Showing posts with label @BeverleyOakley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label @BeverleyOakley. Show all posts

Friday, March 31, 2017

#GiveAway Lady Unveiled The Cuckold Conspiracy by Beverley Oakley


 Lady Unveiled
 The Cuckold Conspiracy
Final in the Daughters of Sin series, book 5
by Beverley Oakley

Beverley will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner, and a boxed set of the first 3 books of the Daughters of Sin series to another randomly drawn winner (US ONLY), both awarded via rafflecopter during the tour.
  
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BLURB:

Four very different sisters compete for love during an exciting London season: a celebrated actress with a heart of gold, a shy yet daring wallflower, and the artistic, illegitimate daughter of a nobleman.

Caught up in a high-stakes game of intrigue and deceit orchestrated by their sister, the ton's reigning beauty, each must play their part to bring a dangerous traitor to justice while finding a man deserving of their love and special talents.

The gentlemen of the ton are about to discover a woman made just for them.

If you enjoy Delilah Marvelle and Liz Carlyle, you'll love Daughters of Sin, a series that combines sensuous Regency romance with lashings of mystery and intrigue.

GENRE: Historical Romantic Suspense (Regency)

Buy Links:
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU  | B&N | Kobo | Apple  

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 EXCERPT:

Wearily Silverton stepped across the threshold into his dimly lit townhouse, surrendering his hat and coat. He wouldn’t go straight to bed, though it was late and he had an early start with meetings at the Foreign Office.

“M’lord, you have a visitor waiting for you in the drawing room.”

Silverton couldn’t have been more surprised—and delighted—at the identity of his unexpected visitor who leapt up in a rustle of silken skirts as the butler discreetly withdrew.

“Kitty! What are you doing here?” He barely dared hope yet he had to ask the question, the affirmative to which would have made him the happiest man on earth. Right now he felt like the loneliest. “Have you come back to me?”

“Oh Silverton, you know I can’t do that when you’re to be married in a little over a week.” She looked truly regretful yet her smile, tinged with sadness, was the most glorious sight he could remember seeing as the last few weeks of London revels blurred across his mind.

“You don’t love me quite enough to do that, eh?” It was a low shot but, emboldened by the fact he’d just knocked back more than a few brandies shortly before, he wanted to needle her into some declaration that would hint at the truth of her feelings for him.

“I love you too much to force you into such a conflict with your sense of honor, my dearest.”

He was disappointed when she took a step back as he approached and said, softly, “Please don’t touch me, Silverton, for you know how susceptible I am to your overtures and I’m really here for a very noble reason which would be entirely spoiled if it resulted in anything physical between us.”

“But the physical between us has always been so mutually satisfying, hasn’t it? And we both feel exactly the same about each other as we did—” he paused, then added with difficulty— “before you left me.”

“That might be true but that’s not what I’ve come here to talk about.” Her words were truncated on a slow sigh for Silverton had succeeded in breaching the distance between them and now his fingertips were gently caressing her cheek.

She closed her eyes but did not move other than to whisper, “It’s about Lord Debenham.”

“Such a ghastly man, indeed,” Silverton murmured, hoping that concurring with what he knew she felt about the man was appropriate under the circumstances. “I hope you’ll stay well clear of him.” Carefully he drew Kitty into his embrace. He needed to manage this encounter with the greatest skill. Holding the most exquisite woman he’d ever met, the woman he’d made his mistress when he’d wanted so badly to make her his wife, simply reinforced how right she made him feel. She was bright, intelligent, a lively companion, and so very beautiful.

And she was so hell-bent on doing what was right.

Silverton was hell-bent on doing what was right, too, which was why he’d never held his wife-to-be in anything more intimate than a waltz hold for fear it would be the death-knell to his resolve that he could act in the interests of his family and marry Octavia.

“And what is it about villainous Viscount Debenham that brought you to my townhouse so late at night?”

Kitty twined her arms about behind his neck and nestled her head against his chest. Her soft sigh of contentment was like a hot needle in his most tender parts for Kitty was so transparent about her affection for him.

