HOW TO BE A PROPER LADY with Katharine Ashe
I’m very happy to be sharing the blog with the fabulous Katharine Ashe today to celebrate her new release HOW TO BE A PROPER LADY with an excerpt and giveaway. This vibrant historical released yesterday, June 26th, so it’s AVAILABLE NOW! I so do love fiesty heroines and as a rule-breaker myself, I say, go Viola! And, my, oh, my, has Katharine set up quite a challenging match for Viola in Jin. Sparks will fly! This will be quite a show.
Make sure you read the excerpt and enter for a chance to win another of Katharine’s books. CAPTURED BY A ROGUE LORD
The rules of being a proper lady
1) Never take steps greater than six inches apart
2) Never look boldly at a gentleman
3) And never, ever kiss a man who is not your fiancé…
But beautiful, bold Viola Carlyle doesn’t care about the rules. And she desperately wants to kiss the notoriously tempting Captain Jin Seton, the man who brought her kicking and fighting back to English society. Kidnapped as a child, now she longs to return to that life of freedom where she was able to live—and love—as she wished.
Having hunted Viola for two years, Jin Seton has finally found his good luck—for by finding Viola his oldest, deepest debt will at last be paid. And although he has vowed not to let her win his heart, this very improper lady might finally be the one who tames him.
Buy through Amazon: http://ow.ly/bQVcG
Excerpt:
“What are you reading?”
“A book,” she snapped, his perfect, breathtaking mouth and arms and everything far too close. “Is this conversation you’re attempting to make?”
“Ah. The return of the shrew.” He grinned, sending her belly into tingling somersaults. “I may leap overboard yet.”
“I can only hope.”
He had the audacity to chuckle. “Come to think of it, I prefer this to the false seductress you’ve been playing. I appreciate honesty in a sailor.”
“Don’t you mean in a woman?”
His eyes seemed to shadow. “In anyone.”
But those words were not his thoughts; she saw it in his face and knew beyond doubt that this man had seen true dishonesty in a woman and it had wounded him.
Abruptly beset by a most pressing urge, then Viola did a very foolish thing. She reached forward and placed her hand on his chest and heard herself murmur, “I am always honest.” She was in this. Despite herself she wished to be near him, and to touch him.
Beneath her palm his chest rose and fell sharply, but his voice remained even.
“You are playacting a role that neither of us is enjoying. Put an end to this wager. It is childish and you know you will lose.”
But she didn’t feel like a child. The way he looked at her with such crystal intensity even as he remained aloof made her feel very much like a woman. She should remove her hand from his body. Beneath fine linen—far too fine for a common sailor—he was all contoured muscle.
“What if I don’t care if I lose?” Her fingers spread and she felt him, his heartbeat and heat, and a soft throbbing gathered in her. She traced a fingertip to the laces of his shirt and with the smallest movement stroked the linen open. Skin. Male skin beneath her touch, firm and hot. She pushed the fabric aside, baring hard collarbone and sun-darkened man. Her breaths stuttered. “What if I’m enjoying the wager itself?”
He caught her wrist in a strong grip and slid her hand fully beneath his shirt.
The air sank from her lungs. For a moment he simply held her there, her palm pressed to his skin over his flat nipple. Then he leaned forward, bent his head and spoke low.
“You needn’t strap me to a mast in order to undress me, Miss Carlyle. I am more than happy to oblige you at any time.”
The American Library Association’s Booklist named Katharine Ashe among its “New Stars of Historical Romance.” She is a two-time nominee in the Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Awards, and her novella, A Lady’s Wish, launched Harper Collins Publishers’ e-book imprint, Avon Impulse, to rave reviews.
Katharine lives in the wonderfully warm Southeast with her husband, son, two dogs, and a garden she likes to call romantic rather than unkempt. A professor of European history, she has made her home in California, Italy, France, and the northern US. She loves hearing from readers!
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