Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors !

 I’m back this week with a new snippet from The Lyon’s Paw. It’s part of Dragonblade Publishing’s Lyon’s Den shared world that is released and is available on Amazon and in KU!

The Lyon’s Paw

BLURB:

He’s not the type of man to forgive—but he’ll never forget her.

Geoffrey, Lord Longford is between a rock and a hard place. His estates are about to be sold to keep the earldom afloat so without a huge infusion of cash, his life is about to change for the worse. When his best friend suggests Geoffrey marry an heiress, he’s despondent but resigned. Despite his reservations, he seeks out Mrs. Dove-Lyon at The Lyon’s Den to find a suitable young lady with a suitable fortune.

Diana Edgerton sacrificed years of her life taking care of her uncle until he died, but that sacrifice is about to be rewarded handsomely. His will leaves Diana the sole heir to a vast fortune, but with one horrifying stipulation—she must be married in order to inherit it. Unfortunately, terrible rumors about Diana and her uncle have made her all but unmarriageable. In desperation, Diana’s aunt suggests she visit The Lyon’s Den and consult Mrs. Dove-Lyon to arrange a match to save her inheritance.

With two clients seemingly made for each other, a happy ending is all but assured.

Except Geoffrey and Diana have an unfortunate history—one that makes their union almost an impossibility. With so much hanging in the balance, can the two of them overcome the fact they despise one another long enough to secure the possibility of a future together?

This excerpt is from the prologue of The Lyon’s Paw. Geoffrey, Lord Longford and Miss Diana Edgerton are on an outing during the Season in 1819. I’m moving several pages ahead now. Diana and Geoffrey have moved on to the Serpentine to see the ducks. And Diana becomes alarmed. We continue on today as Diana tries to protect herself from the indecent gentleman she fears will accost her.

EXCERPT:

She pressed closer to Lord Longford. Perhaps if she could get behind him, the other man wouldn’t continue his pursuit. Glancing over her shoulder, she spied the man actually heading toward them. This couldn’t be happening. She tugged on his sleeve. “My lord, we need to leave.”

A quick look and a smile from Lord Longford were all the response Diana received. She stepped to his side, not wishing to have to shout at him and draw even more attention to herself. Her escort was exceedingly tall. She raised up on tiptoe and called, “Lord Longford!”

And a bit more . . .

Her voice had been louder than she’d thought, jolting Lord Longford out of his conversation and making him start at the loud noise. On tiptoe she overbalanced, and put her whole weight onto Lord Longford, who stared at her with a look of astonishment as he backpedaled in an attempt to keep from slipping down the bank. His booted feet skidded out from under him and swung to and fro, his arms windmilling to no avail as he continued backwards into the Serpentine where he hit with a loud splash and spray of water.

The Lyon’s Paw is now available on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited! Grab your copy here!!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the snippets here! There’s some great stories out there!

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors !

 I’m back this week with a new snippet from The Lyon’s Paw. It’s part of Dragonblade Publishing’s Lyon’s Den shared world that is released and is available on Amazon and in KU!

The Lyon’s Paw

BLURB:

He’s not the type of man to forgive—but he’ll never forget her.

Geoffrey, Lord Longford is between a rock and a hard place. His estates are about to be sold to keep the earldom afloat so without a huge infusion of cash, his life is about to change for the worse. When his best friend suggests Geoffrey marry an heiress, he’s despondent but resigned. Despite his reservations, he seeks out Mrs. Dove-Lyon at The Lyon’s Den to find a suitable young lady with a suitable fortune.

Diana Edgerton sacrificed years of her life taking care of her uncle until he died, but that sacrifice is about to be rewarded handsomely. His will leaves Diana the sole heir to a vast fortune, but with one horrifying stipulation—she must be married in order to inherit it. Unfortunately, terrible rumors about Diana and her uncle have made her all but unmarriageable. In desperation, Diana’s aunt suggests she visit The Lyon’s Den and consult Mrs. Dove-Lyon to arrange a match to save her inheritance.

With two clients seemingly made for each other, a happy ending is all but assured.

Except Geoffrey and Diana have an unfortunate history—one that makes their union almost an impossibility. With so much hanging in the balance, can the two of them overcome the fact they despise one another long enough to secure the possibility of a future together?

