Today we're Dancing on Air with contemporary romance and author Nicole Hurley-Moore

Cinderella meets Swan Lake in a cross-class, Victorian novel about a ballerina, an aristocrat, and the space in between them.

Lisette yearns for freedom, security and love, but none are offered on the run-down stage of The Imperial Theatre. Instead she has hard work, a tyrannical aunt, and the hope of one day becoming a prima ballerina. Dancing on the stage she catches the attention of two powerful men: Lord Gainswith and Lord De Vale.

Lord Evander Gainswith never expected to fall in love, let alone with a woman so wholly unacceptable to his family and his peers. The sinister Lord De Vale covets Lisette's youth and strength, and is willing to pay well for it. Lisette may dance roles in fairy tales and fantasies, but the real world is about to intrude, bringing with it the harsh realities of life for a young girl with dreams of rising above the demimonde.

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London, 1884

Lisette was weightless as she leapt into a grand jeté across the stage. She was free and in that moment her heart soared past the walls of the Imperial Theatre. She landed lightly and began the fouetté en tournant, whipping her leg from fourth position to behind her knee; she created impetus to spin on pointe. After the eight revolutions, she planted her feet and lifted her hand in the air, stopping in front of her aunt. There was a slight wobble in her legs and she tried not to wince. Fixing a smile on her face, she prayed that her aunt had not noticed. Lisette had wanted perfection but had fallen short.
A trickle of sweat slid its way down the middle of her back. Her heart beat rapidly and she tried to catch her breath as her aunt stepped forward.
Marie Devoré regarded her niece for a second. Her eyes bore into Lisette’s before she raised her hand and slapped her across the face.
Lisette’s head jerked to the side as the burning sting radiated over her cheek.
‘What was that? A farce...? A comedy, perhaps?’
‘No, Aunt Marie, I am sorry that I wobbled,’ she said as she looked at the well‐worn wooden floor and resisted the urge to cradle her cheek.
‘When you finish, the movement must be sleek, clean and set in stone, without any trace of a tremble.’
‘Yes, Aunt.’
‘Go, out of my sight. Prepare the costumes for tonight’s performance,’ Marie said with a wave of her thin hand. ‘You will practice again tomorrow. Without the wobble.’
Lisette bowed her head before running off into the wings of the stage. She ran as fast as she could past the burgundy velvet curtains, beneath the scenery fly and the rigging, down the narrow flight of stairs that ran beneath the stage, until she was in the cool and narrow corridor, which led deeper into the bowels of the theatre. Her cheek burned but it was the sting of failure that hurt all the more.  

Nicole has always been a lover of fairy tales, history and romance. She grew up in Melbourne and has travelled extensively, whilst living her life through the romance of books. Her first passion in life has always been her family, but after studying and achieving a History degree and Honours in Medieval Literature, she devoted her time to writing historical romance.      

Amazon Author Page | Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads     

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The lovely Allison Merritt and her new release, The Convict and the Cattleman

His love is the key to her release.

Sentenced to seven years of servitude in the penal colony of New South Wales, Bridgit Madden is thrust into a world unlike anything she's known, dangers she never imagined and enemies with their own interests at heart. Certain that the conviction has ruined her chances of ever having a real family, she is fearful of her future.

Despite his reluctance to take in a convict, Jonah Andrus, a grazier and pioneer cattleman, needs a servant to care for his orphaned niece. When presented with Bridgit, who is far too beautiful and distracting, he initially tries to refuse. However, with a busy cattle station to oversee, he needs help right away.

Upon her first meeting with Jonah's niece, Bridgit immediately falls in love with the girl and becomes entwined the mystery surrounding her birth. As she gets to know her employer better, Bridgit makes it her mission to remind him that family is priceless. When it seems as though she might have found the place she truly belongs, their love is threatened by lies and deceit, and both of them might lose everything they hold dear for a second time.

Read an Excerpt:

“There, there. Bridgit will be along any second. She knows how to take care of  you. Uncle Jonah will drop you. You’re too small.”

Surprised by his own admission, he stared helplessly at Olivia. When was the last time he’d paid her any attention? She’d grown and he hadn’t noticed. Babies did; he knew well enough from watching his calves during the summer. The baby he remembered was tiny, wrinkled and didn’t look like anyone. Charlotte, exhausted, but elated, had smiled proudly.

