Hello, everyone! I'm so excited to be a part of the release week blitz for one of my many favorite romance authors Jennifer Haymore! Her newest novella was released yesterday, so we're celebrating its release here on Peace Love Books. Below, I have a fun excerpt to share with you all, as well as a tour-wide giveaway (US/Canada only) for 15 bound copies of her novella! Here's some more about her newest release...
One Night With An Earl
By Jennifer Haymore
Release Date: April 1, 2014
Andrew Sinclair would know beautiful Beatrice anywhere from the gentle sway of her hips, the richness of her hair and the lushness of her body. When he asks her to dance, the attraction is instant and all-consuming. The only woman he's ever truly wanted is finally in his arms. But when the clock strikes twelve, will this one reckless night fade into the morning light?
He reached down and took her right
hand in his own. He raised their hands as he slipped his other arm around her
waist. She pressed her palm against the back of his shoulder and suppressed a
shudder. They were so very close, in such an intimate position. She wanted
more, wished she could press herself even closer to him. “I haven’t danced a
waltz in a very long time,” she breathed.
In fact, though she had learned how
to waltz, she had never officially danced one during her Season because waltzes
were considered highly improper for young ladies.
“The waltz is my favorite dance,”
he told her.
“Why is that?” she asked, thinking
that if he was to keep holding her like this the whole way through, it might
just become her favorite dance, too.
“I do not enjoy touching a great
many people,” he said quietly, his glittering blue eyes locked on hers. His arm
tightened around her. “I prefer to have my hands on just one woman at a time.
And that woman happens to be you.”
It felt like the air in the
room—already thin and difficult to breathe—was sucked away. For a moment, she
felt light-headed, unable to speak. Then she managed, “But don’t you dance the
other dances as well?”
“Yes, when it is necessary for me
to do so.”
“Why, if you don’t like them?”
“Because it is expected. I have
made a study of societal expectations. The study has allowed me to become quite
skilled at meeting them, Persephone.”
And with that, the waltz began. It
was a lively dance, and Mr. Bull took full advantage, his steps bold, his turns
wide, causing her pleats to stretch open and her skirt to billow around her.
She held on tight and let him take
her on the ride. She didn’t think about the steps—she didn’t need to. She
learned quickly that she must allow her feet to move as they would, and as long
as she did so, they fell into a natural, perfect synchronicity.
He took her into a wide, spinning
arc, and she couldn’t help it. She laughed in delight. She couldn’t remember
ever feeling so free.
He squeezed her hand very tight for
a moment. “You have the sweetest laugh I’ve ever heard,” he said, gazing down
at her.
Still smiling, she looked into his
eyes as he spun her around yet again. “Thank you.”
“I believe you enjoy waltzing with
me, Persephone.”
“I have not enjoyed anything so
much in a very long time,” she admitted. “I wish…”They danced around a group of
couples, steering clear of a flurry of colorful skirts.
“What do you wish?” he asked, his
voice low.
“I fear this might be our only
opportunity to dance a waltz,” she said. “And I wish that wasn’t the case.”
“I hope it isn’t the case,” he
said.
“But it must be. Because I fear
Persephone’s time here is limited.”
Soon enough, she’d need to leave
the colorful rebirth of spring and return to the underworld. But it was
true—something about being with this man felt like she was blossoming after a
very, very long time spent underground. She loved that feeling…and she didn’t
want it to end.
“My time is limited.” She gazed at him straight on. “But I intend to enjoy
every second while it lasts.”
This time, his lips were easier to
read, his smile slow and seductive, and his eyes narrowing the slightest bit
through the sockets of the mask.
“And I intend to enjoy every moment
with you.”
She felt so free. Spinning,
turning, waltzing, a handsome man holding her as if she were his most cherished
possession, her dress a cloud of blue linen around her, her heart soaring.
Tonight, after living so long a prisoner, she was breaking free of the cage
Fenwicke had built around her.
For the first time since long
before his death two years ago, she felt free.
And until a person has been a
prisoner, they never understand how truly sweet freedom can be.
About the Author
You can find Jennifer in Southern California trying to talk her husband into yet another trip to England, helping her three children with homework while brainstorming a new five-minute dinner menu, or crouched in a corner of the local bookstore writing her next novel.
Tour Giveaway
US/Canada only
US/Canada only
That's so hard to narrow down! I've always been fond of Jane Austen era in the 1800s, but I'd also love to have lived in the 1970s. In both cases, the clothes and the music and the dancing. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the giveaway! I really really hope I win because I just read the book and adored it. <3