Special Offer $0.99 Only on December Second - Sweet Historical Romance

 

 

On the 12 days of Christmas my true love gave to me ebooks with food and wine.

For only one day (December 2^nd) my novels are on special offer at $0.99 from:-

 https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore

 False Pretences Annabelle runs away from school into the arms of a charismatic gentleman…but can she trust him to help her to find out who her parents are?

 Sunday’s Child Despite loss and past love, self-sacrifice, brutality and honour, will it be possible for Tarrant and Georgianne to find happiness?

 Tangled Love Tangled Love set in England in 1706 during Queen Anne Stuart’s reign, a story of two great estates, duty, betrayal and passionate love.

 Far Beyond Rubies When Gervaise sees Juliana for the first time, he recognises her, but not from this lifetime…

 The Captain and The Countess.  His heart captured by the Countess only Captain Howard sees pain behind her fashionable façade and is determined to help her.

 To read extracts, view the book covers and the book trailers please visit:

 www.rosemarymorris.co.uk

 

 

6th & Final Extract from Tangled Love, early 18th Historical Fiction

Tangled Love by Rosemary Morris was short listed for the best romantic e-book at The Festival of Romance, Bedford U.K in 2013

 

Richelda has gone from riches to rags after the death of her parents. She has inherited Bellemont House in which she lives alone with her mother’s childhood nurse. Her aunt suggested Viscount Chesney should marry him. He has come to meet her.

 

 

Extract from Chapter Three

 

Hertfordshire - England

 

 

‘Elsie,” Richelda said to her late mother’s childhood nurse,” I am tired of struggling. I shall sell the estate to Jack, except for a snug cottage and a few acres of land for my own use.’

 ‘Sell Bellemont to His Grace!’ Elsie twined her work-roughened fingers together. ‘Lord above, my wits have gone begging? I’ve forgotten to say a visitor awaits you.’

 Richelda wiped her face on her coarse apron. ‘Visitor?’ She forced herself to her feet.

‘Yes, a fine gentleman, Viscount Chesney by name, is waiting for you in the parlour.’

Heavens above, he must be the man whose identity she mistook earlier on for Lord Greaves.

A long male shadow fell across the dark oak floor before the parlour door closed. She caught her breath. Either Elsie left the door ajar by mistake or her uninvited guest had opened it and eavesdropped.

After washing and changing, Richelda went down the broad flight of oak stairs.  Looking at Elsie, she raised her eyebrows.

Elsie nodded her approval and pointed at the parlour door. ‘He’s still in there. I’ll fetch some elderflower wine.’

‘No, come with me -’ she began, but Elsie, with speed surprising in one of her size, bustled into a passage that led to the kitchen.

He will not recognize me, Richelda reassured herself.  She mimicked her late mother’s graceful walk, entered the room and coughed to attract attention.

Viscount Chesney turned away from the window. He gazed at her intently. ‘Lady Richelda?’

She curtsied wishing she also wore exquisitely cut black velvet and silk instead of a threadbare gown fashioned from one of her mother’s old ones. He bowed and extended a perfectly manicured hand.

Ashamed of her rough hands, she permitted him to draw her to her feet. ‘You have the advantage of knowing my name.’ She looked into grey eyes reminiscent of still water on an overcast day.

‘Lord Chesney at your service, my lady.’

‘I am honoured to make your acquaintance, my lord. Please take a seat.’

He laughed. ‘Lady Richelda, although I did not introduce myself to you earlier, I hoped you would say you are pleased to renew your acquaintance with me.’

She tilted her chin. ‘You mistake me for someone else.’

‘I do not. Your eyes and voice are unforgettable.’

‘What can you mean?’

‘Why are you pretending to misunderstand me,’ he drawled. ‘Shall we sit?  No, do not look at me so distrustfully. I did not seize the opportunity to manhandle you earlier today. Word of a gentleman there is no need to fear me either now or in future.’

Somewhat nervous in spite of his assurance, she sat opposite him. While she regained her composure, she put her feet side by side on a footstool.

‘If you confess, I will not tell your aunt.’

‘My aunt?’ 

‘Yes, she wishes me to make your acquaintance.’