“Isn’t she beautiful, Jonah?”

Recalling her voice made his heart pound. The silly girl didn’t have a sense of shame. She’d been nervous when she admitted her tryst and the subsequent pregnancy, but she had defended her child. Not unlike one of his cows. They protected their young fiercely.

He hadn’t found the words to answer her question. All he saw was Rob Langnecker’s face. The desire to kill him had blotted out everything else. Langnecker had ruined his sister, left her alone with a bastard child and went off chasing other skirts. She’d died in the room where Bridgit slept, believing he’d come back for them.

If I ever catch him.

Jonah ran his hand down his face.

“Is something wrong?”

Bridgit’s warm hand closed around his. Pity shined in her eyes.

“The chores are waiting.” Clammy sweat dampened his shirt.

She tugged his hand. “You need to stay. You’ll regret it if you don’t. Go sit down.”

He didn’t understand why he obeyed, but he sat in the rocking chair by the window. His father had crafted it for his mother years before Jonah was born.

Bridgit lifted Olivia, nestling her into his arms. The cries eased to a whimper.

“Hold your arms like this. You’ve got to support her head.”

“I know.” Charlotte had insisted he hold Olivia hours after her birth. He remembered it clear as day. Accepting the chubby baby, he was surprised at her weight.

She’d been so small. “She’s healthy.”

It was more a question than a statement. Olivia gazed at him, eyes wide. Her fingers toyed with one of his buttons.

“Aye. Growing like a weed. She’s learning to roll over.” At his confused look, she explained, “That’s good. She’ll be crawling before long. She talks to me and follow things with her eyes. Everything she’s supposed to do.”

“Good. Charlotte would be glad.” His voice sounded choked and he cleared his throat, hoping Bridgit hadn’t noticed.

She lifted the bottle. “Here. Feed her. Tip it up, so the air gets in the bottle.”

He let her show him what to do, surprised again when Olivia grasped the bottle with her tiny hands. Her features were clearer now. Charlotte’s nose and chin. Those couldn’t be his ears, could they? Dark blue eyes stared up at him, then drifted shut as she suckled greedily. Her eyes were the only resemblance he could find to her father.

Bridgit kneeled beside the rocking chair and swept dark locks from the baby’s face. Her hand settled on his knee. “There. She’s happy now.” A wistful smile played across her face.

A jolt ran through him. With Olivia snuggled against his chest and Bridgit beside him, the moment belonged to a family man.

**** 

Buy the book: 

Kindle: http://amzn.com/B00HVM8WQO

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-convict-and-the-cattleman

Links:

Blog – http://havenovelwilledit.blogspot.com

Facebook – http://facebook.com/allisonmwrites

Twitter – http://twitter.com/allison_merritt

Google Plus – http://gplus.to/AllisonMerritt

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18444415-the-convict-and-the-cattleman

Author bio:

A love of reading turned Allison Merritt into an author who writes historical, paranormal and fantasy romances, often combining the sub-genres. She graduated college with a B.A. in mass communications that's gathering dust after it was determined that she's better at writing fluff than hard news.

She lives in a small town in the Ozark Mountains with her husband and dogs. When she's not writing or reading, she hikes in national parks and conservation areas.

It's time for gothic paranormal romance from guest writer Lucinda Elliot with 'That Scoundrel Emile Dubois'

When Sophie de Courcy, the often foolishly romantic and bored but patient companion to the Dowager Countess of Ruthin, marries her long-time hero, the dashing but rascally French émigré Émile Dubois, she has more excitement than she ever wanted as she is catapulted into Gothic adventure with man vampires and time warps.

With the help of her dauntless maid Agnes – who combines Tarot reading with a no-nonsense attitude - and whose own love interest is Émile’s swaggering valet and former accomplice, Georges – Sophie must come to terms with Émile’s criminal past and help free him from the machinations of their evil neighbours the Kenrick’s.

Set during the French Revolution in North Wales and in war torn France, this story is full of lively humour and combines believable characters and over-the-top Gothic adventure as a pair of down to earth eighteenth century villains become incongruously caught up in occult happenings. This darkly funny, sometimes sad and often romantic tale will captivate readers who enjoy a well written spoof of the Gothic tradition.