She smiled up at him, biting her lip as a shadow of doubt crossed her features. “I told him you were a spy.”

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AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

About Beverley Oakley
Beverley was seventeen when she bundled up her first 500+ page romance and sent it to a publisher. Rejection followed swiftly. Drowning one’s heroine on the last page, she was informed, was not in line with the expectations of romance readers.

So Beverley became a journalist.

After a whirlwind romance with a handsome Norwegian bush pilot she met in Botswana, Beverley discovered her “Happy Ever After”, saved her heroine from drowning in her next manuscript and had her first Regency romance published in 2009.

Since then, she’s written more than fifteen sizzling historical romances laced with mystery, intrigue and suspense under the name Beverley Oakley.

She also writes psychological historicals, and Colonial-Africa-set romantic suspense, as Beverley Eikli.

With an inspiring view of a Gothic nineteenth-century insane asylum across the road, Beverley lives north of Melbourne with her gorgeous husband, two lovely daughters and rambunctious Rhodesian Ridgeback, Mombo, named after the Okavango Delta safari lodge where she and her husband met.

She loves it when readers get in touch, and you can find out more on her website: www.beverleyoakley.com

Or catch up with her here:

Twitter: @BeverleyOakley

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

#Review - Fool for Love by Heather Boyd, Beverley Oakley, Donna Cummings

Fool for Love by [Oakley, Beverley, Cummings, Donna, Boyd, Heather]Are you looking for a present for that special reader in your life for Valentine's Day? How about one Sizzling Hot historical romance book? I have the perfect book for you. It's Fool For Love by three very talented ladies and some of my very, very favorite authors, Heather Boyd,  Beverley OakleyDonna Cummings.

Each of these wonderful stories are fairly short. If you, like me, enjoy reading in the bath tub they are the perfect size for a nice bath. They would make a great bedtime story, or great distraction while your waiting for an appointment. Honestly I can't think of any time I wouldn't enjoy these.

 His Valentine's Secret, by Beverley Oakley is the first story in the anthology. I discovered Beverley a few years ago and I have been hooked on her books since then. I enjoy her writing style and the characters in His Valentine's Secret are easy to bond with quickly. Lisette goes into the ball with one plan and ends up with more questions than she has answers for. There are a few twist and turns that took me on a stomach dropping roller coaster ride. A very enjoyable ride though I must say. There is romance, a good amount of drama and the perfect amount of suspense that had me turning the pages quickly. Ms. Oakley mentions a title at the end of this story and I MUST get my hands on it. I need to know more.

Truly, My Love, by Donna Cummings is the second book in Fool For Love. I have had a chance to read a few books by Donna Cummings and I've never been disappointment. I really enjoyed the faux romance story line between Lord Benedict and Lady Sommerwood. It was interesting watching these two convince other's they were in a sordid relationship. The more they pretend the more they really got to know each other. Of course you know my very favorite Character was Lord Benedict. I fell for him just by the name and the more I read the more attached I became to him and Lady Sommerwood. I truly enjoyed this story and loved watching these two pretend their way towards a possibly happily ever after that never of them seen coming. 

The last but oh my, certainly not least story in this anthology is A Husband for Mary, by Heather Boyd, There is one thing I know for certain. If Heather Boyd's name is on the cover I must have the book and I know I'm going to LOVE LOVE LOVE it. That was exactly the case with A Husband for Mary. Mary attends a ball that her brother does not want her anywhere near. It's a Masquerade ball and no one knows who is hiding under those elaborate costumes. That is what makes this story so suspenseful for awhile. Mary meets up with a gentleman and shares a kiss and wants more. She just doesn't know who it is she has kissed. The romance is incredibly hot, the story line had me hooked from the first page to the end. The characters are fabulous and very very easy to bond with. I enjoyed the romance, the secrets unveiled, and the family interaction. 

