Weekend Writing Warriors ~ 1/19/20 Much Ado About A Widow ~ Daggers

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors!

Much Ado About A Widow, Book 4 of The Widows’ Club series, released on New Year’s Eve!

If you’ve been keeping up with my widows over the past year or so, this book is Georgie’s story–a true romantic comedy adventure romance. Of course, nothing else would do for the heroine, Lady Georgina Kirkpatrick!

BLURB:  

Lady Georgina Kirkpatrick defied her family, jilted her fiancé, and married the man she loved. But when her husband died at Waterloo, she was delivered right back into her father’s power . . .
 
Victory is sweet—but England’s triumph was Georgie’s rout. Now that she’s widowed, the loathsome marriage her father first arranged has simply been renegotiated. With neither money nor rights, and nowhere to flee, all she can do is cherish her last weeks of freedom. . . . Until a band of ruffians overtake her carriage and kidnap her. When she escapes in seaside Brighton and encounters her brother’s rather wild friend, Lord St. Just—whom she suspects aspires to be a pirate—she’s prepared to entertain more of his adventurous suggestions than usual . . .

St. Just knows his mind and his duty, and he loves a challenge. Helping a fair lady make her farewells to hoodlums suits his talents well. Within the hour he has Georgie, her lady’s maid—and her little dog too—sailing for his castle in Cornwall. Meanwhile, the lady’s entire family, her kidnappers, and her scheming intended are in pursuit. But as he and the indomitable Georgie grow closer, he begins to suspect that together they will prove a match for them all . . .

I started my snippets a good way into the story. Lady Georgina, on the way back to her father’s house to an arranged marriage with a man she’s already jilted once, is kidnapped. She manages to escape and runs straight into the arms of her brother’s friend, Robin, Marquess of St. Just. who tries to persuade her to sail with him to his home in Cornwall, to which Georgie answers with a resounding “No.” Rob is still fearful for her safety and enacts his plan. He locks Georgie in the cabin and hurries off on an errand, leaving Georgie to fume. Rob returns to the ship and sets sail with Georgie, Clara and Lulu. And Georgie discovers she is no sailor. After a night of being violently seasick, she is appalled when Rob appears with food in hand.

This week’s snippet follows a few sentences after last week’s. Rob has lifted Georgie into a sitting position in order for her to drink the ginger tea he brought.

We are in Rob’s POV and he speaks first in this snippet.

Some portions of this snippet may be changed from the book’s regular format to allow for WWW’s 10 line requirement.

SNIPPET:

The Justine

He pulled her up, careful not to spill the tea, until she sat more or less erect–a tempting armful in more ways than one.

“I said ‘no,’ my lord, and I meant it.” Staring directly into his face, she drew her lips inward.

More spirited now, a very good sign.  “I also had a bout with seasickness when I was a lad,” he eased his arm from behind her to free his hand, “I was perhaps ten at the time, and I reacted the same as you; nothing my grandfather said would convince me to drink this tea.” Grasping the handle with one hand, he tested the temperature with the other, to make sure it had cooled sufficiently. “But my grandfather had a remedy for such stubbornness.” He lifted the cup before her eyes. “Would you prefer to take a sip of your own accord, or shall I demonstrate my grandfather’s method?”

If the daggers in her gaze had been real, he’d have been a dead man.

 

Much Ado About A Widow is now available as an e-book on Amazon and in Barnes and Nobles, Books A Million, and WalMart stores in paperback.

And don’t forget to check out the rest of the Warriors here. There’s some fantastic snippets to be read.

The Widows’ Club series by Jenna Jaxon

Check them out on my Amazon Author Page!

 

 

 

 

Cover Reveal: The Widow’s Christmas Surprise

Just when I thought Christmas was over, I got another present! Kensington released the cover for my next Widows’ Club novel,

The Widow’s Christmas Surprise!

 

That was certainly a surprise, and a good one! It won’t release until the end of September, in time for next Christmas, but I’ll feature snippets of it when I do my Christmas in July celebration. So stay tuned to the blog and my Facebook page.