This excerpt is from the prologue of The Lyon’s Paw. Geoffrey, Lord Longford and Miss Diana Edgerton are on an outing during the Season in 1819. I’m moving several pages ahead now. Diana and Geoffrey have moved on to the Serpentine to see the ducks. And Diana becomes alarmed.

EXCERPT:

From the corner of her eye Diana glimpsed a lady’s gloved finger pointing in her direction. Surely, the lady must be pointing out the ducks to her companion, or perhaps some of the flora and fauna the Serpentine had to offer its admirers. She glanced up at Lord Longford who was speaking animatedly with her aunt about flowers. They were one of her aunt’s true passions. She supposed Lord Longford liked them as well by the avid look on his face.

Had he missed seeing the lady pointing at her? Or had the lady actually been indicating the ducks?

Trying to calm herself, reassure herself that no one was gossiping about her, Diana stole another look at the park’s patrons—only to find several knots of people staring directly at her, then putting their heads together and whispering…including the horrid gentleman who’d made lewd remarks to her last evening.

Oh, Lord, was he following her? Did he mean to make the same awful proposals to her again?

And a bit more . . .

She had to get away from here and quickly.  Diana put her hand to her head, ready to plead a headache. “My lord, I believe I am unwell.” That was putting it mildly. “I fear we will need to leave. My lord?”

Entranced with his conversation, Lord Longford apparently didn’t hear Diana’s pleas.

Very well, she would make him listen.

They had stopped at the edge of the water, near a pretty patch of reeds and water grasses with pink flowers scattered here and there over them and several trees overhanging the water, their branches swaying in the slight breeze. A beautiful setting for a courting couple, just not her and not now. She looked back at the dreadful man, and he leered at her. Dear lord, what was she to do?

The Lyon’s Paw is now available on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited! Grab your copy here!!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the snippets here! There’s some great stories out there!

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors !

 I’m back this week with a new snippet from The Lyon’s Paw. It’s part of Dragonblade Publishing’s Lyon’s Den shared world and it releases in just 3 days!

The Lyon’s Paw

BLURB:

He’s not the type of man to forgive—but he’ll never forget her.

Geoffrey, Lord Longford is between a rock and a hard place. His estates are about to be sold to keep the earldom afloat so without a huge infusion of cash, his life is about to change for the worse. When his best friend suggests Geoffrey marry an heiress, he’s despondent but resigned. Despite his reservations, he seeks out Mrs. Dove-Lyon at The Lyon’s Den to find a suitable young lady with a suitable fortune.

Diana Edgerton sacrificed years of her life taking care of her uncle until he died, but that sacrifice is about to be rewarded handsomely. His will leaves Diana the sole heir to a vast fortune, but with one horrifying stipulation—she must be married in order to inherit it. Unfortunately, terrible rumors about Diana and her uncle have made her all but unmarriageable. In desperation, Diana’s aunt suggests she visit The Lyon’s Den and consult Mrs. Dove-Lyon to arrange a match to save her inheritance.

With two clients seemingly made for each other, a happy ending is all but assured.

Except Geoffrey and Diana have an unfortunate history—one that makes their union almost an impossibility. With so much hanging in the balance, can the two of them overcome the fact they despise one another long enough to secure the possibility of a future together?

This excerpt is from the prologue of The Lyon’s Paw. Geoffrey, Lord Longford and Miss Diana Edgerton are on an outing during the Season in 1819. Taking up where we left off last week.

EXCERPT:

One look at her escort’s kind visage revealed no judgement, only kind concern.

“We were, my lord, very close. He depended on me to take care of him. No one else in the family would raise a hand to help him.” Thoughts of her cousins whining that they couldn’t waste their lives taking care of a cranky invalid always made her furious. Uncle George hadn’t been a burden. He’d been frank and outspoken. Gruff, some would say, but that was just his way.

Diana blinked back tears. Almost a year since her uncle’s death and she still mourned him in her heart.

And a bit more . . .

Uncle George had always been her favorite uncle, the man who appeared unexpectedly from his travels in distant lands with marvelous stories to tell about places like India and China. She could sit and listen to him spin his tales for hours. She missed that most now that he was gone. He’d doted on Diana all her life and she’d been so grateful, she hadn’t thought twice about taking care of him when he needed her.