Her mother’s family shunned her. They feared being tainted by her late father’s politics. The viscount must have referred to Father’s only close relative, his sister, Lady Ware. ‘Aunt Isobel?’ she queried, suspicious because she knew her mother, born into a family with puritanical inclinations, despised Aunt Isobel’s frivolity.

He nodded.

‘But my aunt -’

Burdened by a tray, Elsie entered the room. She put it down and served them with elderflower wine, before she withdrew.

Chesney eyed his glass of wine with obvious mistrust. ‘Why did you sigh, Lady Richelda?’

She refrained from explaining she longed to eat something other than her daily fare of boiled puddings, flavoured with herbs, mixed with vegetables and served with or without game birds or rabbits, which Elsie sometimes snared. 

Bowstring taut, Richelda drank some pale wine. She looked at the viscount, whose posture depicted a man at ease. ‘Please taste this wine, my lord, although you might not be accustomed to home brewed beverages, I think you will enjoy its taste.’

He sipped some. ‘An excellent tribute to Elsie’s skill. She made it did she not?’  She nodded before he spoke again. ‘Tell me, child, how long have you lived alone with Elsie?’

 ‘Since Mother died nearly a year ago.’ The pain of her mother’s death always made her mouth tremble when she spoke of her.

‘Why did you remain here?’ 

‘I hoped to improve my estate. Oh, I know everything has deteriorated, but if I could -’

He concluded her sentence. ‘Transport oak to the shipyards?’

She widened her eyes. ‘Thank you for your excellent advice, my lord, I daresay you noticed my valuable stands of oak when you approached Bellemont?’

Although he chuckled, his eyes remained serious. ‘Never forget I do not allow anyone to play me for a fool, not even a hoyden of an actress, worthy of note though you are.’

Outraged by being called a hoyden for the second time, that day she stood. ‘Please leave.’

Viscount Chesney rose to approach her. Muscles across the breadth of his shoulders rippled beneath his coat, a testament to his tailor’s skill. When he put a hand on either side of her waist, she trembled. His lordship was tall, taller than Dudley. Her head only reached his throat. When she looked up at Chesney his breath warmed her forehead. She trembled again.

 

Tangled Love is available from: MuseItUp Publishing, Amazon Kindle, Nook, Omlit, Bookstrand Mainstream, Kobo and elsewhere.

 

To view the book trailer, read the first three chapters and reviews please visit. www.rosemarymorris.co.uk

 

Meet Rosemary Morris

Some years ago, I thought I would never have a novel published. Today, I googled: Rosemary Morris at MuseItUp Publishing, and am impressed by my publisher's display of my mini author biography and details of my novels, etc.  With pride I invite my followers to visit me.

Special Offer for 5 Days. 5 Historical Novels in 1 Bundle.

• Special Offer

 

5 historical novels in 1 Romance Bundle by Rosemary Morris.

 

1,313 pages.

 

Special offer.  $4.99  (£3.23)

Full price $29.75

Discount $24.76

 

ISBN:978-7-77127-645-0

 

The bundle will be available from the 28^th November, 2014 to the 2^nd December, 2014

 

Available from https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore  www.amazon.com  www.amazon.co.uk  nook and all reputable vendors.

 

False Pretences.  Annabelle runs away from school into the arms of a charismatic gentleman…but can she trust him to help her?

 

Far Beyond Rubies  When their eyes first meet, Gervaise’s soul recognises Juliana’s and from that moment on, their destinies become inevitably entwined.

 

Sunday’s Child  If Major Tarrant expects Sunday’s Child, a Regency lady, to be a ‘bread and butter’ Miss he will be surprised.

 

Tangled Love  The throne has been usurped by James II’s daughter and son-in-law, Mary and William of Orange. In 1693, loyal to his oath of allegiance, ten year-old Richelda’s father must follow James to France.

 

The Captain and The Countess.  His heart captured by the Countess only Captain Howard sees pain behind her fashionable façade and is determined to help her.

 

 

Too view the book trailers, read the first three chapters of each novel and reviews please visit www.rosemarymorris.co.uk.

 

 

 

 

Special Offers - Last Week - Rosemary Morris's Historical Novels

Special Offers – Final Week

 

MuseItUp Publishing is celebrating its 4 Year Anniversary with 50% to 80% OFF specials until the 31^st October.

