Wednesday Wonders: THE DARKEST SUMMER

This week's Wednesday Wonders is part of a blog tour for

The Darkest Summer 

by Rebecca J. Greenwood

About the book:

Lady Cora Winfield’s life has always gone according to plan–her mother’s plan. So when she meets the dark Duke of Blackdell, Cora is fascinated. Knowing his dangerous reputation, Cora’s mother flatly forbids the match, and the duke decides to take matters into his own hands. Kidnapped and facing a scandal, Lady Cora must now decide whether love will be her downfall or the beginning of a new plan, one she never dreamed possible.

Set in the stormy summer of 1816, this Regency romance is a retelling of the myth of Hades and Persephone.

Excerpt:

She wanted to press for more details, but caught her mother’s glare and remembered that she was dripping on the carpet. Lord Eastham wasn’t the type to have really noticed or cared about the crops or the tenants who worked them unless they weren’t getting enough money to him. This might be an unfair assessment, but he did give that impression. While he was blond, handsome, athletic, and dressed in the height of fashion, Cora had always found him to be mocking her on some level whenever they met. But he was her mother’s favorite, so they met far too often.

Author Rebecca J. Greenwood is offering a Goodreads giveaway for her book for an opportunity to win a copy, please click on the following link:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Darkest Summer

by Rebecca J. Greenwood

Giveaway ends November 27, 2017.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

The promotional prequel novella, The Darkest Hour, is out and available on Instrafreebie, if you would like to check it out in connection to The Darkest Summer. 

Blurb for The Darkest Hour:

When Lady Hester discovers her brother Adam, the Duke of Blackdale, was injured in the Battle of Waterloo, she rushes from Scotland to Belgium to be by his side. Her minister, the widowed Reverend Alasdair Gilchrist, escorts her on the journey. She is determined to keep her brother alive, and to keep her greatest secret: she’s been in love with Mr. Gilchrist for years.

The novella is both a standalone romance and a prequel to The Darkest Summer. 

To download a copy of The Darkest Hour from Instantfreebie, please CLICK HERE. 

My Book Review of The Darkest Summer:

I have read several Regency novels set in 1816, but this novel got the details right about this particular year. It became known as the year without a summer. Although the inhabitants of Europe did not realize it at the time, the eruption of Mount Tamora in the Dutch East Indies in 1815 was to blame due the volcanic ash in the upper atmosphere blocking the sun. However, the author used this phenomenon as the setting and an important element for her novel.

I loved how the author depicted the novel’s characters. With her peculiarities, Cora was such an unlikely, yet lovable heroine. She was as distressed about the effect of the summer weather on plants, including crops, and what poor growth would mean to the common people as she was about her court of fortune-seeking suitors. Her mother, and overbearing, over-protective personality, micro-managed her daughter’s life, yet there was a little room for empathy for her reasoning. And our hero, Adam, struggling to overcome the effects of being raised by his abusive father, fighting what we know today as PTSD, and struggling with physical pain as a result of a battlefield injury not completely healed, was a hero easy to love and cheer for. I ached over his inability to know how to court according to the accepted customs of the day—the man could not “say the pretty,” yet he loved deeply.

This novel engaged me from the start, first with the character of Cora, and then with the action and suspense as she and Adam struggled with the effects of the winter weather in summer while they traveled north. I also enjoyed the secondary romance between two very interesting characters. This was a sweet romance about some dark times, and one that was a pleasure to read. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good romance. 

Purchase Links: 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books & things

About the author:

Rebecca J. Greenwood is an author, artist, and designer with a love of stories, especially Regency romances. She grew up in Texas as the oldest of six, and studied visual art with a music minor at Brigham Young University. Rebecca lives in Utah with her husband, where she listens to audiobooks, cooks experimentally, has an interest in alternative health, and constantly has a new project in mind. Visit rebeccajgreenwood.com to experience more of her art, writing, and upcoming projects. Author Residence: Orem, UT

Connect with Rebecca J. Greenwood:

Website | Facebook |  Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

 

Wednesday Wonders: SWEET TEXAS CHRISTMAS

Today I am happy to feature

Sweet Texas Christmas 

an anthology of four sweet romance stories 

by Stacey Coverstone, Cheryl Pierson, Marie Piper 

with a focus on

Sarah J. McNeal and her story,

"A Christmas Visitor"

About Sweet Texas Christmas:

Christmas in Texas couldn’t be sweeter than these stories of lost love found and new love discovered at the most joyous time of the year! SWEET TEXAS CHRISTMAS is a boxed set of Christmas novellas that will warm your heart and keep you reading long into the night to see how these couples find their happily-ever-after ending!