BUY LINKS

Amazon Kindle Link | Goodreads Link

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Émile Gilles Gaston Dubois, born in Avignon in Southern France in 1770, is the first of four children born to th4e ill matched Armand and Anne Dubois. When the revolution breaks out in 1789 the family chateau is razed, his two youngest siblings accidentally killed and he has to live undercover as he and his valet and later partner in crime, Georges, smuggle his surviving sister Charlotte out of the country. After that, he stays in France trying to rescue his parents, who having conspired against the new state, are imprisoned and awaiting execution.

Meanwhile, he is the robber Gilles Long Legs who along with a couple of fellow rogues, runs an eighteenth century equivalent of a protection racket, while ‘Southern Georges’ runs a rival one.

In this guise he meets and falls in love with a respectable English girl, Sophie de Courcy, who has been robbed and cannot explain how she comes to be in Paris; she suddenly vanishes as strangely as she appeared (she has arrived there through a time warp).

After his parents execution, he and Georges leave the country for the UK, where Émile finds more disaster; his sister Charlotte succumbs to a decline.

Émile, now completely reckless of his life and finding his finances temporarily tied up, decides along with Georges – who is always game for adventure - to take up a career as a ‘Gentleman of the Road’ until in danger of capture, they take a brief break at his cousin Lord Ynyr’s mansion on the Famau Mountain in North Wales.

Here he is astounded to find the girl he met in Paris, Sophie de Courcy, working as his aunt’s companion. She has no memory of their meeting and is astounded at his passionate advances. He is enraged, and assuming that she has something to hide, accuses her of having been In Paris on a ‘disreputable adventure’ and offers her money to become his mistress. She is outraged in turn…

Meanwhile, Émile meets too a nearby neighbor, his old associate Goronwy Kenrick, who at the outbreak of the war with France returned from extensive travels in Eastern Europe - including Transylvania, of course - during which he lost his beloved wife. Kenrick has now become obsessed by the idea that time travel is possible through refining the use of thought forms by the addition of mathematics, and is eager to recruit Émile into his researches. Both Émile and Lord Ynyr laugh at him, and then Émile further affronts him by taking from his household the waif Katarina, who has been ill treated there.

Unable to get over his passion for the virtuous Sophie, Émile tries to distract himself by pursuing Kenrick’s lovely wife Ceridwen, despite Katarina’s warnings that both of the Kenricks are half vampires…

Sophie de Courcy, born in Chester 1773, comes from a déclassé branch of the same family as Émile and Lord Ynyr. Her brother having remarried has packed her off to be companion to their grand relatives in their manor on the Famau Mountain in North Wales, finding her upkeep a burden. He regularly writes advising her to try and make a good match through the Count and old Countesses’ influence.

Lord Ynyr and his mother treat Sophie very kindly, but having a romantic streak, she longs for adventure; meanwhile she tries to attract the good natured Lord Ynyr.

When the dashing, witty and wicked Émile Dubois comes to stay with the Count and Countess, Sophie is soon won over, and wishes that she hadn’t been too stunned to accept the passionate proposal he made her on the first night of his stay; still, she has no memory of meeting him as Gilles Long Legs in Paris, as he insists, and knows that she has never been to Paris at all. But whether or not her rascally admirer is deluded, she falls for him anyway.

Meanwhile, Sophie’s Tarot reading maid Agnes is finding it hard to resist her own admirer in Georges, while her cards predict black magic and danger to them all. Sophie has always been scared of the Kenricks ; she dreads their influence on Émile.

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Lucinda Elliot loves writing Gothic, which isn’t surprising, when she spent her childhood living in isolated, rambling old houses ideal for the settings of Gothic stories – her parents worked at renovating old houses before it became fashionable.

She lived and worked in London for many years and now lives in Mid Wales UK with her family where she strives to improve her Welsh. She loves a laugh above everything, was once a Sportsfighter, and is an environmental geek. 

Amazon Author Page | Website/Blog | Goodreads

 

My guest author today is Petronela Ungureanu with her new release Historical Romance, 'A Lot of Pride and some Prejudice'

Petronela Ungureanu is a journalist and a writer of romance and fantasy living in a picturesque part of poetic Romania. She takes great pleasure in simple things like walking barefoot in the grass, or reading Jane Austen in front of a good fire, surrounded by her numerous purring cats. When the time feels right, she mysteriously withdraws in her favorite corner where she concocts fantastical stories about elves, fairies, gnomes and other wondrous creatures.

