Behind the Story – More Than A Lover

by Ann Lethbridge

I am often asked Where do you get your ideas? and I thought you might be interested in a brief overview of the historical event that forms the backdrop to More Than A Lover.

My hero and heroine in More Than A Lover appeared in More Than a Mistress and readers have asked for their story, since it was obvious that Blade was no stranger to Caro Falkner. 

Caro is desperate to avoid him, because Blade is the one person who has the power to ruin her life and the life she has built for her young son..

Bladen Read has been involved in some of the great events of his time. He was a soldier during the Peninsular Wars and was badly wounded at Waterloo in 1815. He owes his life to Charles, Marquess of Tonbridge, a fellow cavalry officer. More Than A Lover takes place five years after Waterloo.

During this period, new technologies were turning the world upside down, much as they seem to be doing today.  In the years after Waterloo, there was a great deal of unrest among the civilian population because Society was changing from primarily agricultural to industrial.

In 1819 the people who lived and worked in and around Manchester were looking for better wages, respect in the form of the vote and job security. It sounds familiar doesn’t it?

At what we would call a peaceful rally today, an outspoken reformer of the time, Mr  Henry Hunt had been invited to address an assembly at St Peter’s Field on the outskirts of Manchester. Eyewitnesses called the  atmosphere more that of a country fair than political rally.

Nervous at the idea of a large gathering of dissatisfied people, the Prince Regent’s government sent the local militia to keep the peace, plus some regular regiments to augment them. As Hunt began his oration, someone ordered the soldiers to disperse the crowd. The militia charged with swords drawn. Eighteen people died, some by trampling, some from sabre cuts, and many others were injured, including women and children. The event was dubbed The Peterloo Massacre by the press.

Blade, a Cavalry Captain at the time, refused to obey the order to charge and tried to turn his company back. (While my hero is fictional, this happening is history.) Seven months later he has been forced to resign his commission and has gone to work for his good friend Charlie and is looking forward to renewing his acquaintance with the elusive Mrs Falkner.

Ann Lethbridge is an award winning author with more than thirty published novels and stories.  You can find her all over social media, when in fact she should be writing the. next. book.  To reach ann or learn about her stories, what's coming up next or join her newsletter which comes with a free chapter of a new book every month, visit her website https://www.annlethbridge.com 

Twitter Tuesday 24 Feb 2 pm gmt Inaugural chat

You are invited:

The Harlequin historical authors have got together and decided to chat on twitter  this coming Tuesday 2 - 2:30 pm GMT. Please feel free to join in.
The entire chat will use the hashtag #Harlequinhistorical so if  you missed the chat, just do a search  #harlequinhisotrical and all will be revealed.

This Tuesday will focus on medievals (upcoming chats will feature the latest books, Regencies, Westerns and a host of other topics).  Authors Michelle Styles, and Carol Townend will be joined by debutante Harlequin Historical authors Nicole Locke and Harper St George as well such firm favourites as Diane Gaston, Ann Lethbridge, Cheryl St John and others as well as few of the editors (if their schedule permits). Interesting conversation and hopefully much mirth and merriment will ensue.

The authors are planning to do this twice a month on a Tuesday. Please come along.

