Code Breakers Series
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Yes, she's a lady ~ Excerpt from 'A Code of Wonder'
“Stop.” The man stood at the top of the stairs. He at least had the decency to put his breeches on though sans a shirt. “This is ridiculous. Come back. We’ll talk.” He tried to sound reasonable, but Eliza saw the way his hands were fisted at his side, his strained neck, and clenched jaw.
“Are you insane? So you can ravish me?” Eliza ran down the stairs.
“I wasn’t going to ravish you. My God, this melodrama. I give you my word as a gentleman, I’ve never harmed a woman. And never taken a woman against her will. Bloody hell, I saved you.”
“A gentleman would never talk to a lady in such a manner.”
“You’re a lady?”
Eliza gasped. He had the nerve to call her out—a “gentleman” who was willing to ravish an innocent woman. After all her mother’s attempt to shape her daughters to be ladies and redeem the family name after the scandal that caused them to be shunned from society, she was now the one to bring complete ruin to her family.
That was the worst thing he could have said.
A Code of Wonder is part of the Regency holiday anthology, Snowed in with a Rogue.
You can read A Code of Wonder and six other romantic stories for just $0.99.
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA
Audiobook version of A Christmas Code now available
Audiobook fans can now enjoy A CHRISTMAS CODE, Book 2 of the Code Breakers series. Narrated by Pearl Hewitt, this title joins the other two books in the series on audio.
Enjoy an audio sample HERE.
Click on the book titles to purchase at Audible today!
If you would enjoy receiving a free download of this new audiobook release in exchange for an honest review, please contact my assistant Maria Connor at myauthorconcierge@gmail.com.
Bringing a Regency hero to life
I don’t like to make generalizations but it seems like many historical novels focus on the goals, motivation and conflict as it relates to the heroine. A marriage of convenience. A compromised reputation. The orphaned miss who seeks gainful employment. It’s important to remember that heroes need goals and motivations too. As authors, we must create emotionally compelling internal and external conflict for both our heroines and heroes.
While working on research for my book, A CODE OF THE HEART, I came across some interesting facts about Robert Fulton, an American inventor and engineer who is credited with developing the steamboat. During the course of his life, he traveled around the world, collaborating with other inventors and scientists on naval vessels and weaponry. He designed the first working submarine while in France before switching alliances and moving to England, where he was commissioned to build weapons for the Royal Navy. One of Fulton’s “secret weapons” was the torpedo-catamaran, which the British Navy hoped to use to blow French ships out of the water. Like many inventions, the early model had some functionality issues, but I was intrigued by the concept of French-British espionage.
When I began developing my characters for the story, I started wondering what it would take to redeem a disreputable young rake. Perhaps protecting his country by preventing a secret weapon from falling into the wrong hands would work. So that is exactly the challenge I put in front of Lord Derrick Brinsley, as well as the not-so-small matter of proving his worth to the very proper society miss, Amelia Bonnington.
By using the information I discovered during my research, I was able to create strong goals and conflicts for my hero, thus adding dimension to him on the pages of my book. Audiobook narrator Pearl Hewitt has been working with me over the last few weeks to make Derrick “sound” like a Regency hero. The audiobook version of A CODE OF THE HEART is in the final stages of production and will soon be available. I hope you’ll listen in and let me know what you think of Derrick and Amelia Bonnington, the heroine of the story.
Click on the audiobook cover for A CODE OF THE HEART to listen to a sample.
