RWA/NYC Celebrates Historical Romance.
Medieval Times. Regency. Victorian. WW II. Jazz
Age, 50s, etc.
Visit us daily for excerpts from our members’ historical
novels.
Happy Reading!
By Sylvia Halliday
Diversion Books
SUMMARY: The
year is 1725. Lady Gloriana Baniard is a beautiful fish out of water. Brought
up on the mean streets of London, she is barely literate, coarse, unschooled.
But thanks to a brief marriage to an aristocrat, she is forced to live with his
noble family and endure the humiliating process of learning to be a lady.
Rebelling, she runs away to Yorkshire, where she intends to be a blacksmith, a
skill at which she excels. She knows she’ll need a manservant to front for her.
When John Thorne appears, she hires him, stirred as much by his irresistible
attraction as by his strength.
John Haviland, Duke of Thorneleigh, is an arrogant, indolent gambler and
womanizer. Having seen Gloriana just once, he yearns to make her his own. When
he learns she has run away from her family, he makes a wild bet with his
wastrel companions---he will find the lady and bed her. Disguised as a humble
servant, he becomes her assistant, learning the blacksmith trade. The clash of
wills between these two proud people creates more sparks than a blacksmith’s
anvil, as Gloriana learns to be a lady, Thorne learns humility---and desire
deepens to love. But what will happen to
their growing passion if Gloriana learns of Thorne’s thoughtless wager?
London—1725
“Gads! This pantomime is
tedious. And it’s stifling in here.”
John Havilland, Duke of
Thorneleigh, scowled at the players on the stage. He brushed impatiently at the
sleeve of his brocaded coat and turned to his companion. “Let’s go get a drink,
Felix. Someplace common and vulgar, so I can take off this damn periwig.”
Lord Felix DeWitt
inhaled a pinch of snuff, sneezed delicately and shook his head. “There’s no
pleasing you these days, friend Thorne. What’s happened to you?”
Thorne shrugged,
unwilling to probe the festering sore inside of him that was growing more
difficult to ignore. “God knows. I find life boring, that’s all. The same old
pleasures, the artificial women, the carousing that produces nothing but a
headache the next morning. Even my gambling gives me no joy. I always win.”
DeWitt’s laughter held
the edge of envy. “Yes, damn you. You’ve got a bloody fortune, even without
your winnings, while I just scrape by.”
“Faugh! You’re
comfortably fixed. You’re just tightfisted. I pity the woman who marries you,
forced to come begging for every petticoat and ribbon.”
Just then, the actor on
the stage turned his back, bent over, lifted the skirts of his coat and
pretended to pass wind. The audience roared.
Thorne felt his stomach
lurch with disgust. How had he come to this—a rakehell existence, a life
without meaning or direction? Shallow friends, empty days and nights, a mad pursuit
of pleasure that left him increasingly dissatisfied. But what else was there
for a man of his station and social class? He couldn’t very well disgrace the
family honor by going off to be a ditch-digger! Besides, he’d never worked a
day in his privileged life; he wouldn’t even know how to begin.
“Damn it, let’s go,” he
muttered.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sylvia Halliday has been writing historical
romances for many years, with 14 published books to her credit.. Her past books
have won nominations and awards from RWA and Romantic Times. Her past novels
have recently been sold to Audio Realms, Samhain Publishing, (e-books) and
currently, Diversion books, which has re-released seven of her books in e-book
format. The last of these, SUMMER DARKNESS, WINTER LIGHT, is a prequel to MY
LADY GLORIANA, a new book that will be release by Diversion in November as an
e-book as well as a paperback book. Follow
and friend Sylvia on Facebook (SylviaHallidayAuthor) and Twitter
(@Sylvia_Halliday); and check out her personal blog: Life Lessons From An Old Bitch.
REMEMBER TO COME BACK
TOMORROW
FOR ANOTHER HISTORICAL ROMANCE EXCERPT.
