| I have an Advance Review Copy of THE GOLDMINER'S SISTER to give away! To be in with a chance to win this autographed print copy, just sign up to Alison Stuart's Newsletter before 20 May! (And as a bonus everyone who signs up gets a free book!). |  |
 I am delighted to welcome Caroline Warfield to my parlour today. Caroline. Caroline's "Children of the Empire" series (Victorian Romance) make a wonderful change of period and setting. The series covers the adventures of three cousins, torn apart by lies and deceit and driven to the far reaches of the empire, struggle to find their way home. I am very excited to present her second book in the series, THE RELUCTANT WIFE which is set in colonial India. Caroline has an exclusive giveaway just for readers of this blog. If you leave a comment one lucky commenter will win a copy of THE RELUCTANT WIFE. Caroline also has a major prize on offer to celebrate the book's release. Scroll down further for details! But first... I like to ask my guests what interesting fact they discovered in researching their book that they would like to share with their readers... so here is Caroline to talk about... Honey and Healing... When writing a climactic scene in The Reluctant Wife in which the neighbors and friends attempt to save the hero's childhood home from a fire set by the villain intent of forcing sale of the property, I faced one of those pesky unanticipated questions that authors often encounter. How exactly would the heroine treat a badly burned man in 1835? In this case a Google search brought an immediate answer from numerous sources. The answer lay in my kitchen cupboard: honey. Specifically, she would have used organic, unfiltered raw honey, not the clarified sweet so often sold in grocery stores. I discovered, in fact, that medicinal honey (for preference, but good raw honey will do) is still recommended for burns. Honey has been shown to have antibiotic and anti-inflamatory properties. It also keeps a burn wound moist, which promotes healing. There is even a Wiki-How article with step by step instructions. The thing is, I should have known. You see, I married into a family of beekeepers, four generations of them. My husband's grandfather kept bees (and we suspect his great-grandfather as well). His father inspected bees for the State of Ohio. The health of bees is vital to agriculture and inspectors make sure diseased hives are destroyed so problems don't spread. My husband, some of his brothers and several of his nephews have kept bees at various times. Our daughter had her own hive, leather gloves and bee veil at nine. Our son was known to "suit up" and assist is Dad as young as three. We once had four stands of bees in our backyard apiary in the city. I know from honey and its health benefits, at least I thought I did. My father-in-law introduced me to the joys of honey in all its rich variation from dark, almost black, fall honeys to buttery-light ones so clear they look like water. He taught me the health benefits of a tablespoon of raw honey a day. No one explained its use in wound care, however. Or, if they did, I missed that lesson. Sigh. Once again writing has enriched my life with new information. What is the most suprising fact you've learned from fiction? (leave your comment below and go in the draw to win a copy of THE RELUCTANT WIFE) About THE RELUCTANT WIFEWhen all else fails, love succeeds… Captain Fred Wheatly’s comfortable life on the fringes of Bengal comes crashing down around him when his mistress dies, leaving him with two children he never expected to have to raise. When he chooses justice over army regulations, he’s forced to resign his position, leaving him with no way to support his unexpected family. He’s already had enough failures in his life. The last thing he needs is an attractive, interfering woman bedeviling his steps, reminding him of his duties. All widowed Clare Armbruster needs is her brother’s signature on a legal document to be free of her past and enable her to establish an independent existance as an herbalist and healer. After a failed marriage, and still mourning the loss of a child, she’s had it up to her ears with the assumptions she doesn't know how to take care of herself, that what she needs is a husband. She certainly doesn't need a great lout of a captain who can't figure out what to do with his daughters. If only the frightened little girls didn’t need her help so badly. Clare has made mistakes in the past. Can she trust Fred now? Can she trust herself? Captain Wheatly isn’t ashamed of his aristocratic heritage, but he doesn’t need his family and they’ve certainly never needed him. But with no more military career and two half-caste daughters to support, Fred must turn once more—as a failure—to the family he let down so often in the past. Can two hearts rise above past failures to forge a future together? CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO BUY THE RELUCTANT WIFE...  About Caroline Warfield Traveler, poet, librarian, technology manager—award winning author Caroline Warfield has been many things (even a nun), but above all she is a romantic. Having retired to the urban wilds of eastern Pennsylvania, she reckons she is on at least her third act, happily working in an office surrounded by windows while she lets her characters lead her to adventures in England and the far-flung corners of the British Empire. She nudges them to explore the riskiest territory of all, the human heart. Caroline is a RONE award winner with five star reviews from Readers' Favorite, Night Owl Reviews, and InD'Tale. She is also a member of the writers’ co-operative, the Bluestocking Belles. With partners she manages and regularly writes for both The Teatime Tattler and History Imagined. Website http://www.carolinewarfield.com/ Amazon Author http://www.amazon.com/Caroline-Warfield/e/B00N9PZZZS/ Good Reads http://bit.ly/1C5blTm Facebook https://www.facebook.com/carolinewarfield7 Twitter @CaroWarfield Email [email protected] #GIVEAWAY#Caroline will give a kindle copy of the book to one randomly selected person who comments on this post. She is also sponsoring a grand prize in celebration of her release. You can enter it here: http://www.carolinewarfield.com/2017blogtourpackage/ The prequel to this book, A Dangerous Nativity, is always **FREE**. You can get a copy here: http://www.carolinewarfield.com/bookshelf/a-dangerous-nativity-1815/ Read an Excerpt from THE RELUCTANT BRIDE...Fred could breathe again. He turned his back on his childhood home and walked up the lane to where Clare nursed the injured in a grassy spot. I just need to know she is not in any danger. He felt foolish. Of course, she’s fine. This is Clare, you numbskull— as strong and brave as any man here. He still needed to see for himself. The sight of her gently bandaging a laborer’s hand made his mouth go dry.
“Is Charles safe up there?” she asked, flicking a quick glance in his direction. “H— heavens no. He’s having the time of his life, though. I think he just gets bored sometimes and is thrilled to have a problem he can attack.” Fred suspected his cousin had little room in his life for physical action. Between sick room, boardroom, and the war department, that’s probably true. He grimaced at the sight of the injured guard whose singed hair rose over a damaged ear and neck. Thank God, his face was untouched. Poultices covered his right arm and side as well. She had splinted the other arm. “Can he speak?” he whispered. “He spoke to Charles earlier, but I dosed him with laudanum. Questioning will have to wait.” “It’s a good thing you came,” he told her. “But I’m sorry you were pulled into this. It isn’t what you agreed to do.” She peered up at him under thick lashes from where she continued her work. “Healing is exactly what I set out to do before I met you,” she retorted. A sweet, vaguely familiar odor permeated the area. “What do I smell?” he asked. “Honey. I used it for wound care. I found a large supply in the kitchen, thank goodness. We need a wagon to transport this man.” “I sent someone for ladders. Should be here soon. Ah— There he is. Am I not a miracle worker?” By the time he helped unload the ladders and two more men were on their way up to the roof, Fred breathed a sigh of relief. The barn had begun to subside, sad in itself, but it meant fewer embers reached the roof of the house. The bucket brigade kept two pulleys moving to supply the two ladder crews. They’ll have the entire pile of thatch soaked soon. I can get Clare and the injured out of here, and we can all rest. |
Alison StuartAlison writes historical romances and short stories set in England and Australia and across different periods of history. Archives
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