“My niece took care of her uncle night and day for over two years, my lord.” Aunt Frances spoke up from behind them.

“Was it your husband, Mrs. Beaumont?” Lord Longford turned toward her, concern in his expressive blue eyes.

“Oh, no, my lord. My husband is living, thank God.” She closed her eyes briefly, and shook her head. “No, he was Diana’s father’s older brother. He always looked out for her after her parents died.” She made a helpless little gesture. “As much as he could, that is. Mr. Edgerton traveled extensively in the Orient. He was a shareholder in the East India Company.”

The Lyon’s Paw is on pre-order on Amazon for the pre-order price of just .99! Grab your copy here! The book will release in 3 days on February 28, 2024!

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors !

 I’m finally back this week with a new WIP The Lyon’s Paw. It’s part of Dragonblade Publishing’s Lyon’s Den shared world and it releases in just 10 days!

The Lyon’s Paw

BLURB:

He’s not the type of man to forgive—but he’ll never forget her.

Geoffrey, Lord Longford is between a rock and a hard place. His estates are about to be sold to keep the earldom afloat so without a huge infusion of cash, his life is about to change for the worse. When his best friend suggests Geoffrey marry an heiress, he’s despondent but resigned. Despite his reservations, he seeks out Mrs. Dove-Lyon at The Lyon’s Den to find a suitable young lady with a suitable fortune.

Diana Edgerton sacrificed years of her life taking care of her uncle until he died, but that sacrifice is about to be rewarded handsomely. His will leaves Diana the sole heir to a vast fortune, but with one horrifying stipulation—she must be married in order to inherit it. Unfortunately, terrible rumors about Diana and her uncle have made her all but unmarriageable. In desperation, Diana’s aunt suggests she visit The Lyon’s Den and consult Mrs. Dove-Lyon to arrange a match to save her inheritance.

With two clients seemingly made for each other, a happy ending is all but assured.

Except Geoffrey and Diana have an unfortunate history—one that makes their union almost an impossibility. With so much hanging in the balance, can the two of them overcome the fact they despise one another long enough to secure the possibility of a future together?

This excerpt is from the prologue of The Lyon’s Paw. Geoffrey, Lord Longford and Miss Diana Edgerton are on an outing during the Season in 1819.

EXCERPT:

For Diana, dressed in her newest pale blue promenade dress of cambric muslin, trimmed with frilly white lace on both the dress and the matching Spencer and hat, the day had taken on a dreamlike feeling, mostly because she was in the unlikely company of Lord Longford, one of the handsomest gentlemen she’d ever seen. Perhaps her aunt had been correct in saying having a Season would change her life for the better.

Diana hadn’t thought that true until last evening. Not with all the gossiping busy bodies listening to the nasty rumors her own cousins had started about her. But then last evening Lord Longford had begged an introduction so he could ask her for a dance. Fairy tales apparently did come true sometimes.

“I am sorry the sun is still quite warm, Miss Edgerton.” His lordship’s deep voice rumbled pleasantly in her ear. They were walking arm in arm around the Serpentine, accompanied, of course, by her aunt. “Another day perhaps we could ride here instead.”

And a bit more . . .

“Thank you, my lord. That is very kind of you.” She smiled up at him, still awed that he’d asked her for this outing. He looked truly splendid in a dark blue cutaway coat, snowy white shirt and fashionably tied cravat. His fawn-colored breeches and tall Hessian boots made him look very dashing indeed. “I love to ride very much, though I have not been able to do so since the death of my uncle.”

The smile on Lord Longford’s face turned to a more sober mien. “Please accept my condolences, Miss Edgerton.” The tall gentleman patted her hand as it lay comfortably and very naturally in the crook of his elbow. “I understand you and your uncle were very close.”

Diana shot a glance up at Lord Longford, trying to judge if his comment was barbed, a reference to the vile rumors her jealous cousins had put about in Town that she and her uncle had carried on an illicit affair while she was taking care of him in his last years. She’d endured many such remarks in the past months.

The Lyon’s Paw is on pre-order on Amazon for the pre-order price of just .99! Grab your copy here! The book will release on February 28, 2024!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the Warriors here. There are some fantastic snippets to be read!