Here’s the blurb for The Widow’s Christmas Surprise:

The death of her husband has thrown Lady Maria Kersey’s future into doubt—and her heart into the arms of a man she cannot have. But Christmas with the Widows’ Club will bring choices—and surprises–that may change all her holidays to come . . .
 
Maria just gave birth to her first child, a beautiful daughter—but the event is shrouded in sorrow.  A month earlier, Maria’s husband, Lord Kersey, was killed in a duel under compromising circumstances. Worse, Maria’s failure to provide a male heir has stripped her of any hope of an inheritance. Scorned by the ton, one of her few allies is her late husband’s steward, Hugh Granger. Hugh is everything her husband was not—warm, charming—and penniless. . . .

Hugh has fallen desperately in love with Maria, but has little to offer but comfort. As their attraction becomes impossible to resist, Maria flees to London to spend Christmas with her dearest friends, a group of widows who lost their own husbands in the Battle of Waterloo. Little does she know the holidays will reveal a twist of fate she never expected—proving that the greatest Christmas gift is the magic of true love . . .

The Widow’s Christmas Surprise is available for pre-order on Amazon and other e-book retailers!

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ 1/12/20 Much Ado About A Widow ~ A Cure for Seasickness

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors!

Much Ado About A Widow, Book 4 of The Widows’ Club series, released on New Year’s Eve!

If you’ve been keeping up with my widows over the past year or so, this book is Georgie’s story–a true romantic comedy adventure romance. Of course, nothing else would do for the heroine, Lady Georgina Kirkpatrick!

BLURB:  

Lady Georgina Kirkpatrick defied her family, jilted her fiancé, and married the man she loved. But when her husband died at Waterloo, she was delivered right back into her father’s power . . .
 
Victory is sweet—but England’s triumph was Georgie’s rout. Now that she’s widowed, the loathsome marriage her father first arranged has simply been renegotiated. With neither money nor rights, and nowhere to flee, all she can do is cherish her last weeks of freedom. . . . Until a band of ruffians overtake her carriage and kidnap her. When she escapes in seaside Brighton and encounters her brother’s rather wild friend, Lord St. Just—whom she suspects aspires to be a pirate—she’s prepared to entertain more of his adventurous suggestions than usual . . .

St. Just knows his mind and his duty, and he loves a challenge. Helping a fair lady make her farewells to hoodlums suits his talents well. Within the hour he has Georgie, her lady’s maid—and her little dog too—sailing for his castle in Cornwall. Meanwhile, the lady’s entire family, her kidnappers, and her scheming intended are in pursuit. But as he and the indomitable Georgie grow closer, he begins to suspect that together they will prove a match for them all . . .

I started my snippets a good way into the story. Lady Georgina, on the way back to her father’s house to an arranged marriage with a man she’s already jilted once, is kidnapped. She manages to escape and runs straight into the arms of her brother’s friend, Robin, Marquess of St. Just. who tries to persuade her to sail with him to his home in Cornwall, to which Georgie answers with a resounding “No.” Rob is still fearful for her safety and enacts his plan. He locks Georgie in the cabin and hurries off on an errand, leaving Georgie to fume. Rob returns to the ship and sets sail with Georgie, Clara and Lulu. And Georgie discovers she is no sailor. After a night of being violently seasick, she is appalled when Rob appears with food in hand.

This week’s snippet follows on directly after last week’s.

We are in Rob’s POV and he speaks first in this snippet.

Some portions of this snippet may be changed from the book’s regular format to allow for WWW’s 10 line requirement.

SNIPPET:

The Justine

“Whatever your feelings for me, I am in charge of your welfare, which includes attempting to cure you of your seasickness and to do that you must eat.”

“No.” Scowling at him, she shook her head vehemently. “If I eat that I shall be violently ill.” She clamped her lips shut and stared at him, defiant.

“You may be a bit queasy at first, but once we get the tea down, the ginger will take effect, and you’ll feel much better–this has been a sovereign remedy for mal de mer for generations of sailors.” Perhaps a bit of a distraction would help. “Did you know that Admiral Nelson also suffered from seasickness all his life? Still, during his entire career he fought it and died a hero despite the affliction.”

