Lady Overton's Perilous Journey by Vikki Vaught (Excerpt and GIVEAWAY) GFT

Lady Overton's Perilous Journey

by Vikki Vaught

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE:  Historical Romantic Suspense

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

When her son’s life is threatened, Anissa, Marchioness of Overton, seeks refuge by sailing to America. Before the ship reaches the high seas, sparks fly between her and Captain Alex Hawks. Although the young widow may be lonely, and afraid, she cannot risk the diversion a romantic entanglement could bring, no matter how much she wants to lose herself in the captain’s embrace.

The Captain vows to protect the young Lord Overton, but can offer no assurance that the marchioness will leave his ship with her virtue intact. Alex is drawn to Anissa’s beauty and courage, as a hummingbird is to the nectar of a flower. How long can he fight a losing battle before he surrenders and makes her his own?

Will Alex be able to keep this remarkable woman and her child safe? Will his passion for Anissa be enough or will their differences keep them apart?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Exclusive Excerpt:

Anissa clasped her trembling hands together as she stammered, “I w-wanted to watch as we l-left the pier, since it will be my last sight of England for a very long time.”

Captain Hawks stared at her, black eyes gleaming. “Who’s that man? I thought you told me you weren’t running away. What are you running away from? Tell me, damn it!”

Anissa turned back to the railing to give herself time to collect her thoughts. She came up with a believable story, she hoped. Even though she hated lying, now was not the time for scruples. To save her son, she would lie, cheat, or even kill, if need be. She did not owe this arrogant captain anything. He was only a means to an end for her.

Pulling on her confidence as a marchioness, she turned to face him with an expression of disdain on her face. “Not that it is any of your concern, I’m not running away from anything. As I already explained, my uncle is ill. I desperately need to get away for a while. I lost my husband seven months ago. I’m hoping a visit with my uncle and seeing my cousins will help to distract me from my grief. And I can help my family care for him in his time of need.”

“If you’re not running away, then why did that man look disgusted when he saw my ship leaving?” he sneered.

Her mind went blank. She needed to come up with something he might believe. “Oh, you mean the man on the pier?”

The captain interrupted. “Of course I mean that man. It’s obvious someone told him you left with me. He followed you to Plymouth, didn’t he?”

Anissa looked at him, her knees shaking to such a degree that he would have surely seen them, had her breeches not been covered by her long cloak. She prayed he would not decide to turn the ship around.

“He is an unwanted suitor and has been hounding me ever since my husband died. He is one of the reasons I decided to go to America.” Then taking the offensive, she stated, “Besides, it is none of your business why I want to leave, now, is it?”

“It is my damned business if you’re running from something. I don’t need anything turning up later. You know he’ll find out where you’re going, don’t you? My ship is well known, and someone will tell him you’re bound for Baltimore. You don’t have any family in America, do you? You don’t know anyone in my country. How in hell will you take care of yourself, and your son, for God’s sake?”

Amazon link
NOTE: The book will be on sale for $0.99 during the tour

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Vikki Vaught started her writing career when a story invaded her mind and would not leave.

Over the last few years, she has written more than a half dozen historical romances and is presently working on her next. Her new release, Lady Overton’s Perilous Journey, is the first book in her Honorable Rogue series.

Vikki loves a "Happily Ever After", and she writes them in her stories. While romance is the central theme of all her books, she includes some significant historical event or place in all her novels.

While all her books are love stories, she has also written short contemporary sweet romances as Vikki McCombie and erotic romances using the pen name of V.L. Edwards.

For the last decade, Vikki has lived in the beautiful foothills of the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with her beloved husband, Jim, who is the most tolerant man in the world to put up with her when she is in a writing frenzy. When she is not writing or working her day job, you’ll find her curled up in a comfortable chair reading her Kindle, lost in a good book with a cup of tea at her side.

