It’s Christmas in June! :))
HAVE CHRISTMAS CARD... WILL
TRAVEL
Author: Susanne Marie Knight
Genre: Time-Travel Regency
Available electronically at Amazon.com
Price: $3.99
Buy link:
Blurb:
A
magic Christmas card sends lonely Meredith back in time... then returns her to her
own century each morning. A handsome lord proposes, and she accepts, but then
finds herself attracted to her fiancé’s honorable brother. How can she find
happiness when she has one foot in the past with the other in the present?
Scene Set-Up:
After waking up in a wintry,
wooded area, Meredith meets the two brothers who rescued her and took her back
to their house. She thinks she’s dreaming.
Excerpt:
"Meredith."
William leaned into her ear, and whispered, "I do like your name. Merry
Meredith--a diamond of the first water. You feel like heaven in my arms!"
Wow,
this guy could lay it on thick. But maybe that was what she needed, to be wined
and dined and flattered as if she were the queen of the prom.
Enjoying
the moves of the waltz as they swayed, she sighed. She could get used to being
the center of the universe.
Someone
tapped William on the shoulder. "May I cut in?"
Meredith
glanced up at the newcomer and gulped down hard. What a dreamboat! Tall, broad
shoulders, deep brown eyes to die for, and dark, disheveled hair. This man had
to have been Jeffrey, the one who carried her.
"Rot,"
William complained. "Do you have to?"
"Yes,
I do." Jeffrey turned his stern gaze on her as if asking her permission.
She
nodded, and willed her heart to slow its beating. Goodness, she hadn't turned
into liquid goo at the sight of a man since her fiancé. But then again, look
how that had turned out.
"Well
then, if you must." William released her to his brother, then gave her
another wink. "After this dance, Merry is mine, old man."
Jeffrey
took her in his arms. To her surprise, she almost melted against him. His
masculine scent tormented her in a thousand different ways. Everything peaked,
in a manner of speaking. Not daring to look up into his face, she studied the
jeweled pin in his white cravat.
"Merry?
Is that your name?" He expertly maneuvered her about the parquet floor.
She
unstuck her tongue from the roof of her mouth. "No, I'm Meredith. Meredith
Wyatt. And you are Jeffrey...?"
"Lord
Burnett," was his ungracious reply. "So how did you arrive on our
lands, dressed in your night clothes, Miss Wyatt? If my brother had not found
you, you surely would have expired due to exposure."
He
was being very nosy for a hallucination, not to mention haughty. Peering over
his shoulder, she stared out at the other occupants of the room. "It's a
mystery, Lord Burnett. I have no idea. But I'm very grateful to you and...your
brother."
"How
grateful are you, Miss Wyatt?" He executed a turn that caused her to bump
into him.
Hot
fire poured into her veins, and her breasts tingled even more. But dream or
not, she had to ignore her feelings. This man was insinuating that she wasn't a
lady. After all, he had wanted to deposit her in the servants' quarters.
She
stiffened and gave him a tight little smile. "Very grateful, Lord Burnett.
You and your brother are such gentlemen."
Hopefully
that remark would remind him to behave accordingly.
When
the waltz ended, she took a step away from him. Then she noticed another new
arrival, a woman a little older than the other young ladies. The woman had more
poise, more polish. And she glared daggers of hate at Meredith.
Meredith
shivered.
"Are
you cold, Miss Wyatt?"
"No,
Lord Burnett. Why do you ask?"
The
smile on his handsome face could only be described as a smirk. He dropped his
gaze to her chest. "Because it looks as if you might be cold."
She
glanced down... and died. Her nipples had hardened and the soft satin material
of her gown showed every revealing curve.
Thank
goodness she'd decided to wear a shawl. She quickly arranged the wrap over her
traitorous breasts. "I'm fine. Thank you for your concern."
The
music started up again, giving her a perfect out. "If you'll excuse me,
Lord Burnett. I'm sure you want to dance with your wife."
She
tried to leave, but he grabbed her by the upper arm, effectively stopping her.
"You are in error, Miss Wyatt. I do not have a wife."
"No?
Then I wonder why that woman with the purple gown is glowering at me." She
tried to escape his grip, but he was far too strong.
"Lady
Goodstone?" He looked over at the woman, who then reddened and returned
her attention to her dance partner. "Lady Goodstone is a recent widow. Her
somber appearance must be due to her unhappy circumstances, Miss Wyatt. Nothing
more."
Right.
And if Jeffrey believed that, he was a deluded fool.
With
two goblets in hand, William approached, wearing an admiring smile. "There
you are, my Merry Wood Nymph. Where have you been all my life? Let us leave
this dull old dog to languish with these other beauties. Come, enjoy a glass of
champagne with me."
"Certainly."
Meredith returned William's bright smile and followed him over to an
arrangement of chairs near one of the draped windows.
She
took the goblet, sat in the chair, and listened to William's amusing gibberish.
Either the champagne was more potent than what she was used to, or she was more
tired than she realized, for after a while, her eyelids drooped. Despite her
urging, there was no way she could keep them open.
Conversations
droned around her. One in particular seemed really close by. She struggled to
catch the words.
"Dashed
good trade for the partridge, don't you think?" one voice asked.
"A
chubby bird for a ladybird? This is a disgrace. It will not do," said the
other in disapproving tones.
She
couldn't fight sleep any longer. She lost consciousness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Happy Reading!
Susanne Marie Knight
Read outside the box:
award-winning Romance Writing With A Twist!
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