Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors !
Happy November!!!
November is here and I hope you had a Happy Halloween! My week started off fine, however, Friday we lost one of our bunnies, Daphne, Countess Grey. I’ve been distraught and Earl Grey (her companion) is looking kin of lost without his friend. I’m seriously thinking of getting another companion for him.
Meanwhile, this month I’m going to my novella, Heart of Hope, also part of my Handful of Hearts series, that released about a year ago. In it, although not the section I’ll be taking snippets from, the reader is introduced to Lord Seaton and Miss Powell, alive and well at Lady Hamilton’s ball in May. But this is Bertie Symmonds and Lady Letitia Stowe’s story, so onward to the snippets!
BLURB:
Wallflower Lady Letitia Stowe is determined to dance with no one at Lady Hamilton’s ball unless she knows the gentleman. When just such a man appears in the form of Albert Symmons, Letitia is suddenly eager to dance with him…until she discovers their set is the scandalous waltz. Letitia begs off and instead they talk together, each confessing a weakness. Inspired to help one another, they make a pact: she will instruct him in dancing, and he will do likewise for her in horseback riding. Their frequent meetings grow into true affection and respect; however, Letitia discovers her brother has another match in mind for her.
Can Letitia and Bertie come up with a way to change her brother’s mind or will they need to take more drastic measures to secure a “happily ever after”?
EXCERPT:
One tall, slender gentleman in well-cut evening clothes, his hair a little longer than the current fashion, was heading this way, although perhaps he was simply strolling in her general direction. Letitia peered at him, something familiar about the lanky figure and swaying gait. “Aunt Alexandra, who is that gentleman coming this way? The one in the burgundy waistcoat?”
Her aunt applied her quizzing glass to the gentleman then sniffed and dropped it. “That is Bertie Symmons–Mr. Albert Symmons, rather–and a more annoying young man I have never met.”
“Really?” Letitia looked at the gentleman again, her interest piqued. “I believe I am acquainted with him, aunt. We met at Lady Rosamond Cowper’s garden party a little over a year ago–he was smelling a rose and got stung by a bee.”
And a little more for good measure…
Mr. Symmons had taken the sting in stride, although his nose had swollen rather horrendously. They had talked about being stung as children as they applied ice to the welt. He’d certainly had an amiable disposition as he recovered. Letitia had not seen the man since that day, though of course she’d been in the schoolroom and only allowed to attend the party because Lady Rosamond was a cousin somewhere on their father’s side and Marcus hadn’t wanted to go alone.
Perhaps dancing with Mr. Symmons wouldn’t be bad at all. They had talked without any awkwardness at the garden party. If he remembered her, they could reminisce about the bee sting during the times they weren’t actively dancing. Then she could keep her promise to her aunt with little distress to herself. She gazed eagerly at Mr. Symmons, who did indeed seem to be heading directly for her. Her cheeks flushed, and the room suddenly got terribly hot. As the gentleman in question stopped in front of her, Letitia forced herself to continue breathing.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the Warriors here. There are some fantastic snippets to be read.
Heart of Hope is available on Amazon , Smashwords , B & N, Apple, and Kobo.
The Handful of Hearts series
Jenna Jaxon Romance--because passion is timeless. 
I lost my 8-year-old dwarf rabbit Daria 3 weeks after my father died. It rather felt like adding insult to injury. Daria was the last of my rabbits. I didn’t get a replacement for her. I’m sorry to hear of your loss.
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So sorry to hear about Daphne! Enjoyed the snippet although I have a feeling the gentleman might prefer not to dwell on his unfortunate adventure…I like the book’s premise!
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Thank you, Veronica! But Bertie isn’t your typical Regency hero…:)
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I’m sorry to hear about Daphne.
I enjoyed the snippet. Albert sounds like a fun character!
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Thank you, Kate. Both Berite and Letitia were fun to write!
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What a way to meet someone – getting stung on the nose. Glad she remembered to breathe.
Tweeted.
Condolences on loss of Daphne. Losing a pet is difficult.
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Thank you, Daryl. You love them so much when you have them with you, it hurts even more when you lose them. She was a very sweet girl.
Yes, I thought the bee sting was a particularly fun meet cute. LOL
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So sorry about the loss of your bunny!
It sounds like Letitia is going to dance regardless of what her aunt thinks of him. Great snippet!
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Thank you so much, Jessica. We are all missing Daphne a lot this weekend. And yes, Letitia is bound and determined to dance with Bertie–one familiar face in a roomful of strangers.
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