Done with the First Draft!

Marriage by Deceit: Book 2

This book is finally complete!  A lot of this story entwines with book 3 in that the events that happen in this book lead directly the next book.  This was a fun book.  The hero is intensely shy, and some of the conversations he has with the heroine who is trying to help him find a wife had a humorous note to them.  This book is not a comedy, but it does have some cute moments.  It also has a few serious moments, but I’d say overall, it’s a light-hearted read.

Mr. Christopher Robinson (hero in His Reluctant Lady) and Lord Edon (aka. Ethan who was the hero in A Most Unsuitable Earl) from the Marriage by Scandal series play a big role in the events that transpire in this book because they are up to mischief.  Lord Roderick and Lord Clement in the Marriage by Scandal Series are much too serious, so they would never have worked here.  But for those who enjoy seeing characters from another series, this should be a treat. 🙂  Personally, Christopher Robinson was my favorite in the Marriage by Scandal Series.

I’m Hoping to Publish Ruined by the Earl in Either March or April

Cover Coming Soon

I’d love to have this out in March, but it depends on how things go.  I had the delay on Love Lessons With the Duke, so it’s possible a snag will develop while writing this that I can’t anticipate ahead of time.   However, my goal is to have it out a month after Love Lessons With the Duke is out so there’s not a long delay between the two books.

So far, the hero in this book is turning out to be just as fun to work with as Christopher Robinson.  In fact, Christopher might find a kindred spirit to be friends with in this book.  I’ll go more into this book later.  Right now, I’m only at chapter 2, so I have yet to see how everything comes together.

But the chemistry between the hero and heroine is already exciting.  She can’t stop crying because he kissed her at a ball, thereby preventing her from marrying the person she wanted.  And while he only did it because he was desperate for the money (there is a good reason behind his actions, but it won’t be revealed until later in the book), the way he reacts to everything is humorous.  He’s got a lot of Christopher in him.  If you read His Reluctant Lady, you know what I mean.

I Just Got to Chapter 2 in This One

This one has been a long time coming since book 1 in the series (The Earl’s Secret Bargain) when Lord Reddington (Orlando) wanted to marry Chloe, but her father arranged a marriage for her to someone else.  Her husband has just died, and Orlando is going to jump at the chance to marry her before her father pairs her up with someone else.  I am aware there was a mourning period and ladies were expected to go longer than gentleman after the death of a spouse before marrying again.  But Orlando is going to whisk her off to Gretna Green anyway.

I’d love to get this out in either April or May so that the entire series can be complete and out before this summer.

On Chapter 3 in This Anthology

This is another anthology Janet Syas Nitsick and I are working on.  We did some writing in it this week to get an idea of where both of our stories will go.  The thing is, since the heroes in novella 1 and novella 2 are brothers who are going to the same farm to work, we need to make sure the stories connect.  While her hero is going to end up with one heroine and my hero will end up with another, they are staying at the same place and dealing with the same people.  So it’s important we don’t contradict each other.  The two novellas will be different romances.  They just overlap because of the brothers being so close.

We’ll be submitting this one to our publisher, Parchment & Plume.  We’re hoping it’ll be out before this summer.

Finally Got It!

I’ll have Stephannie Beman work on the cover to fit it in a series if a series does evolve from this book.

I’m glad I waited for the right plot because now I’m excited about this book.  I was never that excited about the original storyline I had, but now I’m totally psyched and have been writing bits of flash fiction pieces.  I’ll be posting a teaser scene in a couple days.

This will be the first book in a series.  I already have three books planned out for it.  I’ll be referring to the series as “Pioneer Series”.  Since my other historical western series have simple titles like like “Nebraska Series” and “South Dakota Series”, I figure it’d be best to keep to the same simplicity in naming this one.

I am going to modify the cover to Wagon Trail Bride, but it won’t be a whole lot.  I plan to contact Stephannie Beman, my cover artist, about giving the title a “zing” to it and setting the series to the title in there somewhere.  I have the basic image already without the text.  I like the people on the cover.  I’m just not thrilled with the way the text looks.

Then I’ll let her do the covers for the next two books in the series so they all match up.