Weekend Writing Warriors ~ 11/17/19 Much Ado About A Widow ~ Another Suggestion

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors!

I’ve switched to my next big release in late December, Book 4 of The Widows’ Club series, Much Ado About A Widow! 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. She’s more than distrustful of Rob, having convinced herself the young man is wild and has ambitions to become a pirate. But beggars can’t be choosers, so she enlists his aid. He’s rowed her out to his ship and they have settled down to get to the bottom of things. After she relates her story, she asks for the loan of a carriage, but St. Just says he doesn’t have one, he’s only in Portsmouth for the day. He manages to convince Georgie that going to an inn for the night is a very bad idea and this week comes up with an alternative plan.

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

SNIPPET:

Rob’s ship, The Justine

“Do you have another suggestion, my lord, as I seem to have no safe harbor to turn to at the moment.”

An eager light gleamed in his eyes as he said, “I believe I do, Lady Georgina, an idea that will confound the kidnappers and take care of your other problem as well.”

“My other problem?”

“I am referring to your unwanted marriage to Lord Travers.”

Stunned, Georgie stared at him until her vision almost went dark and asked, “You know about that?”

He grinned like an idiot. “Your brother wrote me about the situation, asking if I could come up with a plan to save you from it and I believe I have done—two birds with one stone, so to speak.”

The last thing Georgie wanted was for this wild young buck to be meddling in her personal affairs; she should plant Jemmy a facer for involving him at all. “What plan is that, my lord?”

“Sail to Cornwall with me.”

 

Much Ado About A Widow is now available for pre-order here and will release on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2019!

Also, to celebrate my release (a bit early) I’m holding a Rafflecopter giveaway with several fun prizes. The first is a stuffed version of Lulu. Other prizes include a signed print copy of Much Ado About A Widow, and a book from my back listed Widows’ Club books. To enter to win click HERE. 

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!

 

 

 

 

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ 11/10/19 Much Ado About A Widow ~Some Wits

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors!

I’ve switched to my next big release in late December, Book 4 of The Widows’ Club series, Much Ado About A Widow! 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. She’s more than distrustful of Rob, having convinced herself the young man is wild and has ambitions to become a pirate. But beggars can’t be choosers, so she enlists his aid. He’s rowed her out to his ship and they have settled down to get to the bottom of things. After she relates her story, she asks for the loan of a carriage, but St. Just says he doesn’t have one, he’s only in Portsmouth for the day. He manages to convince Georgie that going to an inn for the night is a very bad idea.

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

SNIPPET:

“Why should we all not go to an inn?”

Lulu, a “distinguished” dog

“Because—again—your kidnappers will be looking for you in all the inns; there are not many a lady would go to by herself with her maid and even a small number of men could search thoroughly throughout the night and find you.” He glanced at Lulu, who had nestled at Georgie’s feet. The dog raised her head, bared her teeth at him, then settled back down. “It would be more than easy to ask for a woman, her maid, and such a distinguishable dog.”

Again, Georgie wanted to argue, but St. Just’s logic simply got the better of her–if the kidnappers were still looking for her, they likely would find her and take her to their “Master.”

“I must say, Lady Georgina, even if it seemed safe to send you back to Blackham Castle, I am not convinced such a journey would be in your best interests.”

That took her aback–she cocked her head and asked, “Why?”

“The kidnappers must guess that is where you will try to go when you leave Portsmouth; it will be child’s play for them to lie in wait along the post road for you and simply capture you again.”

Drat it, she might not like the man, but she had to admit he had some wits about him.

Much Ado About A Widow is now available for pre-order here and will release on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2019!

Also, to celebrate my release (a bit early) I’m holding a Rafflecopter giveaway with several fun prizes. The first is a stuffed version of Lulu. Other prizes include a signed print copy of Much Ado About A Widow, and a book from my back listed Widows’ Club books. To enter to win click HERE. 

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!

 

 

 

 

Meet Lulu!

 Meet Lulu!

In my upcoming release, Much Ado About A Widow, my heroine, Lady Georgina Kirkpatrick, has a dog as her companion throughout the book. The dog is a tri-colored King Charles Spaniel named Lulu who actually becomes quite a character in her own right (my editor loved Lulu).

