More Holiday Reading
December 28, 2023 by Alina K. Field in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as Bluestocking Belles, historical romance, Holiday Romance Collections, Regency romanceHow is your Yuletide shaping up?
This autumn I managed two extraordinary (for me) writing accomplishments:
1. Some butt-in-the-chair speedy writing for a last-minute holiday collection of stories put together during a time when I was attending two different week-long writing events, and
2. Writing short (8000 words). Which of course, helped me meet the deadline. Ideas for developing secondary characters came to me later. When the rights revert to me in a few months, I just might work in some changes.
Christmastide Kisses
My story, Twelfth Night Treasure is set among some longer novellas. The tales in this collection put together by four of us Bluestocking Belles plus author friends Ruth A. Casie and Aileen Fish will help brighten your holidays:
- A beleaguered uncle whose wards have run off every governess–what he needs is a wife, if only he can persuade the latest applicant
- A country solicitor who becomes an earl and then finds a secret that changes everything
- A very proper clergyman who battles very improper urges when he and a lady with a murky past find themselves snowbound
- A viscount whose search to unearth generations-old family secrets kindles the fire of love for his lovely search partner
- A former army captain who wonders if the best friend of his ex-fiancee is the woman he should have married
- A vicar with a misspent youth and the duke’s daughter who brings out the best in him
Six gentlemen and the ladies with whom they discover the power of a Christmastide Kiss.
A Villainous Vicar Reforms
The hero of my story is a clergyman who happened to be something of a villain in the my 2022 Christmas story, Flowers for His Lady. He had a whole year to reform since he almost ruined his sister’s chance at happiness last year. I’ve done my best to redeem him. If you read the story, let me know if you think I succeeded!
Happy Rest of the Holidays!
Besides taking time for holiday reading, be sure to grab a kiss under the mistletoe if you can!
I’ll be back in March for another Quarter Days Post.
0 0 Read more9 Authors, 9 Interconnected Stories
September 28, 2023 by Alina K. Field in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field, Writing tagged as Alina K. Field, Bluestocking Belles, Quarter Days, Regency romance, Romance Collections
Under the Harvest Moon
We’re less than two weeks away from the release of the latest Bluestocking Belles collection of historical romances, Under the Harvest Moon.
All new original stories by authors Caroline Warfield, Jude Knight, Sherry Ewing, Cerise DeLand, Elizabeth Ellen Carter, Collette Cameron, Mary Lancaster, Rue Allyn, and me are set at harvest time in 1815, in the small fictional town of Reabridge in Cheshire, England.
Here’s the blurb:
As the village of Reabridge in Cheshire prepares for the first Harvest Festival following Waterloo, families are overjoyed to welcome back their loved ones from the war.
But excitement quickly turns to mystery when mere weeks before the festival, an orphaned child turns up in the town—a toddler born near Toulouse to an English mother who left clues that tie her to Reabridge.
With two prominent families feuding for generations and the central event of the Harvest Moon festival looming, tensions rise, and secrets begin to surface.
Nine award winning and bestselling authors have combined their talents to create this engaging and enchanting collection of interrelated tales. Under the Harvest Moon promises an unforgettable read for fans of Regency romance.
A Team Effort in Planning
The members of the Bluestocking Belles plus participating author friends Collette Cameron and Mary Lancaster are spread out all over the globe. Thank heavens for the wonders of social media, messaging, Google Drive, and Zoom that make communication and collaboration rapid and easy. Or at least easier!
The hardest aspect of organizing was finding a good time for a Zoom meeting that would accommodate Elizabeth in Australia, Jude in New Zealand, Mary in Scotland, Rue in Nicaragua, and the rest of us scattered over U.S. Eastern, Central, and Pacific time.
But we did it, and just about a year ago, after much preliminary research and chatting, we finalized our story world and deadlines as a group and then each presented ideas for the individual characters and stories. Later, we shared in beta-reading drafts and final copy before submission to Jude Knight (who is also an editor) for the final editing.
When a character wandered into another author’s story, the creating authors chatted separately. So, for example, my heroine, Fleur, encountered the heroine of Rue’s story, Charite, and offered a description through Fleur’s point of view that had to be adjusted after Rue’s critique and input. Caro’s doctor hero appears briefly in my story, in one scene with my hero, and later in a scene at the home where my heroine resides where he’s come to deliver a baby.
There’s more, yet each story is a standalone romance delivered in each author’s unique voice. You can preorder your copy for only 99 cents and have it pop onto your eReader on release day, October 10th.
