Books & More Books

Because He needs Me

2011-07-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

Because He needs Me/ Lynn Granville

A new book from a new young company

Leap of Faith publishes Because He needs me by Lynn Granville.
A story of love and faith in the man she loves.

Oh, God, she hoped he wouldn’t come over! Janni had recognized the one man she hadn’t wanted to see at this wedding. It was ages since she’d been in the same room with Nick Hamilton, and she really hadn’t given the idea that he might be here a thought, though she should have done. It couldn’t matter, of course. Whatever there had been between her and Nick had been over years ago – when he married. Not that it had ever been very much even then!
Janni had been through several love affairs since then, the latest of which had recently ended in tears and recriminations. What was wrong with her for goodness sake? Why couldn’t she find someone who really cared, someone who would give her a home and family, and love – most importantly love?
Nick was glancing her way again, obviously deciding whether or not he ought to come over and say hello. Where was his wife? Janni hadn’t noticed her – and you couldn’t miss a woman like that! Sarah was gorgeous, so it was no wonder that Nick had fallen for her hook line and sinker.
Janni glanced across the hotel’s crowded reception room at the bride and groom; she felt a pang of envy despite her satisfaction at Alice’s obvious happiness. Sheer delight seemed to shine out of her friend’s eyes, testifying to her state of mind. Janni didn’t grudge that happiness one little bit, but couldn’t help wishing that her own life was a little more settled.
Alice and Peter were the perfect pair, and Janni had introduced them nine months ago. Her own lovelife had been blossoming then, but for the past few weeks she had been nursing a bruised ego. Fortunately, it seemed that her heart was pretty resilient, which it would need to be after the way Mark had treated her recently.
Perhaps it was a combination of seeing Nick unexpectedly, and her friend’s shining happiness that made Janni feel so dejected all of a sudden. Damn Mark! He really wasn’t worth getting upset over. One day he’d been eagerly talking about buying a house together, almost the next he was announcing that he was off to America on a three-year research project.
“So what happens to us?” Janni had asked, feeling bewildered by Mark’s sudden about turn.
“It was never going to be more than a temporary arrangement,” he’d said, taking her breath away. “Nothing is forever, Janni. Besides, this is a chance I can’t miss.”
He hadn’t asked her to keep in touch, or whether she would consider giving up her job at the local hospital to go with him. She had sensed his excitement and known he wanted to be free – and that had hurt!
The sharp pain had gone now, but she was still feeling bruised. So much so that when she saw the undeniably attractive man walking towards her, she immediately hoisted her shield into place. Why had he of all people had to be here? And why must he bother to come over and say hello?
She’d had a thing for Doctor Nick Hamilton once, when they were both working at a London teaching hospital, but he’d hardly noticed her. He had fallen in love with and married a very beautiful woman, and they’d lost touch when he moved. Until now, Janni hadn’t seen him for years, but he was a friend of Peter’s, and had been invited for the wedding. It was natural, of course, and she would have realized it if she had thought about it earlier.
“They look happy don’t they?” Nick said glancing at the bride and groom. “Peter and Alice. “
Janni took a deep breath. There was no escaping it! She smiled and nodded. “Yes, I was just thinking the same thing.”
“Peter had been through a rough time before he met Alice – but you know that, of course. You introduced them, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I can claim the credit for that, but they did all the rest themselves.”
He seemed amused at her quip, and hesitated for a second or two. “I know this isn’t the right time to talk shop, but Alice tells me you are thinking of changing your job – going for something new. I wondered if you might consider working for us at the surgery as a practice nurse?”
Janni was startled. He had taken her completely by surprise and she gave no thought to her answer before replying negatively. “I am flattered that you asked,” she said. “But I am happy where I am – and I’ve never considered anything but hospital work.”
“The nurses I need never have,” Nick replied and grinned. “If they had, they probably wouldn’t be what I was looking for. Don’t make that a final no, Janni. Think about it please. If you are truly happy where you are then that’s all there is to it – but if there’s even a chance you might consider coming to us, if only for a few months, I should like to hear from you.” He took a card from his pocket and handed it to her. “I think you would be pleasantly surprised if you paid us a visit. We have all the latest equipment at the surgery. Peter has made sure of that, believe me.”
Janni's heart did a quick tango but she suppressed her foolishness.
Peter and Nick were partners in the country practice as well as friends, and Alice had burned Janni’s ears with stories of how beautiful the village was – and the surrounding countryside.
Alice had been a Theatre Sister before her marriage, but she planned on having a family almost at once. “Before my biological clock runs out,” she’d told Janni laughingly. “I’ve done my stint for the NHS – and I can always go back part time when the children are at school.”
“Yes, I imagine he would,” Janni replied with a wry look. “Alice told me Peter has to have everything just so.”
“We’re in agreement as far as that goes – which is why we both want you, Janni. Why don’t you think about it? Alice is your best friend, isn’t she? It would mean you were able to see her more often, and I understand you are having difficulties at the moment.”
“I see Alice has been telling tales out of school.” Janni frowned.
“She just told me things hadn’t gone well for you, and that you were thinking of making a change. Nothing personal,” Nick assured her. He glanced at his watch and frowned. “Anyway, it was nice speaking to you again, Janni. I must have a word with Alice and Peter before they leave. Give me a call if you are interested, won’t you?” He handed her his card.
“Yes, if I’m interested,” Janni replied, tucking his card into her pocket as he walked away. Her foolish heart was still misbehaving itself. Nick was as attractive as ever, she thought, dressed in a stylish, collarless dark blue suit that showed only a flash of white at the neck and looked as if it might be Armani. It was the kind of suit that was good on young, athletic men and she recalled that he had been keen on sport when she’d known him before. His hair was dark blond and a little longer than she normally liked on a man – but why was she letting herself think about him at all? He was married and she had no intention of getting involved again for a long, long time. Especially with a married man!
She waited until he had moved away from the bride and groom before going over. “I’ve just come to say goodbye,” she said, kissing Alice’s cheek. “You look gorgeous, love – and so does Peter.”
Alice’s white lace and tulle dress was very traditional, but she had worn flowers in her hair rather than a veil, and looked sensational. Once again, Janni felt a pang of regret. She’d been so certain she and Mark would be planning their wedding soon – but perhaps what had happened was for the best. Otherwise, they might have ended up getting a divorce before long.
“Keep your hands off, he’s mine,” Alice Lennox teased. “Have you heard anything more from Mark?”
“No, not since he walked out on me,” Janni said, avoiding Alice’s eyes. “He promised to keep paying his share of the rent until I could find a new flatmate, but I doubt if he’ll bother once he gets to the States.”
“Well, I think that’s rotten,” Alice said and her eyes flashed with anger on behalf of Janni. “He could at least have stumped up the rent until you got things settled.”
Janni pulled a wry face. She couldn’t help noticing that Nick Hamilton was no longer in the room. She wasn’t sure why, but all of a sudden Mark’s desertion no longer seemed to matter.
“Well, it just goes to show that Mum was right all along. She warned me not to move in with him. I should’ve listened.”
Alice nodded, then turned to listen to something her new husband was saying. Janni gave them both a little wave and left, keeping her smile in place until she was in the taxi taking her to catch the train back to London.
She hardly knew why she was feeling so down. She wasn’t still missing Mark, for goodness sake! And her mother had warned her at the beginning that it would end in tears.
“Move in with him and he will lose respect for you,” Mrs Ross had warned. “Yes, I know you think I’m old-fashioned and perhaps I am – but I don’t trust Mark Hatton and I never shall.”
In her heart Janni had wanted a white wedding and all the trimmings, but Mark had been adamant. He couldn’t afford to get married and he didn’t see what all the fuss was about anyway.
“Look around you,” he’d said over and over again. “How many of our friends get married these days? Most of them just move in together – and look at Jenny and Paul. They lived together for four years, perfectly happy, then she wanted to get married so Paul agreed – ten months later they’ve split.”
Janni hadn’t been able to disagree with his logic and she had thought herself in love with Mark then … but now she wasn’t sure whether it was Mark she’d loved or the man she had thought he was deep down.
Janni’s mother agreed with Alice that she ought to make a complete break, find herself a new job and a new place to live.
“It’s the only way, love,” Mrs Ross had told her. “Either that or move back home with me and take the train into work every day. And you were moaning about the high rent even when you and Mark were still together.”
“I certainly can’t afford it unless I find someone to share – and the lease comes up for renewal next month, so I shall soon have to decide whether to give the flat up or not.”
Janni didn’t particularly want to give up her job, nor did she want to move back home and commute every day.
She loved her work, enjoying every moment she spent with her patients on the postoperative ward, and counting herself privileged. People took medicine for granted these days, demanding more and more of their doctors, but Janni had never ceased to feel exhilarated and thrilled at the skill of the surgeons who performed near miracles day after day.
Yet recently the strain of working long hours, combined with a stressful home life, had begun to get her down a little. Perhaps she ought to have thought before refusing Nick Hamilton’s offer.
She remembered how attractive Nick had looked that afternoon. His smile had been warm and generous, and she had reacted instinctively out of a need to protect herself. She didn’t want to go through all that again!
Nick had been the first man to break her heart when he married someone else. Perhaps that was why Mark’s desertion had bruised her ego more than her heart – having had it broken once she was incapable of ever truly loving again.

The flat seemed so empty when Janni got in that evening. She frowned, disliking both the silence and her surroundings. The décor was too minimal and hard for her comfort, but she had never been encouraged to change things. Mark had liked his flat the way it was – and it had always been his. He had made that plain from the start. Janni contributed her share of the bills and housekeeping, but Mark paid the rent. When she thought about it, she realized the lease was in his name, so there was no guarantee she would be granted a new one if she wanted it!
Was it only five months since Mark had asked her to move in? Janni felt it was much longer. What had gone wrong between them? Was it her fault? Mark had told her she wasn’t really in love with him before he left, flinging it at her as if seeking to transfer the blame for their break up.
“You never wanted me,” he had said bitterly as the quarrel flared between them. “Don’t look at me as if I’m committing some kind of a crime, Janni – if you were honest you would admit I was doing you a favour by walking out.”
“If that’s the way you feel, perhaps you are,” she had flung after him. Now she realized that perhaps he had been right – they weren’t made for each other. She had enjoyed their relationship in the beginning, but she hadn’t truly been in love with him – and if seeing Nick Hamilton that afternoon had made her see that, she had better stay well clear of him or she might end up in more trouble!

Echoes Of Splendour

2011-06-29T23:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a taster of my book on sale at amazon in kindle.

It is on special offer at the moment so now is the time to grab a copy if you'd like one.

Enjoy!

I remember those days in old Russia as if they were only yesterday. It was a very different place then, for I was there before the beginning of the first revolution in 1905, and the world I saw was filled with bright colours, gaiety and laughter. Of course there was a different face to St. Petersburg from the one I knew, but I was not aware of it. My father and Johan kept me from such knowledge. How could I have dreamed of the appalling poverty and hardship in the country when I lived protected and spoiled in the house of Prince Paul Vronski, the indulged daughter of a man who was privileged to be tutor to the prince’s son?

We lived in a palace set in beautiful grounds. There were trees, flowerbeds, formal walks and a small lake where Ivan and I played sometimes with his model yacht. His father had a real one, and sometimes as a treat I was taken on the sea, and both Ivan and I wore sailor suits – mine had a skirt of course - and the crew let us help them steer the ship. Oh yes, we were fortunate in those days, the son of Prince Paul and I.

Sometimes we were both taken to the Winter Palace, where we met the Tsar’s daughters, who were polite and kind to us. The Tsarena Olga was always particularly kind to me. She once gave me a set of little wooden dolls that were graduated in size and fitted one inside the other. We never saw the Tsarevich Alexi however. There were unkind rumours in circulation amongst the people; it was said he was kept hidden away for all kinds of reasons and I only heard the truth of his terrible affliction, which had been passed down to him through his mother’s line, long after I had left Russia.

We lived in Russia for three years, Papa and I. Before that, when Maman was alive, home was a beautiful but crumbling chateau in the south of France. Mama was wholly French, and she too was very beautiful and her laughter could make my heart sing for joy. Papa was an Englishman. Everyone said he was clever, and I believe he was generally admired in Prince Vronski’s circle. To me he often seemed stern and distant, as though he was preoccupied with more important matters and had no time to notice his only child.

It was to Johan Radzinsky that I clung in those days. My dear, kind protector who watched over me and remembered all the things that Papa forgot.

Papa was always so busy. Besides being tutor to Prince Vronski’s son, he lectured occasionally at the University in Moscow. Sometimes he stayed away for several days, and there were evenings when he had long, involved meetings with serious looking men who frightened me. They all ignored me, speaking over my head in a language I could not understand.

Ivan and I spoke in French or English. I knew very few words of Russian; just enough to ask the servants for something to eat and thank them, though Ivan did his best to teach me. I was at this time inclined to be lazy. I did not wish to learn particularly and no one cared enough to teach me. I was just that pretty little girl who ran and played about the palace, of no real importance in the scheme of things. Until the day I suddenly became of use to Papa.

I could read, write and calculate. Papa had seen to my early schooling, and of course I was fluent in both French and English. Papa believed I would educate myself from his books, and in time I came to learn the treasures that lay within their covers. But at this time I was fourteen years old and interested only in amusement.

How soon my world was to turn upside down. I would be given a sharp lesson in reality, one that would change and shape my whole life. I have long wanted to tell my story for I was born to a time of great changes, of terrible tragedy and violence. The world is very different now to the one I knew then, though who can say whether those changes were for good or evil? At the time I thought them cruel and wicked.

Sometimes, when the voices crowd in on me I feel as if I am being crushed by a great weight, and the darkness is all about me. I hear their voices echoing down the years and I remember how it was…

Buy this at amazon, send me proof of purchase - through contact at the website
linda@lindasole.co.uk
and I'll send you another of my Anne Ireland ebooks free

This is a romance/mystery about a girl who flees from the revolution in Russia. Parted from her friend she does nto see him until they ar older and begin to fall in love.

Briar Patch By Linda Sole

2011-06-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

I just love this cover for my new book from Severn House. Published in hardback in August I think my readers will love it.

Here is a dramatic opening for you to enjoy.

