Taking tea with Ms. Stuart

Release Day: A CHRISTMAS LOVE REDEEMED

11/15/2021

I am so happy that this little 'phoenix' story has found its place in the sun.
I say 'phoenix' because it seems to had multiple reincarnations - beginning as a short story (A PERSON OF NO CONSQUENCE) and expanded into a novella for a Christmas anthology (TWELVE ROGUES OF CHRISTMAS) as NINE YEARS 'TIL CHRISTMAS.
And now here it is, standing by itself with a gorgeous new cover... my little regency Christmas romance... A CHRISTMAS LOVE REDEEMED - a second chance at love story with a touch of Cinderella!

It is release day and you will find it as an ebook only at all your favourite ebook retailers.

BUY LINKS

A CHRISTMAS LOVE REDEEMED

February 1816: Fabien, Comte de Mont Clair, once a highly decorated officer of the exiled Napoleon, cuts a dashing swathe through a London society ball, his eyes only for the glittering ladies of the ‘ton’. His heart jolts at the sight of a woman sitting in a shadowed corner. Not just any woman, but one he would have once given the world for.
For Hannah, Lady Trevan, catering to the spoiled darlings of the ton as a humble chaperone is nothing compared to the pain she suffered at the hands of her late husband. Alone and impoverished, she is a person of no consequence but once, a long time ago, she sacrificed her world for the dashing Comte de Mont Clair. Now all she can do is hope that he may glance her way…

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Release Day: LORD SOMERTON'S. HEIR

9/2/2021

"(Isabel) turned on her heel and walked back to the house with her head held high. With every step, the enormity of Anthony's death sank in. She was free, but at what price came freedom? Her back straightened and her lips tightened... To attain freedom, first she had to find Lord Somerton's heir... "

Part Regency romance, part mystery... LORD SOMERTON'S HEIR has hit the shelves of all major book retailers (at least here in Australia/New Zealand) or through online ordering.

As I mentioned in my last post, this is a 'second chance' book, not just for my protagonists but also for me. It has been available for some time as an ebook so I am absolutely thrilled that it has been given a new cover, a revision and is now out in print AND audio (I am listening to it as I type).

First love left them desolate ... can a new love heal their wounds? A tale of second chance love in aristocratic Regency England, for lovers of all things Bridgerton.
Sebastian Alder's sudden elevation from penniless army captain to Viscount Somerton is the stuff of fairy tales, but the cold reality of an inherited estate in wretched condition leaves him little time for fantasy, and the memory of his wife's brutal death haunts his every moment. When he learns of the mysterious circumstances of his cousin's demise, he must also look for a potential murderer ... surely not Isabel, his cousin's ladylike widow?
Isabel, Lady Somerton, is desperate to bury the memory of her unhappy marriage by founding the charity school she has always dreamed of. Her hopes are shattered from beyond the grave when she is left not only penniless but once more bound to the whims of a Somerton ... although perhaps the new Lord Somerton is a man she can trust ... or even care for?
Suspicion could tear them apart ... honesty and courage may pull them together.

Click HERE for the BUY links!

And to celebrate the release, anyone signing up to my newsletter during the month of September will not only get 2 free books but also go in the draw to win an autographed copy of LORD SOMERTON'S HEIR (Australia only) or the box set of 3 ebooks FEATHERS IN THE WIND (rest of the world). Just click the button below!

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Second Chance Love and a Cover Reveal!

4/15/2021

Everybody deserves a second chance to find love... even books... and I am delighted to announce that LORD SOMERTON'S HEIR (a #regencyromance AND #historicalmystery) is going to be relaunched on 1 September in print, audio and digital. The text has been refreshed and revised and the cover is simply gorgeous.

Sebastian Alder's sudden elevation from penniless army captain to Viscount Somerton is the stuff of fairy tales, but the cold reality of an inherited estate in wretched condition leaves him little time for fantasy, and the memory of his wife's brutal death haunts his every moment. When he learns of the mysterious circumstances of his cousin's demise, he must also look for a potential murderer ... surely not Isabel, his cousin's ladylike widow?
Isabel, Lady Somerton, is desperate to bury the memory of her unhappy marriage by founding the charity school she has always dreamed of. Her hopes are shattered from beyond the grave when she is left not only penniless but once more bound to the whims of a Somerton ... although perhaps the new Lord Somerton is a man she can trust ... or even care for?
Suspicion could tear them apart ... honesty and courage may pull them together.

The current digital version is still available but the print book can be pre-ordered HERE... and stay tuned for news of the audio book (Have I said how much I love audiobooks?).

PRE ORDER

The Australian Romance Reader Awards 2020

2/20/2021

THE GOLDMINER'S SISTER was released the day before my home town of Melbourne went into a HARD lockdown. that lasted from 9 July until the end of October. During that time we couldn't venture further than 5km from our home and then only to visit the supermarket (1 person per household) or exercise for 1 hour a day and there was a nightly curfew of 8pm. Masks were worn from the moment you stepped out of the door.*

Of course all the shops had to close and although bookshops, like Jeffreys Books (where my son works) kept going with a 'click and collect' system, I did not see THE GOLDMINER'S SISTER on a shelf in a store until November, so she had a vexed start to life!

So to discover this week that THE GOLDMINER'S SISTER has been nominated BY READERS for no less than three Award categories in the 2020 Australian Romance Readers Awards, is special in so many ways.

Favourite Historical Romance
Favourite Australian-set Romance
(and heartwarmingly) Favourite author

It makes no difference to me if I do or don't take home a final award. To know my orphan book (like my orphan heroine!) has been read and loved by readers around the country, means everything to me. Thank you ARRA and thank you readers.

The full award nominees can be read HERE.

(*It is a matter of record that the lockdown had the desired effect and we saw off what was threatening to be a massive Covid outbreak but at huge personal effort from every member of our community.)

GEEVOR TIN MINE

10/24/2020

Squeezing down the hand hewn tunnels... not a job for the claustrophic!

I was looking through some photographs from our trip to the Cornwall in 2011 and I came across these images taken on a visit to the Geevor Tin Mine.
We were on the track of my husband's ancestors who had been tin miners in the far west of Corwnall... near the little town of St Just. The mine they worked was Geevor, on a barren and bleak shoreline. I am guessing the miners of old would have walked the several miles to and from their place of work.
The sharp eyed will notice that I used Geevor as a reference point in THE GOLDMINER'S SISTER... although at the time the book is set it would have been known as North Levant. It closed in 1891 and the miners dispersed around the world... South Africa, Canada and South Australia where my husband's family ended up in the mines at Burra.
It was reopened in the early part of the twentieth century and despite still being viable, the tunnels ran under the sea bed and keeping the water at bay made continued operation unceconomic and it closed in the early 1990s.
Today it survives as a living museum and afforded us the chance to go down into the earliest workings - dug by hand, no doubt by my husband's family.
It certainly was a long way from the bleak north coast of Cornwall to the hard scrabble of outback South Australia... they were a tough breed back then!