My Lady In Green

CHAPTER TWENTY
by Ann Lethbridge

          Smoke. Thick in the back of her throat. Choking. Causing her eyes to smart. Where was she? More to the point, who was next? Which one? Surely she was close to finding the last of the necklace.
            Feverishly, she peered through the gloom in what looked like a pub. A very old pub.  All oak beam and rough tables and an enormous roaring fire. There! Playing cards with three others. There was no mistaking the broad Daubenay shoulders even if they were encased in silver-embroidered velvet. Ah  yes, the dark handsome features she’d last seen in a moonlit garden. Older now, with a more desperate edge to his card play than she’d seen earlier in his play with the sword at his hip.
An emerald winked in the silver lace at his throat. Dry-mouthed, she left the safety of the shadows and crept closer.
         Daubenay threw down his cards with a dark laugh. “Without bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. ‘Tis the curse of the Lady in Green.” He tossed off the remains of the drink in his glass while his opponent gathered in gold and pieces of paper from the middle of the table.
“’Sblood, Meryngham we’ll have no more talk of this ghost of yours,” one of the others said dealing another hand.
So he now held the title. Eve drew closer as this Meryngham scribbled on a scrap of paper.
“No more of your notes, man,” the dealer said. “You owe me a King’s ransom already. I wouldn’t say no to the emerald, though.”
No.
Meryngham’s head whipped around. Blast, she must have spoken aloud.
“You,” he breathed. His lip curled. “You return to torment me do you?” He pulled her on to his lap, his velvet-covered thighs, muscular and large beneath her bum, his hand firm on her hip holding her in place.  “Come to finish me off.” His laugh was reckless as he pulled the pin from the tie at his throat and tossed it to lay in the middle of the table winking balefully.
“Truly, I mean you no harm,” she said, desperation filling her. “But you can’t—”
The man on the other side of the table pushed the pile of gold at his elbow into the middle. The pile tumbled and buried the emerald.
“The emerald,” she gasped. She’d never get back to her own time if it was lost.
Meryngham looked down at her then, and darkness filled his eyes, and recklessness. “Kiss me for luck, good or ill, my green lady. All rests on this last wager.”
His sculpted lips descended, covered her mouth, gentle yet fierce with passion and longing. He tasted like Sebastian, nearly. And he tasted of loss. Heat spread up from her belly. Her head spun, desire almost overwhelming her reason. It felt so right and so wrong.
To the sound of cheers from the other men, he broke the kiss, his chest rising and falling on ragged breaths as he gazed down at her with a hard edged smile. “I think I love you.”
She gazed back at him wordless, her heart pounding in her chest. She could scarcely remember her name, let alone why she was here.
When she turned back to the table the cards had been dealt.
  The man opposite put down his hand. Four Kings. Eve’s stomach fell away.
An ill-disguised shudder ran through Meryngham. “It seem luck rides on your shoulders, St Cyr.”

The other man leaned forward to gather in his winnings.
Almost as an after thought, Meryngham flipped over his cards with one finger.
Eve gaped. Four aces. The house of Meryngham was apparently saved.
Her noble captor kissed her soundly again. Her heart skipped a beat. He was so handsome, and delicious and gave heavenly kisses. Longing filled her. She wished....
He finally released her and laughing, gathered up the gold. The emerald caught on the wood. He picked it up and pressed it into her palm, closing her fingers, raising her hand to kiss her knuckles with heated fervor. “Yours, my sweet Lady in Green. I swear I’ll never risk the family fortune again.”
“Good,” she said.
The room started to disappear.
“Don’t leave,” he said. But it was already too late.
“Don’t leave me, my heart, my soul,” was a whisper in the dark. Her heart squeezed painfully.

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For more information about Ann and her books check out her website http://www.annlethbridge.com

Lost in Time: His Lady in Green ~ Chapter Ten

by Ann Lethbridge

Chapter 10

        And hesitated at the strange noises on the other side. A soft sobbing moan of pain.

Someone hurt. She flung open the door and stepped...outside. The scent of lavender and rosemary filled the air. Moonlight and the faint flickering light of flambeaux high above  lit a statue of Venus in the centre of a formal garden.
       The rapid click of heels on stone and the scrape of metal across metal drew her gaze to two shadowy figures circling each other. Men, their shirts gleaming white, and the blades in their hands a wicked flash of death. With a supple twist of his wrist the larger of the two had the point of his blade at the other’s throat, a welling drop of blood trickling down the white exposed flesh.
      The loser went to his knee. ‘Grant mercy,’ he whined. ‘For God’s sake.’
      Eve stepped from the shadows. ‘You will grant him the mercy he asks.’
      The big man, so broad-shouldered and lithe, so like her Sebastian as the light caught his expression of wide-eyed shock, lifted his blade clear.
     ‘Who am I to deny the Lady’s request?’ His voice was deep, dark and delicious. And he was huge, and not just because of his shoes. Who would think a man could look so deliciously masculine in diamond studded high heels.
      And he wasn’t the slightest bit out of breath. Unlike his opponent who, gasping like a stranded fish, scuttled to grab his jacket from a stone bench and fled in the blink of an eye.
      ‘You might have killed him,’ Eve said crossly. ‘And for what?’
‘For your honour, dear Lady. And mine. But I see you do not approve.’ He went down on one knee, the hilt of his small sword proffered across his forearm, his head bent, revealing the queue of his thick curling long dark hair. ‘Take this blade and with it this unworthy life. For without your esteem, what is left to me?’
Her insides clenched at his abasement before her. Her knees went all wobbly like a colt’s. Oh boy, these early Georgian men sure had sexy ways of putting things. She pulled herself together. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
       He laughed, a deep rich sound in the velvet warmth of the night, and sprang to his feet, sheathing his sword as he did so. ‘Such a practical Lady in Green. Griffon Daubeny, àa votre service.’ He bowed with an elegant flourish. ‘Then you will grant me a kiss instead.’
Quick as lightning, he pulled her into the shadows and encircled her in his arms. The heat of his body warmed her, as did her instant response to his wonderful wooing lips on her mouth.
        The man certainly knew how to kiss a girl senseless. And the soft velvet of his snug-fitting breaches hid none of his response to the pressure of her belly against his hips. Oh my! He really was a big man.
        They broke apart, and this time he was breathing as hard as she. ‘Have I made you mine?’ he asked wistfully gazing down at her.
       Music floated down from an open window leading out to a stone balcony.
       The ball. Sebastian. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘So sorry.’ And dashed for the curving stone stairs leading up....

