by Anne Gracie
So Christmas is over. The relatives and friends have gone home, you have a pile of leftovers in your fridge, you’re tired from all the preparation leading up to the festivities, the cleaning— because no matter how clean your house is, it has to be extra clean for all the visitors — and the cooking, the shopping, the sheer organization.
So now what do you do? Are you the kind who heads back out and dives happily into the post-Christmas sales — leaping into the mad shopping frenzy that follows the mad shopping frenzy that led up to Christmas?
Or do you prefer to savor the quiet, to let the family fend for themselves for a while — what are Christmas leftovers for, after all?— and curl up with a book.
I’m one hundred percent the curl-up-with-a-book kind. The post-Christmas sales are, for me, the equivalent of having a root canal just for fun.
So, right now, the TBR (To Be Read) pile is beckoning. So I wander across to check out what tempting morsel awaits me. . .
Hmm, the TBR is looking a bit small and lean and a bit shabby, actually. Mostly it’s books I started and didn’t finish. Not so tempting.
Poor little thing, I’ve neglected it shamefully in favor of all those frivolous time-wasters like shopping and cooking and cleaning. I haven’t fed it for ages.
But hey, there’s a stack of shiny new books coming out — the new Eloisa James, for a start. I have a new book out, too, on 3rd January — Bride By Mistake.
It’s a marriage of convenience story — with a twist. This is a marriage of inconvenience.
At the age of thirteen, in the middle of the Napoleonic Wars, Isabella was saved from a forced marriage to a man she hated when handsome young English Lieutenant Luke Ripton married her. Lieutenant Ripton, tall, dark, and as beautiful as an archangel. He placed her in a remote convent school, and left. She waited — like a princess in a tower dreaming of her prince — for eight years. Now those dreams have withered and Bella is taking charge of her life…
Here’s a short excerpt:
“I’m leaving the convent.” Bella’s announcement was followed by a stunned silence.
“Is he comi—” Paloma began.
“Nobody is coming for me, Paloma.” Bella glanced at Sister Beatriz, who was still asleep, and said in a lowered voice. “I’m leaving anyway.”
“I don’t believe you. What will you do? How will you support yourself? Who will protect you? It’s dangerous—”
“I will support myself, ” Bella said. “And I will protect myself. I won’t stay here, waiting forever for someone to rescue me. Life isn’t a fairy-tale.”
“Isabella Ripton,” said a voice from the doorway.
All the girls jumped guiltily.
“Isabella,” Sister Josefina repeated as she entered the door. She was the youngest and prettiest of the nuns, merry and lively and dedicated to her vocation. “Tidy yourself. Reverend Mother wants you in her office. You have a visitor!”
“A visitor? Who?” In eight years, Bella had never had a visitor.
Sister Josefina smiled. “Can’t you guess?”
Mystified, Bella shook her head.
“An Englishman.”
Bella froze.
Sister Josefina nodded. “Tall, dark, and as beautiful as an archangel.”
Bella couldn’t move a muscle. She couldn’t utter a word or marshall a single coherent thought.
“A very stern, very masculine archangel.” Sister Josefina sighed. And a blush rose on her cheeks.
* * * * *
There’s a longer excerpt here:
So I hope, when you’re replenishing your TBR pile, you’ll consider my book, BRIDE BY MISTAKE, in stores, January 3. And in the meantime, for those of you who don’t want to be out shopping but prefer to curl up with a book, here’s a little poem I penned, just for you:
‘Twas the lull after Christmas
And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
Not even a spouse.
Leftovers are placed
On the fridge shelves with care
With instructions that
“You all can just graze from there.”
“Please do not disturb me
Unless there is blood.
‘Tis my time for reading
‘Bout a fictional stud.”
“Just leave me alone
With my books for a while
I’m a much nicer person
With the TBR pile.”
So . . . are you out in the frenzy of the sales, or curled up with a good book? What’s in your TBR pile? And what books are you looking forward to reading in the next month or two?
I’ll send a copy of BRIDE BY MISTAKE to someone who leaves a comment.
Thank you for letting me visit.
All the best for the holiday season.
Anne Gracie
After all, Dearest Jane started it all. Those of us who love the Regency era (and it’s close relative, the Georgian), owe an immeasurable debt to her. The spunky heroine with a mind of her own, the stiff and forbidden gentleman who will melt to butter when he receives the love of the right woman, even the cad who will break your heart without a second thought – Jane did them all first, and she did them best.
Hello everybody, it’s a great pleasure to be here today, and thank you to Beverley for inviting me. Many congratulations to The Season on the upcoming second anniversary!
Hi, Seasoned Readers! I’m here today to talk about my contribution to the Brava anthology Improper Gentlemen, “To Match a Thief,” which debuts tomorrow. I wanted the novella to be loosely connected to my Courtesan Court series, which takes place on fictional Jane Street, home to the most exclusive mistresses in London. An unseen ‘accidental’ character from the previous books conveniently popped up—Lucy Dellamar, who was gossiped about for her light fingers. All the courtesans on the street suspected her of theft, and the heroines of Mistress by Mistake and Mistress by Midnight had been warned about her. I got to thinking, who is Lucy and why is she stealing? The rest is history and “To Match a Thief.”
Lucy is not quite a courtesan, to steal the title from my other novella in last year’s Lords of Passion. Her protector Lord Percy Ferguson has a very private life, and the hero, Sir Simon Keith, is definitely not a gentleman. In fact, he’s most improper. 
Not one of them is what they appear to be, and I had such fun revealing their secrets.
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