“I assure you, I do not intend to make a career of the sea, my lord.”

Much Ado About A Widow is now available as an e-book on Amazon and in Barnes and Nobles, Books A Million, and WalMart stores in paperback.

And don’t forget to check out the rest of the Warriors here. There’s some fantastic snippets to be read.

The Widows’ Club series by Jenna Jaxon

Check them out on my Amazon Author Page!

 

 

 

 

Much Ado About A Widow Signing Tour

Happy Monday, Everyone!

If you missed all my Facebook posts (and Twitter and Instagram), I did a marathon tour of Barnes & Noble bookstores in the Washington, DC-Maryland area this past weekend, signing copies of my just released historical romance, Much Ado About A Widow.

I’d seen an article on the internet saying there were 18 B & N stores within a 50 mile radius of Alexandria, VA and it got me to thinking that a signing tour (where I go into a book store and ask to sign any copies they had of my book) would be a good idea to help the launch of the new book. My friend Ella Quinn told me “A signed book is a sold book” which has become my mantra these days.

Me at B & N on New Year’s Eve signing books for the release

So early Saturday morning my daughter and I left on a

2-day whirlwind tour of Northern Virginia and Maryland, starting with the Fredricksburg B & N and ending at the Bowie bookstore. In-between I visited a total of 15 stores (2 of the 18 I discovered didn’t have my book and 1 was too far north to reach with our schedule), only 2 of which didn’t have copies of the book (one of those, I think had had a copy but had already sold it).

 

 

Signing books at a Barnes and Noble bookstore

In the end, I signed 37 copies of books from The Widows’ Club series! Most bookstores had a copy of last December’s release What A Widow Wants, which of course I signed as well. And the last bookstore in Bowie had the first three of the series, but not the 4th book.

What I discovered at almost every store was that the clerks were very surprised and

Books Signed at Seven Corners

actually rather thrilled to have an author want to come in and sign their books. In fact, in the store at Seven Corners, the clerks were terribly excited to see me and helped me very quickly find and sign the two copies of my books they had. I guess most authors either don’t have the time or the means to do this kind of promo that’s all on their own dime. And I’m not at all certain how much I will gain financially from the experience.

But–if this kind of promotion will generate interest in my books and even more importantly in me as an author (who the clerks may then remember and recommend my books to customers), then I think it will be well worth it.

This coming Sunday I’m doing a mini-tour of the Barnes & Noble stores in the Richmond, VA area and one fan has already contacted me about meeting her at the store so I can personalize the books’ autographs. I can’t wait to meet her!

I’m also planning signing tours of Baltimore/Philadelphia and North Carolina in the next

Barnes & Noble Orlando

couple of months and when I go on Spring Break the first week in March, I’ll be heading down to sunny Florida along with all the rest of the college kids–not for the beaches but for the bookstores!

For the past 10 years, ever since my first book was published, my cousin has said to sign her up to go with me on my book tour.

Well, VaRee, get ready for that road trip!

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ 1/05/20 Much Ado About A Widow ~ “Please Go Away”

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors!

Much Ado About A Widow, Book 4 of The Widows’ Club series, released on New Year’s Eve!

Many thanks to everyone who either came by my Facebook Party or my New Year’s Eve Release Party!

If you’ve been keeping up with my widows over the past year or so, this book is Georgie’s story–a true romantic comedy adventure romance. Of course, nothing else would do for the heroine, Lady Georgina Kirkpatrick!

BLURB:  

Lady Georgina Kirkpatrick defied her family, jilted her fiancé, and married the man she loved. But when her husband died at Waterloo, she was delivered right back into her father’s power . . .
 
Victory is sweet—but England’s triumph was Georgie’s rout. Now that she’s widowed, the loathsome marriage her father first arranged has simply been renegotiated. With neither money nor rights, and nowhere to flee, all she can do is cherish her last weeks of freedom. . . . Until a band of ruffians overtake her carriage and kidnap her. When she escapes in seaside Brighton and encounters her brother’s rather wild friend, Lord St. Just—whom she suspects aspires to be a pirate—she’s prepared to entertain more of his adventurous suggestions than usual . . .