Overall I HIGHLY recommend this fabulous set to any historical romance fans. I think you will find it as enjoyable as I did. If you are reluctant to try a historical romance and not sure you will enjoy the genre, give this one a try. I wasn't a historical romance fan before I found they very talented Heather Boyd. I'm proud to say she hooked me on several other wonderful historical romance authors. 

I was given the extreme pleasure of reading these phenomenal stories and it is my pleasure to share my thoughts with you.

No hurry and grab up your copy of Fool For Love and settle in for a wonderful reading experience. 

You may find more of my reviews on Heather Boyd's work here

You may find more of my reviews on work Beverley Oakley here.

Amazon Buy Link


Friday, January 20, 2017

#SpotLight - Fool for Love By Beverley Oakley, Donna Cummings, Heather Boyd

Fool for Love by [Oakley, Beverley, Cummings, Donna, Boyd, Heather]
Fool for Love
By Beverley Oakley, Donna Cummings, & Heather Boyd

BLURB:

Wicked Rogues. Handsome Aristocrats. Destined for love, one and all! Beverley Oakley, Donna Cummings, and Heather Boyd have teamed up to bring you three utterly romantic love stories to warm your heart!

In His Valentine's Secret, by Beverley Oakley, Lady Athelton's St Valentine's Ball should have been a time for love, not vengeance, as the once carefree Lisette plots the demise of the man she once loved. Will she learn the truth in time?

In Truly, My Love, by Donna Cummings, Lord Benedict and Lady Sommerwood stage a faux romance in order to help him evade two besotted young misses at a Valentine party. But can an affair built on falsehoods possibly turn into true love?

In A Husband for Mary, by Heather Boyd, Miss Mary Vine kissed a handsome stranger at the Fenwick Masquerade, never imagining the extraordinary attraction could be for the most disgraceful rake in London. A man she knew far too well...

This is an all-new collection of stand-alone complete works.


**Note from Crystal: A Husband for Mary is positively AWESOME. I just finished reading His Valentine's Secret and it's wonderful. I just started Truly, My Love. So stay tuned for my review soon! It's about a Lord Benedict, I know who my favorite character is going to be!

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

#SpotLight - A Very Wicked Christmas Anthology by Heather Boyd, Beverley Oakley

A Very Wicked Christmas Anthology by [Boyd, Heather, Monajem, Barbara, Davidson, Nicola, Vella, Wendy, Cummings, Donna, Oakley, Beverley]


A Very Wicked Christmas Anthology

 by Heather Boyd, Barbara Monajem, Nicola Davidson, 
Wendy Vella, Beverley Oakley, Donna Cummings 

BLURB:

Six of today's most popular regency romance authors come together to deliver a holiday anthology full of passion, promise, and scandalous dalliance. Have Yourself A Very Wicked Christmas!

In Heather Boyd's The Christmas Affair, a lonely shopkeeper offers shelter to a beautiful, not so innocent miss to overcome the bitter memories of Christmases past, but could such a wicked connection ever lead to a happily-ever-after? A dashing spy with marriage on his mind seeks to rekindle the spark by any means possible with the woman who claimed his heart in Love at First Dance by Barbara Monajem. A scandalous widow rescues the man of her dreams - but his secrets could destroy their love in Nicola Davidson's Joy to the Earl. A masquerade ball was no place to be reckless with your innocence, and yet one scorching look at the masked highwayman urges Miss Partridge to do just that in Mistletoe and the Marquess by Wendy Vella. In Lord Misrule by Donna Cummings, a young widow chooses a handsome rogue to be her first lover, but his regrets from a past Christmas may end their affair before it even commences. A blue-stocking becomes a courtesan to escape a murderer in The Glittering Prize, an intrigue-filled romance by Beverley Oakley about finding love where it's least expected.

This is an all-new collection of stand-alone complete works.


**Note from Crystal - I am reading this fabulous collection now. If you enjoy a hot historical romance then you need to grab this. As you might know I love Christmas stories I am in my glory with this set. YUM!