---

Ann Lethbridge loves Regency Romances and that is what she writes, but recently she and her characters have traveled back in time as they have in this round robin. Her next short story Undone is a Time Travel where her 21 ^st century heroine dreams her way to the seventeenth century and A Highlander in her Bed. For more information about Ann and her books go to: annlethbridge.com

Fall In Love (Again) Blog Hop -- Learn More About the Authors

Today two more of  the Harlequin Historical Authors are highlighted.

Julia Justiss writes Regency romance with panache and warmth. Her books sparkle with wit and gentle humour.  Her next book The Rake To Ruin Her which is published in March 2013 kicks off her Ransliegh Rogue series.

Max Ransleigh, charismatic leader of the cousins, has his dream of a brilliant diplomatic career destroyed by betrayal at the Congress of Vienna. While staying with his cousin Alastair, he’s accosted by Miss Caroline Denby, who makes him a most unusual proposition: ruin her, so she will not have to marry! Though amused and intrigued, Max intends to emphatically refuse, but there’s something so alluring about the unconventional Caro…

 

Julia is giving away a signed copy of her book A Most Unconventional Match

Hal Waterman's calling on the newly widowed Elizabeth Lowery is the caring act of a gentleman. And with her household in turmoil and a young son to support, she is certainly grateful for his help. Hal finds Elizabeth even more lovely than when they first met, but knows that she will only ever see him as a kind and often taciturn friend.

Elizabeth finds comfort and companionship in Hal's caring of her. But then a tantalizing desire starts to simmer. His reassuring strength and presence have become so very attractive...so alluring....
YOu can read an excerpt here.

You can learn more about Julia on her website www.juliajustiss.com

Award winning  Ann Lethbridge writes  Regency romance with dark heroes and strong women...often with an element of suspense or mystery. She did win the Daphne du Maurier Award in 2009 for excellence in historical mystery/suspense.
She is giving  away a copy of The Gamekeeper's Lady either as an ebook or print (winner's choice)
A most forbidden attraction! Frederica Bracewell grew up under a cloud of shame. As an illegitimate child, she was treated by her uncle like a servant. It isn’t until she encounters the new gamekeeper that shy, innocent Frederica starts to feel like a true lady…Lord Robert Mountford has been banished by his family. After a debauched existence, he revels in the simplicity of a gamekeeper’s lifestyle. Until temptation strikes! Frederica’s plain appearance and stuttering speech are a far cry from the ladies of the ton, but she may just be his undoing…and unmasking!
You can read an excerpt here.

Ann has a newsletter and you can learn more about Ann and her books on her website. www.annlethbridge.com

You can enter the Harlequin Historical Fall in Love Again giveaway for a chance to win the above books, plus others here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Blog hop to find out about more prizes.

Harlequin Historical Advent Day 21 -- Ann Lethbridge

Day 21 is Ann Lethbridge (http://www.annlethbridge.com/) and all you have to do is to like her facebook page  by midnight for a chance to win one of her books. ALl entries go forward for the grand prize draw on 23 December.