LINKS:

Website

Email

Facebook

Twitter

Google+

Pinterest

Amazon Author Page


*******************************

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The tour dates can be found here

A Matter of Grave Concern by Brenda Novak (Book blast) GFT

A Matter of Grave Concern
by Brenda Novak

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

When Maximillian Wilder joins the notorious body snatchers known as the London Supply Company, the last thing on his mind is love. He’s worried about Madeline, his vanished half sister, who was last seen in the company of Jack Hurtsill, the gang’s conscienceless leader. Raiding graveyards, stealing corpses, and selling them to medical colleges as dissection material is dirty work, but he has to gain Jack’s trust. He’s determined to find out what happened to Madeline—and to bring Jack to justice if she was murdered for the coin her body could bring.

Beautiful, spirited Abigail Hale, daughter of the surgeon at Aldersgate School of Medicine, detests the challenging, hard-bargaining Max. But she must procure the necessary specimens if she is to save the college and her father’s career. She believes she is going to be successful—until Jack double-crosses her. Then she’s swept into a plot of danger and intrigue, one where Max must intervene and protect her, no matter the risk to his plan . . . or his heart.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT:




“Ouch! That hurts! What are you doing?” she asked, trying to wiggle away from the roughness of his chin as he chafed it against her face and neck.

Max could feel the ridge of Miss Hale’s collarbone beneath his cheek, then more smooth skin as he slid his chin up the column of her throat. “I am leaving a few marks on you, for Jack’s edification,” he said. “He will never believe you were ravished without something to show for it.” Pausing just below her left earlobe, he began to suck on her neck.

She squirmed some more, resisting, but that soon subsided and she started to giggle. He guessed from her bossiness that she didn’t laugh often but, strangely enough considering all the trouble she had caused him, he liked the sound of it.

“Nothing in my father’s books said anything about this,” she said. “What on earth are you doing? Stop! It tickles. What could possibly be the point?”

He lifted his head only when he was satisfied that he had left a deep purple mark. “What your father’s books didn’t tell you, Miss Hale, is that much of what goes on between a man and a woman, at least in the bedroom, has no point. It is simply for the sake of pleasure, for the pure, heady passion of reveling in the opposite sex, of letting go of all inhibition long enough to enjoy giving everything and receiving everything all at the same time.”

He knew his voice sounded slightly hoarse, but she smelled so damn clean and fresh. And her skin—it had to be the softest he had ever touched.

Moonlight lit her face as she cocked a finely arched eyebrow at him. “You seem quite well-versed on the subject.”

“I have never read any bloody medical journals, that’s for damn sure. After hearing what they have to say, I think I’m glad.”

“What’s wrong with what they say?”

Max ignored her in favor of nipping at her neck again. Why did she have to feel so good? Not five minutes earlier, he had told himself he wouldn’t have any difficulty sharing a room, even a bed, with Miss Hale. He could control his “drive to mate” as she put it.

But that was before, when Miss Hale—Abigail—was at an arm’s distance. Now that she was so close and not nearly as stiff as he had expected, he found his perspective changing. And he was only rubbing his chin on her cheeks and neck. What would it feel like to part her lips and slip his tongue inside her mouth for that first sweet taste?

Under the guise of more chafing, he let their lips brush once, felt their breath mingle, and measured Miss Hale’s response. The tension in her shoulders, where he had anchored his hands, relaxed ever so slightly. Her eyelids lowered as her gaze fell to his mouth, and she kept her head tilted at just the right angle for their lips to brush again.

She’s curious, he realized. She has never been kissed.

Amazon buy link






~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Brenda Novak is the author of more than fifty books. A four-time Rita nominee, she has won many awards, including the National Reader’s Choice, the Bookseller’s Best, the Book Buyer’s Best, the Daphne, and the Holt Medallion. She also runs an annual on-line auction for diabetes research every May at www.brendanovak.com (her youngest son has this disease). To date, she’s raised over $2 million. For more about Brenda, please visit www.brendanovak.com.

Follow me on Twitter 

Like me on Facebook


Buy link