Sunday, July 3, 2016

#SpotLight - Rakes and Rogues #BoxSet By Heather Boyd, Barbara Monajem, Nicola Davidson, Wendy Vella, Beverley Oakley, Donna Cummings


Rakes and Rogues
By Heather Boyd, Barbara Monajem, Nicola Davidson, Wendy Vella, Beverley Oakley,  Donna Cummings

Rakes and Rogues abound in this six-book collection of secrets, spies, vengeance, and lust. From London’s glittering ballrooms to the intimate mischief of a pre-season country house party, be captivated by these sexy first in series Regency romances. 

A duchess and her son’s heir join forces to solve a family mystery in ENGAGING THE ENEMY by Heather Boyd.

Barbara Monajem’s lady spy is a rogue in distress in THE RELUCTANT SEDUCTRESS
An earl’s sensible plans go awry as he becomes embattled with a sworn enemy, and his best friend’s sister, in TO LOVE A HELLION by Nicola Davidson

In Wendy Vella’s LORD GALLANT, newlyweds hide secrets and confront dangers of the heart as well as a deadly foe. 

When a sizzling encounter with a handsome stranger at a masquerade ball leads to love, Fanny's dreams have nearly come true in RAKE’S HONOUR by Beverley Oakley

In LORD WASTREL by Donna Cummings, a former rake needs a scandal-free wife to help him raise his child, but he's falling for London's most notorious woman instead. 

Publisher’s Note: With the exception of The Reluctant Seductress, these stories are all previously published works. 


Thursday, January 21, 2016

#Interview - Dangerous Gentlemen by Beverley Oakley

Dangerous Gentlemen 
Daughters of Sin Book 2
By Beverley Oakley

Beverley is giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate and 1 ebook of Her Gilded Prison (Book 1 in the Daughters of Sin). Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter. Remember you may increase your chances of winning by visiting the other tour stops. Those locations may be found here

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Interview: 

Crystal: I have a real treat for all of you (and myself) today . Beverley Eikli is here to celebrate the release of her new book Dangerous Gentlemen. Welcome Beverley!! I am thrilled to have you here today. Would you share a little bit about yourself with us today?

Beverley: Hi Crystal! Thank you so much for inviting me to chat today. Especially about my favourite topics – books. So a bit about me? I’ve been a writer pretty much since the age of seven and a pilot’s wife for the past 20 years. I completed my first romance when I was 17 and was crushed when the editor to whom I sent it said that drowning the heroine on the last page was not in line with the expectations of romance readers.
So I became a journalist. A very lucky one because an unexpected holiday to Botswana’s Okavango Delta resulted in my receiving a job offer to manage a luxury safari lodge for two months, which led to my meeting a gorgeous Norwegian bush pilot the night before I was to return to Australia. There was no doubt he was ‘the one’ after he asked if I’d give him a floppy disk containing my novel so he could read it during the long and lonely nights in the Delta.
Well, after a whirlwind courtship we married in Norway and I worked with him in Botswana and later in the airborne geophysical survey business. We had two beautiful daughters and finally, in 2009, my first novel was published, possibly because I saved the heroine from drowning on the first page :)
I’ve now written fourteen historical romances set in Regency and Georgian England, often with a flawed heroine, usually with lashings of mystery and intrigue as Beverley Eikli, or hotter historicals as Beverley Oakley.


Crystal: What are you currently working on?

Beverley: With November being National Novel Writing Month, known as NaNoWriMo, I started two new novels on November 1. One is book three in my Beautiful Brazen Brighwtwells series (a Regency romance written under my Beverley Oakley name) in which two beautiful sisters must use all their wits and cunning to secure advantageous marriages for themselves and their cousins. This involves a lot of devious footwork such as inferring that one of them has only six months to live. The current story is based on my heroine uncovering a horse betting scam in which her betrothed is the villain and the contender for her affections is potentially about to be swindled by her betrothed.

