The Duchess and the Highwayman by Beverley Oakley (spotlight, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) RBC

The Duchess and the Highwayman

By Beverley Oakley

 

Beverley is giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate and an ebook, "The Mysterious Governess" to randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour. Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter. Remember you may increase your chances of winning by visiting the other tour stops. You may find those locations here. 

BLURB: 

A duchess disguised as a lady’s maid; a gentleman parading as a highwayman. She’s on the run from a murderer, he’s in pursuit of one… In a remote Norfolk manor, Phoebe, Lady Cavanaugh is wrongfully accused by her servants of her brutal husband’s murder. There’s little sympathy in the district for the duchess who’s taken a lover and made clear she despised her husband. The local magistrate has also vowed revenge since Lady Cavanaugh rebuffed his advances. When Phoebe is discovered in the forest wearing only a chemise stained with the blood of her murdered husband, she persuades the noble ‘highwayman’ who rescues her that she is Lady Cavanaugh’s maidservant. Hugh Redding has his own reasons for hunting down the man who would have Phoebe tried and hanged for murder. He plans to turn ‘the maidservant with aspirations above her station' into the 'lady' who might testify against the very villain who would see Phoebe dead. But despite the fierce attraction between Phoebe and the 'highwayman', Phoebe is not in a position to admit she's the 'murderous duchess' hunted across the land. Seizing an opportunity to strike at the social and financial standing of the man who has profited by her distress, Phoebe is drawn into a dangerous intrigue. But when disaster strikes, she fears Hugh will lack the sympathy or understanding of her unusual predicament to even want to save her a second time. Buy


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Excerpt: 


  “Sir, your sister’s just being admitted through the front door. I wanted to warn you now so’s you could get this… piece out of her way.” She raked Phoebe with narrowed eyes and curled lip. 

“Where am I to go, sir? Downstairs?” 

Guilt surged through him. If he didn’t know better she could pass for a lady except for the ghastly gown, another of the miller’s wives’ which had been retrieved from an old trunk. Clearly it was not even one that she wore any longer for even he could see the fashion was years out of date. “You can go and find yourself something fitting to wear, Phoebe.” He tried to modulate his tone so as to inflame neither Phoebe nor Mrs Withins though he knew that was an impossible task. The housekeeper looked like a trussed up turkey growing even more purple in the face as Phoebe looked smugly between them. 

“How very kind, sir? So I might wear it to take tea with your sister?” 

“No!” He’d not meant to sound so panicked. 

She, clearly, didn’t take kindly to it for with a toss of her head she picked up her thick, cumbersome skirts and swept to the door. “I must be quick if I’m to avoid embarrassing you, sir, however I cannot do your bidding on thin air.” 

Embarrassed, Hugh thought quickly. “That’ll be all, Mrs Withins. Please see my sister into the parlour. Phoebe, come with me now.” He led her hurriedly down a short corridor to the room where the miller did his book work, closing the door behind him. “How much do you want, Phoebe?” When he glanced up he was nearly scorched by her fulminating look. 

“I am not a… whore!” she hissed. 

He blinked. 

“Five minutes ago you were taking your pleasure, despite my protests that the timing could be better-” 

“I did not force you, Phoebe. And you were more than ready for me.” 

“And immediately you’d had your pleasure you banished me downstairs because I’m not good enough to see your sister and then ask me what payment I require.” 

“You’re being too sensitive, Phoebe-” 

She cut him off. “Half a crown will do for the moment to amuse me with bibs and bobs. I shall see what else I need in the way of suitable attire and then you can arrange payment later.” 

“Oh, so you’re well accustomed to transactions like this, yet you speak to me as if I’ve insulted you.” Hugh wasn’t sure if he was more needled by her accusations of insensitivity on his part or the fact that Phoebe appeared used to having protectors shell out money for her charms. He’d been going to reassure her before Mrs Withins entered the room of his honourable intentions with regard to setting her up nicely. He wanted her much more than he wanted a wife and Phoebe, with her looks and prowess in the bedroom department would be quick to look elsewhere unless Hugh got himself in order. 


Links:  Amazon | All other buy links 

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Author Info: 

Beverley Oakley was seventeen when she bundled up her first her 500+ page romance and sent it to a publisher. Unfortunately drowning her heroine on the last page was apparently not in line with the expectations of romance readers so Beverley became a journalist.

Twenty-six years later Beverley was delighted to receive her first publishing contract from Robert Hale (UK) for a romance in which she ensured her heroine was saved from drowning in the icy North Sea.

Since 2009 Beverley has written more than thirteen historical romances, mostly set in England during the early nineteenth century. Mystery, intrigue and adventure spill from their pages and if she can pull off a thrilling race to save someone’s honour – or a worthy damsel from the noose – it’s time to celebrate with a good single malt Scotch.

Beverley lives with her husband, two daughters and a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy the size of a pony opposite a picturesque nineteenth century lunatic asylum. She also writes Africa-set adventure-filled romances tarring handsome bush pilot heroes, and historical romances with less steam and more sexual tension, as Beverley Eikli.

You can get in contact with Beverley at:

website | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | Goodreads

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