Historical Romance ~ Reluctance, by Jen Black

Frances Bowes, Lady Rathmere, is the heroine of RELUCTANCE. 

Married young, nine years a widow, now in her mid-twenties, she lives happily in full control of her fortune and sees no reason to endure marriage again.

Jack Slade, Marquess of Streatham, is the hero. Wracked with guilt over his wife’s death in childbirth, he flees London for his run-down estate in the north swearing celibacy for the rest of his life though still only in his mid-twenties. He believes he cannot allow his progeny to kill another innocent woman.

Frances, Jack and Charles Devenish were childhood playmates. Charles and Jack have maintained the friendship at school and in London, but Frances and the other local residents have not seen Jack since he was eleven years old.

When the story opens, Frances saves a stranger − Jack − from drowning. Discovering him ungrateful, she assumes him an insufferable idiot and forgets him. A week later, conscience pricking, he arrives unannounced at her Cousin Mary’s birthday luncheon in order to apologize for his rudeness.

This charming and thoughtful Regency story is set in the north of England away from the constraints of the ton and society’s expectations. When a handsome soldier arrives in the locality, he manages to destroy any peace of mind Frances had, and almost ruins her cousin Mary’s reputation. When his attentions became unbearable, there seems only one way out of the tangle.

Read RELUCTANCE by Jen Black and return to a very different world.

available here: 

http://www.amazon.com/Reluctance-Jen-Black-ebook/dp/B007ROL46Q/ref=la_B003BZ8JNQ_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393083978&sr=1-6

Mistletoe--A Plant For All Seasons

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without mistletoe. In the dark, cold days of a northern winter, the evergreen mistletoe, with its glossy green leaves and white berries, promises spring will return.

But mistletoe has other faces. In ancient Britain, the Druids considered mistletoe a sexual symbol. The white berries' juice resembles semen and the Druids deemed the plant itself an aphrodisiac. By extension, mistletoe became associated with love and marriage.

The tradition of kissing may come from the Nordic legend of the death of the sun god, Balder. Loki, the god of mischief, killed Balder with a sprig of mistletoe. The tears of Balder's mother, Frigga, returned Balder to life. In gratitude, Frigga kissed everyone under the mistletoe, transforming the plant's reputation from death to life. Or new life, as in fertility.

A lesser known aspect of mistletoe labels it the plant of peace. Enemies meeting under the mistletoe laid down their arms and declared a day of truce. This time provided them an opportunity to talk out their differences instead of resorting to violence. In Mistletoe Everywhere, my Regency Christmas comedy, I use mistletoe's role as the plant of peace to bring my two estranged lovers back together.

Promise of spring, fertility symbol and plant of peace--truly a plant for all seasons. Which face of mistletoe do you prefer?

Mistletoe Everywhere Available at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other places ebooks are sold. See my website (http://www.lindabanche.com) for complete list of vendors.

Thank you all,
Linda
Linda Banche
Welcome to My World of Historical Hilarity!
http://www.lindabanche.com

Guest Kiki Howell: Historical Wordsmithing

Linda Banche here. Today I welcome Kiki Howell and her latest book, the erotic Regency paranormal, Torn Asunder. Here she talks about the wonderful Regency language we fans of the genre love so much.

Welcome Kiki!

One of my favorite parts about researching Regency England is coming across new cant and common Regency phrases. The language itself, to me, lends a bit of magic to the time period even before I add in my own paranormal elements. *g*

I love playing with words. No surprise there I guess. But, no matter what I am writing, my favorite stage of the process is the rewriting where I look at each sentence, arrange the words just right to get them to come across just as I want them. When writing a historical romance set in the early eighteen-hundreds England, I also get to play with the cant in my dialogue.

I have read that most of this colorful slang came from London’s underworld, the seedier parts of town if you will, the pleasure haunts of London. Can’t tell you why I find it comical that the upper ten thousand may have adopted these words from the lower classes, but I do. It makes using it all that more rich somehow.

So, many of my favorite phrases you will find in my new novel, Torn Asunder. I have made a list of them below, some include my own thoughts in parentheses after the meaning. I promise to leave the most colorful ones out. But, I have to start with…

Inexpressibles – breeches, clothing used as undergarments at the time (This for me is a shining example of the mentality of the time, ideas of propriety and all.)

ark ruffians -- thieves, in conjunction with watermen, who rob and sometimes murder their victims, then throw them overboard (I used this one since my heroine travels by water from England to a magical island in Ireland. I found it to be so primitive and appropriate.)

to raise a breeze – to make a disturbance, get upset about something (This term is like a metaphor for yelling. I love it!)

ardent – characterized by intense feeling, zealous, vehement

banbury tale -- nonsensical story (I’m an English major, what can I say!)

flush in the pockets – well off, has money

close-fisted –stingy

black spy – devil

Bygaged - bewitched

Bumblebroth – a tangled situation (This word brings about an image in my head of a woman trying to make soup by boiling live bees. Now wouldn’t that be a terrible predicament.)

Maggot in one’s head – a silly notion (Gross, but fitting.)

Grand Alliance – a marriage (Again, I feel they hit the nail on the head here.)

