I’m back from the 20Books conference in Vegas!

Five days of conference fun in Vegas wasn’t as wearing as I thought it would be. I had lots of opportunities to talk to the company reps who provide services to indie authors. Plus I was able to connect up with some other authors. Not quite as big a networking party as I would have liked, since I was still coughing from the “conference crud” I picked up at the Historical Romance Retreat two weeks before, but all good.

Now back to work…

Whew, the next few weeks in my writing life will be busy! Line edits have come back for The Earl’s Scottish Hoyden, book five in the Upstart Christmas Brides series. I’ll get cracking on finishing, formatting, and posting a preorder for the December 5th release.

Here’s that lovely cover again, plus the blurb:

The Earl’s Scottish Hoyden

Edme Beecham was not disappointed in love last Christmas when Lord Cottingwith abruptly departed the Duke of Kinmarty’s Yuletide party. No, the Earl was too old to be so shy, but there it was. He’d latched on to her own talkative self because he’d found Edme, a girl among a multitude of brothers of all ages, comfortable.

Thus, when an invitation to join a Yuletide party at Furningwood, his family’s estate, arrives, she’s alarmed to feel her hopes rising, and determined to stay home. But the earl is a valuable political and business connection, and her brother insists she go.

After one youthful lapse, Trenton Yardley, Earl of Cottingwith, has set about being a better man than his late uncle and cousin, and restoring the fortunes of his family, without submitting himself to the sort of fortune-hunting marriage his mother is after. He has a secret, and only the right woman will do for him, one with a generous heart and a sense of humor. He’d thought he’d found her last year in Edme Beecham, but an emergency had called him home before he could press his suit further.

The cold, aloof girl who appears at his home for Christmas could not be his Scottish hoyden, could she?

Christmastide Kisses

I’ve just typed the The End on a short story for a new collection by the Bluestocking Belles and Friends.

Look for a cover reveal in the next week or so for the new Bluestocking Belles with Friends Christmastide Kisses collection. We are working on it as you read this. Six stories of hearts finding their home in the holiday season.

My story, Twelfth Night Treasure, is a sequel to last year’s Flowers for His Lady. Matthew Gurnwood, who was something of a villain in last year’s story, meets an imperfect lady who happens to be perfect for him!

Twelfth Night Treasure

A very proper clergyman battles very improper urges when he and a lady with a murky past find themselves snowbound.

More information coming soon!