heart attack or stroke goaded her up and out of bed.
She snagged her robe off the chair and rushed out of her bedroom. A light shone at the opposite end of the hall that ran nearly the entire length of the house. In the past year, Vince had been having more trouble sleeping and often stayed in his study, working or watching television into the early hours of the morning.
The door to the room stood open, but she didn’t see him at first when she rushed in. Papers lay scattered across the floor, drawers hung open from the desk, and one sat on its side on the floor as well.
“Vince?”
“Over here. I--” His voice wavered and broke.
She spotted him on the far side of the room from the door. He was on his feet and two men flanked him. Hoods concealed their features, and they both wore dark, nondescript clothes. Each held a gun, one pointed at Vince’s head, the other turned in her direction.
Sarah froze. Her breath stuck in her throat, and her stomach clenched into a tight knot. “What--? What’s going on? Vince?”
His normally florid complexion had a gray cast, and his shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry, my dear. These gentlemen have--”
“Shut up,” one of the two ordered.
She didn’t realize there was a third man in the room until he stood beside her. Sarah backed away, but he grabbed her arm and held her in place. He squeezed the arm so tightly it hurt when she tried to wrench it away.
“Shut up.” He lifted her arm from her side to chest height and pushed his gun into her right palm. Strong, square, latex-gloved hands flanked hers, holding her fingers around the gun’s butt, pointing it toward Vince.
When she didn’t put her index finger on the trigger, he tried to jam it into position.
“No.”
She wriggled and twisted, but he kept such tight hold on her, she couldn’t get free. Her stomach churned.
“What are you--?”
The hand on hers squeezed, pulling backward on the finger just touching the gun’s trigger, then tugged again and again. Three shots exploded in rapid succession, one blast right after the other. The recoil pushed her back against the assailant’s body, but he held her steady so that all three bullets found their target.
Vince jerked after each shot. Red splotches exploded on his stomach, his shoulder, and the side of his face. At a distance of no more than eight feet, even the assailant’s shaky aim hadn’t missed.

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BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Wooing The Librarian by #MFRWauthor Jane Leopold Quinn @jelquinnauthor

MFRW Author Jane Leopold Quinn released Wooing the Librarian, an Erotic Historical

Western Romance.

After a spectacularly failed romance left her devastated, all Isis Garrett wants is to start her library in this California town. The last thing she wants is another man, not even the handsome preacher who offers his church for her books.

Pres MacKay is starting a new life as a preacher. He can’t hide his attraction to the sweetly rounded new librarian even as she pushes him away. Can he discover the way into her closed heart and prove to her he’s one of the good guys?

Pres isn’t about to give up on Isis, though. The question is can she forget the pain of the past and see a future with him?

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Excerpt

Isis roams to a bench in the park to find some privacy from Pres and read a book - something librarians love to do almost more than anything else. She's joined by another young woman, someone who needs a friend and, of course, a book…
Each in her own thoughts, they sat without speaking for a minute. Finally, Isis asked, ""You'd like to borrow a book?""
""Yes, if you'll lend to me.""
""Of course, I will. The books are for anyone to read. What kind of stories do you like?""
Opal laughed outright then. ""Believe it or not, I like to read romance stories. You wouldn't think I would, but they're pleasant enough to pass the daytime with.""
Isis smiled and held up the book in her lap. ""Have you ever read anything by Fanny Burney?""
""No, I've never heard of her.""
""She was a British author from the last century and wrote about English society at that time.""
""I like reading about the past. It kind of takes me away from my present life."" She gave a little self-deprecating chuckle and blushed under the face paint.
""Here then, take this."" Isis offered the book to Opal.
""But you're reading it. I don't want to take it from you.""
""Please. I've read it before. Tell me later if you liked it. I have more by the same author.""
""How will I return it to you?""
""Just come into the library any time you'd like. I'll be there.""
""Someone might see me.""
""And what's wrong with that?""
Opal scowled. ""Some people might think me unfit.""
Isis pressed her lips together. ""Well, I don't, and it's my library. So there!""
Opal chuckled and said, ""You're sweet. I hope you don't get any nasty remarks.""
""I can handle anyone, don't you worry. Books are for everyone to enjoy. You'll come back and talk to me, won't you? We'll talk about the story."" Isis smiled encouragingly.
Opal clutched the book as if it were precious and beamed back. ""I will, and I'll take very good care of this."

About Jane Leopold Quinn
Sensual fantasies were locked in my mind for years until a friend said, "Why don't you write them?" Why not, indeed? One spiral notebook, a pen and the unleashing of my imagination brought me to more than a dozen books published. The craft of writing romance is my passion in life. I love every part of the creative process — developing characters, designing the plot, even drawing the layout of physical spaces from my stories. But now I'm lucky enough to write romance full time, and I'm fortunate enough to have found my own happily ever after husband.

http://janeleopoldquinn.blogspot.com  |  https://twitter.com/jelquinnauthor  |  http://amzn.to/1DfiXkP