Rudesby – an uncivil fellow (LOL)

Shine everyone else down - pretty

As well, there are many terms and phrases which express strong emotions which all seem so appropriate to me, like: Devilish things!, Hell and Blast!, Gads!, He’s a blasted idiot!, A sillier notion I have never heard of! and more…

Quite colorful words, and most are quite appropriate, descriptive in a very metaphorish kind of way as well. I just love it. So, I hope you will enjoy my newest novel as much as I did writing it. Fraught with scenes of explicit intimacy, romantic spells and mystical shapeshifting, Torn Asunder is a unique blending of the age of manners with sexual magic.

Torn Asunder BLURB:
Aubrey Griffen is a witch whose true reasons for coming to London soon fall to the wayside when she catches the eye of Edmund Bryant, the Marquess of Dalysbury. He seduces her into a whirlwind romance until the lies and threats of his mother force her to flee to Triaill Brimuir, a secret island of her ancestors off the coast of Ireland. Edmund goes after her only to be hit by Aubrey’s confusion and anger when she magically transforms him into an elemental beast of her own creation.

However, it is when Edmund’s lust mysteriously turns him back into a man that the couple are forced to deal with a family secret and untold of powers. Now, Edmund must learn to shift himself into the beast in order to save her in a battle of black verses white magic.

Genres: Historical (Regency), Paranormal (Witches & Shifters), Erotic Romance

Purchase at in ebook or trade paperback at Excessica Publishing or Amazon as well as many other retailers.

Review: IN THE ARMS OF MR. DARCY by Sharon Lathan

In the Arms of Mr. Darcy is the latest installment in Sharon Lathan's joyous celebration of married love, Regency style.

A year has passed since Darcy's and Elizabeth's wedding. The story opens with a Christmas party at Pemberley where they introduce their brand-new son, Alexander. Compared to their tumultuous courtship, Darcy's and Elizabeth's lives are now mainly happy, with, of course, a little sturm und drang along the way.

Darcy must deal with the business and emotional fallout of a death that occurred when a cotton mill he owns burns down. A nervous Elizabeth and Georgiana suffer through the gyrations required for their presentation at court. The Darcys enjoy a trip to the Peaks District, except when a falling boulder threatens Elizabeth and Alexander. Darcy, true hero that he is, whisks them to safety.

Although Elizabeth and Darcy revel in domestic bliss, other members of their family are not so lucky. Elizabeth's sister, Kitty, enjoys and suffers through her first fluttering of love. And Col. Fitzwilliam's tentative romance with a lady who caught his eye years ago resurfaces. I love Col. Fitzwilliam's story. I've added him right next to Mr. Darcy on my Favorite Heroes list.

If most of these events sound ordinary, it's because they are. Ms. Lathan's genius is to spin the everyday occurrences of married life into a page-turner. In a world full of strife, this book full of happiness is a treat for all.

Sharon Lathan will guest here on Wednesday, October 13. Leave a comment on her post for a chance to win one of two copies of In the Arms of Mr. Darcy. US and Canada residents only are eligible for the book giveaway.

Thank you all,
Linda
Linda Banche
Welcome to My World of Historical Hilarity!
http://www.lindabanche.com
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Gorgeous Men in Tight Breeches and Ruffled Shirts II

What's Wrong With This Picture/Excerpt?

In Part I, we discussed Regency men's clothes. Although the era saw the birth of modern menswear, Regency clothing is not exactly the same. Errors abound in many romances. In this post we'll discuss three common errors in the portrayal of the Regency gentleman’s wardrobe.

What's wrong with Gorgeous Gentleman #1's clothes? The problem is his shirt. Men's shirts didn't button all the way down the front until the end of the nineteenth century. The front was open to about halfway down the chest, much like a present-day man's polo shirt. There may or may not have been one or two buttons to keep the collar closed. And a gentleman always wore a cravat to keep his shirt top closed.

The only way GG#1 could show off that great set of washboard abs in a historically correct shirt was to pull the shirt over his head. Or, the heroine could tear it off him in a fit of passion--the modern version of the bodice ripper.

The shirt GG #2 is wearing is correct. But what's wrong here? His shirt is correct, and our hero even has ruffles at his cuffs (oh, I do like ruffles on a man!). The answer--GG #2 is wearing a belt. Regency men held up their breeches (generic term for what they wore on their lower bodies) with braces, also called suspenders.

My third example is a passage from Miss Lockharte's Letters by Barbara Metzger:

"And I saw you trying to corner her in the choir loft. If you ever managed to keep your pants buttoned, we wouldn't be in half this mess."

The error here? The word "pants" is an Americanism, first found in the works of Edgar Allan Poe, around 1840, according to dictionary.com. An Englishman would refer to the garment as "trousers". And if he were in the presence of a lady, he would call them his "unmentionables", if he referred to them at all.

I found lots of pictures of gorgeous gentlemen as I searched for images for this post. But I hit the jackpot with GG#2. Unlike some writers, I don't use a picture of an actor or model as inspiration for my hero. But when I saw GG#2, I knew I had found Richard, the hero of Lady of the Stars, my Regency time travel and 2010 EPIC EBook Competition Finalist.

GG#2's hair is a little too long, he's wearing that belt, and he would never appear before a lady without a cravat, waistcoat and coat (jacket). I like to think he's in his bedchamber, early the morning after he met Caroline, the heroine. He's thinking about her, and already falling in love.

And here's our Happily Ever After.

Thank you all,
Linda
Enter My World of Historical Hilarity
http://www.lindabanche.com