Sadie's Spotlight

December 22, 2020December 22, 2020

Spotlight & Excerpt: Always Kiss at Christmas + Giveaway

Always Kiss at Christmas
(Fortune Brides #7)
By Regina Scott
Regency Romance
Paperback & ebook
December 3, 2020

Mary Rose has one goal for her mother’s annual Christmas Eve party: convince her childhood friend Julian Mayes to marry her. She has always admired Julian. Surely one moment under the kissing bough will convince him they were meant to be together. Newly hired by a prestigious London law firm, Julian is ready to shake the dust of the countryside off his polished boots. But he’s always had a soft spot for Mary. As the danger to her future becomes clear, will one kiss be enough to prove to him how far he will go to protect her?

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Excerpt

The snow had stopped falling, she saw as she ventured outside. Like muslin, white sheets draped tree and field. Their gardener had swept the snow off the pond, and the ice glittered darkly under the heavy sky. She pointed one group toward the sleigh that stood waiting, the horses’ breath fogging the air, and another group toward the lawn, where two industrious youths were already fashioning snowballs. Though he remained at her side, Julian kept glancing toward the pond. Skating, then. Gliding along, arm in arm, their steps matching as they used to do when they were younger. How romantic. Another shiver went through her.

“Cold?” Julian asked, taking a step closer.

Not with him so near. Those eyes were all encouragement, his mouth turned up and head cocked as if he were ready to listen to anything she cared to impart. He was going to be an excellent solicitor. Already she wanted to confess her hopes.

“It will pass,” Mary assured him. “Would you care to skate?”

“Delighted.” He offered her his arm again, and they walked over to the wrought-iron bench overlooking the pond. Already another couple swept past on the ice. Grooms stood by to strap the steel blades onto footwear. In moments, Mary was out on the glassy surface with Julian at her side. The cool air nipped her cheeks as they set off.

Oh, to always feel this free. It took the merest pressure to sail along. The evergreens alongside the pond flashed by, dusky against the silver of the pond and sky. Julian matched her stride, though he kept his hands behind his back, as if for balance.

“Was it last year you raced me to the end of the pond?” he asked, a twinkle in his eyes.

“And won,” Mary reminded him.

“You’ve changed since then,” he said.

Perhaps not as much as she’d thought, for the urge was impossible to resist. “I could still beat you.”

“You’re on.”

Other Books in the Series

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About the Author

Regina Scott started writing novels in the third grade. Thankfully for literature as we know it, she didn’t actually sell her first novel until she had learned a bit more about writing. Since her first novel was published, her stories have traveled the globe, with translations in many languages including Dutch, German, Italian, and Portuguese. She now has now published more than 50 works of warm, witty romance. She and her husband of 30 years reside in Washington State on the way to Mt. Rainier. Regina Scott has learned to fence, dressed as a Regency dandy, driven four in hand, and sailed on a tall ship, all in the name of research, of course.

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Tour Schedule
(Posts go live on the day they’re scheduled.)

December 8th: Launch
December 9th: Krystal M. Anderson – Love’s Sweet Return
December 10th: Julie Coulter Bellon – The Marquess Meets His Match
December 11th: Delaney Cameron – Because You Loved Me
December 12th: Rachelle Paige Campbell – Love Overboard
December 13th: Raneé S. Clark – Finding Taylor
December 14th: Chrissy Elliot – Finding Home on Winslow Island
December 15th: Aspen Hadley – Suits and Spark Plugs
December 16th: Shanna Hatfield – The Christmas Bargain
December 17th: D. E. Malone – Love, Lies and Mistletoe
December 18th: Melissa McClone – Sweet Yuletide
December 19th: Sarah L. McConkie – The Promise of Miss Spencer
December 20th: Kimberley Montpetit – Mostly Dangerous
December 21st: Kate O’Keeffe – Dating Mr. Darcy
December 22nd: Regina Scott – Always Kiss at Christmas
December 23rd: Grand Finale

Tour Giveaway

One winner will receive a $70 (USD) Amazon eGift Card

Open to US and internationally to those who can receive the gift card through one of Amazon’s branches
Ends December 27, 2020

ENTER HERE

December 20, 2020December 22, 2020

Spotlight & Excerpt: Mostly Dangerous + Giveaway

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

Mostly Dangerous
(The Women of Ambrose Estate #1)
By Kimberley Montpetit
Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Paperback, Audiobook & ebook, 270 Pages
August 18, 2019 by Spellbound Books

An old mansion with secrets. A deadly curse. Can their love overcome her dark legacy, or is it doomed from the start?