The other book I’m writing is a romantic suspense/murder mystery set in Botswana in 1989 in which a couple are forced to leave Australia due to the Pilot’s Dispute of that year which devastated the airline industry. My heroine goes, kicking and screaming (metaphorically) as she’s just secured her dream job as a magazine editor. Now they’re running a luxury safari lodge in the Okavango Delta where she uncovers a murder which has been passed off as a shooting accident some years before. Suddenly, her life is in great peril. This is the second in a new Africa-set series with an aviation theme as I’m originally from Lesotho, a tiny African mountain kingdom landlocked by South Africa, and of course I married the pilot I met while working in a safari lodge in Botswana. So I’ve lived the background to my story – and I just can’t resist using a handsome pilot for a hero.

Crystal: Where did you come up with the idea for either your current release or your current WIP?

Beverley: The Africa-set stories are heavily influenced by real life. I remember Dad telling me a story that occurred in the 1940s in Botswana when my grandfather’s cook secretly borrowed my grandfather’s rifle to shoot a goose and left the cleaning rag inside so that when my grandfather used the rifle during a subsequent hunting expedition it exploded. Fortunately he wasn’t injured, but that was only good luck. Anyway, I thought I’d put something similar in my book with four friends going on a hunting expedition in Botswana, and make the motivation something like professional or romantic jealousy with death being the unfortunate consequence, and then have my heroine stumbling upon evidence years later when the remaining three are amongst her new circle of friends.

Crystal:Do you have a favorite snack that like to munch on while writing? If so would you mind sharing what it is with us?

Beverley: I love my cup of English breakfast with whole milk every morning at 6am when I start my writing day. For an hour I can work, in silence, before I wake the children at 7am and my world gets very chaotic for a while before I can fondly farewell them to school and get back to work again for a few hours. 

Crystal: Do you have a favorite scene you would like to share with us?

Beverley: Ooh, yes, I would love to give you the scene in my Georgian Romantic Intrigue, Wicked Wager, where Celeste discovers, to her great shock, the identity of the stranger she’d secretly kissed at Vauxhall Gardens two nights previously. Here she is, with her aunt, both of them guests at Lord and Lady Cowdril’s estate. Celeste is soon to marry her cousin, Raphael, though she has begged to be released, having learned Raphael’s secret and become reluctantly implicated in a plot to help him.

‘It’s time to take a turn about the gardens. Come, Celeste.’ With an imperious nod of her head the older woman rose and put her hand on her niece’s forearm. ‘You are young and beautiful with the world at your feet, if you only knew how to engineer matters to your own pleasing. Do not make too much of your objections to Raphael. If he’s formed other interests, disregard them. It’s a wife’s duty to turn a blind eye, but do not forget that it also bolsters your own position when can follow your own interests after the line is secured.’
Celeste cast a horrified look at her aunt but was prevented from responding by the arrival of Lady Cowdril.
‘The weather is smiling on us, ladies. Come, let us walk. Cowdril is with the gentlemen, no doubt settling up after last night. I’ve been assured the damage is not too dire, though my husband declares he’s determined to win back what he lost at the whist table. Not that I have any great hopes on the matter, especially with the arrival of our new guest. Lord Peregrine is a notable player.’
Celeste froze. Lord Peregrine. The brother of the woman Harry Carstairs was to marry? Here? Her heart began to hammer and her throat closed up. She’d never met the gentleman who was considered a prize catch and a notable philanderer, and she never wanted to. Especially not now, for what if his sister had indeed recognised Celeste as the woman who’d rushed into the night with her betrothed, Harry Carstairs?
‘My dear, you look pale,’ remarked Lady Cowdril with furrowed brow. ‘Perhaps you’re not up to a walk.’
Celeste shook her head. ‘I think a walk is just what I need,’ she replied faintly. She certainly didn’t want to be indoors, where the gentlemen would be on hand to greet their anticipated guest. Perhaps she could find some excuse to miss dinner. Though surely if the viscount had been made aware of Celeste’s role in his sister’s predicament, he’d have 
called her to account by now.
It was all she could take comfort from.
***

Lord Cowdril’s family seat dated back to Elizabethan times, with neat gravelled paths and formal gardens providing a charming venue for gentle exercise. Lady Cowdril, who was easily exerted, never went beyond the second tier of rose bushes, she declared, due to her palpitating heart. The opening lines of her sentence, suggesting a return to the house, however, was truncated by clear delight and a volte-face.

