This month Heart of Desire is “Book of the Month,” Book 2 in my Regency series Handful of Hearts, so here’s another snippet of this sweet Regency.
This snippet continues from the very beginning of Heart of Desire. The time is the beginning of the Season in London, May 5, 1820. Miss Katherine Locke is waltzing with Lord Haversham at Lady Hamilton’s ball. Lord Haversham has demonstrated the scandalous nature of the waltz and is now escorting her off the ballroom floor. (There have been some punctuation changes to accommodate the rules.) Hope you enjoy!
“Luck must be on your side tonight as the dance has mercifully come to an end,” he said, dropping her hand as though it burned him and offered his arm. “Shall I see you to your brother?”
“Lord, yes.” She barely touched his proffered arm; the less contact with him the better. “Nathan must see that I completed the dance with you.” She avoided his eyes. “Ah, there he is, talking to our cousin, Lady Celinda Graham.”
“Do you think she will be slighted if I don’t ask her for the next dance? I am weary of having my toes stepped on, although she may have better dancing form than my last partner.” Lord Haversham didn’t break a smile, however his slate gray eyes twinkled with merriment.
Blurb:
Follow your heart to find your desire
Miss Katherine Locke is irked to start her 3rd season dancing with the disagreeable Lord Haversham, her brother’s friend and her own arch enemy. After three years out, however, she’s finally interested in the dashing Lord Finley—only to find out her cousin has set her cap for him too. To make the man jealous, Kate feigns interest in Lord Haversham, only to be shocked to find herself falling for the handsome lord against her will.
Marcus, Lord Haversham, is in a tight pinch. His estates are failing and worse, he’s just lost 5,000 pounds to his best friend, Lord Ainsley. Ainsley’s solution: have Marcus marry his shrewish sister and he’ll cancel his gambling debt plus give him 10, 000 more for her dowry. With nowhere to turn, Marcus agrees, praying he can keep word of the wager from Kate until he can woo her and charm her into marrying him.
And don’t forget to check out the rest of the Warriors here. There’s some fantastic snippets to be read.
Heart of Desire should go on pre-sale by early July! Yay!
The prequel, A Kiss Beneath the Mistletoe, is available at Amazon currently on sale for $.99.
Jenna Jaxon Romance--because passion is timeless. 
LOL! Oh is he ever going to get a comeback! Love it!
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Oooh, scandelous! I love it. Rakish regency heroes were always my favorite 🙂
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Sparkling Regency repartee at its best, loved the snippet and that’s a gorgeous cover, not sure I remembered to say that before!
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Thanks so much, Veronica! I love that cover too–that dress and the girl’s expression as so much my heroine I just had to use it! 🙂
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I love how polite and formal they are! You do a really good job of capturing authentic period dialogue.
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Thank you, Carrie-Anne. I do strive to be as authentic as possible, especially in vocabulary and syntax. That helps give it the period feel.
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I think this guy knows exactly how to woo her. 😀 Waiting for her snappy comeback!
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Well, he is actually baiting her at the moment, but the wooing will commence shortly!
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I agree that it wouldn’t have been fun to live in such a formal setting, but you’ve done a great job of capturing the era. Great snippet.
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Thank you, E.D.!
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You’ve captured the formality of the era well.
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Thank you, Ed. It was quite formal–therefore so much fun to try to break the rules and not get caught. LOL
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I would hate to have lived in those times, with their rigid etiquette and rules, but it makes for fascinating reading. Good snippet.
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It seems to have been an elegant time to have lived, however, as you say, the rules were very rigid. Disobey at your peril!
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Excellent snippet, as always, Jenna. I love your dialogue
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Thank you, Kim!
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What a tease he is. Great excerpt! 🙂
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Yes, he is! (among other things. LOL)
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Great snippet!
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Thank you, Elyzabeth!
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