 

The Link is.

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/component/content/article/3-about/about-us/470-museitup-4-year-anniversary-specials#top

 

My historical novels are included in the special offers.

 

Far Beyond Rubies. 50%off  £1.90   $3.09

 

Tangled Love. 50% off.  £1.84   $2.99

 

The Captain and The Countess 50% off  £1.90   $3.09

 

Sunday’s Child  80% off  £0.77p   $1.25

 

My novels are set in the early 18^th & 19^th centuries.

 

Visit www.rosemarymorris.co.uk to read the first three chapters of each novel and view the book trailers.

Organic Gardening

As well as growing herbs, fruit and vegetables I also grow ornamentals, sometimes interspersed with the latter. I'm aiming for an English style cottage garden. Today I planted primulas and pansies in the rose bed to give winter colour, and I re-potted my blueberries in fresh ericaceous compost. Another mild day but the weather is about to change. Nevertheless I hope to get a lot more done before the first frosts.

Nasty Review. Help Please.

Vicious Attack.

 

I am not the only novelist to have received a distressing, vicious review of one or more novel.

Another novelist suggested we should take action by replyitng and readers cab support us by replying No to amazon’s query “was this review helpful to you?”

Unfortunately, in spite of other 5***** reviews, two people replied Yes to the question re:my novel Tangled Love which currently on special offer.

If it is not against your conscience, I would be grateful if you would visit www.amazon.co.uk search the kindle store for Tangled Love by Rosemary Morris, visit the reviews, find the only 1* review and reply: No this review was not helpful.

Amongst other things the reviewer commented on clichés in Tangled Love. As I explained yesterday, my contents and line editors would dispute their use and I would agree not to use them, unless I used a cliché very occasionally in conversation.

I would be pleased to do this for another novelist who receives an unjustified attack on a novel.

Personally, if I can’t give a book a 4**** or 5**** review, I don’t post one – in other words if I don’t have anything nice to write, I don’t post anything.

 

All the best,

Rosemary Morris

Historical Novelist

 

Visit my website to read the first three chapters and view the book trailer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special Offer -Far Beyond Rubies by Rosemary Morris

I am delighted to announce Far Beyond Rubies by Rosemary Morris will be sold in store on March 29. The historical novel is already available with pre-order savings at:



https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=695&category_id=69&manufacturer_id=179&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1





Far Beyond Rubies



When Gervaise sees Juliana for the first time, he recognises her, but not from this lifetime…

Back Cover



Set in 1706 in England during Queen Anne Stuart’s reign, Far Beyond Rubies begins when William, Baron Kemp, Juliana’s half-brother, claims she and her young sister, Henrietta, are bastards. Spirited Juliana is determined to prove the allegation is false, and that she is the rightful heiress to Riverside, a great estate.



On his way to deliver a letter to William, Gervaise Seymour sees Juliana for the first time in the grounds of her family home. The sight of her draws him back to India. When “her form changed to one he knew intimately—but not in this lifetime,” Gervaise knows he would do everything in his power to protect her.



Although Juliana and Gervaise are attracted to each other, they have not been formally introduced and assume they will never meet again. However, when Juliana flees from home, and is on her way to London, she encounters quixotic Gervaise at an inn. Circumstances force Juliana to accept his kind help. After Juliana’s life becomes irrevocably tangled with his, she discovers all is not as it seems. Yet, she cannot believe ill of him for, despite his exotic background, he behaves with scrupulous propriety, while trying to help her find evidence to prove she and her sister are legitimate





Author’s Notes



When the popular Charles II died in 1685, he left a country torn by religious controversy, but no legitimate children. The throne passed to his Roman Catholic brother, James.

It was an anxious time for the people, whose fears increased when James II became so unpopular that he was forced into exile, and his daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange, succeeded to the throne.

The Act of Settlement was passed in Parliament in 1701 to prevent a Roman Catholic inheriting the throne. This meant the Roman Catholic son of James II, by his second wife, Mary of Modena, could not become king.

In 1702, James’s childless younger daughter, Anne, inherited the throne from her sister Mary, and Mary’s husband, William of Orange.