‘Perry will give me his arm,’ she declared in robust tones, and they all turned to observe a figure issue from the front portico and down the steps, advancing towards them.
Perry? Celeste raised her eyebrows in a silent question regarding the identity of their new visitor, but as he was nearly upon them she followed the cue of the rest of her party: curtseying as she inclined her head in greeting of the arrival whose tall frame was coming into focus. Though to be sure, no one’s heart could be pounding as fiercely as hers, even Lady Cowdril’s in the midst of one of her palpitations.
She ventured a glance from beneath lowered lashes. He was impressive, even from this distance. Unusually, he wore his dark hair naturally, tied in a queue at the back, with informal country attire: knee breeches and knee boots with a dark wool coat. Yes, even from afar she saw his eyes were very piercing.
Swallowing with difficulty, she was alarmed to observe, as he approached, that they were focused on her. Could it be that this gentleman, whose features were gaining greater distinction with every step, did indeed know her for her role in his sister’s distress?
She frowned as she noticed his full lips were curved in a smile; a smile that seemed only for her; and her heart did a skittering dance at the clear interest of this inimitable Viscount Peregrine as he rounded the rose bushes and finally came to stand in full view before them.
Dear Lord. Cognisance was like a stone dropping to the pit of her stomach. Those lips had covered hers not two nights before in a secluded arbour at Vauxhall Gardens. Those arms had held her against him in a lust-filled moment of abandonment. Sweet mercy, but Perry—whoever he really was to Lady Cowdril—was Celeste’s handsome stranger.”

Crystal:When you are not busy writing wonderful stories to keep us lucky readers entertained, what do you like to do? Do you have a hobby?

Beverley:I love making historical costumes. Earlier this year at the Australian Romance Readers Convention I made several that were worn in a Regency Fashion Parade with an hilarious script by MC Jennifer Kloesters (who did her PhD on Georgette Heyer and wrote Georgette Heyer’s Biography and “Georgette Heyer’s Regency World”). The gown I wore was a 1780s polonaise while the other costumes were from various dates right up to 1820. I buy pure silk second hand saris to make my Regency gowns and use Janet Arnold’s costuming books with real patterns of the day, but I learned early on that I had to first make the corsets and underpinnings to get the right effect. I’ve now made three corsets using original patterns from 1780, 1815 and 1880.

Regency costume line up at RWA 2015. I am on the far left. I also
made the gown second from the right
Crystal:Do you have a favorite background noise you like to having going while you write (TV, Music, kids playing)?

Beverley: Actually, I love silence. Just adore it. After the girls come home from school it’s in short supply, so I make the most of it during the day.

Crystal: Thanks for visiting. It has been a pleasure having you visit today. Can you think of anything else you would like to share with us today?

Beverley: With Christmas ​just behind us and a shiny new year ahead, I hope everyone
​is excited by what 2016 has in store. I saw the New Year in with my wonderful Norwegian in-laws - ​14 of us aged between 3 and 60 - having a late night picnic beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge ​as we were treated to the most amazing fireworks. My husband is the youngest of five very close siblings and after I met him in Botswana he took me to visit Norway where we spent nearly a year living with his parents in the town of Hamar,​just over an hour north of Oslo. I became quite fluent but I’ve grown rusty;​ so this recent visit has been a great opportunity to brush up on that lovely sing-song language.​

So​ have a​ fabulous ​2016, ​and you, too ​Crystal! Thank you so much for inviting me here today.

