A GIFT FROM THE STARS, My Latest Regency Comedy--with SciFi Yet!

My latest Regency romance, A Gift from the Stars, is now available.

A Gift from the Stars , Book 1 of The Regency Star Travelers, is a sweet, traditional Regency romance with science fiction elements, 71,000 words.

The Regency Star Travelers--Where the Regency and outer space meet with romance.

BLURB:

A gift from the stars can change your life.

Miss Elizabeth Ashby loves astronomy. She especially enjoys her once-in-a-lifetime chance to observe the Great Comet of 1811. However, her excitement vanishes the night an odd-looking meteor proves to be a sky craft which lands nearby. The man who emerges from the vehicle doesn’t see her, but as he reenters his craft to fly away, he drops a small red stone.

The stone from the stars glows and sends waves of warmth and something else through Elizabeth. Her incipient cold disappears, her illness-prone mother shakes off her maladies, and everyone else who comes near the stone, which Elizabeth wears as a pendant, feels in the pink of health.

Including Mr. Jonathan Markham, who also saw the strange meteor but was too far away to determine what the object was. Gored by a bull, Jon has been slow to mend until he meets the enchanting Elizabeth. Does his sudden speedy recovery emanate from his fascination with the desirable lady? Or something else?

A sweet, traditional Regency romance novel with science fiction elements. 71,000 words. A clean read.

EXCERPT:

Lower and lower the shooting star descended, much too slowly to Elizabeth’s way of thinking. From the angle and rate of its motion, the object would likely strike the earth close by. If she could distinguish some landmarks by its glow, perhaps she could find the stone.

She craned her neck back as the meteor soared across the firmament. The unearthly rock blazed with the colors of the rainbow from friction with the air. 

Coldness pricked her spine. A meteor that enormous should race through the heavens, shrieking in outrage as its surface pounded through the atmosphere. This one was silent. And the stone—or was it a stone?—sloped down in a leisurely, graceful curve, as gently as a feather floating in a light breeze.

With eerie stillness, the object continued its glide across the ebony sky, looming ever immense as its bulk neared the ground.

She could even make out features. In her experience, meteors were dark, pitted lumps of rock or metal. This one was white, its pointed nose flaring out behind to form a stretched-out triangle, almost like a bird with unfurled wings.

And its size! Her heart in her throat, she jumped up. The thing was larger than a mail coach. And it would fall onto Sentinel Moor beside her house!

Continually slowing, the peculiar entity descended. The object slipped below the level of the high Sentinel Oak across the field, and then behind the top of the six-foot hawthorn hedge separating her garden from the meadow.

Elizabeth took a step to run around the tall shrub. Blinding whiteness exploded on the moor. She threw up her hands to shield her eyes and then tumbled to the ground.

Available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble , Smashwords, Sony, Kobo, and Apple. Note, all formats are available on Smashwords.

Thank you all,

Linda

Linda Banche
Welcome to My World of Historical Hilarity
http://www.lindabanche.com

David Russell: 'An Ecstatic Rendezvous'

BLURB/REVIEW:

In An Ecstatic Rendezvous, our nameless male is described as a narcissist from the start with a perfect gym body to match. He is so into himself that he dresses up in 50′s style swimwear and poses in front of a mirror. He even strips his clothing off as he watches himself in the mirror. But eventually he tires of the solo performance and searches for a woman on his level, and meets Sandra.

Our protagonist is serious about role playing. Before meeting up with Sandra, he lets her in on his 50′s era fantasy and even coordinate outfits over the phone, right down to the ironed linen underwear. When they do meet, they role play like it is a real beach party scene from a 50′s movie, complete with a couple’s beauty contest.



Russell was not kidding when he said the protagonist was a narcissist. I found humor in the lengths he makes to play out his fantasy, both alone and with Sandra. Excellently written – this was very much an ecstatic rendezvous, and a short story worth reading!




EXCERPT:

Her aura, spiced by her exquisite scent, so full and strong, was really driving me wild, my breath heating, my juices simmering. The whole scenario was quite overwhelming. The moment for the grand ceremony had come. I took her by the hand and lifted her to stand facing me. “We’ll have a romantic undress,” I said.

“The prelude for our symphony,” she said.

“As an impassioned Mozartian—and I assume you are, too—I just love well-orchestrated sonatas of love! I’ve been yearning for someone with your finesse, dreaming about it for ages!”

I had chosen non-laced shoes to avoid any possibility of fumbling, my jacket and socks were no trouble, and I placed all the garments aside of the main action area to be. Then, Sandra skilfully thumbed my buttons and peeled off my shirt and vest, feeling the muscles of my torso and my arms as she did so. I stood before her, proud in my tight black bikini briefs.

Her face lit up. “Oh, darling, you’ve got such a wonderful physique, I’m so proud of my catch!”

“I’ll do the same for you, so for the next stage of revelation, let me take your blouse off first.”