Anne’s Protestant heiress was Sophia, the granddaughter of James I. If Sophia died before Anne, Sophia’s uncouth son, George, Elector of Hanover—who spoke no English—would be next in the line of succession.

Anglicanism, a mixture of ancient Catholic ritual and Church government with Protestant tenet, was the official national religion, re-established by law in 1660. Queen Mary and Queen Anne were staunch supporters of the Anglican Church.

Anglicans and non-conformists united in their loathing of the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholics, or papists, as they were called, were suspected of endlessly plotting against the Government, and their civil liberties were restricted. For example they were forbidden to travel more than a mile or two from home.



Chapter One



1706



“Bastards, Juliana! You and your sister are bastards.”

Aghast, Juliana stared at William, her older half-brother, although, not for a moment did she believe his shocking allegation.

It hurt her to confront William without their father at her side. At the beginning of April, she and Father were as comfortable as ever in his London house. Now, a month later, upon her return to her childhood home, Riverside House, set amongst the rolling landscape of Hertfordshire, his body already lay entombed in the family crypt next to her mother’s remains. Would there ever be a day when she did not mourn him? A day when she did not weep over his loss?

A cold light burned in the depths of William’s pebble-hard eyes.

Juliana straightened her neck. She would not bow her head, thus giving him the satisfaction of revealing her inner turmoil.

William cleared his throat. His eyes gleamed. “Did you not know you and your sister were born on the wrong side of the blanket?”

Anger welled up in her. “You lie. How dare you make such a claim?”

Hands clasped on his plump knees, William ignored her protestation. “You now know the truth about your whore of a mother,” he gloated.

Well, she knew what William claimed, but did not believe him. “You are wicked to speak thus. My mother always treated you kindly.”

“As ever, you are a haughty piece.” William’s broad nostrils flared. Anger sparked in his eyes. “My dear sister, remember the adage: Pride goeth before a fall, however, do not look so worried. I shall not cast you out without the means to support yourself.”

William rang the silver handbell. When a lackey clad in blue and gold livery answered its summons, he ordered the man to pour a glass of wine.

Juliana watched William raise the crystal glass to his lips. What did he mean? How could she maintain herself and her sister? She had not been brought up to earn a living.

She looked away from her half-brother to glance around the closet, the small, elegantly furnished room in which she kept her valuables and conducted her private correspondence before her father’s death.

Now it seemed, William, the seventh Baron Kemp, and his wife, Sophia, had sought to obliterate every trace of her by refurbishing the closet. Where were her books and her embroidery frame? Where was Mother’s portrait? Rage burned in the pit of her stomach while she looked around her former domain. Juliana wanted to claw William’s fat cheeks. It would please her to hurt him as he was hurting her. No, that wish was both childish and unchristian. She must use her intelligence to defeat him.

At least her family portrait—in which her late mother sat in front of Father, and she and William, dressed in their finest clothes, stood on either side of Mother—remained in place. One of her father’s hands rested on her pretty mother’s shoulder, the other on the back of the chair. A handsome man, she thought—while admiring his relaxed posture and frank expression, both of which depicted a man at his ease.

At the age of five, she already had resembled Mother when Godfrey Kneller painted her family in 1693. They both had large dark eyes and a riot of black curls, as well as fair complexions tinged with the colour of wild roses on their cheeks. She touched her narrow, finely sculpted nose. Judging by the portraits, she inherited her straight nose, oval face, and determined jaw from Father.

Her hands trembled. After Father died, she knew life would never be the same again. Yet nothing had prepared her for what would follow.

Today, when she first stepped into the spacious hall, it seemed as though she had also stepped over an invisible threshold. From being a beloved daughter of the house, she had become her half-brother’s pensioner. Knowing William and Sophia’s miserly natures, she doubted they would deal kindly with her. Yet she could not have anticipated William’s appalling accusation of illegitimacy, and his arrangement—whatever it might be—for her to earn her living.

The lackey served William with another glass of wine.

William jerked his head at the man. “Go.”