So what do overseas visitors do when they visit Victoria, Australia? Get dressed up in gold-mining costume from the 1850s, of course



DANGEROUS GENTLEMEN BLURB:
Shy, self-effacing Henrietta knows her place—in her dazzling older sister’s shadow. She’s a little brown peahen to Araminta’s bird of paradise. But when Hetty mistakenly becomes embroiled in the Regency underworld, the innocent debutante finds herself shockingly compromised by the dashing, dangerous Sir Aubrey, the very gentleman her heart desires. And the man Araminta has in her cold, calculating sights.
Branded an enemy of the Crown, bitter over the loss of his wife, Sir Aubrey wants only to lose himself in the warm, willing body of the young “prostitute” Hetty. As he tutors her in the art of lovemaking, Aubrey is pleased to find Hetty not only an ardent student, but a bright, witty and charming companion.
Despite a spoiled Araminta plotting for a marriage offer and a powerful political enemy damaging his reputation, Aubrey may suffer the greatest betrayal at the hands of the little “concubine” who’s managed to breach the stony exterior of his heart.

Buy Links:


~*~*~*~*~*~*
a Rafflecopter giveaway

#GiveAway #SpotLIght - Dangerous Gentlemen By Beverley Oakley

Dangerous Gentlemen 
Daughters of Sin Book 2
By Beverley Oakley

Beverley is giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate and 1 ebook of Her Gilded Prison (Book 1 in the Daughters of Sin). Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter. Remember you may increase your chances of winning by visiting the other tour stops. Those locations may be found here

~*~*~*~*~*~
DANGEROUS GENTLEMEN BLURB:
Shy, self-effacing Henrietta knows her place—in her dazzling older sister’s shadow. She’s a little brown peahen to Araminta’s bird of paradise. But when Hetty mistakenly becomes embroiled in the Regency underworld, the innocent debutante finds herself shockingly compromised by the dashing, dangerous Sir Aubrey, the very gentleman her heart desires. And the man Araminta has in her cold, calculating sights.
Branded an enemy of the Crown, bitter over the loss of his wife, Sir Aubrey wants only to lose himself in the warm, willing body of the young “prostitute” Hetty. As he tutors her in the art of lovemaking, Aubrey is pleased to find Hetty not only an ardent student, but a bright, witty and charming companion.
Despite a spoiled Araminta plotting for a marriage offer and a powerful political enemy damaging his reputation, Aubrey may suffer the greatest betrayal at the hands of the little “concubine” who’s managed to breach the stony exterior of his heart.

Buy Links:

Amazon  B&N iBooks Kobo

~*~*~*~*~*~*
Excerpt: 


