The days are whizzing by until the release day for Desperate Daughters, a Bluestocking Belles Collection with Friends.

This collection of novellas by nine Regency romance authors is a perfect opportunity to sample some new-to-you storytellers. The stories are set around a central premise, a family of all daughters, left destitute by their late father, the Earl of Seahaven.

Here’s the blurb

Love Against the Odds

The Earl of Seahaven desperately wanted a son and heir but died leaving nine daughters and a fifth wife. Cruelly turned out by the new earl, they live hand-to-mouth in a small cottage.

The young dowager Countess’s one regret is that she cannot give Seahaven’s dear girls a chance at happiness.

When a cousin offers the use of her townhouse in York during the season, the Countess rallies her stepdaughters.

They will pool their resources so that the youngest marriageable daughters might make successful matches, thereby saving them all.

So start their adventures in York, amid a whirl of balls, lectures, and al fresco picnics. Is it possible each of them might find love by the time the York horse races bring the season to a close?

It’s not just daughters finding romance…

Not everyone who finds love is a daughter. It was great fun to see the earl’s young widow find her own happily-ever-after. And my heroine, Lady Twisden, is a widowed great-aunt who learns that following her passion for painting doesn’t mean sacrificing love.

I’m continuing a series of blogs to give you a taste of the stories in this collection. Today’s feature is Elizabeth Ellen Carter’s tale.

The Four-to-One Fancy

Fate has given twins Ivy and Iris Bigglesworth a season in York. They vow to marry only brothers so the sisters will never be apart. But what are the odds of finding and falling in love with  two eligible brothers? However, there are potential substitutes. Hearts race when they meet two handsome cousins who are betting their future on a risky racing venture. Soon the twins learn there are more than fortunes to be lost on a four-to-one fancy.

Excerpt

Ivy had always been aware of her twin’s presence, even when they were out of sight of one another.

She never felt this way with any of her sisters, even Josefina. As a girl, she quickly realized that being a twin was something special—two but also one.

So, what could account for the fact that her whole body was aware of the man seated beside her?

She felt the heat of his body even though there was an appropriate space between them.

When he opened the program she was aware of the length of his fingers in his satin gloves. When he applauded the performance she breathed in his scent of cedar and orange.

As though he knew her eyes were on him, Viscount Tyrell turned to her. Her heart tumbled a few beats, leaving her just a little breathless.

What might it be like to kiss him?

Desperate Daughters is available for Pre-order for only 99 cents: https://books2read.com/u/bMwL17

Hurry! The price goes up after the book’s May 17, 2022 launch day.

About the author

Elizabeth Ellen Carter is an USA Today bestselling author and award-winning historical romance writer who pens richly detailed historical romantic adventures. A former newspaper journalist, Carter ran an award-winning PR agency for 12 years. She lives in Australia with her husband and two cats.

What critics are saying:

A Marvelous Group of Authors

In addition to Belles authors, Caroline Warfield, Jude Knight, Rue Allyn, and Sherry Ewing, the collection features stories by Mary Lancaster, Elizabeth Ellen Carter, Meara Platt, Ella Quinn, and, of course, me!

I’ll be back soon for an excerpt from the next featured story, Ella Quinn’s I’ll Always Be Yours.

You can find the complete list of stories and blurbs on my Desperate Daughter‘s book page.