Her head still held high, Juliana looked at tall, fleshy William. She liked him no more than he liked her. Indeed, who would not dislike a man so parsimonious that he neither offered his half-sister the common courtesy of either a seat or a glass of wine? Infuriated by his gall, she clasped her hands tighter, trying to contain her anger and keep her face impassive.

She shivered. Today, when she alighted from the coach, rain soaked her clothes. On such a wet, grey day, why did no fire blaze in the hearth? Here, in the closet, it was scarcely warmer than outdoors. She clenched her hands to stop them trembling and imagined the heart of the house had died with Father.

“You shall put your fine education, which our father boasted of, to good use,” William gloated. “You shall be a teacher at a school in Bath.”

Fury flooded Juliana’s chilled body. “Shall I?”

“Yes. Our father saw fit for you to have an education far beyond your needs. You are more than qualified to teach young ladies.”

“Beyond my needs? Father admired Good Queen Bess and other learned ladies of her reign. He deplored Queen Anne’s lack of education. Our father decided no daughter of his would be as ignorant as Her Majesty and her late sister, Queen Mary.”

The purple-red colour of William’s cheeks deepened. “Enough! I despise over-educated women.”

She stared at him. Undoubtedly his mean-minded wife had influenced him. Sophia was jealous because her own schooling comprised of only simple figuring, reading, and writing learned at her mother’s knee, whereas Juliana benefited both from the tutors her tolerant father, the sixth baron, had engaged, and her father’s personal tuition.

William interrupted her thoughts. “You have no claim on me. Moreover, our father left you naught in his will. To make matters worse the estate is so neglected, I cannot afford—”

“Cannot afford,” she broke in, outraged. “What nonsense is this? I have lived here for most of my life. Father encouraged me to familiarise myself with Riverside estate. I know every detail of it. Father even encouraged me to examine the accounts. I assure you everything is in perfect order, and the estate is profitable.” Scornfully, she assessed the poor quality of William’s black broadcloth coat and breeches. “You are a wealthy man. Besides the income from the Kemp estates, you have the revenues from those you inherited from your mother, God rest her soul. You could bear the expense of half a dozen siblings.” She glared at him. “I shall ask nothing for myself, but what of my sister?”

Despite her pride, Juliana’s heart pounded with fear for Henrietta. Although she cared little for William, who had rarely spoken a kind word to her, she adored her eight-year-old sister. She would do all in her power to care for and protect the child.

While she waited for William’s answer, she thought how different their lives would have been if, when she was ten-years-old, Mother had not died after giving birth to Henrietta. Although she should not question the will of God, sometimes it was almost impossible not to.

William shifted in his seat. The brass buttons of his waistcoat strained in the buttonholes due to the pressure of his sizeable girth. Juliana wrinkled her nose. Unlike their fastidious father, her half-brother did not bathe regularly. In fact, he reeked of stale perspiration, partially masked by musky perfume which nauseated her.

“Henrietta shall go to school.” William averted his eyes from her. “After all, I am a generous man. I shall pay for her education. She may think herself fortunate. I am under no obligation to support her.”

Juliana did not doubt he would send Henrietta to a school which charged the smallest possible fees, one which skimped on good food—a school at which clever Henrietta would learn little.

William sipped his wine. Did he want her to cry? If so, he would be disappointed. She would no more do so now than when she was a child, when he pinched her or pulled her hair out of jealous spite because he believed Father favoured her. Yet William never had any reason to envy her because Father had told her he loved William as much as he loved her and Henrietta.

How heartless her half-brother and his wife were. When Father died, they ordered her to remain in London, and at the time of Henrietta’s greatest need, confined her to Riverside House. For the first time since their marriage two years earlier, William and Sophia had returned to Riverside. Now, William’s cruel plan to send Henrietta away from home astonished her.

“Pay attention, Juliana!”

“I am all attention. You told me you will send Henrietta to school,” Juliana said, jerked from her still raw grief by outrage, yet determined not to make a fool of herself by pleading with him. “Be good enough to excuse me, I must see Henrietta. Where is she?”

“I have no patience with the snivelling brat. On my orders, she is not allowed out of the nursery.”