‘Something is wrong with our Carrie.’ Ellen Blake shaded her eyes as she stood at the kitchen window. ‘I told you to keep an eye on her, Dick. You know she isn’t safe out on her own.’
‘I can’t watch her and do my work,’ Dick muttered. ‘Pa sent me down to the bottom field with the cows. Carrie followed. I sent her home but you know what she is – it’s not my fault if she wanders off in a daydream. The girl is soft in the head and it’s no use denying it, Ma.’
‘Our Carrie isn’t like other girls. I wish the Good Lord had made her ugly for then her foolishness wouldn’t matter so much – but she is beautiful and the lads stare at her. She hasn’t the sense to know what they’re after.’
‘You worry too much, Ma.’
Dick was at the deep stone sink pumping water to wash when his mother opened the back door.
‘Come away in, Carrie,’ she scolded; then, on a different note, ‘What’s wrong, love?’
‘He hurt me, Ma,’ Carrie’s sobs brought Dick’s head round sharply. He grumbled about having to watch out for her when he was at his work, but in his heart he loved her. She was vulnerable and a little lacking up top but her beauty and her sweetness of character made her a favourite with everyone. ‘I didn’t want to do it – but he forced me.’
‘Forced you to do what, Carrie?’ Dick saw the tear to her bodice and the mud on her long skirts. Moving swiftly towards his sister, he grabbed her wrist. ‘Who was the bastard that hurt you – and what did he do to you?’
Carrie yelped in fright. She was sixteen; a lovely girl with hair the colour of ripe corn in sunlight and wide, greenish blue eyes that always held an expression of wonder or bewilderment. She had no reason to be frightened of her eldest brother, though at seven and twenty he was tall, broad-shouldered and powerful.
‘The squire.’ Carrie’s face was streaked with dirt and tears but Dick could see the red mark on her cheek. ‘He was riding his horse through the wild meadow. I asked him why he was there, because that’s pa’s land. He dismounted and pushed me down on the grass and then he did it...’
‘What did he do?’
‘Ma...Don’t let our Dick hurt me. I didn’t mean to let him...’ Her eyes widened as she stared at her mother. ‘Will I have a baby, Ma? Da will kill me if I bring shame on him – he said so.’
‘The filthy bastard.’ Dick took Carrie by the shoulders, shaking her until she started sobbing. ‘What did he do to you, girl? Did he rape you? By God, I’ll kill him for what he’s done.’
‘You sound like your pa. Sit down and have your meal, Dick. Whatever is done is done. You can’t change it and who would take Carrie’s word against Squire Thornton?’
‘Everyone knows what he is. He gets away with it time and again. No one stands up to him – but this time he has gone too far.’
‘You don’t know what he did.’ Ellen caught hold of her son’s arm as he started for the door. ‘Where are you going? You can’t touch him, Dick. Squire is too powerful. He has men working for him who think they rule this county.’
Dick met her eyes defiantly. ‘I’m going to kill him, Ma – and damn the consequences.’
‘Violence never helped anyone. If you do this you’ll have to run and where does that leave me? You know what your pa is like and Tom can’t stand up to him the way you do.’
‘I’m going after him, Ma, and you can’t stop me – this time the bastard is going to pay.’
‘Dick, please think. Mebbe nothing happened. Carrie’s all right, just a bit frightened. Come back. Please don’t leave us alone with your pa.’
Dick wasn’t listening. The anger had been smouldering inside him for a long time; anger at his sister for being the way she was, anger at the world for the injustice he saw around him every day, and anger at himself for bowing his head to his pa.
In the yard outside, Dick saw the long handled axe he had earlier used for chopping wood and picked it up. His face was grim as he set off across the low-lying fields, which lay between Thornton’s land and his father’s farm. The squire coveted their land because of its access to the fast flowing stream that ran through it and bordered the wild meadow. It petered out to a thin trickle by the time it reached the Squire’s land, which meant that all the water for the stock and much of what was needed elsewhere had to be pumped from various wells Thornton had sunk. During the previous hot summer some of his wells had run dry. The stream on their land had kept flowing, even though it had been sluggish during the drought.
‘Sell to me, John Blake,’ Thornton had made a generous bid for the land. ‘You have barely enough acres to support your family, man. With the offer I’ve made, you could settle elsewhere – perhaps buy an inn or more land. Send your eldest boy to me and I’ll give him a cottage and a job in the stables.’
Dick’s frown deepened as he recalled his father’s reply. John Blake's curses had made even Dick blush and he was used to his father’s foul language. Since then they had heard nothing, but Thornton was not a man to take such insults lying down.
‘Damn him for a coward and a rogue!’
What kind of a man took his revenge on a defenceless girl? Everyone knew that Carrie was a little slow in her mind. The doctor said it was because she’d been too long in coming when Ma gave birth.
‘I’ll kill him. I'll kill the bastard if I swing for it.’
Dick’s anger festered as he strode through the fields, most of which were pasture for the squire’s herd of prime Herefords. He was trespassing but he didn’t care. What kind of a man would take advantage of a girl like Carrie?
Anger carried Dick swiftly towards the large sprawling manor house that had belonged to Squire Thornton’s family for more than three hundred years. Added to over the centuries, it was a hotchpotch of styles ranging from Jacobean to the Georgian façade that the squire’s grandfather had built. As he saw the grey stone walls rising ahead of him, Dick hesitated and for a moment his mother’s words came back to his mind.
‘Don’t leave me alone with your pa.’
It would be hard for her but it couldn't be helped. He took a firmer grip on the handle of the axe and strode on. When he reached the front courtyard, Dick saw a group of gentlemen were standing outside. The squire was one of them. They were all laughing in the wintry sunshine – Thornton as carefree as the rest. The rogue hadn’t an ounce of conscience.
‘Damn your black soul to hell, Thornton!’
Dick raised the axe above his head and charged towards the men. At first they seemed unaware but then they turned to look at him. He saw their stunned expressions and the fear in their faces as they scattered. For the first time in his life he felt powerful. He had always been a labouring man, forced to bow his head and obey orders. These rich men rode by on their horses and splashed mud over him, hardly seeing him; he was nothing, dirt beneath their hooves - but they were seeing him now. Their fear amused him, making him laugh out loud.
He heard the screams and shouts but his mind was focused on only one thing. Thornton must die. The Squire had turned to look at him, incredulity in his eyes. He alone of them all stood his ground. Once, Dick would have admired that but the red mist in his brain shut everything out but the desire to kill.
‘What do you want, Blake?’
‘Revenge for my sister,’ Dick said and smashed the blade of the axe against his head. Thornton went down like a stone, blood spraying everywhere. Dick knew a moment of triumph before the shot made him crumple to his knees and then fall flat in the dirt beside the body of the man he had killed.

The Witch Child

2010-11-10T01:06:00.000-08:00

The Witch Child is published in Kindle uk

This book was my first published book. It was brought to life by Robert Hale publishers of London but I've had the rights for years. I have now put it into Kindle. It is up at Uk kindle under Linda Sole.

She was beautiful, she was wicked, she was wanton and she drove men mad with desire, but to love her was to suffer pain. She was the Witch Child.

I was but eleven years old when they first named me for a witch. That terrible day is burned so deeply into my memory that even now, years later, there are times when I wake from some nightmarish dream, shaking with fear. Yet it was important, for it brought Justin to me and so sealed my destiny. But perhaps I should start at the beginning . . .
I must have looked a pathetic sight as I stood just inside the door of Granny Fisher’s cottage, soaked to the skin by the driving rain, which persisted as my companion and I walked the last half mile to the cottage in its lonely isolation at the top of the cliffs. A child of eight, slight and small for my age, my green eyes must have been stark with the misery I felt as I stared at the old woman. Meeting her bleak, unsmiling eyes, I shivered, for her lined face showed no trace of warmth or pity.
My heart sank and I clutched at Mr. Jackson’s hand, waiting for her to speak. He glanced down at me with sympathy, then pushed me forward. My heart beat wildly. I was terrified of this silent, old woman and longed for the comfort of my mother’s arms, though I knew I should never feel them about me again. Nor would my father toss me into the air, laughing as I screamed in childish delight. They were both dead and I was alone in the world, except for this woman whom I had never seen before today.
“You say Beth’s dead?” she spoke at last. “And her husband, too?”
“Yes, Mrs. Fisher,” replied my companion. “Your daughter died of the pox. It was her last wish that I should bring the girl to you.”
In the ensuing silence I swallowed nervously, trying to hold back my shameful tears. Granny looked at me suspiciously, her eyes hawklike in the wrinkled face. My instincts told me that she did not want me.
“If she died of the pox—why did the child not take it from her?”
Mr. Jackson shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t rightly know, ma’am—some say ‘tis a miracle.” He shuffled his feet awk-wardly, then handed her a purse. “This is what was left after the debts were paid. ‘Tis not much, there are few folk as will buy goods from a house where the pox has visited.”
She took the purse unwillingly. “Is there no one else to care for her? Times are hard and ‘tis work enough to keep the flesh on these bones of mine, without a growing child to feed.”
He shook his head. “ Nay. I’d have took her meself but my wife’s dead set against it. I’m damned if I know why. She’s a good little thing and she’ll be no bother to you.”
“Ha!—that’s all you know. Children are always a bother whether they mean to be or not. Beth was ever a thoughtless lass. It would not occur to her that I might not want the girl. Not a word from her since she ran off, now she sends me her girl. Well, come here, child, and let me look at you!”
I shook my head, wrapping my arms about Mr. Jackson’s knees. He looked down at me with pity and I think he might have taken me back with him had he not feared his wife’s temper. Mrs. Jackson was a shrew and she had vowed she would have none of me. He wrestled with his conscience briefly, but he lived in fear of her tongue and he dare not return with me in tow. He untangled my clinging limbs and pushed me firmly into the cottage.
Granny grasped me with her clawlike hands, peering into my face for a long time, a strange expression in her eyes. She sighed. “You’re Beth’s girl all right. What was that fool name she gave you ?”
I took a deep breath. “ My name is Jalinda and it is a pretty name. My mother liked it.”
“ Ha! So you can talk after all. Well, come in, lass. I didn’t ask you to come and I dare say as you’d rather be elsewhere—but it seems we’ve neither of us any choice.”
She took my bundle from me and laid it down, then she turned to Mr. Jackson. “Be off with you,” she said. “What arc you waiting for ?”
He was surprised by the suddenness of her attack. He stared at her, then he nodded his head. Abandoning me to my fate, he hurried back down the cliffs the way we had come. I tried not to think harshly of him; it had been a long journey and he had brought me himself. It was more than most would have done.
I stood in the middle of that floor—which was nothing but compounded earth, covered by a layer of filthy rushes— and glanced about me. In one corner was a pile of dried grass, which I was later to discover, served as Granny Fisher’s bed. Apart from a three-legged stool, a coffer, her table and a heavy cooking-pot suspended over the fire I could see only a few bowls and platters.
I recalled the table my father had made, which my mother polished until she could see her face in its gleaming surface. I remembered the stools, the panelled linen-chests, the dresser with its bulbous legs and the special chair, which had a high, carved back. It was in this chair that my father sat of an evening, intent on carving the intricate patterns which were his trademark; and taking the same care whether it was something for a valued customer or a little wooden horse for me. The memory of him brought tears to my eyes and they spilled over in noisy sobs.
Granny Fisher stared at me, a semblance of pity in her eyes. For a moment I thought she would take me in her arms to comfort me, but she had lost the art of loving. Her life had been too hard and she was too old to begin now.
“Now then, lass, dry your eyes. ‘Tis no use in grieving for them as is gone. It won’t bring them back and we must think of ourselves. No doubt you’re hungry; I never yet knew a child who wasn’t.”
At this I stopped crying and looked up expectantly. It seemed a long while since I had eaten and my stomach rumbled emptily.
She gave a crow of triumph, her thin lips parting in a toothless grin. “ That’s it, girl, ‘tis time to look to the future. Take off those wet things and come to the fire whilst I make you something to eat. We’ll manage, you’ll see. It will be hard at first but you’ll learn. Oh, yes, you’ll learn all right!”

* * * *

And learn I did !
I learned what it was to be cold and hungry in the long winter, which followed. I learned to go searching for driftwood on the beach when it was freezing cold and a biting wind blew in from the sea; to come home to the cottage soaked to the skin and to a stewpot containing only a few vegetables— unless we were lucky enough to catch a rabbit. That was seldom enough, for Granny rarely caught anything in her snares—it had been a hard winter for the rabbits, too.
I do not know how I survived that first year. I had been gently reared, and according to the laws of nature I should have sickened and died. Instead, I thrived. I grew thin but it was a tough, wiry leanness.
It was a hard life, so different from the one I had known. Often I would take out the little wooden horse, stroking its smooth surface lovingly. Then I would ache for the sound of my father’s voice, or the touch of my mother’s hands as she tucked me up in my cot at night. If only someone had shown me a little love, but there was no one but Granny, and she had forgotten how.
Sometimes we huddled together in front of the fire, listening to the howling wind. It tore at the cottage walls with a vindictive fury, and the waves lashed at the foot of the cliffs, sending spray high into the air. On certain nights, when the power of the storm was at its height, I sometimes thought I could hear the souls of drowning men, screaming in the darkness.
“The sea be terrible cruel,” Granny said once. “I lost a man and two sons out there on just such a night as this. Aye, she be a wicked mistress, the sea ...”
Looking at her then I began to understand what had made her the way she was. Loneliness and suffering will make granite of the softest heart in time, and I guessed that her life had been lonely. I drew closer to her, realising that she hated the howling wind as much as I. Somehow that knowledge robbed the storm of some of its power to frighten me and I no longer felt quite so alone.

* * * *

I had been at the cottage for six months when I first saw the house, or, rather, I saw the gates leading to the estate. Huge iron spikes, flanked by stone pillars topped with a pair of eagles. They perched with beaks menacingly open, their wings unfurled as though ready to attack the unwary intruder. So real were they that I almost believed them the guardians they appeared to be.
“Where does that lead?” I asked Granny, pointing to the path, which wound into the trees.
“‘Tis Sir Ralph Frome’s land. He lives in the house beyond the woods.”

Hi Everyone

2010-09-03T07:15:00.000-07:00

It is an age since I posted here. I'm just catching up with a few new books that are out. I think the best way is to put up a series of pictures. I have a new saga from Severn House in November and lots more coming from Mills & Boon.

The first picture is a new ebook for amira press.

This is the second in the Family Feud series from Severn House. It is out now in paperback as well as hardback.

This was out earlier in the year - a part of the Melford Dynasty

This is my new one from M&B in England, though it came out first in USA

Such a lot of books since I posted here last.

Latest Books

2010-03-27T00:47:00.000-07:00

The cover above is my last published novel with Severn House. It is the third in the Family Feud series and the first of those books was The Lie, which received very good reviews.

My new book coming in May is a new saga set in the London docklands entitled All My Sins.

I think this one is perhaps the best saga I've written since Lovers & Sinners.

A new blog

2009-11-04T01:09:00.000-08:00

I have a new blog for Anne Herries fans

http://anneherriesregency.blogspot.com

This blog will have excerpts, stories and competitions

Dangerous To Know & Other New Books

2009-09-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hi. I just wanted to tell anyone who still looks in that I have some new books coming out at Red Rose Publishing.

Dangerous To Know/Anne Ireland/Red Rose Publishing
Coming October 8th in ebook

Daddy Loves Belinda/Anne Ireland/Red Rose Publishing
Coming soon

Ryan's Son/Anne Ireland/Red Rose Publishing
Coming soon

New books and pics

2009-04-19T23:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. I haven't been here much for a while because I am working very hard on a series of books, but I popped in today to load some pics of new and recent books. I just want to thank all the people who support me by buying and enjoying my books. Love to you all.

This is a shorty story I wrote for the Wolf Sanctuary. Someone is trying to save the wolves in a special sanctuary and needs funds so a group of Red Rose Publishing authors got together to write short stories and they are giving their royalties to the sanctuary. I hope we do well for the wolves.

This is a new ebook coming soon to Amira Press

This is the cover for the first Family Feud book. This had a wonderful review from The Historical Novel magazine. they didn't like the cover, thought it drab. It isn't one of the best, though it fits with the period.

This is the cover for the second family Feud book. I like this one.

the Melford Dynasty

2009-02-28T01:48:00.000-08:00

Some Readers have written to me concerning books from the Melford Dynasty. This is going to be a big series of books coming down from the War of The Roses through the ages to the early twentieth century. Three of these books have been published in America. They are Forbidden Lady/Anne Herries, The Lord's Forced Bride/ Anne Herries and Her Dark and Dangerous Lord/Anne Herries. All are published by Harlequin Mills & Boon.

The first was only in paperback but the others are also in ebook and still available from www.fictionwise.com and amazon.com. This means that Forbidden Lady is now very hard to find, though there are a few secondhand copies available on the web. The series should come out in the UK at some time but I do not yet know when. Forbidden Lady is in an Australian three in one paperback, which may be available through amazon.co.uk. It is there somewhere but I am not sure if it is possible to buy. Readers have bought the ebooks and are upset because they cannot get number one. I apologise for this and very much hope they will come out here soon. Love to you all Linda

The White Dress

2008-12-13T02:48:00.000-08:00

My new book coming soon from eternal Press

Pictures taken at a family party

2008-12-10T00:34:00.001-08:00

Pictures this Christmas. Why only the men, Juliet?

News

2008-12-09T01:07:00.000-08:00

It is almost Christmas.

My latest Linda Sole saga from Severn House.

I will be putting some Christmas stories up on my story blog, which you can access at storiesfromlindasole.blogspot.com. I still have lots of competitions running, one at my website and others on various groups.

Happy Christmas to all my readers.

Cassie's Sheikh has been in the top ten list under Desert Sheikhs for a couple of weeks. The Rake's Rebellious Lady/Anne Herries/HMB has been number two in the Harlequin Historical list at amazon, and Her Dark and Dangerous Lord has been at number seven in the HH list at Harlequin so all the new books are doign well

Three of my Red Rose Publishing books are coming out in print soon. Chateau Despair is the first to be published and this should be before Christmas. I am very pleased that this book will be in print. It is already available in ebook at several places on the web but a lot of people who enjoy my books want it in print. It won't be long before they can buy it at amazon.com and it is usually available at amazon.co.uk too once it is up and running. I recently bouth some copies of A shameful Secret/Anne Ireland, which is already in print.

all the grahics have been credited somewhere on the blog. They are yuleloveit.com or Pat's Graphics

A Kind Of Loving

2008-12-09T00:58:00.000-08:00

A Kind Of Loving/Linda Sole/Red Rose Publishing
available in ebook from www.redrosepubling.com
www.amzazon.com
www.mobipocket.com
www.fictionwise.com
and other outlets in ebook

Soon to be available in print.
Enjoy!

