I’m very excited that my next Regency-set historical romance, His Mistletoe Bride, to be released October 1, is now available for pre-order from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers. As you can tell by the title and the great cover, it’s a Christmas book–the first one I’ve written. And it was a lot of fun to write because it meant doing research on Christmas during the Regency period. Many of our most cherished holiday traditions developed during the time of Queen Victoria, but they certainly knew how to celebrate the season during the Regency, too. I had a great time incorporating those traditions into my book.
But first and foremost, His Mistletoe Bride is a romance between two very different people: Phoebe Linville, a young woman raised in a Quaker household in America, and Major Lucas Stanton, a soldier who must reluctantly take up the responsibilities of an earldom he never wanted. That responsibility includes a tumbledown estate called Mistletoe Manor, a village full of smugglers, and an interfering set of relatives determined to throw Phoebe and Lucas together. And since it’s the last book in my Stanton Family series, I had a great time bringing back characters from my earlier books, including Meredith and Silverton from Mastering The Marquess.
Here’s a short excerpt from His Mistletoe Bride:
Phoebe Linville would never see home again.
She braced herself against the roll of the sailing packet, clutching the damp wood of the ship’s railing in a hard grip. The church spires and red brick buildings of Philadelphia receded into the early morning mist drifting across the whitecaps of the Delaware River. A cool October morning with a salty bite to the air, hinting at the impending change of seasons.
A perfect day to start a new life.
Excitement quickened her breath. For months her energies had been focused on this moment, despite George’s strongly worded attempts to change her mind. She wouldn’t miss his strident lectures, but she would miss her sister-in-law, and her nieces and nephews. And now that she was leaving, Phoebe would even miss George. Although their relationship had been fraught with tension for so many years, her half-brother loved her and always sought to keep her footsteps on the righteous path. To George, her decision to reject a life in America was a profound betrayal of their father’s family and their Quaker roots.
But God had shown her another path to take.
England.
Phoebe could hardly believe she would soon be in that distant land, and with the grandfather whose letters had assured her of his welcome. England, the land of Chaucer and Spenser, a place of legend steeped in tales of fairy queens and ancient kings, whose knights swept through the land in their quests for glory.
Not that Phoebe had ever read those tales for herself. Such frivolity had no place in a Quaker household, even given her father’s rather lax adherence to tradition. But her mother, still loyal in her heart to the old country, had whispered bedtime stories of fairies and sprites that roamed the copses of that green and gentle land. Father, bless him, had never once objected to the stories knowing that Mamma, even though long estranged from her English relations, had needed the comfort of telling them as much as Phoebe had needed the excitement of hearing them.
And now that same family was calling Phoebe home. After years of silence, her grandfather, whom she had never met, had finally acknowledged his only grandchild.
You can read a longer excerpt right here on my website, and find order links to your favorite retailers.
Have a great Sunday, everyone!