Juliana’s dislike of William flamed like a live coal. She could not endure the unreasonable fool’s behaviour for another moment. The sight of Father’s favourite gold ring, set with a diamond, on the puffy finger of William’s right hand, brought a lump to her throat. The diamond, of the finest quality, caught the light, displaying the colours of the rainbow. She coughed to check rising emotion. “I am going to the nursery.”

William raised his hand. “Grant me a moment more of your time.” He smirked. “Those of your clothes my lady wife deems suitable for your new position are in her tirewoman’s chamber, where you will sleep tonight.”

So, Sophia had appropriated her silks and satins, velvets and furs, before relegating her to a servant’s bed!

An outraged tremor ran through Juliana. More than likely, instead of the large bedchamber reserved for the mistress, Sophia had moved into the smaller, more comfortable one she, Juliana, had always slept in; the one adjoining the large bedchamber traditionally used by the Master of Riverside.

The thought of William sleeping in her courtly father’s bed intensified her grief. Never again would Father summon her in the morning to partake of hot chocolate and read to him while he lay abed, or while, on cold days, she sat snuggled up on the large wingchair by the fire.

“You may go, Juliana.”

How dare William dismiss her as though she were a servant?

She regarded William with acute distaste, but mindful of her training in the ways of society, Juliana curtsied before she straightened her back, hands clenched at her side to control her impotent wrath.

After she withdrew, she hurried not to the nursery, but to the closet which had been her father’s.

Without hesitation, Juliana opened a drawer and then pressed a knob at the back which opened a secret drawer in a lacquered cabinet. Smiling, she removed a drawstring purse bulging with gold coins.

Juliana sank onto a chair. Furious with William, she considered her situation. Until now, she took Riverside House—with its pleasure gardens, fruitful orchards, outbuildings, stables, and home farm—for granted, as she did the fertile acres encompassing villages and tenant farms.

Why did Father will the estate—which her maternal grandfather settled on Mother and she left to Father—to William? Deep in thought, she frowned. Why, in spite of his promises not to do so, did Father appoint William to be not only her own, but also Henrietta’s guardian?

Despite her love for Father, resentment stirred deep within her. She stifled it. Throughout his life, her father’s word was always as good as his bond. Now, although broken promises were his only legacy, he would not have failed her without good reason. But what could the reason be?

She frowned. Notwithstanding William’s words, Juliana believed she and Henrietta were legitimate. No lady as virtuous as her mother would have lived in sin with any gentleman. She cupped her chin in her hand. Bitter laughter escaped her. If William lied about that, what else was he lying about? Yet could he have spoken the truth? Could she and her sister be bastards? Surely not, for in that case her mother would not have been accepted at court as her father’s wife. Would it not have been impossible for a mistress to masquerade as a wife?

Nothing made sense. If Mother had been Father’s mistress and their daughters were illegitimate, how could Father have acquired the right to leave the estate to William? She had been told her grandpere settled Riverside on her mother, but was it true? What of her mother’s will? The will in which Mother had left jewellery and other personal possessions to both her daughters? Did Mother leave the estate to Father, or had she married him? If she had, the property would have become Father’s. But she had been told that under the terms of grandpere’s will, Mother’s eldest child would inherit Riverside. Was it true?

Well, she would not accept William’s claims. She would go to London immediately and consult Father’s lawyer, but first she must see her sister.

Inspiration on Holiday

On Saturday, I returned from a week's holiday in North Devon with my daughter and her three children.

My father's paternal family had strong links with the West Country, and I have happy memories of childhood holidays in Somerset and Devonshire.

As soon as we crossed the border in Somerset and saw the sign Welcome to Somerset I felt as though I was coming home. In Devonshire, daffodils and primroses bloomed in the banks on either side of narrow, twisting country roads. The gorse was ablaze with golden blooms. As we travelled vibrant geen fields dotted with ewes and lambs or cattle spread as far as my eyes could see.

The villages, stately homes and the varied coastline awakened many happy memories and stirred my imagination. By the time we returned home at the end of the week I had a plot and theme for a new novel in mind and had already written the first paragraphs.

Due to the edits of my novels of my novel Sunday's Child to be published in June, and False Pretences to be published in October as well as other writing projects I don't know when I'll begin the novel; but that's all right because the characters will have time to to develop before I begin it.

All the best,

Rosemary Morris