It had been warmer than this earlier in the year but there was a definite bite in the air that morning and it was already the second week of May. Perhaps the cool weather was the reason she was feeling a bit out of sorts with herself, because she was down and there was no real reason for it. She ought to be feeling on top of the world, Verity thought as she parked her car in the yard at the back of the shop.
The gravel crunched beneath her feet as she took a large bunch of fragrant lilies and roses and her cumbersome shoulder bag from the boot, before going through the narrow alley from the yard into the main street. This past year had seen the realisation of one of her dreams, something that gave her great personal satisfaction. But there was a problem, a dark shadow that hovered at her shoulder.
It was in her mind as she unlocked the door of her small shop, lingering like a bad smell as she keyed in the number to cancel the alarm and walked through to the back room, which she used as her office. She removed her warm red jacket and fluffed out her chestnut brown hair in front of the mirror; her eyes were that greenish brown that some call hazel. Underneath her jacket she was wearing a slim-fitting black dress. There was only just over another two months to her fortieth birthday but she didn't look too bad. She'd kept her figure well after Jane's birth and there hadn't been any more children. She'd been sorry about that, and for a while she'd hoped that she would have another baby, but somehow it hadn't happened; though there was no medical reason why it shouldn't.
Was that what had gone wrong between her and Michael? Had they grown apart instead of bonding into a family unit? Would it have been different if they'd had a son? She knew that Jane was very much her daughter and thought that perhaps Michael sometimes felt a bit left out.
She puzzled over it as she arranged her flowers in two old and rather beautiful cut-glass vases. One she stood in the little room that was fairly private but which, through a window, gave her a view of the shop interior, and the other she carried out to replace some dead roses standing on the desk that took centre stage of her window display. She stood for a moment to admire them, pleased that she'd taken time to stop and buy the flowers on her way in. Perhaps it was an extravagance to spend so much on fresh flowers, but she did love to see them about the place.
Verity was frowning as she returned to her office, picked up a tin of the special beeswax she always used for her antique furniture and took it into the shop. She had made it a practice to polish a couple of pieces of furniture each morning, to keep the place smelling of fresh polish and the potpourri she had in bowls set at various points about the shop. Her customers always remarked on the beautiful smell; it relaxed them, and her friendly manner encouraged them to trust her enough to buy. Her trade had started slowly at first, but people came back and her reputation had grown this past year.
Usually the very fact of being here amongst these beautiful things was enough to make her relax herself. She loved the feel of the silky finish of old wood, the way her cloth glided over the surface of a beautiful antique table or an elegant desk. Looking at them gave her a sense of permanence, of satisfaction, and knowing these things were hers to sell gave her a purpose. She was doing something she wanted to with her life at last.
Verity stood with the cloth in her hand as she considered. Had she wanted to marry Michael Lovelace nearly twenty years ago? She'd been pregnant with Jane, and it had seemed the natural thing to do – but had she really wanted to be his wife? She supposed that she must have done. There must have been a time when his smile had made her feel good, when his jokes had made her want to giggle, his touch had sent the blood racing through her veins. Yes, of course there had! It was just that it was hard to remember these days. He spent so little time at home. His business demanded attention six days of the week, and on Sundays he often played golf in the mornings. After lunch he cut the lawn if it needed it, otherwise he cleaned the car or fell asleep in front of the television.
She knew that Michael wasn't the only man to follow the same dull routine every weekend. Her friend Susan Edwards was always complaining that her husband Bill did the same thing, but she said it with a smile on her face, and a look in her eyes that told a different story. The magic was still there for Bill and Susan, but Verity knew that it had gone missing from her life, though she wasn't sure whose fault it was.
For a long time, while Jane was still a small child, she'd been happy enough; they had still shared a small joke or an intimate smile, but of late even those things had vanished. They hadn't had sex for weeks – they hadn't made love for more than two years, and there was a difference.
Verity hadn't forgotten what it felt like to make love, to know the warmth and satisfaction, the sharing that comes from being close to the man you care for. She had loved Michael once, perhaps she still did deep down. He was still undoubtedly an attractive man with his thick, slightly wavy hair, which was a darkish blond in colour, his blue eyes and rather heavy brows. But his character had changed of late and there were times now when she felt she was living with a stranger, and someone she didn't always like very much.
To a casual observer, Verity was the very essence of Today's Woman. Efficient, well groomed, with an air of confidence, a friendly manner and a look in her eyes that warned she meant what she said. Dealers liked her because she was businesslike and they knew where they stood with her. She didn't lie about her stock and she'd become known for having good, genuine pieces. But she had something more, a vitality that made her eyes shine and her laughter was infectious, though she wasn't aware of it herself.
Verity was brought out of her reverie as the shop bell pinged and two men came in. She had seen one of them several times before, a dealer in his fifties who bought things from her occasionally, but she was sure the younger man hadn't been in before. He was tall and well built with soft brown hair that waved slightly back from his forehead and greenish blue eyes, and he towered over his rather short and chubby companion.
'Mrs Lovelace,' Harry Barton said and grinned at her. Harry always wore a suit and his shoes were highly polished. He was a cheerful, confident man who loved his work and Verity rather liked him. 'You're looking gorgeous as usual, and this shop smells like a dream.' Harry was part Irish and known in the trade as a charmer.
'It's the potpourri,' she said with a smile. 'That sunshine is nice. It was rather cold when I came in this morning but I should think it's getting a bit warmer out now, isn't it?'
'Summer is on its way, slowly but coming,' he replied and gestured to his taller companion. 'This is my sister's boy, Joshua Roberts. He was working as a carpenter for a furniture business but the firm went bust last month, nothing to do with Josh here.' He gave his nephew a jovial poke in the ribs. 'I've taken him on with me. He's a craftsman, and I think he deserves better than to be a carpenter. He could be a restorer of fine furniture, and he'll be good at it.'
The younger, good-looking man pulled a wry face as he looked at Verity. 'What my uncle means is that I'm useful to carry things, but if I take the right classes I might make a restorer of antique furniture one day.'
'Good restorer's are few and far between,' Verity told him. 'I hope you stick at it, Mr Roberts. I was disappointed with the last piece I had done.'
'Next time give me a buzz,' Harry said. 'I can probably point you in the right direction. I know a couple of good men in the area.'
Verity gave him one of her dazzling smiles. 'That is kind of you, thank you, I shall.'
'Well, we'd best get down to business,' Harry said. 'Got the rounds to make and there's a local sale I want to attend this afternoon. Are you coming, Verity?'
'It depends whether my friend Susan can cover for me for a few hours,' Verity said. 'She told me she would ring later if she can fit it in. There isn't very much I want, but I'll leave a bid with the auctioneer if I can't manage to get there.'
'It makes a break from the shop,' Harry said. 'A chance to meet and talk, hear what's going on in the trade. By the way, look out for a woman dressed very smartly buying antique porcelain with a fake credit card – she's caught a couple of dealers in the south of the country and they think she has come east now.'
'I probably don't have much worth her while,' Verity said, glancing round. She had some quality furniture, a few pieces of blue and white Delft, a collection of nice old glass, lace and dolls in a cabinet and also some copper and brass. 'I expect she targets the specialists.'
'Yes, I dare say but you never know.' Harry had been looking at a copper water jug that had a lovely worn, slightly battered sheen to it, but she knew he wasn't interested in the jug, and was waiting for him to tell her what he had really come in for. 'That little oak stool in the window,' he said at last, looking at the open display, which was set up on a little platform and accessible from the shop. 'Is it old or a repro?'
'Have a look at it yourself,' Verity invited. 'I was told in good faith that it had been in the family of the woman who sold it to me for years, her great grandfather's apparently. I believe it to be sixteenth century and there is certainly lots of wear on the bottom of the legs – but you decide, Harry. You know a good piece of oak when you see it.' And it was a good piece; an original, worn, well loved thing that shouted its quality at you. There was no need to push it at him, because she knew it wouldn't stay with her long.
He picked up the stool, turned it over, looked at the price tag and nodded. 'I think it's more seventeenth than sixteenth, Verity, but it's definitely genuine, and the price isn't bad. I'll give you eight hundred and fifty for it.'
Verity had paid six hundred and fifty and she would have to pay VAT on the difference. 'Sorry, Harry. I need nine to make it worthwhile. I never overprice my things, you know that. I bought it privately and I gave my customer a decent price for it.'
'It did come privately?' Harry seemed to hesitate, but she knew he wanted it. He would haggle for a while, but in the end he would pay what she asked, because it wasn't expensive, even though there was some slight damage.
'Yes, of course. Most of my stuff does, and I always say if it is a trade piece.'
'All right, I'll have it,' Harry said, surprising her. She knew at once that she had underpriced it in the first place, but it didn't matter. It had brought her a profit and that was all she needed.
'Thanks,' she said and fetched her duplicate book from behind the small counter to make out the invoice. 'Yes, a cheque is fine from you,' she said as he waved the book at her.
Harry wrote it out for her, then hesitated again. 'I noticed that you have a flat over the top of the shop. Someone said you were thinking of letting it out. It might suit Josh…' He glanced at his nephew. 'What do you think?'
Joshua had been standing silent for most of the time, looking round the shop at various pieces of furniture. Verity had noticed that he seemed to have an eye for the best things.
'It might be all right,' he said now. 'But perhaps Mrs Lovelace hasn't made up her mind what she wants to do yet.' He glanced at her, brows raised. 'I am looking for a place to live, but I don't want to push myself on you. I can manage where I am for a while.'
'Do you have a flat of your own?'
'No, just a room,' he said. 'I'm not keen on sharing with the people I'm with at the moment, but it isn't desperate.'
'I am thinking of letting it,' Verity said. 'But it isn't ready yet and I haven't decided. Come and see me again in about a month – if you're still looking.'
'Great, I'll do that,' he said and gave her a brilliant smile that lit up his whole face. It was strange but she hadn't thought much to him until he smiled like that, despite his good looks, imagining him to be perhaps a bit sullen or reserved. Now she saw that he had merely been polite, letting his uncle conduct his business without interruption. 'My uncle will give you a character reference, and I can get a bank reference if you want?'
'Well, I'm making no promises,' she said but couldn't help warming to him all at once.
She watched as they went out, putting the stool in the back of Harry's estate car, before returning to her polishing. It was nice that she'd sold the stool so quickly, though it was something she would have kept for herself if Michael didn't detest antiques, especially oak.
'I can't stand the smell of that stuff,' he'd told her once when she'd dragged him into an antique shop on their honeymoon. 'It smells of death and decay, and makes me feel old.'
'But it's so beautiful,' she'd said. 'I don't think of death, but of the lives people had, the history that is tied up in those things – all the loving and living they must have seen.' That was the thing about antiques; they had been handed down, passed on for generations, a part of so many people's lives. And the care and love that had gone into making them; you just didn't find that these days. 'Just think of the stories that old dresser could tell if it could talk.'
He'd looked at her as if she were mad. She had known then that she could never have her dream cottage, never fill it with antiques and the warm colours of browns, oranges, and creams that would make it glow. Michael liked modern things, bright light colours, and preferably magnolia walls with everything. He wouldn't even watch an old-fashioned film on the television with her, decrying it as idiots dressed up in long clothes.
Verity felt a chill at the nape of her neck as she put her cloths away and washed her hands. Was it then, at the very beginning that they had started to drift apart? No, it couldn't have been, she thought. They had shared most things, and her dream cottage had remained just that; she had put it away in a small corner of her mind, as she had all the other small things, the tiny hurts, the little disappointments that had come her way these past twenty years. She mustn't make too much of it now.
She put the coffee on. What she needed was a good dose of caffeine to drive the blues away. She was letting a small incident get to her and that was silly.
Michael had been a good husband in most ways. She had never had to worry about money. His business of a gentleman's outfitters had survived the trend towards large store shopping and continued to flourish, perhaps because Michael kept abreast of modern needs. His father had traded in good suits and shirts, and Michael still had a small section devoted to good quality formal clothes, but a lot of his stock now was of designer jeans, jackets and tea-shirts, which sold very well.
The bustling market town of Downham market thrived because it was close enough to Kings Lynn, and not too far from Norwich and the popular coastal resorts that attracted so many visitors in the summer. Most of Verity's own trade came from dealers who included her shop on their regular trawl, taking what they bought back to sell in smart London venues, but she had begun to sell quite a few small things to passing trade, especially in the summer months. People loved visiting antique shops; it was a form of recreation and you had to be prepared for lots of people who were just looking. But if you had the right things they bought now and then, though of course the main part of her income came from dealing with other traders.
Her lace was reasonably priced, and so was the blue and white china, which she picked up in auctions, or sometimes at boot fairs if she was lucky, and sold as individual pieces. Not many people wanted to buy the whole dinner or desert set, but a nice plate on its own made a focal point in a room, and was popular with people who liked to spend a few pounds on a day out. They were the kinds of things she sold to private customers, and she loved handling them, talking about antiques in general and people's collections. It was surprising how many people spent half an hour or more telling her about their private lives.
Her thoughts returned to her problem. She had had some happy years with Michael, and there were good memories. So if it wasn't right at the beginning, when had things begun to go wrong? Verity's mind went over her life as she tried to put her finger on a particular time, a moment that defined when Michael had stopped loving her, and she had started to withdraw.
Things hadn't been right for quite a while, but when had they started to fall apart? It might have been when she decided to invest her grandmother's legacy in this place. Verity frowned as she recalled his reaction to the news that she was going to open a shop of her own. No, he hadn't liked that at all, and they had argued over it several times.

Grand Christmas Contest

2008-12-01T14:01:00.000-08:00

Just to announce that there will be a Grand Christmas Contest on Red Rose Publishing blog. It will go up on 5th/6th December and there will be four contests. Each contest will have eight prizes and one winner will win each contest. So there will be four winners of eight prizes each.

Don't miss your chance to enter this fabulous contest!

Cassie's Sheikh Coming Soon in Print

2008-11-22T01:46:00.000-08:00

Cassie's Sheikh /Linda sole/ Red Rose Publishing
Cassie's Sheikh is available in ebook from www.redrosepublishing.com and www.fictionwise.com and will soon be available from www.amazon.com in print!

Kasim hates scandal magazines and people who work for them so what chance does Cassie have of convincing him that her father's racign stables is the right place for him to bring his horses?
Enjoy the excerpt!

