Excerpt/Review/Giveaway–The Earl’s Enticement by Collette Cameron

Release Date: May 28

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing

Hosted By: Book Promotions by Literary Nook

Adaira Ferguson is a fiery, unconventional Scots. Though gently-born and the sister of a viscount who’s also a laird, she wears breeches, swears, raises horses, and at almost twenty, has no more desire to marry than she does to follow society’s dictates of appropriate behavior. She trusts no man with the secret she desperately protects.

Abused as a child, Roark Marquardt, The Earl of Clarendon, is haunted by the scars on his back and his father’s cruelty. That, along with his brother’s traitorous activities and his dead wife’s infidelities, has turned Roark into a man who rigidly adheres to propriety, holding himself and those around him to the highest decorum standards. Betrayed once, he’s guarded and leery of all women.

Mistaking Roark for his brother, a known spy, Adaira locks him in her keep’s dungeon. Infuriated he’s been imprisoned, Roark vows vengeance. Once she realizes her error and releases him, he sets about transforming Adaira from an ill-mannered hoyden to a lady of refinement. He succeeds only to discover, he prefers the free-spirited Scottish lass who first captured his heart.

 

Dungeon Scene

“You do know—” Roark’s gaze roved the tidy cell, noting the fat, black spider weaving a web in the corner above the cell’s door, before returning to Miss Ferguson, “you could go to prison, for a very long time, for abducting and imprisoning a peer of the realm.”

“Ah, but then you’re not a peer are you?” She smiled again, the row of her neat white teeth shining bright in the shadowy corridor. “In fact, I do believe I’ve done the Crown a tremendous favor. I’ve apprehended a known spy.”

His gaze captured hers. Her eyes appeared black in the meager light, except for those unusual jewel-like gold specks reflecting in her irises. He fisted his hands, the only outward manifestation of his fury.

“That’s twice you’ve accused me of being a traitor. If you were a man, I’d call you out for it.”

She raised a perfectly arched chestnut brow and grinned. “Swords or pistols?”

Roark swept his gaze over her figure, shaking his head in disapproval. “Don’t tell me you’re trained in weaponry?”

“Of course.” She struck a fencing pose. “En garde.”

He closed his eyes for a brief moment. “Was there ever a more unladylike woman of  refined breeding?”

Miss Ferguson dared to inch a bit closer, then bold as brass, pointed at him and chuckled. “You did it again. Spoke your thoughts aloud. My, but that must be aggravating.”

She leaned in a fraction, seeming to assess him with her keen eyes. Her subtle fragrance wafted past his nostrils. Something with lilies? He resisted the urge to inhale deeply.

“Can you keep any secrets, or does everything gush from your mouth like milk from a teat?”

Roark’s mouth dropped open. He gawked at her.

“Had she truly said teat?”

“To a man?”

“She didn’t know?”

Mischief danced in her eyes. “Yes, I did. Teat.”

Absolutely fantastic! It was fun, it was dramatic, it was sexy and it had a wonderful heroine in the effervescent Adaira. She fit beautifully with the outwardly prim and proper Roark. So, I'm not trying to knock the cover artist, but the couple on the cover in no way resembled Addy and Roark in my head.  Addy was fresh, and free spirited. She was not bound by societies dictates, in fact she feels much more comfortable dressed as a lad, than some simpering lady of leisure. To me she had more of a Keira Knightly type feel, no disrespect to the female model. Roark, ah he was more elusive. A troubled childhood, trying to restore his families honor and reputation, yet at heart a more compassionate man would be hard to find, so I went with a young Pierce Brosnan. (It was the sapphire eyes thing.)

The Earl's Enticement came to me when I was not in a particularly happy place, and I wasn't thrilled to death that I had a book review coming due, so it was not looking good for Collette Cameron and her family of Scots.  But to my surprise, when I started formatting the post, I was reading the excerpt, and thought well that is pretty damn funny, and I am liking these characters. Let me see what Ms. Cameron can do. What she did was put me in a much, MUCH better place. Her humor, warmth and likable characters coupled with her action filled story and "edge of your seat" drama popping up without notice put a smile on my face, an awwwww, in my head, and a more joyful beat in my heart. This, this is the reason I enjoy a good, well written, intelligent historical romance. They bring sunshine on rainy days.

The quirky Ferguson family made this book even brighter, their love and support for each other was inspiring. Of course, I love a Scottish brogue, even if it's on the female side of the story. Roark brought his share of cute, warm fuzzies to the tale as well, with his menagerie of misfits. I was sorry to see the story end, but I am happy to say that there are two previous books I am now very much looking forward to starting and hopefully, several more subsequent works to follow. Thank you for brightening my day Collette, job very well done.

Award winning, Amazon best-selling, and multi-published historical romance author, Collette Cameron, has a BS in Liberal Studies and a Master's in Teaching. A Pacific Northwest Native, Collette’s been married for thirty years, has three amazing adult children, and five dachshunds.

Collette loves a good joke, inspirational quotes, flowers, the beach, trivia, birds, shabby chic, and Cadbury Chocolate. You'll always find dogs, birds, quirky—sometimes naughty—humor, and a dash of inspiration in her novels. Her motto for life? You can’t have too much chocolate, too many hugs, or too many flowers. She’s thinking about adding shoes to that list.

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