Sofia Ambrose is on the brink of a new career, far away from the opulence and dark secrets of her family’s historic Texas estate, when she and her five sisters are summoned to the Ambrose Estate for a reading of her grandmother’s will—a grandmother who, at 88-years-old, is still alive and kicking. Sofia is both bewildered and intrigued. But the truth is more shocking than she could have imagined. Her grandmother has turned Ambrose Estate over to Sofia, and she must give up every hope of a regular life in order to run it and protect her family’s legacy.

When an oil well disaster strikes, Sofia must act quickly to save the family fortune. Unfortunately, this means working with the rude and insufferable Gavin Spencer who assumes Sofia is just a spoiled, rich oil heiress. But once she gets to know him, Sofia discovers Gavin’s charm, intellect, and incredible bravery, and soon enough she is falling hard for the rugged firefighter.

Despite her feelings, Sofia knows their love is doomed. Ambrose Estate’s mansion, with its Hall of the Dead and an old family curse stands between her and happiness, and she must sacrifice Gavin’s love to save his life.

Desperately, Sofia searches for answers in her great-great-grandmother’s journal. Does it contain the key to breaking the curse—or will her heart have to break into a thousand pieces?

If you like enchanting chemistry, intriguing legacies, and moody mysteries, then you’ll adore Kimberley Montpetit’s sweet and smoldering love story.

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Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop | Book Depository

Excerpt

“Oh, my,” Sofia gasped under her breath as she suddenly, and irrevocably knew what it was like to be in Gavin Spencer’s arms. She could feel his hard chest muscles and the biceps outlined by his coat jacket. He smelled incredible, musky and masculine. A heady scent that made her so distracted she missed a step on the dance floor. “Oh, oops!”

“I’ve got you, Sofia,” he whispered into her ear.

“Sorry I’m distracted.”

“You’re distracting me to no end,” Gavin said without missing a beat. “I’ve wanted to hold you like this for the last two weeks.”

“I’m a dangerous woman,” she said lightly, but little did he know that her words were a double entendre.

“Nope, just mostly dangerous.”

After a couple of swing dances, the music changed into a slower two-step. Gavin’s lips were against Sofia’s ear as he leaned in close. “Your instincts were right.”

“About what?” Sofia was trying to stay upright, his breath tingling against her ear. If Gavin asked her to follow him to the moon, she’d go without a second’s hesitation.

“I was a little bit jealous.”

“When were we talking about jealousy?” Then, Sofia remembered Daniel Gentry’s earlier phone call. “Oh, right,” she added.

“When I heard a man’s voice through your cell phone, I was envious because I’ve never been completely sure you were even available. Or didn’t have a secret boyfriend. The night I first saw you coming out of your front door, I was so happy to learn that you weren’t married.”

Sofia pulled back to look into his face. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious. You might have had a husband and three kids in that big house.”

“I’m glad you’re not married either,” she said with a coy smile. “Because if you were, I wouldn’t be dancing with you right now.”

“Good point,” he chuckled, his cheek pressing against hers. “I’m falling for you, Sofia,” he added gently. “And you’re driving me insane.”

“How in the world am I driving you insane?”

“Because you’re gorgeous and smart and sexy as hell. Pardon my language.”

“I’ve never heard a compliment like that before.”

“The rest of the world’s males must be blind then, but I’ll be happy to tell you every single day, if you don’t mind keeping me around.”

Sofia’s throat closed up. She wanted him desperately, but a relationship could never happen between them. Of course, Gavin didn’t get the memo on that piece of information, and she didn’t have the nerve to tell him the truth. He’d think she was insane.

Gavin would forget about her on his next overseas work trip. He had to. Because she wasn’t meant to have happiness.

Other Books in the Series

(Linked to an Amazon affiliate link.)

About the Author

Kimberley Montpetit spent her childhood reading a book every day and writing stories while playing dress-up with her best friend. She loves all things romantic and adores turning her daydreams into novels. Kimberley once spent all of her souvenir money at the La Patisserie shops with their beautiful and delicious pastries. Traveling gives her lots of inspiration for new book ideas. She once stayed in the haunted tower room at Borthwick Castle in Scotland and didn’t sleep a wink, sailed the Seine river in Paris, rode a camel in the ancient world wonder of Petra, shopped the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, and spent the night in an old Communist hotel in Bulgaria.

Kimberley grew up in the fabulous city of San Francisco, loves all things chocolate, and now lives on a dirt road along the Rio Grande with her engineer husband and three sons. She even has a writing cottage in the backyard!

Website | Goodreads | BookBub | Facebook | Twitter

Tour Schedule
(Posts go live on the day they’re scheduled.)