"If she's the bitch I imagine she must be, there is no way I shall let my uncle place his horses at her father's stable," Kasim said. "It would be the worst thing he could do."
"But you don't know that," Ben Harrison, his friend, constant companion, and lawyer told him. "She may be a perfectly pleasant woman for all you know."
"A woman who writes for one of those filthy rags?" Kasim's eyes flashed with scorn. His face had the proud, regal lines of his ancestors, the bones angled beneath his olive-toned skin, but his eyes told another story. They were a deep brilliant blue, testimony to his mixed parentage, for he was the son of a desert Sheikh and the beautiful blonde and blue-eyed daughter of an American millionaire.
"Maybe she just does it for a living."
The angles of Kasim's face hardened. "Don't try to make excuses for her, Ben. I've had experience with her kind, remember?"
"Yes, of course I remember," Ben replied. "But you shouldn't jump to conclusions. You were all set for this deal until you found out that Josh's daughter worked for that magazine."
"My uncle thinks it is the best place available," Kasim said. "So I shall keep an open mind, but I want to see what they're like on a normal working day, not when everything is cleaned up for inspection."
"Shall I come with you?"
"Not today." Kasim's face relaxed into an affectionate smile, the angles softened as he looked at the man he trusted more than any other. "If I decide to go any further, we'll keep our appointment tomorrow—but today will be my little surprise."
*****
Cassie rushed out into the hall as she heard the commotion, feeling concerned as she saw everyone gathered about her father. Her mother turned to look at her anxiously.
"Your father thinks his ankle may be broken, Cassie."
"Oh, Dad," Cassie said. "Does it hurt badly?"
"Pretty bad," Josh Livingston said, grimacing. "It may mean I'm stuck in hospital for a few days, and you know who's coming tomorrow, don't you?"
"An important client," Cassie and her mother echoed each other.
Cassie understood what was going through his mind. Josh ran a small but successful racing stable in Newmarket, but the owner who had kept a string of horses with them for the past several years was about to retire from the business.
"Maybe they will let you out, Josh," Helen Livingston said, without really believing it. "You may not have to stay in hospital."
"But what if I do? Who is going to explain the way we work here to our visitor? Joe is great with the horses, but he hates getting involved with owners. It's the reason he doesn't work for himself."
"I suppose I could try…" Helen said doubtfully. "If you helped me, Cassie?"
Cassie hesitated for a moment. She was meant to be back in London the next day, and they had a magazine to get out—but she was due a few days leave and she could email her stuff through to the office.
"Yes, of course. If Dad thinks I'm up to it?" She grinned, tossing back her long pale hair, her greenish-blue eyes sparking with mischief. "You know I'm a walking minefield, Dad—dare you risk it?"
"It looks as if I may have to. This ankle is pretty awful, Cas. Try not to say or do anything daft when Mr. Ahmed comes, won't you?"
"You mean like calling him the Sheikh of Araby and wearing my harem costume?"
"Cassie!" her mother cried, horrified. "Please don't joke about this, darling. Your father has enough to worry him."
"It's all right, Cas doesn't mean it. I know you'll both do your best, but you're too like me, Cas—you'll probably fall flat on your backside just as you go to shake his hand," her father said.
"Shake the Sheikh's hand," Cassie said irrepressibly. "I think I could make up a little song about that…"
"Please spare me," her father begged. "That sounds like the ambulance outside, love." He looked at his wife. "I think I shall need a chair."
"Yes, of course. Stay where you are, Josh."
As his wife hurried out, he looked at his daughter. "You know your mother hates horses, Cas, always has. She can't bear to go near them. I sometimes wonder how she has managed to live with me all this time."
"Because she adores you," Cassie said and smiled at him affectionately. "And because you treat her as if she were special, Dad. Not many women are lucky enough to find a man like that, and Mum knows a good thing when she sees it."
"Bless you, love. I'm relying on you to charm Mr. Ahmed, Cas. He can be a pleasant chap, but they say he is hard to please when it comes to business and we need his horses. Tell him that we shall be able to devote ourselves to his string by next month, and that we are very stringent about security, also discreet—that is important to him. He hates newspapers and magazines…"
"Pity about that," Cassie said. "I might have gained Brownie points with Maggie if I'd been able to get an interview for our rag."
"Mr. Ahmed wouldn't be seen dead in your rag," her father said. "Whatever you do, don't tell him you work for Stars & Their Lives or he will be gone so fast we shan't see the dust."
"I was only teasing, Dad," Cassie said, and for once her famous grin was missing. "I do know how much this means to you, and I promise I shall do my best to pull it off for you. I won't breathe a word about the magazine, and I shall tell him what a wonderful trainer you are. Not that I have to with your record. You had six winners last year and that surely speaks for itself."
"I haven't won a Classic for three years," her father said with a grimace. "That could all change with Mr. Ahmed's string—if he placed them with us."
"Yes, I know." Cassie looked at him curiously. "Why doesn't he like to be addressed by his title?"
"He is a very private man. He never allows photographs, and is furious if the press catches him anywhere but at a race meeting. He can't prevent that, of course, nor being addressed as Sheikh Ali bin Ahmed in public, but he prefers to keep a low profile in private."
"He's extremely rich, isn't he?"
"One of the richest of them all. The thing is that he…" Josh broke off as two ambulance men came in carrying a chair.
Cassie watched as her father was helped into the chair by the paramedics and taken outside, followed by his wife. Helen Livingston cast an agonized glance at her daughter as she left.
"You can manage, can't you, love? I may be with your father for the rest of the day. There are a few letters that need typing. You will find them on the desk in the office."
"Yes, of course," Cassie said. "Don't worry about anything here. I'll be all right until you come home, I promise."
And that was quite a promise, Cassie acknowledged after her parents had left in the ambulance. She had columns to write for the magazine, those letters for her father, and a routine tour of the yard, just to make sure she knew anything she ought to know before the arrival of the Sheikh of Araby the next day. A little giggle escaped her as she pictured him, looking much like Rudolph Valentino, the star of the silver screen in the twenties.
"That's enough of that, Cassandra," she told herself severely. She had no idea what Mr. Ahmed looked like. He could be thin and dashingly handsome or fat, boring, and ugly. And that wasn't important either. He was her father's one hope of keeping the stable going, because without him Josh would probably have to sell everything and that would break her father's heart. He had put so many years into this business.
A determined look came over Cassie's face. If she had anything to do with it, Mr. Ahmed was going to run straight to his lawyers and sign the contract even if she had to—what? Oh no, there were limits, she decided. She'd heard about some of these rich playboys, and the one thing she wasn't about to do was fall into bed with him!
But if Mr. Ahmed was the private businessman he claimed to be, he probably wouldn't be interested in her as a woman. Why should he? Cassie glanced at herself in the mirror and giggled. She wasn't exactly Miss Glamourpants, was she? Wearing her oldest jeans, a faded sweatshirt, her hair decidedly in need of a wash, she wouldn't exactly drive any man to madness with lust for her. That wasn't important. Tomorrow she would be wearing smart jodhpurs, her best riding boots, and her hair would be gleaming. But for the moment she had too much to do to worry about what she looked like!
She walked into her father's office and switched on his laptop. She was just about to insert a disc with the details of the articles she had prepared for The Stars & Their Lives when she heard a loud crunching sound and a car come to a screeching halt in the gravel outside her window. Now who on earth is that? she wondered, getting up to investigate. The car was a very expensive Mercedes sports model in metallic silver with a black leather interior, and the hood had been rolled back, which made it appear even racier.
Oh, no, it couldn't be! Cassie's heart sank as the man got out of the car, standing there in the sunshine for a moment. He was tall but not too tall, strong-looking with powerful shoulders and an air of assurance that made Cassie's heart plummet all the way down to her white, wedge mules. It had to be Mr. Ahmed! He was turning towards her now and her breath caught as she saw that he was better looking than any Sheikh she had seen in old movies on the TV screen. His hair was jet black with a bluish tinge in the sunlight and his eyes—were hidden behind his designer shades. His suit shouted Saville Row at her, his shoes obviously handmade and expensive.
What the hell was he doing here today? She felt like exploding as she glanced down at herself. She looked like something the cat had dragged in and felt worse. Oh, why couldn't he have kept to his appointment as arranged? There was no help for it, Cassie realized. She had to meet him as she was and grovel.
She went swiftly through to the front door, opening it seconds before he could ring the bell. He removed his glasses and looked at her, his eyes going over her slowly in a measured way that made her want to die. This man was used to having the best of everything—and no doubt that included women!—what must be going through his mind? He must think her a poor specimen.
Hang on a minute! Those eyes were blue, bright, clear and devastating. She had always thought men from the Middle Eastern countries had dark eyes—but his were startling. And she was staring like an idiot!
"I am so sorry," she said, offering her hand and smiling. "We weren't expecting you until tomorrow, sir. I'm afraid I'm not properly dressed for showing you round the yard, but I can find a pair of Wellington boots and then I'll be with you."
"And you are?" he asked, his brows rising. He did not immediately take the hand she offered, and she let it drop, feeling rejected. His voice had the quality of cut glass and Cassie shivered, her knees suddenly feeling as if they had the consistency of jelly. He was clearly a man of authority, and none too pleased by being met by someone who looked as if she'd been pulled backwards through a hedge. "I was expecting to meet Mr. Joshua Livingston—the owner of this stable I understand?"
"My father, yes, of course, sir," Cassie said, but her head went up and she refused to be cut down by the slash of his tone. His manner was sending shivers along the entire length of her spine, but she wasn't going to fail at the first fence. "Unfortunately, he had an accident this morning and had to go to hospital. Actually, there must have been some mix-up, Mr. Ahmed. I am so sorry to seem at a loss, but we weren't expecting you until tomorrow."
"So, you are Miss Livingston?" he said and appeared to be considering, his eyes surveying her with a calculating coldness. "And you are offering yourself in your father's place?"
"It might seem a poor substitute," Cassie admitted. "I'm not a trainer, but I've been around horses all my life and I love them. I don't have my father's expert knowledge, but I know a great deal about the way he runs the stable—and his head groom, Joe Green, will be glad to tell you anything that I can't, sir."
"Mr. Ahmed will do," he said, and his mouth relaxed slightly. She thought he might have been laughing at her, and for a moment her heart did a giddy somersault, but he had replaced his glasses and it was impossible to tell. "Do you think you could find those boots, Miss Livingston? I shall be calling on you officially tomorrow, but I decided to drive myself down early and take a quick look round this morning. I like to see things as they are, not specially tidied up for my benefit."
"Yes, of course, sir," Cassie said and opened the door of the hall cupboard, taking out the Wellingtons her mother used for gardening. They were a bright turquoise, and really little bootees rather than the sensible boots she would have chosen given time, but at least they fit. "I hope you won't allow this little misunderstanding to put you off my father's stable. He really is an excellent trainer."
"If I didn't know that I should not be here." He glanced at his watch—gold, fabulously expensive—and then at her. "I have just thirty minutes before I have to fly back to a meeting in London."
"You came all this way for half an hour?"
Cassie couldn't help being fascinated. There was something about him that she found stimulating, a raw masculinity that she had seldom met with in the men she knew, his mouth curiously sensual despite his aura of power and disdain.
"I assure you it was nothing. I would go much further on…important business. Indeed, I often do, and few of my meetings last longer than thirty minutes. I am a busy man, Miss Livingston."
"Yes, of course."
Cassie felt like a wilting rose under his withering stare. She was babbling like a fool, and that wasn't really like her. In her real life, apart from the odd accident, like knocking over her diet drink and ruining her copy, she was confident, vibrant and one of the best journalists on Maggie's staff. But she mustn't even think the word. This man could probably read her mind—oh, she did hope not, and not just because she was a journalist. She couldn't help thinking that Maggie would drool over this one, if only she could get photos—preferably of him wearing something less than his smart silk suit. She watched as he bent to remove his own shoes and replace them with a pair of riding boots that had seen a certain amount of wear, noticing the way his jacket pulled tight across his shoulders for a moment. The body under that suit had to be something special!
"Shall we go then?"
His abrupt question broke into her thoughts, bringing her sharply to heel. Stop dreaming of sunlit beaches, iced drinks, and fabulous men in bathing shorts, Cassie Livingston, and get on with the job at hand.
She switched into professional mode as they walked from the house to the yard. It was a matter of only a few minutes, but the walk was pretty with the blossom trees just beginning to drop their flowers, and the sound of birdsong all around them. She told him of her father's love of horses, the way he could often tell what was the matter with a sick horse just by looking and watching, and how he had saved his previous owner thousands of pounds by working with one particular horse they had all adored.
"The vet said we ought to have Jester put down," Cassie said, her voice warm and enthusiastic, "but Dad wouldn't hear of it. He nursed Jester himself, slept there every night for weeks until my mother threatened to divorce him—but it was worth it in the end."
"Why—did the horse win a race for you?"
"No, but it sired a colt that won for someone else," Cassie said. "Besides, the very fact that Dad made Jester well again was worth all the trouble, wasn't it?"
"Was it?" His voice was clipped, precise, slashing at her like a scimitar. "It would probably have been more economic to have the horse put down in the first place."
"But totally cruel!" Cassie cried, infuriated that he could suggest such a thing. "I hope my father would never think that the better option."
"I was merely putting the point," Mr. Ahmed said coldly, his eyes raking over her. "There is no need to jump on me as if I had suggested murder."
Cassie took a deep breath, counting to ten before speaking. Had she been free to behave as she wished, she might have turned on her heel and left him standing there. He might be the most totally fascinating man she had ever seen, but he was also infuriating. Unfortunately, her father was desperate for a new owner, and the only one to profess an interest was this man. She swallowed her pride.
"Forgive me. I did not intend to be rude."
"Did you not? I would not like to hear you when that was your intention, Miss Livingston."
Cassie clamped down on a sassy retort, giving him what she hoped was a conciliatory smile. "It was just that we all loved Jester so very much."
"I had thought you meant that your father would do as much for any horse if it was sick?"
"Yes, of course he would!"
"I am relieved to hear it. I should not consider placing my…horses with anyone who was not prepared to put themselves to extra trouble to nurse a horse that needed it."
Cassie did a quick stock-take of her thoughts. Just what was he doing here? Had he deliberately set a trap for her? She paused for a moment, giving him one of her Cassandra looks. A look that her work colleagues knew well, though her parents and friends had rarely seen it.
"I hope you don't think I am a silly, sentimental woman, Mr. Ahmed. I assure you that I have my wits about me. I care for all animals, not just horses, but if I loved an animal that could not be helped I should immediately send for a vet to put it down."
"Indeed? How practical you are," he said and the look he gave her was deliberately provoking. "I thought for a moment that I had discovered that rare thing these days—a tender-hearted woman."
Oh, damn him! He was determined to turn everything she said on its head, and she had a dawning suspicion that he was laughing at her. Not that there was a trace of it in his expression, his mouth firmly set in disapproving lines, and of course his eyes were hidden.
"Tenderness should be reserved for the right moment, Mr. Ahmed."
"Yes, I believe that is very true," he replied. "I have very little use for it myself—except at the right moment."
If only she could see his eyes! Cassie was sure that he was thoroughly enjoying himself at her expense, and she was quite certain that she knew exactly what he meant by the right moment. Thinking about what he would feel was a moment for tenderness was making her knees go wobbly again. Oh, hell, this wasn't the time to start having fantasies about a man with beautifully tanned skin and a body to die for!

New Mills & Boon

2008-10-12T02:54:00.000-07:00

This is my latest Regency with Mills & Boon. To be published in November!

New Medieval!

2008-10-12T02:49:00.001-07:00

This is the cover for my new book coming in November with Eternal Press. It is a Medieval story that I loved writing but didn't think I would get published. I am delighted that it very soon will be!

Love is Not Enough

2008-09-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

A couple of months back I got my copies of the CD of my adudio of Love Is Not Enough. I have just disovered that Amazon.com is saying it is out of print and Amazon.co.uk says Temporarily out of stock. I don't know whether to be delighted that it has sold out of the copies that were done or annoyed that they didn't do quite enough. It is a beautiful cover but I expected it to be available for a while yet. I had ages searching for it, because it only came out last month and then when I found it I couldn't buy copies. It is still available in download to an ipod or an MP3 player - which is something I suppose.

The second book seems to have sold reasonably well. Only one in stock on amazon.com. the third book will be out in December. I may have some exciting news for my readers soon but it isn't certain yet. Love to all, Linda

Trial By Fire excerpt

2008-08-14T00:07:00.001-07:00

Trial by Fire/Anne Ireland/
Eternal Press

Coming in September
Ally is being haunted by a fourteenth century witch!
Enjoy!

As she went down to the hall, Ally heard someone laugh. It was a pleasant sound, youthful and joyous. Where had it come from? The door to the sitting room was open. She walked in, half expecting to see a child at play, because it had surely been a child's laughter. The room was unoccupied, but the tiny, latticed window had been left open a little at the top. Of course, that was why she had heard the laughter. Sound carried a long way at night. Her neighbour probably had children.
Ally smiled, picked up another suitcase, and carried it upstairs.
“Why do you always smell so sweet? Why does your skin have the perfume of flowers?”
Ally froze as she heard the whisper. The voice was a man's―a man talking to his lover.
Laughter and now, whispers! Ally's skin prickled as she stood on the threshold to her bedroom. The voice had seemed to come from this room. But, it couldn't have. She had been into the room; she knew it was empty. Perhaps one of the other rooms? Was it possible that someone had been squatting here?
Putting down her case, she walked along the hall and looked inside the other bedrooms. They were both neat and clean, as pristine as when the agent had showed her the cottage. No one was in the house. It was her imagination.
Ally went back to the bedroom. It was quite empty. She was alone in the house. She hadn't heard that whisper. It was all in her mind.
Perhaps it was the book beginning to take shape at last. The explanation was one she could live with, because it had happened occasionally in the past. Not whispers exactly, but thoughts that came out of the blue and were so insistent, so loud in her head that they might have been spoken.

Trial by Fire © 2008 by Anne Ireland

New books

2008-08-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

I have a new book with eternal Press coming in September. The title is Trial by Fire and it is a historical time slip or as some people call it, a parnormal romance.

In October I have the first book in a new series from Severn House. The Lie/Linda Sole. this is the Family feud trilogy and I look forward to seeing it out.

In December I have an Anne Herries book from Severn House - the third in the Upstairs Downstairs series. The title of this one is Forbidden Love. If you have read the first two you will know it is Rose's story.

Also in December I have a new paperback from Mills & Boon. This is another Regency and the title is The Rake's Rebelllious Lady!

I am just about to start another book in the Melford Dynasty. None of these books have been published in England yet but the first two are out in America.

It hasn't been a good summer for us, has it? I am looking forward to some hot sunshine next time we visit Spain!
Love to you all, Linda

Chateau Despair

2008-06-29T23:29:00.000-07:00

My latest ebook from Red Rose Publishing.
www.redrosepublishing.com

Too Hot To Handle Published!

2008-06-06T01:23:00.001-07:00

Too Hot To Handle/Linda sole/Eternal Press
Sylvie is Vulnerable. Rafe is angry. Sparks will fly!
Available from www.eternalpress.ca
Published 7th June
Enjoy

Sylvie knew that most of her friends settled for sex and a mutual liking, companionship and someone to share their lives. They went in for relationships that were never intended to be permanent, which might last for a few months or a few years, but would eventually end as one partner moved on to a new relationship.
"Marriage doesn’t matter anymore," was the general theory, and Sylvie had gone along with it, but in her heart she couldn’t help wanting more.
Well, you’re not likely to find it with Rafe Wilde, she told herself firmly. He simply isn’t the marrying kind.
She sighed, then smiled at her own thoughts. Mr. Wilde was just too attractive for her peace of mind.
And yet there had been a moment in his arms when she would have given herself and not though twice about it. Even now there was a tender, sensitized feeling between her thighs, a need that she had never felt before.

I am now at myspace
www.myspace.com/lindasole

Chateau Despair

2008-06-04T01:33:00.000-07:00

Chateau Despair is a big WWII saga.

Clothilde is growing up in France in a crumbling chateau with her half mad granmother. Christine lives in England in a beautiful house with her family.

Clothilde gets caught in Paris when the Germans invade. She has several lovers and is involved with the Resistance. Christine has to contend with unrequited love and clothing coupons.

A secret binds these two but neither of them knows anything of it. What will happen when they meet and the mystery is solved?

Chateau Despair received a five star review from Anastasia
A Kind of Loving was given three cups from Coffee Time and a glowing review from Red Roses For Authors!

Love & War

2008-05-17T01:04:00.000-07:00

My new book from Severn House arrived this week. The cover is taken from a photograph and looks really good. I love it! The soldier looks like pictures of my husband's father! The book is out in June.

Coming Soon

2008-05-16T00:32:00.000-07:00

Too Hot To Handle will be out next month. This book was first published by Triskelion. It seemed to do well but the publisher closed and I never did find out how many copies were bought. I am crossing my fingers it will do well this time for the firm who has been good enough to republish for me.

Too Hot To Handle/Linda Sole/Eternal Press
published in June

Books I like to read

2008-05-15T00:24:00.000-07:00

A Wealthy widow is published now in America. It has also been done in Italy, Japan and some other countries. this was the second in the Hellfire series.

I've just reviewed a book called Witch's Heart by Tabitha Shay. This is part of a series of books about witches, and all of them are set in the same world, using many of the same charachters but featuring different couples in turn. I found this an enthralling read. It is at number two in the Eternal Press secrion at fictionwise.

I am now reading a western which I am enjoying and I have a regency I am going to read next. Unfortunately I don't get as much time to read as I would like, because I am always writing. However, I make sure I read and review a few inbetween bouts of furious work, because the brain needs to take in as well as put out.

We went to Hunstanton yesterday but the wind was cool - last week it was glorious there but we don't get it that warm often enough.

Chateau Despair

2008-05-12T10:30:00.001-07:00

An excerpt from

Chateau Despair/Linda Sole/ Red Rose publishing

Clothilde is growing up in a crumbling chateau with her half mad grandmother.