It was off-the-shoulder, flimsily, casually and alluringly worn. The motion of my quivering thumbs echoed the firmness. The three pearl buttons undid with ease to make a gracious parting. Then, my hands went under its top, and eased it off to reveal her glorious firm sun-tanned shoulders and her willowy back.

“Okay, part two. Now, I’ll undo your skirt.” I peeled the zip along very slowly with my left, feeling her hips as I did and edged it down, with my hands smoothing her bottom and then squeezing her firm thighs. Sandra gave a knowing smile and a giggle.

“Is that nice?” This was the next delicious stage of revelation, to see the full shape of her legs. I love elastic-topped stockings—so much more alluring without suspenders. I touched their tops and felt her firm flesh beneath them. Her thighs and calves had an absolute sensual iridescence.

“Now, off with them, darling. I want to see your lovely legs as they really are.” The stockings looked so delicate, I didn’t want to risk laddering them. Sandra had to do that with her faultless firm but delicate hands. Supremely at ease with her aura, she lowered them with tender, loving care. Now, with matching caresses, we felt each other’s thighs and calves.

“It’s great that we’ve kept up our fitness routines in anticipation of the big day,” she said. “You don’t drink beer either, do you? I really appreciate that.”

Her silky white briefs gleamed with promise— their own special luminosity—it felt a ballerina’s pirouetting, but frozen motionless.

As the tactile sensations built up, my breath was heavy with suspense, laden with the weight of long-repressed desire, at last so blissfully released.

“Now, darling, remember all your favourite scenes on film and video. You’re going to re-enact all your star idols’ peak moments when you desperately ached to be there in the middle of the action. Now, we’re going to be our own celebrities and super-directors, bringing all those lovely visions beaming into real life. This scene is going to make the perfect fusion of the boudoir and the beach. We’re going to enter the deep embrace of the ocean of love. Our fantasy beach, our fantasy sea, is beckoning us. Let’s put on our bathing costumes now. I’m a turn-on in briefs, and you are in that gorgeous underwear, so let’s go on to the next pieces of costumery.”

David Russell

Blog: www.davidrussell-author.blogspot.co.uk

An Ecstatic Rendezvous eBook: Amazon.co.uk ...

www.amazon.co.uk › Books › Romance › Adult & Contemporary‎

An Ecstatic Rendezvous eBook: David Russell: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store.

Guest Post by Jean Hart Stewart. An Erotic Regency Romance, 'Unexpected Christmas'

This is my Christmas book, an erotic Regency which is centered around a little known fact of that period which might surprise you. No, I'm not going to tell you what it is...I want you to read the book, naturally.

Here's the blurb:

Blurb for Unexpected Xmas

Stranded in a snowstorm on the way back to her teaching position, Caro Atterby rightly fears the too handsome nobleman who insists on helping her. Three days and unimaginably passionate nights with Sebastian change both their lives. Caro surrenders her body, but not her secrets. So disaster looms when Caro asserts they cannot marry because of her ruined reputation. Sebastian must fight his father, investigate an old tragedy, and convince Caro they can find happiness even if she doesn’t think it possible. 

Sebastian sets out to convince his love, unaware of how disastrous her past will loom, over-shadowing his efforts and perhaps dooming them. Then he finds help in the last place he’d expected. But will it be enough to save a love he knows is crucial for both Caro and himself?

 And here's an excerpt:

And the snow ball fight was on.

Ten minutes later Caro acknowledged defeat.

“If I could I’d hold out longer but I’m exhausted. I don’t think I could pack another snowball. It’s only that you have more strength, my lord, not that you have superior strategy.”

She stood, panting and smiling, and his heart betrayed him once again. His heart and his swollen cock. How he could grow so large with so little encouragement and snow down his shirt and neck he didn’t know.

Why did this one girl have such power over him? Surely it was only because there was no other distractions when they were so isolated.

He smiled a devilish grin.

“Did we set a forfeit for the loser? No, we did not. I therefore claim my winner’s prize.”

There in the snow he took her in his arms and kissed her with the passion that had been building for the last two days. Ever since she’d raised those glorious eyes. Greatcoats, capes, snow coating both their faces and hair, nothing could dim his kiss and her passionate response.

When he could breathe again he did not release his hold on her.

“Caro, do you know where this is going? Do you even begin to know how much I want you? I can’t promise to hold back tonight.”

She was silent even as she snuggled as close to him as she could get.

“Yes, I think I do. It’s not nearly as much as I want you, Sebastian. But if I surrender we both know what that means. I’m not worthy of your notice in the ton where you shine. And I’m not really cut out to be a mistress. I need to think.”

He buried his face in her hair.

“Ah, Caro. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted another woman.”

She moved away from him.

“I’m not sure that’s enough, Sebastian. Maybe for you. But maybe not for me.”

I hope you find it a Xmas treat....It's available at Ellora's Cave, Kindle, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. Would love to have you read it and tell me what you think..  write me at  http://www.jeanhartstewart.com/  . I love to hear from readers.