The special pricing will be good through October 17th. Plus, if you haven’t read last year’s Bluestocking Belles collection, Desperate Daughters, you can pick up a copy of that for only 99 cents through October 4th!
And Here Are the Stories: Under the Harvest Moon
Moonlight Wishes and Midnight Kisses by Collette Cameron
A scarred veteran with no future, Courtland Marlow-Westbrook wants to be left alone. Scottish heiress Avery Levingtone never stopped loving him and is determined to win his love again. Will these former sweethearts find happiness together, or will the wounds of the past keep them apart?
The Morning Light by Caroline Warfield
Adam Wagner is meant to save lives, not take them. He is haunted by Waterloo. The horror of it keeps him from those he loves. Meg Barlow doesn’t understand how Adam could turn his back on her so thoroughly, but she isn’t about to let him get away with it.
A Harvest Blessing by Rue Allen
All the battles are over, or are they? When Captain Thom Owen is forced into a false engagement, he must escort his pseudo-fiancée home to meet his father. Can an English vicar’s son and a French Comte’s daughter find love despite their differences?
Coming Home by Mary Lancaster
Old memories, new love
Home from Waterloo, Captain David Buckley contemplates settling down near his hometown of Reabridge—only it is full of painful memories. The mysterious Lady Lorna falls literally into his arms, and he begin to understand the true meaning of love and home.
Under the Champagne Moon by Alina K Field
Fleur Hardouin’s heart longs for Captain Gareth Ardleigh, but she needs an advantageous marriage.
Gareth has promised to find Fleur—on behalf of another man.
Now he must choose between honoring a promise and trying to win the hand of the woman he loves.
A Quiet Heart by Elizabeth Ellen Carter
Widowed at Waterloo, where she also nursed the wounded, Veronica Petersham promised a dying man to bring his effects to a family in Reabridge. She falls ill just short of her goal, in the milking shed of kind and stoic Martin Bromelton.
Perhaps there is hope for the future after all and the opportunity to find love once more.
A Love Beyond Time by Sherry Ewing
Eight years ago, Hannah Pownall had her heart broken by a young lord.
Captain Brandon Worthington returns to the town of Reabridge to recover from the war and finds the girl he once loved still unwed. Can love at first sight be reborn after heartbreak, proving a second chance is all you need?
The Widow’s Harvest Hope by Cerise DeLand
The new Earl Barlow returns home from Waterloo, intending to live by his own rules. The woman he loved and lost years ago visits for the Harvest festival—and he plans to offer Vicky Wright what they both want. Can a lady who has lived by the rules throw them all away to seize her last chance for happiness?
Love In Its Season by Jude Knight
The Battle of Waterloo lost Jack Wrath the use of one arm and ended his career in the cavalry. He has no place to go and nothing to offer. Gwen Hughes has a business to run and no time for romance. Under the harvest moon, two people who believe romance has passed them by finally reach their season for love.
Buy links:
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C86Q2Y4H
Apple Books – https://books.apple.com/us/book/under-the-harvest-moon/id6450278674
Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/under-the-harvest-moon-6
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/178584368-under-the-harvest-moon
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/UnderHarvestMoon
Happy autumn! I’ll be back with another post in December.
0 0 Read moreA Stormy #NewRelease for Regency Romance Fans
March 28, 2021 by Alina K. Field in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as #NewRelease, #ReadaRegency, Bluestocking Belles, Grace Burrowes, Mary Lancaster, Regency AnthologiesWelcome to my Quarter Days’ post!
Last year was awful in many ways, but there were some bright spots. For me, one of those was being invited by the Bluestocking Belles, a group of historical romance authors, to be one of the guest authors in their 2021 story collection. It was a unique experience, and a great deal of fun, interweaving our stories and characters into the collection’s setting. All of the stories take place in the fictional Suffolk town of Fenwick on Sea during a “storm of the century”. It is the first week of April 1815, and Napoleon Bonaparte has just escaped from Elba.
When this opportunity arose, I was in the middle of writing Fated Hearts, my Regency-set retelling of the Macbeth story. Since Fated Hearts was set in March 1815 in the middle of the Corn Riots and in the week that ended with the arrival of news of Bonaparte’s escape, the Storm & Shelter project gave me the perfect opportunity for a secondary character’s romance.
Storm & Shelter, A Bluestocking Belles with Friends Collection
Spring has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, and this year’s April storms include the 1815 North Sea gale that is the setting for the stories in the Storm & Shelter novella collection :
When a storm blows off the North Sea and slams into the village of Fenwick on Sea, the villagers prepare for the inevitable: shipwreck, flood, land slips, and stranded travelers. The Queen’s Barque Inn quickly fills with the injured, the devious, and the lonely—lords, ladies, and simple folk; spies, pirates, and smugglers all trapped together. Intrigue crackles through the village, and passion lights up the hotel.