"You should send the child to the Nuns," Father Caillebotte said. "It is not fitting for her to be here in this place – and you are not well enough to care for her." His eyes swept round the room. It was cold despite the small fire flickering in the grate. Finding no answer to his problem, his gaze returned to the old woman, who sat hugging her shawl about her shoulders, her expression defensive and wary.
"The child is mine," she told him. "I brought her here to save her from the kind of life you would condemn her to with those sour-faced hags, who have never known what it is to live. Go away and leave us alone. We do not need you."
Caillebotte’s expression was one of patient resignation. He had made the same plea each time he came to the house for the past seven years, and it was always refused. He was wasting his time. It was only duty that made him continue to call at the house, which was crumbling into a ruin from neglect and had an air of despair about it.
"Perhaps not, but I shall continue to call even though you say you do not need me, Madame. If you have no thought for your own soul, the child must still be brought up in the way of the Lord – and she must be educated. It is time for her to begin her lessons. If you will not send her to school, I shall come myself to teach her to read and write."
Caillebotte was a good man. He would do his duty as he saw it. His conscience would not allow him to abandon either the child or the woman, even though he sometimes wondered if his visits meant anything at all to either of them.
The old woman gave him a sour look. "Please yourself. I should have taught her when she was ready. She likes to look at my treasures, and already she knows some of her letters. I do not neglect her as much as you imagine, Caillebotte. I tell her my stories. She likes stories…"
The priest was silent. He knew that the old woman had her good days and her bad days; he also knew that if he had done what was right, he would have taken the child into care long ago. This decaying chateau with its damp rooms and its dark secrets was not a suitable place for a child to grow – and yet the girl seemed to thrive on it.
She was a pretty child with large grey, wondering eyes. Her hair was long and dark; it flew wildly about her face as she ran bare foot about the house and the estate. He knew that she hid from him as much as she could, and suspected that she was somewhere around even now, listening to their conversation.
Clothilde listened from behind the painted screen, where she had hidden herself so that she could hear what they were saying. She was fiercely glad that Grandmere had refused yet again to send her to the Nuns. She did not want to go away from her grandmother, though she would not have minded escaping from certain other people in this house. But that would have meant leaving Grandmere, and she would never, never do that! If the priest took her to the Sisters of Mercy she would run away and come home to Grandmere.
Father Caillebotte was mistaken if he thought that she went nowhere and saw no one but her grandmere and the servants. Clothilde visited the village often. She knew the cottage where the priest lived behind the church, with its back garden where he grew herbs and vegetables, also fruit and a few flowers. Once she had stolen an apple from his tree, and his housekeeper came out shaking her fist. Clothilde ran away laughing; she was certain that the woman would never catch her.
The village itself was old; the houses built of some kind of stone that looked golden in the sunshine. Outside the small, dark inn, with its shuttered windows, old men sat drinking wine and dreaming in the sun while stray cats roamed where they would. Once Clothilde took one of the cats home with her, but it scratched her hand and ran away
The street was cobbled and there were potholes where the rain lay in the winter, the houses close to the road without gardens at the front. Some of them had bright window boxes, from which pink and red flowers trailed. In the back gardens the women, who always seemed to wear black, kept hens and some of them owned a pig, others grew herbs but not many of them grew flowers. Clothilde loved flowers, but there were none at the chateau, and no one to tend them. The servants were interested only in growing the vegetables they needed for the kitchen.
Clothilde waited until the priest left, then crept out from her hiding place and went to Grandmere. Climbing on to her lap, she sat before the fire, staring into the flames as they flickered and burned lower in the grate for want of kindling.
Grandmere stroked her head in an absent-minded manner. Clothilde knew that her grandmother’s thoughts were far away. She was always like this after the priest came, as if his visit made her want to shut out her surroundings.
"Are you dreaming about when you were young, Grandmere?" she asked, but received no reply. "Will you tell me a story?"
Sometimes her grandmother did not speak to her for hours, at others she would bring out her treasures and tell her stories. Clothilde liked those times best, but Grandmere was the centre of her world. Even when she was far away, lost in her world of dreams, she loved her.
From the moment she could walk and do things, Clothilde cared for Grandmere, understanding that the old woman needed her. She got down from her lap now and went to put more wood on the fire. Grandmere needed warmth because she was so often in pain from her poor crippled hands that ached with the rheumatics.
She went back and kissed the soft cheek, then slipped from the room. She would come back later when it was time for their supper. Grandmere would be ready to talk to her then, but for the moment Clothilde was free to escape into the woods. There she could run and hide, escape for a while from the harsh reality of her life at the house.
She was not sure that she liked the idea of lessons with the priest, but perhaps he would teach her to understand what was in the books in the library. There were a great many of them, some with pictures, which Clothilde liked to look at, others with strange letters that meant nothing to her.
"Where are you, little pig?"
Hearing the voice she hated most in the world, Clothilde made a dash for the door and freedom. She had stolen two buns fresh from the cooling tray earlier that morning and Blanche would beat her if she found her. However, the servant was fat and lazy, and she would not search far. Once Clothilde was in the woods she would be safe.
As she reached the door a bulky figure came darting out of the kitchen and grabbed her, shaking her until her teeth rattled.
"I have the little pig for you," Betrand called to his wife. "Here is the thief who stole your cakes."
"I didn’t steal them," Clothilde protested. "They are Grandmere’s cakes. You work for her. It’s your job to cook the food…"
She gave a scream as Betrand shook her, her head snapping back and forth. Blanche was coming towards her, stick in hand. She was going to be beaten again. Blanche was a vicious bully and beat her whenever she had an excuse. The last time she’d been black and blue all over for more than a week; she cried herself to sleep every night. She did not dare to complain to Grandmere, for it might upset her and make her ill. The servants treated her shamefully, but Clothilde was learning to fight back.
She turned her head and bit Betrand's hand. He gave a cry of pain and let her go, dropping her with such force that she felt the pain shoot through her wrist. Yet in a second she was on her feet, scuttling away and out of the door before he could recapture her.
She could hear them arguing about whose fault it was that she’d escaped, as she ran for her life, through the gardens towards the woods and safety.

*

What a lovely day!

2008-05-07T00:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went out for a lovely lunch at a restaurant my brother in law told us about. It was in a nice country setting and the sun was shining all day, and now the sun is shining again today. I do love it when we get periods of warm settled weather in England. We have such a beautiful country but so often the summers are cold or wet and so we go off abroad to get some sun!

I am putting up a new picture of me in Spain this time. I have just agreed a contract for five new books with Severn House. A new Linda Sole trilogy - sagas this time. Also the third in the Anne Herries Upstairs Downstairs trilogy and one other. I have finished revising the second in the A Season In Town trilogy for Mills & Boon and have one more book to write.

More importantly, we have a squirrel visiting the garden again! We did miss them so when they all disappeared last year!

Love to you all, Linda

Too Hot To Handle

2008-04-28T11:34:00.000-07:00

Too Hot To Handle will be republished in June. This is the new cover. I love it!

2008-04-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

My latest from Severn House - the first of the Upstairs Downstairs Trilogy. Second book coming in June!
Chateau Despair/Linda Sole/Red Rose Publishing
My new ebook coming soon.
Coming soon to Red Rose Publishing!
Enjoy.
FRANCE JANUARY 1921Madame Fanchot watched in triumph as the child entered the world in a mess of slime and blood. However, her feeling was short-lived as she turned to its mother. She was dying. Her labour had been long and hard, and the months of carrying had taken their toll. No one would care what became of her or her child. She’d been foolish and careless and her behaviour had brought shame to her family. For herself, she could have little reason left to live, but Madame Fanchot knew that she feared for her child."Where is she?" The woman’s voice was barely more than a whisper. The blood drained out from between her thighs, sluggish and thick. Madame Fanchot gave up any attempt to staunch it. She believed nothing more could be done to help the woman, or perhaps she was either too indifferent or too ignorant to try to save her. "Let me see her…just once.""She is beautiful, Madame," Madame Fanchot said. She laid the small bundle in the mother’s arms. The child was wrapped in nothing but the shawl the woman had been wearing when they’d found her wandering in the woods some hours earlier. "You have a lovely daughter.""I want to call her Elena," the mother said. "Her name is Elen…"The rattle of death caught in her throat, causing her head to fall back against the pillows."She has gone," a man said from the doorway. He spat on the floor of the filthy cottage. "So perish all such whores as they deserve.""You are too harsh, Jean," his wife said. She took the squalling child from its mother and held it to her breast to quiet it. "How can you know who or what the poor woman was? She has scarcely spoken a word since we found her wandering.""No decent woman would be alone in a wood in her condition," he muttered sourly. "If she came of good family they threw her out – and she isn’t wearing a wedding ring.""That doesn’t mean she was a bad woman," Madame Fanchot gave the dead woman a pitying look. "What are we to do with her now?""I’ll bury her in the wood. I’ve no money to pay the priest for a proper burial for a stranger?""But shouldn’t we tell someone? Supposing someone comes looking for her or the child one day?""We never saw her.""What of the child?" she cried in horror at his callous words."Get rid of it…" He growled deep in his throat . "I don’t mean kill it – take it to the church. Leave it near the altar. The priest will know what to do. It won’t be the first time he’s had to deal with an abandoned bastard I’ll swear. I don’t care what you do with it, just get it out of the house.""The shawl is hers. Was there nothing else – no ring or trinket of any kind that might help them to trace who the child’s mother was?""Nothing," he muttered in a way that immediately told her he was lying. "Nothing at all."She scowled at him. If he’d stolen something from the woman, he would likely keep it until he thought it was safe to sell. She would not receive the smallest part of his ill-gotten gains, even though she was the one who’d gone through the trouble of attending the woman."I’m going to take the child," she told him. She hated his brutality; she hated the poverty of her life. She wished she dared to leave him and take the child with her. It was impossible. Poor as her life is, it was still better than starving on the streets. "If you mean to bury the woman, Jean, be careful. If anyone sees you there could be trouble.""No one will see," he shrugged. "No one ever comes to the woods these days. Not after what happened up at the chateau."Madame Fanchot crossed herself as she hurried out into the bleakness of a cold winter evening. The chateau remained empty for the past five years, save from the crazy old woman that owned it. The last of her family, she had lived there alone, hardly seeing anyone since the tragedy. Madame Fanchot’s mind shied away from what had happened all those years ago.Indeed, she did not truly know for sure what had happened at the chateau. She’d only heard the rumours, but it was certain three people were brutally murdered there.Shivering, she ran all the way to the church. She looked about her, but could see no one. Hurriedly, she deposited her bundle behind the priest’s pulpit. He would surely see it there when he came to take evening confession.Afraid and guilty for leaving the child, Madame Fanchot made the sign of the cross over her heart and then ran from the church hastily. In her anxiety to get away, Madame Fanchot failed to notice the figure sitting quietly in the shadows. Nor did she ever know what happened after she’d left, though there would be times over the years when she wondered what had become of the child. Times when she believed she knew…

Too Hot To Handle

2008-03-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

I just want to say I am very happy that Too Hot to Handle (first published by Triskelion) is to be republished by Eternal Press!

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T00:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I have posted the first of a series of parts of a book called A Different Kind Of Love/Anne Ireland on my blog that has all the excerpts and stories now. I used to have these on my website but now I have a blog especially for them. I will publish the book a few chapters at a time so pop over there when you like and enjoy your free reads.

http://storiesfromlindasole.blogspot.com/

This is the url!

Last week I went to London twice. first to the RNA luncheon for the Romantic novel of the year. It was good to see friends and enjoy the speeches. On thursday I went to the Wallace Collection in Manchester Square to Mills and Boon's 100th birthday party. It was a glittering occasion and it was difficult to hear yourself speak! Quite an experience. This week I am getting on with my work. I have my latest M&B almost there and then I am going to start my next saga for Severn House.

Love to you all! Linda

A Shameful Secret

2008-02-01T11:26:00.003-08:00

A Shameful Secret is out today! This is a new Regency book from Amira Press. it has a very different cover and is quite attractive I think, but not at all like my Anne Herries covers.

Love Is Not enough/Anne Herries/Severn House is doing very well. It has sold to audio and has just been well reviewed at Cataromance.

http://singletitles.com/?p=265

I also have a good review for Cassie's Sheikh at

http://redrosesforauthors.blogspot.com/

I don't like the weather much! Roll on summer!

A Day For Friends

2008-01-16T10:41:00.001-08:00

CELEBRATIONS
A Day for Friends at Ebooklove
25th January 2008
A group of authors from different publishers have come together to promote their books.
There will be lots of contests, lots of prizes and lots of excerpts from wonderful books.
Our fabulous authors are:
Lynne Connolly, Rita Karnopp, Sloane Taylor, J Morgan, Missy Lyons, Tambra Kendall,
Pam Champagne, Raven Starr, Dee Dawning,
Melissa Glissen, Marie Treanor,
Ellie Tremayne, Bonnie Clarke MC Halliday,
Marie Rochelle, Savannah Chase, Maddie James,
Linda Sole
We would love you to join in the fun!

Award

2008-01-15T09:47:00.001-08:00

I am thrilled to announce that I have been given the Reviewers' Choice Award from Cataromance. Forbidden Lady/Anne Herries/Harlequin Historicals.

Cover for Cassie's Sheikh

2008-01-10T00:58:00.000-08:00

I am delighted that my new ebook is out today with Red Rose Publishing. This is a romantic story and one I wanted to see in print. The artwork is the copyright of Red Rose Publishing.
www.redrosepublishing.co.uk

Yesterday I received a Polish translation of Rosalyn and the Scoundrel. I think this Anne Herries book has been published in at least seven countries now! It is lovely to see all the books in different languages and exctiting when yet another parcel comes through the door.

We have had some lovely birds in the garden recently, including a beautiful woodpecker who comes on the nut box in the cheery tree near our kitchen window. Unfortunately I haven't seen many squirrels lately, but I do occasionally glimpse them in the trees opposite my study.

I must get on now as I have a book to finish! Linda

A Shameful Secret

2008-01-07T02:23:00.000-08:00

The picture is the cover of the last book of the trilogy just published by Harlequin Mills & Boon. A new Regency coming from them in paperback in Feb 2008!

This is an excerpt from my new Regency coming soon from Amira Press. Enjoy!

Hester has disgraced her family and can never be forgiven.

'Good morning, ma'am,' he said politely. 'Forgive me for disturbing you, but I believe I have missed my way. I wonder if you could direct me to Holdenby Hall please?'
For a moment Hester's heart caught with fright, for the words were the very same as those uttered fatally more than eight years earlier, the words that had led to a broken heart and her terrible shame. She breathed deeply, taking a moment to recover her composure before looking up at the face of the man who had spoken. Thank God it was not he! Had it been she could not have answered for her actions, for she had often thought she might like to strike that other one. Indeed, in her grief- maddened dreams she had longed to wreak bloody revenge on the man who had ruined her life, though when she was awake and thinking sensibly, she knew that she would never do such a thing. She was in actual fact, a well-brought up and conscientious lady, and her lapse from grace had been unfortunate rather than deliberate.
'Are you all right?' the man was looking at her in concern now, his blue eyes narrowing as he saw how pale she was. She was a lady of medium height, hardly above a man's shoulder, slender and attractive in a quiet, unremarkable way, despite her plain gown and severe hairstyle. And yet he thought that given a little colour in her cheeks she might have been pretty. 'Did I startle you?'
'A little,' Hester confessed, forcing herself to put away her foolish memories. 'I believe you have taken the wrong fork, sir. You must return to the crossroads and take the road to the right. I believe there is a milestone with the inscription, Holdenby Village two miles, but it may have become overgrown again.'
'Ah, yes, that would explain it. Josh told me there was a milestone but I did not see it as I rode. Thank you very kindly, ma'am, and forgive me if I came upon you too suddenly.'
There was sincerity in his deep voice and his smile was like a gentle caress. Despite the warnings in her head, Hester found herself responding to his charm.
'Are you staying with Lady Holdenby?' she asked. 'She told me last week that she expected her brother Josh for a visit and that he might bring friends to stay at the Hall.'
'We were in France together,' the man replied. 'Served under Wellington, on his staff. Captain Paul Crawford at your service, ma'am.'
'Hester Weston,' she replied, her heart beating quickly, too quickly. He was charming and good looking, she supposed, in a rather stern, forbidding way. Blue eyes, strong features and dark hair combined to make him a man who would always be noticed - and this was all wrong! She knew what such chance encounters led to and she was disobeying her father's last orders to her as he lay dying. She was to stay at home with her mother for the rest of her life and never think of shaming her family again. 'Excuse me, Captain Crawford, I must hurry. I am expected at home.'
'Of course, forgive me,' he said and swept his hat from his dark head once more before turning his horse to ride off the way he had come.
Hester could not resist a last glance at him as she turned homeward. He was not the most handsome gentleman she had ever seen, but he had good bone structure, a soft, sensuous mouth and a deep, pleasant voice. Despite her father's unkindness, her mother's reproaches, and the knowledge that she could never expect to marry, Hester had occasionally thought of it. In the ridiculous dreams she sometimes experienced, the kind and generous man she longed for rode up on his horse and carried her off to a life of domestic bliss. It was foolish of her to hanker after something that could never be hers; she would never know the joy of holding her child in her arms, or the happiness of being loved by a man who loved her in return.
At the age of just seventeen, Hester had been ruthlessly pursued and seduced by a rogue, who having won her heart and her confidence, ravished her and left her to face the consequences alone. When the evidence of her disgrace became too prominent to disguise, her father had subjected her to a cruel punishment. She was forbidden all the pleasures she had until then enjoyed, and was banished to stay with a distant aunt until the child was born. The child being stillborn, Hester had been allowed to return to her home, the scandal hushed up and kept from all but certain members of her family. However, it was made perfectly plain to her by Harold Weston that she was a wicked girl who had brought shame on her family and would never be given a chance to do so again.
At first rebellious, Hester had come to accept that she had indeed brought shame on her family, and that she must bear her punishment as best she might. It had been very hard for a girl of spirit to accept, but over the years the light inside her had dimmed and at five and twenty she was not the foolish romantic who had given her heart so easily.
Richard Mortimer, grandson of Earl Mortimer, was a ruthless rake and Cousin Charlotte had told her that she was not the only innocent girl he had ruined. Indeed, he had been banished to the West Indies after one particularly bad scandal, and there for all Hester knew he remained, though she had heard that his elder brother had been killed at Waterloo fighting the French.
Hester hoped that her seducer would never return to this part of East Anglia, and indeed it was unlikely. He had found the area dull and had stayed at his family home near Burnham Market reluctantly, having been rusticated because his grandfather refused to pay his gambling debts. In his boredom Richard had sought a diversion, and Hester's sweet naiveté had aroused his interest. Had her mother been less indolent or more interested in her daughter's welfare, Mrs Weston might have warned her child to beware of rakes like Mortimer. However, he had set himself to charm both the mother and the daughter, and Araminta had ignored the signs.
Hester sighed as she smothered the memories. It was ridiculous to let herself hope for something that could never be. Her mother needed her at home now that her father was dead. He had died without forgiving his daughter, and that had hurt Hester deeply. She knew that she had been foolish, but she had never meant to be wicked and she had longed for her father's forgiveness, but it had not been granted her.
As she ran the last few steps towards her home, she saw that a mountain of luggage was in the hall still waiting to be carried upstairs. That must mean Cousin Charlotte had arrived. Hester smiled and for a moment her face lit up and the air of repression left her. She was no longer the pretty child she had once been for care had driven that sweet innocence from her face, and she often looked sad or dull, but when she smiled she had a gentle beauty that would appeal to the more discerning.