It’s the first time I’ve written an animal as a pet into one of my novels, and I must say she was a lot of fun to write. She is spunky, independent, and very intelligent. She is Georgie’s emotional support animal and a friend that she loves dearly. And she’s an integral part of the story as she helps Georgie fend off unwanted attentions from several male characters, and becomes a matchmaker of sorts, bringing my heroine and hero together at last.

King Charles Spaniels were extremely popular as pets during the Regency (along with pugs) and you can find them painted in many family portraits of the time. Lulu has a very high pedigree, which comes out in the course of the book, and a history with Georgie that goes back to when Georgie was six years old and Lulu’s great-great-grandmother Lucy was Georgie’s pet. The story of Georgie and Lucy was told in Book 2 of the Widows’ club series, Wedding the Widow.

Here’s an excerpt from Much Ado About A Widow in which Lulu figures rather prominently.

The pitching of the carriage lessened as the team veered into the yard of a coaching inn called The Running Horse. Glancing out the window, Georgie discovered a bustling scene with grooms hustling to and fro leading horses here and there, all types of people disembarking from a mail coach, children crying, hostlers shouting, bridles clinking. The panorama teeming with life chased away her somber mood.

“Let us stretch our legs, Clara, and get something hot to drink. Come, Lulu.” Georgie held the lead in one hand and gathered the little dog under her other arm.

Lulu yipped and struggled to get down.

“You know you cannot leap down from the carriage, so I do not know why you put up such a fuss each time I carry you.” Sighing, she took the coachman’s hand. “Thank you, Folger. We will require hot tea and a moment’s rest.”

“Very good, my lady.” He turned to a groom who was already unharnessing the team.

Putting Lulu on the ground, Georgie gave her a pat and tried to untangle the leash. Lulu shook herself, sniffed the air, growled, then bolted toward the center of the inn yard.

“Lulu!” The leather lead slipped through her fingers and Georgie stopped, paralyzed. A party of riders thundered into the yard, their horses’ hooves slashing the frozen mud mere feet away from the little dog. Lulu backed up, barking as though she would attack the giants.

Heart beating almost out of her chest, Georgie raced forward and grabbed the lead. She pulled with all her might, and Lulu slid back toward her, out of danger. Gathering the dog into her arms and thanking heaven for her salvation, Georgie glanced up at the riders who had just missed her pet. The party of four rather rugged-looking men was dismounting. Grooms bespeaking lodging for their master, perhaps, for she could see their mounts were costly. One fellow with a round, jowly face and a flattened nose glanced at her and nodded.

Too distraught to even acknowledge him, she turned away, holding Lulu tight against her chest.

“My lady, are you all right?” Face pale as snow, Clara ran up to her.

“Perfectly fine.” Georgie’s shaken voice belied her words, but she couldn’t help it. Trying to breathe normally, she headed for the inn, relieved the incident had ended with no harm to her save some mud on the hem of her pelisse. Once they were free of the inn yard, she put Lulu down again, and the dog trotted happily in front of her, tail waving like a fringed white flag.

As you can see, Lulu is quite the character! So in honor of this delightful little animal, and to celebrate the upcoming release of Much Ado About A Widow in December, I’m having a Rafflecopter giveaway for the month of November. There are several fun prizes to win:

First, a stuffed King Charles Spaniel with collar and leash; next, a signed print copy of Much Ado About A Widow; and finally an e-copy of the winner’s choice of the back listed Widows’ Club books. All winners will also receive a Much Ado Swag Bag.

To enter the giveaway, click HERE.

Don’t forget, Much Ado About A Widow releases on December 31, 2019! Grab your copy now–a new book for the New Year! Available on pre-order at Amazon, B & N, Google, Kobo and Apple.

Special Release: Wedding the Widow Releases on Audio Book!

Today I’m celebrating the audio release of the second Widows’ Club book, Wedding the Widow!

The book is available on both Audible (free with subscription) or on CD as an Audio book, read by the wonderful British voice actress, Anne Flosnik, who has been contracted to read the entire Widows’ Club series! Click here for the Amazon link.

The audio CD of Wedding the Widow is available on Amazon. Click here to listen to an excerpt on Amazon.

