Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors !
This week I’m beginning snippets from my soon to be released short read, A Return to Life, an excerpt from A Countess of Convenience, book 1 of my new series, Captivating Countesses.
BLURB:
Following a tragic accident, an unconscious Judith Harper returns to her childhood home. Miraculously, she awakens but to a horribly changed world in which she finds her husband not only dead, but herself dishonored by him before his death. Can she find the strength to pick up the pieces and return to a life of her own?
EXCERPT:
The slow tick, tick, tick of a clock penetrated the fog of sleep enveloping Judith Harper. Her rest must have been fretful, for she didn’t want to open her eyes, would rather drift back off into slumber. But that infernal ticking irritated her no end. It sounded so loud. She’d ask Simon if they could take it out of the room, at least until she could get a good night’s sleep. The creak of a door and hushed whispering annoyed her as well. Why couldn’t they just let her sleep? Likely her maid had come to wake them. What she wouldn’t give for just five minutes more beneath the warm covers. She began a slow slide back down into the lovely oblivion…
And now a little more of the scene :
The whispering continued, more animated. So animated it brought Judith to the verge of wakefulness this time. Good Lord, she might as well get up then. “I’m coming,” she mumbled and tried to push back the covers, though they wouldn’t cooperate at all.
A loud crash jerked Judith completely awake. Her eyes flew open in alarm to find Dora, of all people, bending over her, wide-eyed and staring.
“Judith? Did you say something?” Her sister-in-law sat on the bed and gripped her shoulder.
“I said….” Judith coughed, her throat too thick to easily bring forth the words. “I said, I’m coming.” She frowned. “Why are you awakening me instead of Larkin?”
“Oh, dear God be praised!” To Judith’s astonishment, Dora jumped up and clasped her hands. “Larkin!”
At the shout for the maid, Judith winced. Her head hurt abominably all of a sudden. Had she taken too much claret last evening? She and Simon had been making a little too merry in the library after dinner.
Larkin appeared, took one look at Judith and her jaw dropped. “Mrs. Harper! You’re awake!”
A Return to Life will release tomorrow on Amazon for .99 and on Smashwords for free. (Hopefully Amazon will pick that up eventually.) I hope you return to my blog tomorrow for the release post and the reveal of the temporary cover for A Countess of Convenience which goes on pre-sale tomorrow.
But don’t forget to check out the rest of the Warriors here. There’s some fantastic snippets to be read.
Captivating Countesses series
by Jenna Jaxon
Jenna Jaxon Romance--because passion is timeless. 
What an intriguing start to your new story. You got me hooked.
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Thank you, Diane! So good to hear that! 🙂
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Even though you haven’t told us what’s going on, it’s easy for us readers to figure it out.
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Thank you, Ed! There is a prologue to the book that gives a lot of background and introduced the secondary characters. None of that is in A Return to Life, so I’m glad it’s making sense so far!
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Pulled me right in. I can’t wait until she finds out all that has happened.
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Thank you, Elaine! I’m so glad the snippet sucked you into the story!
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Best wishes on the new story! Highly intriguing, as always with your plots. I like her already and need to know more. Great snippet.
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Thank you, Veronica! I hope you enjoy it!
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A good intriguing start to your story.
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Thank you, Aurora!
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I’m pulled right in!! What a wonderful(ly awful!) way to introduce her to her new circumstance.
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Thank you, Nancy! 🙂
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Sounds like she in for a big shock when she’s told what has happened. Great snippet
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Thank you, Jessica! Yes, life has changed drastically for Judith, she just doesn’t know it yet.
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Okaay . . . that got my attention. Obviously something happened to Judith. Very, very intriguing! Is there more?
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Yes! More to come in snippets over the next few weeks and tomorrow you can download it for free on Smashwords and .99 from Amazon (until they mark it as free).
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Oh my goodness. You DO like to torture your characters. Yum.
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Oh, you ain’t seen nothing yet! 🙂
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That’s a great opening! I’d love to read more. Best of luck with your release.
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Thank you, Carrie-Anne! There will certainly be more snippets!
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Very interesting premise and snippet. Good luck with the launch.
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Thank you, Shari!
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Shocking to awake and discover you’ve been unconscious or in a coma for a long time. I’m looking forward to reading “A Countess of Convenience”. Wishing you many sales…
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Thank you so much, Gem! Fingers crossed!
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