I hope you enjoyed this excerpt. A Shameful Secret/Anne Ireland/Amira Press

Coming soon in ebook and in print.

A new picture of me

2007-12-29T02:57:00.000-08:00

My husband took this one on our last holiday. It just came back on CD. I haven't tried it before but it is a lovely new idea for me, easy to put my phots up!

A Happy New Year!

2007-12-28T01:38:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed the TV. I loved the dancing on Christmas Day and Maria meets Joseph was lovely too. The Old curiosity Shop was so sad! I knew that little Nell died but it still made me weep and wish it had ended otherwise.

I had a very busy year last year and I expect it to be the same this year as far as work goes. In addition to my new Dark Eden Press book - Obsession - I have so far two books coming out with Severn House, the first this month. I have five coming out during the year with HMB - and I have three ebooks coming in the first months of the year with Red Rose Publishing. I also have a Regency with Amira Press. This should be out fairly soon and it will be going to print as well as ebook. I'll post about all these things another time.

I am looking forward to watching the remainder of the World PDC darts competition, which ends on Tuesday next week. Last night we watched Phil Taylor in a very tense match that went all the way to the wire - literally! Phil Taylor has been champion thirteen times and I have my fingers crossed for number 14. Good luck Phil!

May 2008 be a wonderful year for us all. Peace, health and happiness to you all. Linda

My latest ebook

2007-12-28T01:34:00.000-08:00

This is the cover for my latest ebook with Dark Eden Press! It is a Mystery/Romance/Paranormal and it is hotter than the other books with DEP which were - Dangerous To Know and Daddy Loves Belinda. In this story the heroine is haunted by an ancient Egyptian Queen, who threatens to take over her life.

The gods were angry. A terrible plague was rife in the Kingdom, and now the Queen was dying. It was whispered that a curse lay upon the land and the people were afraid.
*****
‘Ally, are you busy?’
I had been preparing my equipment for that morning’s shoot when the phone rang, but I was happy to hear my sister’s voice.
‘Not too busy to talk to you. I’ve been leaving messages all week.’
‘I’ve been working on something.’
When Elaine became immersed in a project she went around in a state of absentmindedness, passing her best friends in the street without seeing them!
‘Something special?’
‘I’m not sure yet. I’ve been told there’s a package waiting for me at customs. I’ve got to go in and sign for it. Apparently, it’s too valuable to let go without filling in all kinds of forms.’
My clever sister was an Egyptologist, the brilliant author of several books on the subject, and a research adviser for at least two museums that I knew about. She was passionate about her work, so passionate that it had led to the breakdown of her marriage. Simon Norton had decided he wasn’t prepared to play second fiddle to a load of long dead mummies, and had found himself a tall, slender and very leggy blonde who was clearly very much alive.
‘Very mysterious. Do you know what it is?’
‘I’m not sure. I’ve been promised a couple of things so it might be either one. Both are equally interesting in their own way.’
‘Something for your exhibition?’
Elaine was preparing an exhibition at a prestigious museum in New York, where she lived. She had a small apartment overlooking Central Park. It was always untidy, littered with piles of her notes and anything she might be working on, which could be a piece of stone bearing inscriptions or paintings, or perhaps ancient manuscripts written in ink so faded they were barely decipherable. Elaine was known for being rather good at reading hieroglyphics and had gained quite a reputation amongst the staff of museums all over the world.
I stayed with her as often as I could manage-- she had given me a key so that I could come and go as I pleased. Since our father’s death and the sale of our family home in England a few months previously, I had been more or less on the move, living out of a suitcase most of the time and storing the rest of my personal stuff in Elaine’s spare bedroom. It suited me, because I travelled a lot in my work and spent most of my life in hotel bedrooms.
‘I might use it,’ she said in answer to my question. ‘We’ll see. How much longer are you staying in Paris, Ally?’
‘Oh, a couple of days, I should think. We’ve finished all but one last shoot for the magazine, but I want to take some pictures for myself. Artists on the Left Bank, that sort of thing.’
‘For your exhibition. You should have one, Ally. I know you make a good living as a fashion photographer, but some of your other stuff is wonderful. I loved those pictures you took when you were in London last summer – those kids living rough on the streets. One girl had the face of an angel.’
‘Don’t be deceived by her looks. She was one tough kid,’ I said and laughed. ‘Fashion photography for glossy magazines pays the rent. My other work is just for personal satisfaction.’
‘I’m not so sure about that,’ she said. ‘Besides, if you stopped living in hotels and got your own place you might be able to afford to ease up a bit. You could use your share of Dad’s money to put down a deposit on an apartment. There’s one going near me…’
‘You could have your spare room back then.’
‘You know I didn’t mean that, Ally. I love having you to stay, but you need somewhere of your own – roots.’
‘Yes, I know, love. Maybe I’ll take a look when I get back. It would be nice to buy something near you. We might get to spend more time together.’
‘That’s the idea,’ Elaine said and there was a slightly wistful note in her voice. ‘I often wish I’d spent more time with Dad. He always said he was busy and we’d plan things for the future.’
‘I know. We none of us thought time would run out that fast…’
Michael Rowlinson had been a successful businessman for most of his life, taking care of his daughters single-handed, because our mother died soon after I was born. He’d had a succession of housekeepers and minders for us, of course, but he had given us love in abundance and he had never remarried. He was always too busy for that – but not too busy to keep in touch. He had been so proud of Elaine, just as I was, but he had taken an interest in my work too.
‘You take after me,’ he’d told me once. ‘You like life and being with people. Elaine is studious like her mother. Helen could have done anything – been a brilliant scientist if she hadn’t fallen in love and given it all up to have kids. She was going to write a book when you and Elaine were grown up.’ He’d sighed and looked sad, and I knew that he had never ceased to mourn the wife he loved. ‘It was a shame she never lived to see it, Ally.’
‘Yes, I wish she had,’ I’d told him, giving him a quick hug. ‘I’ve often wished I’d known her, Dad, but we’ve had you and each other. We’ve been lucky.’
‘I’m the lucky one,’ he’d replied. ‘It’s been a satisfying life – making money to look after my girls.’
He’d always seemed to be rushing from one place to another, then, when he was fifty-six, he’d suddenly decided to retire and spend the rest of his life playing golf.
Since his death, I’d wondered if he’d somehow guessed he only had a couple of years left to him. The cancer had been swift, taking us all by surprise. I’d been on the verge of leaving college and Elaine had been going through the aftermath of her divorce. She was now thirty-three, and I was twenty-two. There had been a big gap between my sister and I, and perhaps the unexpected arrival of a second child had contributed to the heart problem, which had killed my mother at such a young age.
Losing Dad had hit both Elaine and I hard, bringing us up with a start. It had made us aware that life was fragile and could be lost all too quickly. Sometimes, I thought Elaine had taken it even harder than I – perhaps because she seemed to have settled for life without a husband or children, and that left her with only me and a few good friends. And her work of course. Work was very important to my sister.
‘I’ll see you the day after tomorrow,’ I told Elaine, realising that she was probably feeling a bit low. It wasn’t like her to call, especially if she was working. ‘We’ll look at the apartment together. And I have a couple of weeks free now – if you can manage it we can spend some quality time together.’
‘Yes, I would like that,’ she said, sounding more cheerful. ‘I’ve been working hard on the projects for the exhibition – and something else I’ve been researching – but I shall take a few days off and we’ll do something relaxing. Maybe even go away…’
‘That’s a promise,’ I told her. ‘I’d better go now or I’ll be late.’
‘Yes – and I want to collect that parcel. If it’s what I think it might be … but it probably won’t be authentic. Most people think they have something that is far more ancient than it really is, but I do have hopes…’
‘You are sounding very mysterious.’
‘I’ll tell you all about it when I see you. There’s really a curious story about this…’ the line crackled and she laughed. ‘Do you think someone is warning us we’ve talked enough? I’ll see you when you get back, Ally.’
*****

More pics

2007-12-22T02:18:00.001-08:00

My new book from Severn House coming in January.

The cover art is the copyright of the publisher!

Wishing you all wherever you are A Very Happy Christmas and A healthy and Peaceful New Year!

Love to all my friends and readers. Linda

Christmas Cheer

2007-12-22T02:15:00.000-08:00

All the images here are either Pat's Graphics or Yulelovit.com

Happy Christmas!

2007-12-22T02:10:00.000-08:00

I have popped in to say hello and Happy Christmas to everyone. After working hard all year and having lots of nice things happen on the writing front I am relaxing for a few days, having fun and enjoying Christmas. I am looking forward to the final of Strictly Come Dancing and to other things on TV. I love a turkey dinner and I shall thoroughly enjoy a nice quiet Christmas with my husband. I am going to post another picture of Grandfather Sole, because people have asked for it. I also want to post some Christmas stuff, so I may have to do several. Here is the picture promised. Linda

Hi again!

2007-12-10T09:50:00.000-08:00

It is such an age since I managed to blog! My excuse is that I have been busy writing lots of lovely books for you all to read.

My new book from Severn House arrived today. The title is Love is not Enough/Anne Herries/Severn House. I haven't got the picture saved yet, but it is very similar to a picture of my husband's grandmother outside the house they owned then!

I am going to post some wedding flowers that my sister did for her granddaughter's wedding. She made a beautiful job of them!

Hi everyone

2007-11-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to tell you that I have a new ebook out with Dark Eden Press at the moment. I also have two of the new Anne Herries trilogy out - the third is out at Christmas.

We have been to Spain for two weeks. The weather was gorgeous! I thought it would be very cold when we got back home, but it wasn't too bad. The forcast says the bad weather is on the way. Oh dear. I love being home but I like the Spanish weather best. However, I am looking forward to getting ready for Christmas!

Justice is served

2007-10-02T01:18:00.000-07:00

Justice is Served is my second book in the Sarah Beaufort crime series. It came out on 30.09.07 and I am thrilled with the way this series is being received. The first book had an excellent review in America and I am looking forward to seeing what they think to the new one.

Justice is Served/Severn House

www.severnhousse.com

My new Regency series from Harlequin Mills & Boon

2007-10-02T01:16:00.001-07:00

My new series started in August with Marianne and the Marquis. It continues in October with Married By Christmas. This is Jo's story and it is a lot of fun. I have had a compettion on my website for this, but I still have a few copies left if anyone wants one, just mail in through my website. www.lindasole.co.uk

Review for Slave of Love

2007-10-02T01:09:00.000-07:00

The Slave of Love/Amira Press
$3.50
Slave of Love is a wonderful story about the temptation of the dark side vs. a man's desire to escape the clutches of evil and turn his life around. Slave of Love is a hot sexy story with warm tender moments and a moral. It's too bad the book wasn't longer. This is a big extremely well written story that deserves to be told on the big screen.
Date Added: 09/27/2007 by Dee Dawning/ five stars

This was posted to Amira Press website.

I am thrilled to say that my short story has now received four reviews. Two posted on Amira by readers, one on redrosesfor authors and one on Coffee Time.

I am also delighted to say that Dangerous To Know/Anne Sole/Dark Eden Press has received a four cup review from Coffee time. You can read it by clicking on the url below.

http://coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/Dangeroustoknow.html

Chateau Despair

2007-08-26T02:10:00.000-07:00

I have a book coming with with Red Roses Publishing in the near future that I really want to tell you about. It is called Chateau Despair and I wrote it a couple of years back. My agent of the time said it haunted her but she didn't know where to send it so I kept it on the computer. A couple of months back I sent it to an ebook publisher. I really love this book and I am thrilled it will be published. If enough copies sell it may go into paperback. I really like this cover. Love to you all, Linda

www.redrosespublishing.com

Slave of Love

2007-08-23T10:27:00.001-07:00

And excerpt from Slave of Love/Anne Ireland/amirapress
Marcus Wiverton, Earl of Wyburn, stood looking at his reflection in the mirror. He saw the face of a nineteen-year old man, untouched by sin, pain or guilt, still as handsome as the night he had gone to her, the great courtesan—more properly known as the Queen of Lust.
Could it really be ten years since that night? He turned away from the mirror, glancing at the bed where the body of a young woman lay slumped in death. Helene Brockelton. She was beautiful, passionate and so full of life, now dead. Not at his hand but because of him—because she could not live without what he gave her. And he could not love. He laughed bitterly, for the irony of his situation was that he was considered a wonderful lover. Women begged him to lie with them, because only he could satisfy their needs. Once they had lain in his bed no other man would ever be enough.
It was not vanity that made him think as he did, but the simple truth. It was the gift she had given him that night—that witch! A groan of anguish broke from him as he recalled all the things he had done since then—the hearts he had broken, the lives ruined, marriages torn apart. He was known as a wicked seducer. Mothers warned their daughters not to speak to him, and yet they were drawn against their will…drawn like moths to the flame, curious, innocent and then willing slaves to Lust.

This will be available from 24.August

http://www.amirapress.com/

Dangerous To Know

2007-08-16T00:33:00.000-07:00

This is a short excerpt from Dangerous To Know/Anne Sole /Dark Eden Press

"Your work sounds fascinating," Karin said. "Are you sure you wouldn’t like something to drink – tea?"

"Maybe I’ll chance the tea," Mike said, his look teasing her. "You Brits make the worst coffee ever."

"Thanks!" Karin’s laughter was soft and husky. She stood up and Mike rose to his feet; he caught her wrist as she would have passed him, swinging her round so that they were very close, gazing into each other’s eyes. "Mike?" she breathed in wonder as he reached out and drew her into his body, holding her pressed against the length of his body. She was aware then of the masculine power of him – and the fact that he was physically aroused. She could feel the heat of him burning into her and it was doing odd things to her senses.

"I haven’t been able to get you out of my head," Mike said as his head bent towards her, his lips seeking hers. "I’ve been wanting to do this again…"

Karin’s body arched into his, her mouth opening softly beneath his as they kissed long and slow. The heat rushed through her, making her bones melt with the liquid, churning desire inside her. There was no thought of resistance, only a hunger that she had never experienced before. This felt so right!

The kiss was exploratory on Mike’s part, his tongue thrusting its way inside her mouth, tasting her, teasing her as her hands went up into his hair at the nape, her long fingers caressing him. For the moment that he held her it seemed as if they were alone in time, apart from the reality of the outside world – something Karin had never known before. She had enjoyed passion with her boyfriends in the past, but this was something very different. They were both visibly affected when they at last drew away from each other.

"You had better make that tea," Mike said, following her to the adjoining door that led into the kitchen. He watched the sway of her hips in the short black skirt, feeling the burn of desire in his guts and knowing he wanted her. He wanted her badly at this moment, so badly that he ached with the need, but anything between them was bound to be of short duration and he didn’t want to hurt her or be hurt himself. "Talk to me, tell me about Angela. You two were twins but were you alike in other ways?"

"No, not much," Karin said without looking round. She was filling the kettle, preparing a tray. The kitchen was neat and clean, but very cluttered with cooking tools and books, every shelf crowded with bits and pieces. The clutter seemed friendly clutter and Mike liked it – he liked everything about her more and more.

Karin turned slightly and smiled at him. Her mouth was soft, shining a little, her eyes clear and full of a secret laughter, as though she was amused by what she was about to tell him.

"Help me know her, Karin," he invited.

Dangerous To Know will be available from the end of August at

http://www.darkedenpress.com/

Golden Apple competition

2007-08-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Watch for more details about this compettion being held by Dark Eden Press!

More new books!