Tour Giveaway

One winner will receive a $70 (USD) Amazon eGift Card

Open to US and internationally to those who can receive the gift card through one of Amazon’s branches
Ends December 27, 2020

ENTER HERE

December 19, 2020December 22, 2020

Spotlight & Excerpt: The Promise of Miss Spencer + Giveaway

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

The Promise of Miss Spencer
By Sarah L. McConkie
Historical Romance
Paperback, Audiobook & ebook, 210 Pages
March 10th 2020 by Cedar Fort, Inc.

MISS SUZANNA SPENCER has successfully avoided marriage, waiting for love and equality in a husband of her choice.

Yet when her father suddenly becomes ill, she agrees to his dying wish—to marry Mr. Lacy and secure her future. Cast suddenly into a mourning period, Suzanna and Mr. Lacy agree to keep their engagement a secret until the proper six months have passed. But when Suzanna and Mr. Lacy find themselves thrown together with Miss Grysham and her handsome uncle Lord Haversley, everything becomes complicated. If only Lord Haversley didn’t expose his true bravery.

If only there wasn’t so much more to him than a gaudy Lord in Parliament. If only he would leave Suzanna alone. As the threat of smallpox looms close, all four friends must work together—and apart—to save the lives of those they love. Forced into keeping a promise, or securing the promise of her future, Suzanna must reconcile her obligations with her heart as she searches for a love she never had.

Excerpt

Miss Suzanna Spencer smoothed her slightly dirty work apron and checked the state of her unruly dark blonde bun. She reached for her basket and pressed deeper into her family’s large vegetable garden. The fall sun shone with a warm hue as she smelled the rich, musky earth around her. At the edge of the plot on a stone bench sat her sickly, coughing father, who dutifully inspected his radishes.

She sat down a few yards from him and sunk her trowel near a carrot, unearthing a rock. Chocolate-colored soil flew all over the tidy linen cravat of Mr. Lacy, her father’s studying vicar, who followed directly behind her, weeding the beds as she continued her story. “You see,” she said speaking quickly and with such animated hand motions that Mr. Lacy had no choice but to submit to the barrage of soil now covering his vest.

“I could not believe it. That old man must have been nearly forty-five. What on earth did I do to give Colonel Newbold the idea that I would accept his hand in marriage?” Suzanna furrowed her brow toward Mr. Lacy, letting out a large breath. “Oh, Mr. Lacy! Your poor linen. I am ever so sorry. I just got carried away.”

She shot a plaintive glance to her father, her light blue eyes reverting back to her schoolgirl pleadings. “Surely you do not blame me for my refusal, Papa?” She pushed her unmanageable hair out of her eyes and continued to drive the point with her look.

Mr. Spencer’s dark hat shaded his white hair and conservative black suit. His modest clothing befitted his reserved personality, even though he stood as rector of the largest parish in Elmbridge, possessing one of the most robust livings in all of England. Coupled with his yearly sum as a younger son of an earl, he lived quite simply for one with so much influence and disposable income. Mr. Spencer’s curved back attempted to straighten a little. “Colonel Newbold is a respectable man, Suzanna. And might I remind you, there are many ‘old’ men who are still very fine.” He smiled warmly Sarah L. McConkie 8 toward his daughter as he collected the last of his produce. “But I know that, from your infancy, you have never acted against your conscience. And your conscience, luckily for me, is quite well-mannered and amiable. So if he is not your choice, then so be it, I suppose. Although . . .” He coughed again and cleared his throat, and Suzanna noted it sounded worse than it had a few weeks before. “I would like it if you were married before God takes me from my mortal sojourn.”

About the Author

Sarah L. McConkie started her writing career in the second grade with a thirteen-page magnum opus about dinosaurs. Although the plot line and penmanship lacked polish, Sarah learned she loved retiring to bed thinking of what to write the next day. On a good night, she still does the same thing. Sarah took up the pen several years later after tucking her own little dreamer into bed and now combines modern life experiences, a robust knowledge of regency classics and a passion for all things old fashioned and proper to craft her historical romances. She co-stars with her own Mr. Right in the real-life romantic comedy she calls life. Sarah believes creating thought-provoking and moral stories promotes literacy in a world that needs more readers. She has a bachelor’s degree in Music Education and taught junior high choir for several years before becoming a stay-at-home mother to three (almost 4) darling children. She currently teaches piano and voice for BYU independent study. Sarah’s published works include Love and Secrets at Cassfield Manor, The Promise of Miss Spencer, and Power and Prestige: Magical Regency Book 1.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Instagram

Tour Schedule
(Posts go live on the day they’re scheduled.)

Tour Giveaway

One winner will receive a $70 (USD) Amazon eGift Card

Open to US and internationally to those who can receive the gift card through one of Amazon’s branches
Ends December 27, 2020

ENTER HERE