With the holiday season in full swing, these western heroes and their ladies come together in a delightful collection of four deliciously sweet Yuletide stories you’re sure to love and remember. Authors Stacey Coverstone, Cheryl Pierson, Sarah McNeal, and Marie Piper have penned these scrumptious Christmas tales just for your reading pleasure, along with a special surprise in each story!

Each of these holiday tales includes a delectable dessert recipe guaranteed to bring an added measure of Christmas sweetness your way! There’s nothing quite like a SWEET TEXAS CHRISTMAS!

Excerpt from "A Christmas Visitor":

“Don’t you even think about stepping up on this porch, Sterling Alexander Thoroughgood, or I’ll shoot a hole in you big enough for a team of horses to jump through.” The woman wearing a faded blue calico dress aimed the shotgun straight at his heart…and sometimes his liver, since she wasn’t holding the shotgun all that steady.

Sterling raised his hands in the air. His bare hands were practically numb from the cold. He glanced up at the slate gray sky. Snow’s comin’. Then, he grinned at the woman holding the shotgun. “Merry Christmas to you, too, Matilda.”

She dipped the shotgun for just a moment, but raised it again as if on a second thought. “What do you want here after being gone for three years? Did you break some hearts up in Wyoming? Maybe you have some fathers and brothers gunning for you and you thought you’d come running back here to hide.”

Well, there it was. He’d hurt her when he left, and she wasn’t about to let him forget it. “I came to see Allister. I told him I’d be coming back soon as I got my place up and running. We had

an agreement about him selling me some cattle and maybe a bull to get a good, diverse herd started of my own.” He reached out his hand to press down on the barrel of her shotgun pointing it toward the broken-down boards of the porch. “So, if you could see yourself clear to let me speak to your daddy, I’d be obliged.”

Matilda placed a hand on her hip while the other held tight to that shotgun. “Seems you’re a little too late, Mr. Thoroughgood. Pa died last year from pneumonia. He’d been sick a while and I had to sell off all of the livestock except for the mule and a few chickens to pay for the doctor and his medicine. I guess you’ll be leaving here empty handed.”

“Tilly, darlin’, I’m so sorry to hear the news that Allister has passed away. He was a good man, and a good friend to me.” He stretched out a hand to touch her arm, but she stepped back

just out of reach.

“Don’t you dare call me sweet names or my nickname, you snake. You’ve been gone three years, and not a single word from you in all that time! All that sweet talk means nothing to me now.” She opened the door and stepped back to wave him into the house.

My Book Review:

What a delightful collection of sweet Christmas romances containing action, courting and recipes. I enjoyed all the stories and recommend the book.

Today I am highlighting the story “A Christmas Visitor” written by Sarah J. McNeal.

How long must a girl be expected to wait for the man she loves to return—to write, anything? Matilda is one unhappy woman in love, and Sarah did a wonderful job writing her character. The character of the man who finally showed up after three years, Sterling Alexander Thoroughgood, is also well-written, and he is so likable, I felt ready to forgive him his massive error in judgment. Sarah painted with words a sweet scene of their Christmas celebration, along with describing a unique gift Sterling hoped would soften Matilda's heart and change her mind. I kept guessing at the contents of the gift as she worked to open it. In the end, what she received changed everything for her. Great ending. 

To purchase Sweet Texas Christmas, please CLICK HERE.

About Sarah J. McNeal:

I became interested in writing at a young age. My parents didn't allow us to have a television so my sisters and I became avid readers. We read everything from Shakespeare to my mother's True Detective Stories that, by the way, scared the hell out of me. I submitted my first story and received my first rejection when I was thirteen years old.

Along with writing, I have a deep love of music and play the violin, bagpipes, guitar and harmonica.

I live with my four-legged children, Liberty, my rescue kitty and my golden retriever rescue, Lily. I feed the wild birds around my house and care very much about all creatures of the Earth. I am a member of The Defenders of Wildlife and The ASPCA as well as The Humane Society of the United States.

I write time travel, paranormal and romance novels and love doing the historical research for them. I am presently writing a series of musical instrument stories inspired by my love of music. My Wildings of Wyoming series began with Harmonica Joe's Reluctant Bride and the sequel, For Love of Banjo. The Wilding family has grown since then with several short stories, A Husband for Christmas, When Love Comes Knocking, Hollow Heart, and The Beast of Hazard, and a novella, Fly Away Heart from Prairie Rose Publications. You can find all my Wilding stories listed at http://prairierosepublications.com/books-2/special-collections/the-wildings/ There are more Wilding family stories to come.

Writing brings me a joy and fulfillment that nothing else can. I love creating magical worlds and people who want to make a difference. I hope that anyone who reads them will love them, too.

Connect with Sarah J. McNeal:

Facebook | Twitter | Website | My Amazon Author’s Page

Prairie Rose Author Page