2007-08-05T11:29:00.001-07:00

I have heard that Amira Press is taking my ebook The Slave of Love. This is a saucy tale set in Regency times about a man who wants to be a great lover and what happens to him after he gets his wish. I think I said that Dark Eden Press is bringing out three of my books and I have several coming out with both Severn House and HMB - which means lots of corrections and lots of work! It will all get done eventually!

Actually, I want to tell you about a wonderful book I have just read called - How Wicked Can She Go? by J Morgan. I have reviewed it for redrosesforauthors.blogspot.com but I thought I would tell my friends here about it to, because it is so funny. If you like your books a little bit naughty but nice and very funny you would love this one. You can buy it from Dark Eden Press and it isn't expensive. I highly recommend it.

Anyway, I am going to post the cover of Dangerous to Know/Anne Sole. This is the first of my Dark Eden books and comes out at the end of August. I really like the cover.

Love to you all, Linda

New Books

2007-07-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

I had a cover come from France this week. Someone kindly sent me a lovely email with the cover of a book about to be published there. Captive of The Harem has been published all over the place and is my best selling book with HMB. I was thrilled to get this cover. I also picked up the cover of the second Sarah Beaufort Mystery/ Linda Sole. I thought I would put them bok up, Linda

More news

2007-07-23T01:40:00.000-07:00

I now have three books coming out with Dark Eden Press and will write more nearer publication. My new trilogy with HMB starts next month and I am going to lunch at Richmond this week to talk to the publisher about a new contract (hopefully). I have sent off the third in the Sarah Beaufort mystery series and I have heard that SH want to publish a new saga trilogy. So it is all go on the work front. I like to be busy so that is great.

We have some squirrels again. Two little ones have been playing in the back garden, eating sunflower seeds and nuts. Two larger ones have been coming the last couple of days so that is nice. I did think we might have lost them again, but we haven't. The thrushes and blackbirds are mad for sultanas because they all have young. they fly up to the windos and fetch us out whenever they see us.

I keep hoping for more sun. We haven't had much this year, and we haven't been to Spain much either. I hope we shall go in September. It would be too hot at the moment from what friends out there tell us. I did swim when we were out there in June but that seems ages ago now! We have had a couple of pleasant days at the sea here, warm but not hot.

I feel so sorry for all the people who have been flooded! It must be awful, and especially when it happens more than once. To see all your things ruined that way! But thankfully there have not been many fatalities, which is even worse.

I have been watching the dancing at the weekends. I am looking forward to when the competition starts in earnest. I think this will be really good!

Oh, I must tell you about two books I reviewed for redrosesforauthors.blogspot.com

Letters From Pemberley/Jane Dawkins and Old Frends and New Fancies.Sybil G. Brinton.

These were sequels to Jane austen books and I thoroughly enjoyed them. You can buy them from amazon and I think they are worth having if you really can't get enough of the orignal.

Bye for now, Linda

That was quick!

2007-07-07T10:59:00.000-07:00

Dark Eden Press sent me a mock up of how my cover will look. It was very quick and it isn't the final yet, but I liked it and thought I would put it up.

Hasn't it been a lovely day. Venus won the lady's tennis. I hope the young girl might dio it but she couldn't. I expect it will be Federer tomorrow but fingers crossed for Nadal! I hope that match is a good scrap!

Love to you all, Linda

Went to the sea

2007-07-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

Today we visited the sea house and it was lovely. The lawn had grown so long although it was only just over a week since we were there - perhaps more like twelve days if I am honest. In the garden the sun was shining and it felt lovely and warm. It isn't often we get such a lovely day at the sea and we really enjoyed it. I saw a bit of the tennis when we had our fish and chips for lunch - they are gorgeous! But it was raining again by the time we got home and the matches were postponed again. This Wimbledon must have been hell for the players! It is bad enough trying to watch!

Well, the kitchen is finished and we are thrilled with it. We have a new glass table (round) and perspex chairs - they look like glass but of course they aren't. It is all very modern and with it and I love it. Now it is done all the mess is worthwhile, though as I suspected I still haven't found everything.

This evening I have made a book trailer for the authors at Dark Eden. I hope they will enjoy it. I shall try to post the url - let's see if it works

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgYmajMFTOM

Go and take a look if you have time. It is fun. Love to you all, Linda

PS I love this cover but I bet it won't be on the version that comes out over here - when it does. I don't know what they did the American one first.

Sold some more books!

2007-06-30T04:33:00.000-07:00

I have recently sold two books to an ebook publisher called Dark Eden Press. After the last muddle I may be mad, but I am hoping for better luck this time. The books are called Dangerous Games and Daddy Loves Belinda, and are romance/suspense. I shall enjoy seeing them in print and this publishing house seems a bit more inclined to go out there in the market place so hopefully that will mean more sales and success. Fingers crossed, Love Linda

Sorry!

2007-06-21T04:55:00.000-07:00

My brother and sister in law and me in Spain some years back.

Just to let you know that the round robin story and competition on Triskelion myspace has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control. Due to problems at the publisher the Anne Ireland book may not be on sale for long now, but I have some copies and anyone who would like one can write to me through my website and I'll send them one free. Best wishes, Linda

It's Summer but the sun isn't shining!

2007-06-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, aren't we having some bad weather? Never mind we are going to brighten the summer up with a month long story for you. Some of it will be featured here on my blogger, some on the blogger or my space of other authors. I shall tell you more about it another time, but for now it is called Thirty One Days and is a suspense/romance story.

In the meantime I want to show you the cover for the first of my new Regency trilogy. The paperback will be out in August, and the hardback is out now. I am going to be offering free copies soon. I just need to set up the competition. Love, Linda

Hi everyone!

2007-06-04T09:26:00.000-07:00

It is dull here today and yesterday was fantastic! I can't believe how quickly the weather goes from being hot to dull and cool. Never mind, soon it will be Spain - hopefully and then we shall get some good sunshine!

The kitchen is almost done - should be finished tomorrow. We have a new induction hob so had to find saucepans that would work on it! Never mind the old ones were a bit tatty so we have now bright shiny ones!

All going well on the writing front. Too Hot To Handle still at number one - but for how long? the new Regency will be out soon now at HMB. It is all go! Love, Linda

Getting There!

2007-05-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

We have been to the sea house today. It was lovely to get away from the chaos the new kitchen has created! Dust everywhere and piles of stuff in all the rooms. It amazes me how much stuff comes out of kitchen cupboards. Probably half of it is rubbish, but you never want to part with it just in case!

The garden at the sea house was beautiful. All the bushes are flowering and it is a riot of colour. sitting in the sunroom reading through some proofs was relaxing and nice, and the sun even came out for a while! We had fish and chips and then went for a walk along the front later.

I just discovered that Captive of the Harem is being re-issued in a collection, which was a lovely surprise. My new book will be out in HB in June I think, so probably pb in August. Not sure exactly, but it won't be long! Love to you all.

Red Roses For Authors/ Reviews is going very well.

Oh dear!

2007-05-04T01:14:00.000-07:00

The house is about to be turned upside down as the new kitchen fitters move in next week. I am looking forward to my new kitchen, but I hate having everything all over the place in that area. My study is always overflowing with stuff, but I like everything in the kitchen to be where it should be. At the moment we are putting things in bags and boxes and I am certain we shall never find anything afterwards!

I have put up the first author review on Red Roses For Authors/Reviews today. It is a new feature and I shall introduce other new features as time goes by to keep the site fresh and exciting. We have been up for two months today and so far the figures are about level but we are now findable on google, which we weren't for the first month. Now we have several pages of mentions and one of my writing friends told me people she knows are talking about us, so I think it is going to be a success. I hope so because my reviewers really love books and we are there to help authors, especially new ones - though we like having the successful ones too.

Well, I must go now and see what other jobs want doing. Next week I shall escape up here as much as I can to get out of the way!

As I sit at my desk the sun is shining outside.

2007-04-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

It is another lovely day, though not as warm as the past few days. In another few minutes I am going to be chatting on Joyfully reviewed. when I have finished I shall be revising the latest book for M&B and then I have a lot of reviewing to do to catch up. But after that I must start my third in the crime series, because it was well reviewed and the publishers are keen to get on with the second, which my editor has and is copy editing it at the moment, so that is good news. it was a new departure and we weren't sure how it would be recevied, but people seeme to really like it. So fingers crossed! Love, Linda

Making videos!

2007-04-17T13:07:00.000-07:00

I have been busy these past few days making book trailers to put up at youtube. I do enjoy doing it both for myself and for other authors. I only had two pieces of music I could legally use until recently when I found a lovely new website. the owner of the site is Kevin Mcleod and he allows you to use his music for the price of a small donation. And it is such beautiful music too! I have made one for Too Hot To Handle using a waltz and one for the Hellfire trilogy using Winter Chimes. Such a lovely piece of music!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VpF2ENb0Jk

A wonderful Review for one of my books!

2007-04-10T01:31:00.000-07:00

Title
Forbidden Lady
ISBN
9780373305186
Author
Anne Herries
Page Count
290
Publisher
Harlequin Historical
Price
$5.50
Category
historical
Rating
4 1/2 stars
Release Date
April 7, 2007
Sensuality Rating
sensuous
Buy It
http://cataurl.com/yBAKo

If you haven’t read Anne Herries’ wonderful tales of passion, chivalry and
intrigue, you haven’t read historical romance.

In Medieval England, Sir Robert of Melford had come to claim Melissa, the woman he had fallen passionately in love with only to be rejected, horsewhipped and left scarred from life. Having been forbidden to ever make contact with Melissa again, the only option open to Robert is to seek his fortune in the wars and try his absolute best to forget the woman who has ruined his life and broken his heart.
But Melissa is never far away from his thoughts and as the Wars of Roses rage through England, Robert finds himself acting as Melissa’s protector. Although Melissa was the catalyst for his punishment, she declares that she does not know the reason behind his attack.
Robert knows that Melissa is the last person on earth whom he should trust, but will he able to resist her charms or will he lose his heart to her all over again?
Anne Herries holds her readers in thrall with her latest historical romance, Forbidden Lady! The latest in a long line of captivating historical romances written by a writer who has been enthralling readers for decades, Forbidden Lady blends evocative period descriptions, red-hot passion and nail biting intrigue with style and aplomb.
Award-winning author Anne Herries has written another spellbinding historical tale rich in history, adventure and romance which will delight and beguile readers of historical romance.
Julie Bonello

It will soon be spring, I hope!

2007-03-23T07:13:00.000-07:00

we have almost go the competitions up at www.myspace.com/triskelion - just one more to go tonight. Anyone who loves entering comp hop over there and have a go. there are some lovely prizes and the questions are easy, because you only have to go to the author's websites to find the answers! I am posting a couple of links to authors who are friends of mine. Take a lokk at their blogs and discover some wonderful new writers!

Excerpt from Too Hot To Handle/ Anne Ireland

2007-03-15T06:54:00.000-07:00

Too Hot To Handle/ Anne Ireland.Triskelion/ Release May 2007
Rafe’s eyes followed her as she made for the kitchen. Despite the loose tracksuit, her hips had a seductive sway and there was no hiding her sensuality. Under those shapeless garments was an extremely desirable body. He was aware of an enticing perfume that hung about her, and her huge haunted eyes seemed to draw him in. they were smoky gray and something about them made him feel an instant curl of desire in his stomach.
It was clear that she hadn’t bothered to make herself attractive for his benefit, and that carried its own charm for a man used to another kind of woman entirely. "I would be grateful for some coffee...if it’s good and strong like that you made for Cornel this morning."
"You wouldn’t stay for that," Sylvie said from the doorway of the kitchen. Her eyes and her tone accused him. "Cornel had an attack of pain after you left. You shouldn’t have upset him."
"Pain?" Rafe frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"
"You don’t know?" He shook his head and sensed her hesitation. What are you hiding from me? I need to know if something is wrong.’
. "I’m not sure I am the one to tell you – but Cornel has angina. If he gets too stressed, it causes him pain. He has pills...but he needs to be careful. A severe attack might..."
"I know what a severe attack might do," Rafe replied, feeling angry. "My father died of heart trouble. Why the hell didn’t Cornel tell me he has been ill?"
"Perhaps he didn’t want to worry you," Sylvie suggested. "And perhaps I ought not to have told you..."
"I’m glad you did," Rafe replied and smiled.
*****
With his expression softened in concern for his uncle, he became another man, a much nicer, more likable person altogether. Her stomach caught with what she realized was desire but she squashed the thought instantly. Sex was right out. She didn’t even like the man!
"You must think I’m all kinds of a heel!"
Sylvie turned away as her heart suddenly wrenched. For a moment, her senses spun out of control, rather like stepping out of an aircraft and tumbling through the sky until the parachute took over. She took a deep breath to steady herself.
When Rafe smiled, he reminded her of Cornel, rather attractive, and she didn’t particularly want to like him. She sensed that he might be a dangerous man to know...dangerous for her peace of mind, that was. What exactly was it about him that made her so aware of him? She wasn’t sure, but it had been there from the first moment they met.
"I’ll get the coffee," she said. "There’s a map of sorts on that glass-topped table. The road is fairly well signposted until you get to the village. It’s after you leave Penerry that you could lose your way. I’ve tried to show you where to turn off, but I’ll explain properly in a moment."
"Thanks..." He picked up the map and bent his head over it as she went into the kitchen.
When she returned with a tray of steaming coffee and china bowls, he was looking at her collection of paperback books.
"Thrillers?" he asked, his dark eyebrows arched in amusement. "I would have seen you more as the romantic type."
"Romance is for mugs," Sylvie replied, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "How do you like your coffee? Cream or sugar?"
"Two sugars, no cream," Rafe replied. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Don’t tell me a girl like you hates men? You don’t strike me that way." Sylvie flushed, flicking back her hair defiantly. "Do I have to be gay because I don’t believe in romance?"
"No." He continued to look at her steadily. "Then there has to be another reason. What happened—did some bastard break your heart?" Rafe’s brows arched inquiringly. "Is that why you’ve given up on the rest of us? You give off vibes, but your words don’t match up to the invitation in your eyes. Something must have made you bitter."
Sylvie felt a shaft of unpleasant surprise. She gasped, went white and then pink. He certainly didn’t beat about the bush!
"I hardly think that’s any of your business, Mr. Wilde."
"No, it isn’t," he admitted. "I had no right to ask, but I’m used to asking awkward questions, Miss Penrith—and I hate to see anything go to waste. You’re not the kind of woman who should live alone."
"Oh?" Sylvie’s eyes blazed with sudden anger. Just who did he think he was, giving her advice? "And what kind of a woman am I, Mr. Wilde?"
"I refuse to answer that on the grounds that I might incriminate myself," Rafe replied, a wicked grin on his lips. "I’ve messed up, haven’t I? And all I wanted was to persuade you to let me drive you home. It makes more sense than both of us going our separate ways, don’t you think? Or are you afraid of me? Don’t tell me I scare you, Miss Penrith, I assure you I don’t bite. Only in the nicest way ..."
The fact that he was so amused made it worse. She wished he wouldn’t smile at her that way—it sent her pulses haywire, and she wasn’t used to feeling this way. He was disturbing–there was no other word for the effect he was having on her senses. She found herself dwelling on his mouth, noting its sensual fullness, feeling a constricting tightness in her throat as she swallowed. The heat was rising to dangerous levels!
Damn it! He’d mesmerized her. What was going on? She had to stop this before it got out of hand!
"I would rather drive home with a loose rattlesnake in the car," Sylvie said slowly and deliberately. He had gone just a little too far and needed cutting down to size. "If you’ve finished your coffee, Mr. Wilde, I would appreciate it if you left. I have things to do."
"Yes, I expect you have," Rafe murmured, laughter playing over his mouth as he glanced round the room. "Or do you always live this way?"
"Always," Sylvie assured him, a dangerous glint in her eyes. If he didn’t get out of here pretty quick, she was going to hit him! "I like things this way. Any objections?"
"None at all." Rafe held up his hands, backing away from her as he headed for the door. "It looks kinda cozy. I look forward to seeing you at the wedding, Miss Penrith."
"Not if I see you first," she muttered. "Goodbye, Mr. Wilde. I wish I could say it was nice meeting you, but I’m not accustomed to telling lies."
"I noticed that earlier," Rafe murmured, and his smile flashed out, making her grind her teeth in frustration. Was he going? Or did he want her to throw him out? "Thank you for telling me about Cornel’s heart condition." He was suddenly serious. "I mean that sincerely. You may have thought otherwise this morning, but I happen to be fond of my uncle."
With that, he was out the door. As it closed behind him, Sylvie gave a scream of frustration and picked up a cushion. She aimed it at the door just as it opened again to admit a surprised-looking Helen.
She caught the cushion, grinned and arched her fine eyebrows. "Was that meant for me or the dishy guy I saw leaving?"
"Rafe Wilde," Sylvie growled. "Cornel’s nephew. And the most arrogant, clever so-and-so you’ll ever meet."
"My, oh, my," Helen said, and Sylvie saw her eyes dance with amusement. "You did like him, didn’t you? When can I expect my invitation to the wedding?"

www.triskelionpublishing.com

Going to the sea

2007-03-14T02:00:00.000-07:00

We are going to pop down to the sea today. It looks as if it will be a beautiful day, but there may be a cool breeze down there. I have finished my latest book for M& B and will be sending it in soon after reading it through one more time. Today I thought I would try putting all the pictures for the Hellfire series up and see what they look like together. The book that has been selling better than any other recently is the second volume of Liz Bailey and my book together in the Steepwood series. A wealthy Widow has done well too, and A worthy Gentleman comes out next month. Linda

Some news for you

2007-03-08T13:18:00.000-08:00

Just popped in to tell you that the new site RedRosesFor Authors is up and running. There are some reviews for good books there if you feel like taking a look. Linda

New Review site

2007-03-05T05:02:00.000-08:00

http://redrosesforauthors.blogspot.com:80/

I am posting the url for a new review site if anyone wants to hop over and take a look.