To Woo A Wicked Widow, Book 1 of the series, released as an audio book September 20 and Book 3, What A Widow Wants, will release on audio book on November 26! Book 4, Much Ado About A Widow, releases in stores on New Year’s Eve, with the release of that audio book sometime in the new year.

In celebration of this audio release, I’ll be giving away a copy of Wedding the Widow on Audio CD to one random commenter who tells me why you like audio books!

Happy Listening!

The Widows’ Club series on Audio

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

My favorite holiday is here again and I’m excited for all the spooky goings on at home and at work. At home my husband is carving pumpkins, my daughter and I filled treat bags (while watching the old Addams Family TV show), and the outside of the house is decorated with spiderwebs and a spooky door covering.

Later today at work, my theatre students are doing a Spooky Improv show and I’m serving Halloween themed snacks–skull pizzas, jalapeno mummies, cake pop eyeballs, caramel apple slices, guacamole and queso dip with chips (served in a pumpkin), and cupcakes with bloody shards of glass (sugar) as decorations.

As you can tell, I LOVE this holiday!

To finish off, I’m sharing one “thrilling” music video: Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ 10/27/19 Much Ado About A Widow ~ Enough

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors!

I’ve switched to my next big release in late December, Book 4 of The Widows’ Club series, Much Ado About A Widow! 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. She’s more than distrustful of Rob, having convinced herself the young man is wild and has ambitions to become a pirate. But beggars can’t be choosers, so she enlists his aid. He’s rowed her out to his ship and they have settled down to get to the bottom of things. After she relates her story, she asks for the loan of a carriage, but St. Just says he doesn’t have one.

In today’s snippet, we find out why.

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

SNIPPET:

A deep chuckle erupted as his chest shook with laughter. “Not at all, I simply don’t keep a carriage in a small port town, such as Portsmouth. I arrived here this morning to procure equipment for our mining operation in Cornwall—my carriage is there, in St. Just.”

“Oh.” The unsettling feeling of falling but with no ground to land upon swept through her. “I beg your pardon.” Heat to rival the stove rose in her cheeks. “I did not know this was not your home, although I should have realized it because you had told me at Charlotte’s party that you were intimate with a smugglers’ gang—” in fact, she’d remarked to Jemmy at the time that Lord St. Just was a wild young gentleman who seemed to fancy himself a pirate— “I suppose smugglers wouldn’t choose such a civilized place as Portsmouth for their lair.”

“And Cornwall is less civilized, and therefore a much more perfect place for all sorts of nefarious characters.” The twinkle in St. Just’s eyes belied his arch tone, but Georgie had had enough.

 

Much Ado About A Widow is now available for pre-order here and will release on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2019!

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!

 

 

 

 

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ 10/20/19 Much Ado About A Widow ~ “Do You Prefer to Walk Everywhere?”

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors!

I’ve switched to my next big release in late December, Book 4 of The Widows’ Club series, Much Ado About A Widow! 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. She’s more than distrustful of Rob, having convinced herself the young man is wild and has ambitions to become a pirate. But beggars can’t be choosers, so she enlists his aid. He’s rowed her out to his ship and they have settled down to get to the bottom of things. In today’s snippet, Georgie has finished her tale and asks a favor of Rob.

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

SNIPPET:

Lord St. Just sat still, his fingers from both hands lightly touching one another at the tips, his face a study.

“If you could loan us your carriage, we will be on our way to Blackham Castle before the sun has traveled another hour, then once we are out of Portsmouth, we can stop at an inn for tonight and complete our journey tomorrow–my father will, of course, arrange to have your carriage returned.”

“I am sorry to put a damper on your plans, but I am afraid I have no vehicle to loan you,” he said, his grave countenance affirming that he spoke the truth.

“Why ever not?” The words made no sense–why would a gentleman of means not keep some sort of vehicle? “You mean you do not have a carriage–allow me to assure you, a curricle, while not as comfortable for a long drive, will certainly do under the circumstances.”

A gentle smile spread over his face as he said, “I fear I must truly disappoint you, Lady Georgina, but I have no means of transportation of any kind here in Portsmouth, save the Justine.”

“You don’t?” How singular of him. “Do you prefer to walk everywhere?”

 

Much Ado About A Widow is now available for pre-order here and will release on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2019!

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!