Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors !
Sorry for being MIA the past few weeks, but I’m back this week with a new snippet from Heart of Decadence. It’s possibly my favorite book from my sweet novella series Handful of Hearts. And because it’s my favorite, I decided to share some of it with you this week and next week. But then big news is on the horizon for the Handful of Hearts series. But more of that after the snippet!
Heart of Decadence
BLURB:
Can a woman with a past have a future?
Miss Amelia Burrowes was the scandal of the ton in her first Season, when her fiancée died and she was declared a ruined woman by Society. Ten years later, she’s back in London to make an arranged marriage that will hopefully allow her sisters to be received by the ton.
But when Nathan, Lord Ainsley, the man she’d really had a tendre for all those years ago, renews their acquaintance, the flame between them rekindles and Amelia must convince him that her ruin is not what it has seemed all these years.
This excerpt is from the beginning of the novella. Amelia, whose reputation was ruined in a scandal years ago, is trying to marry in order to save the reputations of her younger sisters. As the scene opens, Amelia has been hiding from the gentleman who has been induced to marry her, but Mr. Burke has managed to find her and, to Amelia’s dismay, put her in a compromising position.
EXCERPT:
“Let me go, sir.” Amelia twisted her wrist, trying to break his hold, but he was strong– she’d likely have a bruise there tomorrow.
“Not without some token of your affection, surely? We must learn to get along amiably, mustn’t we?” Sliding his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her against him until it seemed every inch of her touched his body. “Much better, don’t you think?”
“I do not, Mr. Burke.” She raised her foot and stamped hard on his. “Ouch.” Her soft kid slippers were no match for his leather dancing pumps and now the arch of her foot ached.
And a little bit more…
“A veritable spitfire, aren’t you?” His grin widened. “Let’s see if that all that passion can be redirected.” He darted his head down toward her, seeking her lips.
“No.” Twisting her head from side to side, she tried desperately to avoid his mouth. “Mr. Burke, please. Stop.” She got her hands up between them and gave a mighty push, but the effort had no effect on him whatsoever.
It did, however, distract her from evading his determined efforts to kiss her, and he dropped his mouth onto hers with a triumphant cry.
Amelia’s heart sank. What could she do now? Maybe if she held herself aloof, did not respond at all, he’d think her unfeeling. God knew she didn’t want his kisses, though he was remarkably gentle once he settled into it. Ceasing to struggle, she forced herself to relax, go limp in his arms, show that the kiss meant nothing to her whatsoever.
Unfortunately, that only seemed to encourage him. He ran his tongue along the seam of her mouth, pushing insistently, trying to gain entry. Oh, absolutely not. Once again, she pushed against his chest, digging her palms into his jacket and trying frantically to back away.
The click of the library door opening froze Amelia, posed, unfortunately, like a reluctant nymph being ravished by some errant god.
“Kate? Are you in here?”
The man’s voice spurred her to desperate measures. Of one thing she was certain: she couldn’t afford to be compromised by Mr. Burke. Then she’d be forced to marry him or become even more of an outcast in Society. Praying for strength, she hauled back her hand and thumped him on his ear.
He grunted and released her.
Amelia sprang backward, her hands covering her mouth, scrubbing at her lips. Turning her gaze toward the door, she looked into the startled gray-eyed gaze of a very tall, very handsome stranger.
The man’s eyebrows had shot straight up, but now returned to normal. His lips drew into a disapproving pucker. “Well, you are certainly not Kate.”
Heart of Decadence is available on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited! Grab your copy here!!
And now for the news about my Handful of Hearts series: The entire series is getting a reboot! Over the years my brand has become settled securely in the steamy end of historical romance. However, the Handful of Hearts novellas are all sweet historicals, ending in no more than a kiss. But that is about to change.
In June I will be taking the Handful of Hearts sweet novellas down for good and in their place over the coming months, new iterations of all the books will be released one by one. They will have the same characters and much the same stories except there will be about 15k new content in each novella which will include several steamy bedroom scenes that will put the new series firmly within my brand. (If you’d like to grab this series before it’s gone, here’s the link to the series page.)
The new series will be called The Matchmaker’s Ball (because all of the couples either meet or begin their romances at Lady Hamilton’s ball). Each novella will have a new title and a new cover, more in keeping with their new, steamy nature. The first book in the Matchmaker’s Ball series is called Mischief Under the Mistletoe and will be released in July to celebrate my annual Christmas in July promotion. If you’re one of my newsletter subscribers you’ll get a sneak peek at that gorgeous new cover in my June newsletter!
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the WWW snippets here! There’s some great stories out there!