I have today signed my contract for four more HMB books, which makes it a red rose day!

This is the American cover for The adventurer's Wife. Very different from the English!

Hi everyone

2007-03-03T10:42:00.000-08:00

I have had terrible trouble logging in this evening and as yet I cannot get into the Anne Herries blog, which is why I haven't downloaded any more of the book. I am sorry about that, but if I can't get in anymore I shall make this the blog for both Linda Sole and Anne Herries and if anyone was reading the story I will send them installments instead - so if you were and you are disapointed, let me know.

I have just been so busy of late, doing edits and competitions. I have had some wonderful postcards made, which I shall be giving away soon to anyone who enters my competition, so in future if you are picked you will receive a nice postcard as well as the book.

In April I have A worthy Gentleman and Forbidden Bride coming out with HMB - one here, one in America. Forbidden Bride is part of a series, which will eventually come out here too. and Too Hot To Handle comes out in May with Triskelion. Before that we have the big competition. It begins on 21, March. It will be fun so join in if you like competitions!

Linda

hi everyone

2007-02-18T01:49:00.000-08:00

I've been busy putting together the new grand competition for my writing friends at Triskelion. When it goes up at www.myspace.com/triskelionpublishing it will be a series of four with some lovely prizes for the winner of each competition so if you like internet comps, do join in.

Meanwhile I now have my new crime book and I am delighted to say that it will be a series. I am about halfway through my new M&B and then I shall probably write something different before I go onto the next. I never have time to be bored or lonely because the groups I belong to bring me so many messages I can hardly keep up. Love, Linda

Coming in May 2007

2007-02-13T01:36:00.000-08:00

I wanted to tell everyone that my first Anne Ireland book for Triskelion comes out in May. It is an ebook and something new for me, though it may come out in print later. I'm not sure about that yet. The title is Too Hot To Handle and I have put a trailer on the website and at my myspace - www.myspace.com/anneherries . Anyone who would like to take a look can pop in there or www.lindasole.co.uk .

I shall post an excerpt here another day, but I've just had the date confirmed so I am quite pleased about that. I received my new books from Severn House yesterday. A Miscarriage of Justice. The cover looks a more pinky mauve than the one I show here, but colours are often different on the web.

I have one hardback copy of A Miscarriage of Justice to give away. If you would like to be in with a chance, go into the lindasole website and use the contact address. I shall collect the first six to email me and pick the winner in the time honoured way from a hat. Love to you all Linda.

PS. One of my visitors said that this blog reminded her of Little Women. I thought that was a wonderful compliment and if reading what I have to say gives you the nice warm feeling reading Little Women gives so many of us I am happy. The picture is of me with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law on holiday in Spain a few years ago.

Valentine's Day Soon

2007-02-11T02:06:00.000-08:00

I had a Valentine's card and gift from my editor at M&B this year. That made me smile! I came on to tell you that I have a lot of lovely paperback books to give away. If you would like one, answer the simple question at my website - www.lindasole.co.uk - and if you are picked I will send you a book, anywhere in the world free of postage.

My Triskelion friends are running a competition on myspace, which starts on 21st March. I shall be contributing and it will be fun. This is bigger and several questions will be asked and several authors will take part. It is like a scavenger hunt, going from one author's myspace or website to another, and I think Internet addicts will love it. There are some good prizes coming up so if you enjoy hunting on the net go to - www.myspace.com/triskelionpublishing - and I wish you lots of luck.

I am posting a picture for you now. Love, Linda

A lovely day here!

2007-02-06T06:07:00.000-08:00

It has been a really good day, sun shining, bit cool but pleasant. It feels like spring, though I know it is a long way off. I agreed a new four book contract with HMB yesterday and talked about the next one after that, all mapped out for the rest of the year - so I celebrated by buying some new clothes. I wanted a smart outfit for the RNA luncheon in April and I found exactly what I wanted. I also bought some new jeans for normal days. I go to a special shop I like about once or twice a year, and feeling great I decided that today was it! The picture was taken many moons ago at my brother-in-law's wedding - it was so different then!

Reposting

2007-01-31T00:38:00.000-08:00

I wanted to put this picture of my husband's father back up, because it had gone into the older posts. I love this picture, and I love other old pictures of people's parents and grandparents. there is something special about the old photos that isn't there in our high tech age, don't you think so?

Exciting news

2007-01-29T04:41:00.000-08:00

I wanted to tell you about my
exciting news. An Improper Companion,
Anne Herries, has been shortlisted for the RNA romance Prize. It is the first of the Hellfire Trilogy and I am so thrilled. I won the prize in 2004 for A Damnable Rogue, but it is just as pleasing to be nominated again.
Love, Linda/Anne

It's a lovely day

2007-01-26T00:57:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say that it is a lovely day because I received some very exciting news recently. I can't actually post it yet, but do pop in on Valentine's Day. I am feeling very happy about things at the moment.

My latest Dynasty book for M&B is finished in first draft. That means I have it printed and shall be reading through before doing any revisions next week. After that, I have some personal stuff to catch up on, and some promoting to do. I am going to be posting books for friends as well as myself in the run up to the big day, so do pop in when you can, and let me know what you think in the comments if you feel like it.

Love to you all, Linda

More books for you

2007-01-17T01:28:00.000-08:00

Isn't this a great cover. The book is by Randy Jeanne, a friend from America. She writes for Triskelion and her book is a romantic adventure - the story of what happens when Amy Harrington chases off to Mexico, posing as the woman who stole her identity. It sounds like an awful lot of fun, and from what I know of Randy, who says she is terminally single, which is why she writes romance. I think it will be scrumptious. I can't wait to read it when it comes out next month!

Iam glad to say we have lots of squirrels in the garden at the moment. they seem to think it is spring, though I think we shall more some rought weather soon. They have it bad in the USA at the moment and we usually get what they get in UK, though not so extreme.

Love to you all, be back soon with more of my discoveries. Linda

PS. Triskelion now have a book club which sends paperbacks to anywhere in the world, and I think the postage is free if you subscribe for six months.

Busy, busy, busy!

2007-01-12T01:32:00.000-08:00

I have been working hard these past few days. I have set up a myspace for my Triskelion friends. I have a book coming out with Triskelion some time this year under the name of Anne Ireland. It is called Too Hot to Handle and I shall do my own publicity on that site, but for the moment I am using it to showcase all my writing friends at Triskelion. I am going to feature June Francis here soon, but today I want to tell you my news. I have had some good reviews for Anne Herries recently, and I was fortunate enough to get in to the top 262 most borrowed authors at the libraries. I have just finished checking proofs for Married By Christmas, which is the second book of a Regency Trilogy and comes out in October. I've also just finished a few revisions for the third in that series - Lord Harcourt's Secret. The first is called Marianne and the Marquis and should be out in August I think. I have sent off various ideas for my new contract and it looks like being another busy year.

Now that Christmas is over I am looking forward to the better weather and perhaps a visit to Spain - that is if my squirrels can spare me. They come regularly again now, which is great because we lost the tame ones last year and that was heart breaking. I hope you are all enjoying the blog and pics. These cheeky chappies are my grown up nephews when they were much younger. Good thing they don't look at the blog! Love from Linda

Back to Work!

2007-01-04T09:52:00.000-08:00

All the fuss and celebrations are over and it is back to work. First of all, I have to mention that my squirrel pictures were given to me by a friend, Jen Black. Jen is an author with Triskelion. She has had two full length Historical novels published, the first of them called Banners of Alba. Jen is an excellent writer and I am looking forward to reading her book Shadows from Triskelion, which I have in ebook format. I will tell you about it and maybe post the cover if Jen says it is OK when I've read it. So thank you, Jen for the squirrel pictures, which I thought were so wonderful I had to post them on the blog!

I am now beginning to get back to work and I am writing the second in the Dynasty series, which is coming out first in the USA - mostly because I have so many Regency books coming out this year. A Wealthy Widow is out next month and seems to be selling well on the M&B site, because it is listed in the Best Sellers list - so hopefully it will be a sell out in the shops.

I shall post another personal picture today. I call this one - Who is Laughing at Who?

Love to you all, Linda

A lovely day

2006-12-30T03:06:00.000-08:00

As I sit at my computer looking out it is bright with just a gentle breeze. We are heading towards the New Year very fast now and it will soon be 2007. I received a really good review for one of my Anne Herries books this morning and that made it a good day. It isn't often something like that happens. Her Knight Protector has been reviewed before but this review was thoughtful and complimentry. I have posted it on Anne's World of Romance.

In February my new Linda Sole book comes out. I am very excited about this as it is the start of something different. The first in a trilogy of crime stories, it was great fun to write and I really enjoyed it.

I am posting some covers today, and also another personal picture.

Love from Linda

News about Paula Marshall

2006-12-27T03:54:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to tell everyone that I have news of Paula Marshall. Those of you who have read and loved her books will be glad to know that she is in a nursing home nearer her sons so that they can visit more often. She can still do the Telegraph synonym crossword and talk about old friends, though she cannot answer cards or letters. I now have an address and will pass on any good wishes.
Linda

Boxing Day

2006-12-26T03:14:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has had a good Christmas and is not feeling too full of turkey and Christmas pud! We had a quiet day after seeing friends and relatives in the previous week, but we cooked a turkey that was bigger than the two of us need and had a lovely dinner. We didn't go for the pudding this year but decided on homemade sherry trifle instead. I think we shall go for the brandy peaches or mince pies with brandy sauce today.

The Christmas TV was good this year. I started with Carols from Kings on Christmas Eve, which I always watch and love, because for me it is what Christmas is all about. I also watch part of a carol service on Christmas Day, but after dinner and the Queen's speech it is all about settling back and enjoying the entertainment and this year I really did. I loved the dancing and The Vicar of Dibley, and quite a few other things. This morning I went for a walk in the cold air to fetch the paper and that was good too.

So now most of it is over and we have to think about the New Year and new resolutions. I expect mine will be the same as always, to try harder at everything I do - writing, life itself. I don't expect I shall, but at least it gives me something to strive for.

The picture today is of me as a young woman with my beloved dog. This is my favourite picture of me ever.
Love from Linda

Putting something right

2006-12-17T05:48:00.000-08:00

The still Christmas graphics I have been using come from this site. a friend gave them to me and I thought she had done them, but now I am publishing the right logo. I am glad to have found the site because there are lots of lovely things there that I am sure I shall use in future. The moving graphics came from elsewhere and have been correctly credited.

Linda

My other blog

2006-12-14T03:27:00.000-08:00

I am thinking of downloading a new Regency story for you onto my Anne Herries blog. Would that appeal to my visitors? Leave your comments and let me know please. You can click on Anne's World of Romance to visit the other site.

Linda

Christmas is coming

2006-12-13T12:31:00.000-08:00

We have been busy every day this week, delivering presents to friends and relatives and writing cards. I still have a few to do but I am beginning to think about doing the food shopping now. I have made two book trailers for the authors at the Historical Romance Blogspot, which you can click on now that they have been linked and view them. The first two were for most of the authors but there will be individual ones coming soon, perhaps after Christmas. I have two more episodes of the Christmas story to write yet, but then I must get back to my own writing. I've been doing a few pages, but giving myself a bit of a break, which I always do at this time of year. I shall also be featuring some of the authors here, as I did Nicola Cornick and June Francis.

I am going to post a wonderful picture of my father-in-law this time. He was a soldier in the First World War and I love his photo.

I hope you are all enjoying the preparations for Christmas, Linda

Just found it!

2006-12-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

I just found this picture of my new book with Severn House. I liked it so much that I thought I would pop back and post it for you tonight.

This is the first of the Sarah Beaufort Mysteries. Set in the 1920's it is about Sarah and Larch, two amateur sleuths who solve murders with the help of an ex Scotland Yard Inspector.

It has already registered on the sales index with amazon so lets hope it is popular!

Hope you will enjoy the picture - and the book. Linda

Another Busy Day!

2006-12-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

I have been to Cambridge today, looking at new kitchens. It was a lot of rushing about in the traffic, and I would rather have been here working on my new book. I have just started the second Dynasty. The first is coming out in America in April, but I'm not sure when it comes out here - later in the year I think. Anyway, I am working on the second now, which will be followed by another Regency trilogy. I am going to post some moving graphics for you and I'll put the logo for the website so that you can pick some up yourself. They are free to use but they ask you to put up their logo. I shall do so just for Christmas and then take them down I should think. Enjoy! The stationary graphics were done by Mandy Jones from the Historical authors website.

See you soon, Linda

An author I like and admire

2006-12-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

Nicola Cornick was one of the Steepwood authors. We became friends immediately and I am one of the biggest fans of her books. She writes wonderful Regency stories. Lord Greville's Captive is a dark and sensual story of a conqueror and the woman he holds prisoner!

The Season for Suitors is a novella in the best selling Regency Lords and Ladies and I am waiting to read it with great anticipation!

Nicola's First HQN book was a winner. I loved it and gave it five stars. I am looking forward to the next in this series from this award winning author. Nicola knows how to held her readers enthralled to the end.

I am a big fan, Linda

Busy Day

2006-12-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

http://anneherries.blogspot.com/

I have opened a new blog, the url is above. I thought I would do a separate one for the Mills and Boon books, because I want to use this one to tell you about lots of other authors I know. But this is all for tonight. I shall drop in again soon. I hope you are all reading the Christmas story on Historical Romance authors! Linda

Mistletoe and Holly

2006-12-03T04:10:00.000-08:00

I hope this is going to show some christmas pictures, but my browser has disappeared. If it doesn't come back I may have to start a new one. Linda

Christmas is coming

2006-12-03T02:13:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha2E4axvt74

I just wanted to tell you about the videos I have been doing for friends at Triskelion. For those who don't know, this is an ebook publisher who also publish paperbacks for some of their authors. They are going to be publishing a contemporary for me next year, but they have a lot of wonderful authors there. The books are all romantic, of various kinds. cointemporary, Fever, Romance and Suspense, historical, romantic comedy, they are all to be found on the site. I have posted the url of a Christmas trailer, but if you want to see more click on @more by this user@ on the righthand side and you can find seven more!

Christmas story

2006-11-30T05:16:00.000-08:00

We are all beginning the countdown to Christmas now. On the Historical Romance authors we are going to have a Christmas story that all the writers will write for you. You can get into this site through the links on my website if you don't know it.

www.lindasole.co.uk

having fun

2006-11-27T11:48:00.000-08:00

I have just sent off my latest Regency to M&B and now I am having fun making book trailers for friends. I have made a couple of them so far and the first will have a link on my website. I may put some links on for you another night but I am waiting for one of them to load. I have to make sure it works as it should before putting it on, because I don't want to be stuck trying to take it off.

I was going to tell you about June Francis. She lives in Liverpool and writes wonderful sagas set there. One of my favourites is called Coming Home to Liverpool, but she has written so many more lovely books. If you don't know of her you should look for her books at the library, though you might be lucky enough to buy her in paperback. She writes about wonderful charachters and her writing is warm and has its own charm.

The book shown tonight is the third in my Civil War series from Severn House. It is available from libraries or from amazon.

I think that is enough for this evening. Love to you all, Linda

Problem solved

2006-11-23T10:28:00.000-08:00

I have just changed to Internet Explorer 7 and it has created problems with my blog! I did the first little bit on my laptop and it kept clicking off, but now I have managed to get in on the desktop - hurrah!

I wanted to tell you about Too Hot To Handle. This is my first ebook and is with Triskelion. It is the story of Sylvie and Rafe. He is handsome, a little arrogant and a business man on a mission. Sylvie is beautiful but she has been hurt. when they first meet there is a mutual attraction, but it is not until they are in Paris that the affair becomes too hot to handle. It seems that they were made for each other, but then Sylvie discovers something that makes her think Rafe is using her. Will they be able to sort out their problems or is their love affair doomed to failure?

that really is all for tonight.Linda

Back again

2006-11-23T10:13:00.000-08:00

Today I finished my latest book. That makes eight for the year! Now I am going to take a break and start getting Christmas presents ready for a large extended family.

My ebook is called Too Hot to Handle and I will tell you more about it next time. I am having problems with the blog this evening.

A good day!

2006-11-20T13:17:00.000-08:00

I was going to tell you about my new venture as Anne Ireland, but I shall leave that for another day. This morning I received a parcel from my publisher which was very pleasing. It contained three copies of a German translation of A Perfect Knight. I had not had a German translation for a while so that was exciting, but it is very satisifying that it should be the Banewulf Dynasty. This series has now been published in seven countries, including Greece, America, France and Italy. The French covers were absolutely fantastic but the German is very good too. I have been counting back and I am not sure exactly how many, but I think there have been over thirty foreign rights this year, which is fantastic. I really feel that at last I am getting somewhere. I have had some really nice comments from readers lately and that is what it is all about. It is the reason I write, to give as much pleasure as writing gives me.

Next time I will tell you about the new venture and soon I am going to write about June Francis and her books.

Love to you all, Linda/Anne