You can find her blogging at:

http://www.unikorna.blogspot.com

on Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/UnikornaBlog





Petronela's latest release is Historical Romance , A Lot of Pride and some Prejudice

“On the verge of losing her home and her position in society, Miss Portia Thorpe is fighting all her battles with her very heart. When Lord Salisbury is offering his friendship and support, she develops a most unsuitable inclination towards him. Surrounded by uncertainty and some very strange events, Portia must face the future where her estate, Valhalla, lost at poker by her father, gets a new mysterious owner. Will she manage to find her place in the new order of things? Will she accept an unexpected marriage proposal, just to save her home? With some pride, a little prejudice and all the courage in the world, she will eventually find a solution.”

Read an excerpt from “A lot of pride and some prejudice”

-    “My dear miss Clairon I am mortified, I cannot explain how such an abominable mistake could have been produced. Please allow me to apologize profusely, I intend to take drastic measures for this unforgivable negligence.

Lord Salisbury was indeed very mortified, since the luggage of his guest, Miss Clairon, had been misplaced, and the old governess was purple with embarrassment. Lord Salisburry was ceaselessly waving his short chubby arms like he was trying to express the magnitude of his regret, yet Miss Clairon seemed to be unmoved. Through the peephole of the dining room’s door, Portia was observing with tremendous amusement the entire  commotion from the hall, when she suddenly realized that she was not alone. She turned around in a startling rush and she saw a tall, imposing man observing her with an amused expression on his face,. There was no reproof in his eyes, just a cheerful flicker of extreme diversion. When he spoke, his voice was kind and his tone excessively polite.

-    Were you listening at the door, Madame, or were you looking through the peephole?

-    I am sorry, sir…I was…

Portia couldn’t find her words, her face colored with embarrassment. The gentleman kept smiling at her, vastly enjoying her moment of discomfort.

-    Do not worry, I promise I won’t share your indiscretion with anyone. You must be the new bride…miss Thorpe, am I right?

She finally lifted her eyes from the ground and answered defiantly:

-    And who might you be, sir? You should have made your presence known…

-    Indeed I should …I am Phillip Salisbury, and I shall soon have the honor of being your future brother in law. So, you see, you must not feel uneasy, for this is a family matter…

-    I wasn’t spying on anyone, sir, I was merely trying to find the dining room….you have such a big house, one could get lost in it.

-    I am sure you have…Let us not quarrel about that, miss Thorpe, I would rather enjoy the opportunity to get to know each other and surely to have the privilege of hearing you play, my brother says you are a most extraordinary piano player.

-    I fear he has exaggerated my talents, Lord Salisbury. May I ask when shall I have the honor of meeting Miss Salisbury, I hear she shares my enthusiasm when it comes to music and I would exceedingly cherish a musical companion…

-    She keeps to her room for the moment, she has a frightful cold and I am afraid we shall not have the privilege of seeing her today. Did you make any plans for your wedding, miss Thorpe? I hear my brother wishes to get married in the family chapel near Portsmouth, I am sure it will agree with you…although the family mausoleum is dreadfully near…

-    I was not aware…I did not have the chance to explore any plans, but I am sure we have enough time to consider…

-    One more week until the happy event, one might see it as being too soon…

-    Indeed too soon.

-    Portia lowered her eyes, for fear he might observe her sadness, but he seemed too much preoccupied analyzing her hands.”

-    I don’t see an engagement ring on your finger, Miss Thorpe, was my brother so careless as to overlook such a crucial detail?

Portia smiled and hid her hands behind her back in a childish impulse.

-    It was my mistake, Lord Salisbury, for I have forgotten it at home, back in Bedfordshire, it is my fault indeed…

-    One might suspect that you dislike the ring, miss Thorpe.

-    No indeed I do not, it is the most glorious piece of jewelry I have ever laid my eyes on.

-    Then my brother is a very lucky man, he has secured your affection along with your admiration for his taste in jewelry, he must be a happy man indeed. Pray, do tell me, do you know each other long?”.

Buy the book:

http://amzn.to/1aKRXLd