St. Just knows his mind and his duty, and he loves a challenge. Helping a fair lady make her farewells to hoodlums suits his talents well. Within the hour he has Georgie, her lady’s maid—and her little dog too—sailing for his castle in Cornwall. Meanwhile, the lady’s entire family, her kidnappers, and her scheming intended are in pursuit. But as he and the indomitable Georgie grow closer, he begins to suspect that together they will prove a match for them all . . .

I started my snippets a good way into the story. Lady Georgina, on the way back to her father’s house to an arranged marriage with a man she’s already jilted once, is kidnapped. She manages to escape and runs straight into the arms of her brother’s friend, Robin, Marquess of St. Just. who tries to persuade her to sail with him to his home in Cornwall, to which Georgie answers with a resounding “No.” Rob is still fearful for her safety and enacts his plan. He locks Georgie in the cabin and hurries off on an errand, leaving Georgie to fume. Rob returns to the ship and sets sail with Georgie, Clara and Lulu. And Georgie discovers she is no sailor. After a night of being violently seasick, she is appalled when Rob appears with food in hand.

This week’s snippet skips ahead a little bit after last week’s.

We are now in Rob’s POV .

Some portions of this snippet may be changed from the book’s regular format (today’s is very wonky) to allow for WWW’s 10 line requirement.

SNIPPET:

The Justine

“Lady Georgina.” With steadfastly closed eyes, the lady lay mute, although he’d swear she was not asleep. Stealthily, he poked his finger into her shoulder calling, “Lady Georgina.”

That drew a mumbled response he couldn’t quite hear. “I beg your pardon?”

She sighed and whispered a bit louder, “Please, go away.”

Shaking his head, Rob grabbed the cup from the tray he’d brought, the spicy steam wafting into the air. “I’m afraid I cannot do that for I have taken you on as my charge, you see, willingly or not, so I am bound to see you safely to St. Just or my honor is forfeit–you would not wish that, would you, Lady Georgina?”

Dead silence.

Well, he supposed it only natural she felt some ill will against him at this point.

 

Much Ado About A Widow is now available as an e-book on Amazon and in Barnes and Nobles, Books A Million, and WalMart stores in paperback.

And don’t forget to check out the rest of the Warriors here. There’s some fantastic snippets to be read.

The Widows’ Club series by Jenna Jaxon

Check them out on my Amazon Author Page!

 

 

 

 

Winners of the Much Ado About A Widow Release Party

Congratulations!

Below are the winners for my blog Much Ado About A Widow Release Party from Tuesday, December 31st!

POST #1

Signed copy of Much Ado About A Widow

Carol Marcolini

 

POST #2

Audiobook of Much Ado About A Widow

bn100

 

POST #3

Amazon Gift Card for $25.00

Sandy Fehr

Thank you to everyone who came by to help me celebrate the release of Much Ado About A Widow!

 

Release Party for Much Ado About A Widow ~ Part 3

Much Ado About A Widow is available on Amazon and other retailers and is now in Barnes & Noble bookstores across the country.

I have just returned from the Barnes & Noble at Greenbriar Mall, where I signed copies of Much Ado About A Widow and other Widow books they had there as well. 🙂 Always a pleasure to run in and sign.

I happened to meet one of my dear friends and fans, Sandy Fehr while I was there. She’s already read and reviewed an ARC of Much Ado About A Widow. Thank you, Sandy!

I know everyone is getting ready to celebrate and ring in the New Year. So for my last giveaway, an Amazon Gift Card for $25.00, tell me, what are your plans for celebrating the New Year tonight?

I’ll go first:  My family had a light, fun supper of seafood, cheeses and crackers, hummus, and birthday cake (my daughter’s was on Dec. 28 and her dog Severus turned 2 today!). Now we are about to play Pug-O-Poly,  a game one of my daughters (who loves pugs) got for Christmas. Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy 2020!

Happy New Year to Everyone!