Tuesday, July 28, 2015

WE LOVE HISTORY TOUR: SUCH A DANCE BY KATE MCMURRAY


RWA/NYC Celebrates Historical Romance.
Medieval Times. Regency. Roaring 20s. Jazz Age, etc.
Visit us daily for excerpts from our members’ historical novels.  
Happy Reading!



SUCH A DANCE
By Kate McMurray
Kensington Books

NOTE:  This book will be published in October 2015.  Here’s a sneak peek!


SUMMARY:  When a vaudeville dancer meets a sexy mobster in a speakeasy for men, the sparks fly, the gin flows, the jazz sizzles—and the heat is on…

Eddie Cotton is a talented song-and-dance man with a sassy sidekick, a crowd-pleasing act, and a promising future on Broadway. What he doesn’t have is someone to love. Being gay in an era of prohibition and police raids, Eddie doesn’t have many opportunities to meet men like himself—until he discovers a hot new jazz club for gentlemen of a certain bent…and sets eyes on the most seductive, and dangerous, man he’s ever seen. 

Lane Carillo is a handsome young Sicilian who looks like Valentino—and works for the Mob. He’s never hidden his sexuality from his boss, which is why he was chosen to run a private night club for men. When Lane spots Eddie at the bar, it’s lust at first sight. Soon, the unlikely pair are falling hard and fast—in love. But when their whirlwind romance starts raising eyebrows all across town, Lane and Eddie have to decide if their relationship is doomed…or something special worth fighting for.



Left, right, left. Left, left, right, right, hop. Step forward, step back, hop, tip hat, blow the lady a kiss. 

The steps were easy enough, the routine so committed to memory that Eddie could let a dozen other things swim through his mind without missing a beat. 

He tossed his cane in the air and let it twirl. Light bounced off the polished silver shaft of it as the audience murmured appreciatively. Eddie caught it deftly, bowed a little, and moved his feet to the left, right, right, left, left, hop. He grinned at Marian, who stretched her arms above her head with grace, betraying her ballet training. Then she shuffled over to him, evidence of her years spent on the vaudeville circuit. She sang her lines in her trademark style, which sounded a bit like a goose honking, and the audience roared with laughter. She smiled and winked at him, and he grinned back and sang the end of the song. Left, right, forward, together, a flourish from the horn section of the orchestra. Then there were deep bows before the curtain fell. Applause erupted throughout the James Theater. Eddie and Marian did their goofy curtain call before retreating backstage. 

Thus ended Eddie Cotton and Marian France’s act in  Le Tumulte de Broadway, more informally Jimmy Blanchard’s Doozies of 1927, the variety act that was competing with George White and Flo Ziegfeld for ticket dollars and popularity. The song-and-dance team of Cotton and France was among the more popular acts. They were a comedy duo who told jokes, danced their way through physical comedy, and sang funny songs in funny voices. That year, they preceded the Doozy Dolls, fourteen barely-dressed chorines hired more for their looks than their dancing or singing skills. 



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  RWA/NYC Vice President Kate McMurray is an award-winning romance author and an unabashed romance fan. When she’s not writing, she works as a nonfiction editor, dabbles in various crafts, and is maybe a tiny bit obsessed with base­ball. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.  For more information on the book visit:  http://www.katemcmurray.com/books/such-a-dance/


REMEMBER TO COME BACK TOMORROW 
FOR ANOTHER HISTORICAL ROMANCE EXCERPT. 


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