PESTILENCE: Now available in boxed set!

PESTILENCE

All three books now available in a three book set in digital format.

Individual books available in paperback as well.

NEW COUNTDOWN DEAL - A Man in Mourning

A MAN IN MOURNING

 

Lord Ian Westerby has mourned his late wife, Eleanor, for ten years and never intended to remarry, but when in August 1485 his younger brother and heir dies at the Battle of Bosworth, he is forced to take a new wife. Lord Westerby is not a popular choice, owing to his reputation as a recluse who is devoted to the memory of his lost wife, so finding a suitable match will not be an easy task.

Lady Francesca Allinton is also not a popular choice. Although beautiful, an accident two years earlier has left her with a badly deformed and crippled leg and her many suitors have gradually retreated because of it.

All Lord Westerby wants is an heir; all Lady Francesca wants is a home and children. They seem suited, but living with a man still devoted to his dead wife is not as easy as Francesca had supposed and she is surprised to find his indifference to her to be so hurtful. She also suspects there is more to his grief than devotion.

For his part, Lord Westerby finds himself attracted to Francesca but afraid to desire her, feels he is betraying Eleanor by even thinking about it. The chances of achieving his wish for the desired heir to Westerby are getting more and more remote.

This is a love story, pure and simple, a tale of two people who are drawn together through circumstances neither of them want. How will they overcome their inner heartaches to build a future together? And will Francesca ever learn the secret of Ian's guilt over Eleanor's death? 

 

Read the first chapter here. 

 

COUNTDOWN BEGINS 22nd January ENDS 26th. Lowest price .99 cents then gradually increasing to its full price of $3.99.

The Death of Romance

In the culture of today, it is rarer to find a couple who have been married for many, many years than it is to find ones who have been divorced and remarried several times.  It is even rarer to find a long lasting married couple who still love each other.  I am of the opinion that the death of romance in a marriage has an awful lot to do with that.

So, what kills romance:

When he doesn't want to hold her hand walking down the street.

When he compliments his mother on her new dress and compliments his wife on the new cleaner she has bought.

When he buys his mother flowers but never buys them for his wife.

When Valentine's Day becomes something for courting couples.

When after thirty odd years together he still has no idea about his wife's taste in anything. 

When, knowing that she is passionately against killing anything for any reason, he buys her a mock Victorian ornament containing a dead butterfly as part of the display.

When she asks him to buy her some knickers while he is out shopping and he comes back with the sort his grannie would wear.

When he comes home and sees his wife has been crying, and says:  "what've you got to eat?"

When she asks him specifically to keep a secret and he goes about telling everybody.

When, at a company dinner and dance, he makes a point of dragging her about and introducing her to absolutely everybody, with the exception of one woman who comes to sit nearby.  She assumes he doesn't know her, but when she returns from the loo she finds them dancing together.  He must think she was born yesterday!

I am sure I can think of some more, but if you know of any, please feel free to comment.