In this extract, Hetty, a debutante and viscount’s daughter, is returning from the mending room at a ball when she learns that a certain interesting and ‘dangerous gentleman’ is a house-guest.
With a furtive look around her, Hetty hurried left and up the stairs, at which point two corridors at right angles disappeared into darkness. Choosing the one to the right, she found herself face-to-face with a series of closed doors.
Foolish, she chided herself. Of course they were closed and she could hardly open them. As she turned back toward the ballroom, a faint light shining from the crack beneath a door that was slightly ajar gleamed beckoningly.
Glancing over her shoulder, she approached it, and when she gave the door a little nudge with her foot, it swung open.
Excitement rippled through her.
“Hello?” she asked in a low voice. She took another step into the room. “Is anyone in here?”
Silence. A low fire burned in the grate before which was a table, against which were propped several items, including a familiar silver-topped cane. Her breath caught. The last time she’d seen that cane was when Sir Aubrey had exchanged several words with Araminta in the street as Hetty had been bringing up the rear with Mrs. Monks. Of course Sir Aubrey had not looked twice at her, excusing himself before having to be introduced to the younger sister and the chaperone who’d nearly closed the gap.
Heart hammering, Hetty closed the door behind her and went to pick up the cane.
How fortunate to have stumbled into Sir Aubrey’s room, she thought when she observed the fine coat lying upon the bed, apparently discarded in favor of what he was wearing tonight.
He really was a nonpareil, wearing his clothes as if they were an extension of his athletic physique.
Yet he was dangerous, she had to remind herself. Meaning she should not be here, which of course she shouldn’t, regardless of whether he was dangerous or not.
But how such a scion of good breeding and genteel society could be guilty of such a heinous crime as treason, Hetty could not imagine. And surely the story of the runaway wife was a gilded one. It was all the stuff of make-believe and Cousin Stephen was only telling Hetty he was dangerous to curb her schoolroom daydreams.
Turning, she saw half protruding from beneath the suit of clothes what appeared to be the edge of a silver, filigreed box. It was partly obscured by the overhang of the counterpane, as if it hadn’t properly been returned to its hiding place.
A moment’s indecision made her pause but soon Hetty was crouching on the floor, closing clammy fingers around the box. Might it contain secrets? Ones that would reveal, conclusively, what Cousin Stephen claimed was true?
Alternatively, proof that would exonerate Sir Aubrey?
Hetty fumbled for the catch. Dear Lord, this was too exciting for words. Perhaps Sir Aubrey was a secret agent working for the English, and Stephen had no idea.
Perhaps he was—
Protesting door hinges made her squeal as the door was flung wide. Hetty let the lid of the box fall and retreated into the shadows as Sir Aubrey strode into the room.
He was breathing heavily as he shrugged off his jacket with a curse, raindrops spattering into the hissing fire as he raked his fingers through his hair. A curious stillness overtook him and he froze, obviously sensing all was not as he left it.
He sniffed the air. “Orange flower water,” he muttered, stepping closer to the fire, fumbling for the tinderbox on the mantelpiece to light a candle.
Immediately he was thrown into sharp relief and as he stared at Hetty, it was not his look of shock and suspicion that made her scream—but the copious amounts of blood that stained his shirtsleeves and once snowy linen cravat.
“God Almighty, who are you?” he demanded as his gaze raked her finery. “You’re no parlor maid, that’s for certain.”
Gaping, unable to formulate a sensible answer, Hetty finally managed, “What happened to your arm, Sir Aubrey? Are you injured?”
“Sir Aubrey, is it? So you know who I am but you still haven’t told me who you are?” He grunted as he looked down at his arm, the bloodied linen shredded over the long graze. “It’s not as bad as it looks and I assure you, I gave a good account of myself.” His laugh was more a sneer. “Indeed, my assailant lies dead in the gutter.”
Hetty gasped. “Dueling?” Myriad questions crowded her mind. Could this be to do with Araminta? Had Sir Aubrey left Araminta in the middle of the ball to fight some other contender for her affections?
“Dueling?” he repeated. He shook his head and Hetty drew back at the coldness in his eyes. “There was nothing noble about my activities this evening. I was set upon in a dark alley. A short scuffle ensued, I drew my knife, then…” With his hand, he made a gesture like the slitting of his throat, adding, “I am slightly wounded but as I said, my attacker does not live to repeat the insult.”
Her horror clearly amused him, for his eyes narrowed while his generous mouth quirked. He looked like an incarnation of the most handsome demon she’d ever seen depicted in the fairy stories she loved to read.
“We all have enemies, madam. Enemies who must be eliminated if we are to breathe freely.”
***
Aubrey was enjoying the girl’s wide-eyed terror. No doubt she imagined he’d sliced the throat of a footpad, not the snarling, mangy cur who had leapt upon him as he’d been returning from his brief assignation to settle a gaming debt incurred by his favorite reprobate nephew.
Taking pity on her, he said reassuringly, “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.’ Her wide-eyed look as he removed first his jacket, then the bloodied shirt he tossed upon the bed before he rose to his full height, bare chested, afforded him the most amusement he’d had in a long time. “So, you’re the girl Madame Chambon sent?”

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Meet the Author: 

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 filled with mystery, intrigue and adventure. Most are set in London ballrooms and country estates during the Georgian, Regency and Victorian eras.
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 less steamy historicals and romantic suspense set in Colonial Africa, where she was born, as Beverley Eikli.

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