One storm, eight authors, eight heartwarming novellas.
A 99 cent Pre-order!
The Comtesse of Midnight
The collection includes my novella, The Comtesse of Midnight, a sequel to my full length novel, Fated Hearts. Here’s the blurb:
A Scottish Earl on a quest for the elusive Comtesse de Fontenay rescues a French lady smuggler from the surf during a devastating storm, and takes shelter with her. As the stormy night drags on, he suspects his companion knows the woman he’s seeking, the one who holds the secret to his identity.
Marielle Plessiers may dress like a boy and go out with the local free traders, but she’s really the Comtesse de Fontenay. She trades in spirits, not secrets, but the information she holds will change Malcolm Comyn’s life forever.
The other contributors are members of the Bluestocking Belles: Jude Knight, Caroline Warfield, Sherry Ewing, Rue Allyn, and Cerise DeLand.
As well as two other guest authors, Mary Lancaster and Grace Burrowes.
Here’s the full list of stories:
An Improbable Hero, by Mary Lancaster:
A runaway heiress, a mysterious stranger.
When Letty’s ship founders in a violent storm, she forges a rare bond with her rescuer.
Simon is a troubled man on a final, deadly mission—until the spirited yet soothing Letty makes him question everything. Hiding in plain sight among the refugees at The Queen’s Barque, Simon is more than capable of protecting them both. But when the floods recede, can either of them say goodbye?
Lord Stanton’s Shocking Seaside Honeymoon, by Cerise DeLand:
She is so wrong for him.
Miss Josephine Meadows is so young. In love with life. His accountant in his work for Whitehall. Her father’s heir to his trading company—and his espionage network. Lord Stanton cannot resist marrying her. But to ensure Wellington defeats Napoleon, they must save one of Josephine’s agents.
Far from home, amid a horrific storm, Stanton discovers that his new bride loves him dearly. Can he truly be so right for her? And she for him?
The Tender Flood, by Caroline Warfield:
Zach Newell knows Patience Abney is far above his touch. But he has been enchanted by her since she raced out of the storm and into the Queen’s Barque with a wagon full of small boys, puppies, and a bag of books. When the two of them make their way across the flooded marsh to her badly damaged school in search of a missing boy, attraction deepens. She risks scandal; he risks his heart.
Before I Found You: A de Courtenay Novella by Sherry Ewing:
A quest for a title. An encounter with a stranger. Will she choose love?
Miss Miranda de Courtenay has only one goal in life: to find a rich husband who can change her status from Miss to My Lady. Captain Jasper Rousseau has no plans to become infatuated during a chance encounter at a ball. Their connection is hard to dismiss, despite Miranda’s quest for a title at all cost. What if the cost includes love?
Wait for Me, by Rue Allyn:
Enemies by nature—Esmeralda Crobbin, aka the pirate Irish Red, and Captain, Lord Brandon Gilroy have met before.
Fate trumps nature—When a fierce storm creates a chance encounter and forced proximity, Brandon learns the pirate is a woman of serious honor and responsibility. Esmeralda discovers the captain is more than a uniform stuffed with rules and regulations. Both love the sea with boundless passion, but can they love each other?
A Dream Come True, by Jude Knight:
The tempest that batters Barnaby Somerville’s village is the latest but not the least of his challenges. Vicar to a remote parish, he stretches his tiny stipend to adopt his orphaned niece and nephew and his time to offer medical care as well as spiritual. A wife is a dream he cannot afford. But the storm sweeps into his life a surprising temptation—a charming young woman who lavishes her gentle care upon his wards—and him. God knows, he will forever be richer for having known her, even if he must let her go.
A Kiss by the Sea, by Grace Burrowes:
He’s not really a blacksmith, and she’s not really an heiress… Can they forge a happily-ever-after anyway?
Thaddeus Pennrith finds a way to recover from multiple griefs when he accepts the blacksmith’s post at Fenwick on Sea. Village life gives him a sense of belonging that Polite Society never could, though he must resume his aristocratic responsibilities soon. Along comes Lady Sarah Weatherby, refugee from an engagement gone badly awry, and Thaddeus is faced with both a compelling reason to reveal his titled antecedents, and a longing to keep them forever hidden….
Pre-order your copy today, only 99 cents. But hurry! The price will go up after the April 13th release!
Buy Links:
