I am a part of the
Season for Surrender blog Tour. There is a giveaway for this book too, but first an excerpt from the book:
The scene:
At the end of a difficult Christmas day, Alexander, Lord Xavier, has come to the library of his country house for the solace of conversation with Louisa Oliver. But the conversation—and the solace—don’t go as he expected…
Part of him wanted to deny this, yet part of him knew that only trickery had brought her here, kept her close. He’d bribed her here with his books, tied her here with a mystery. Counted on her intellectual curiosity to win him ten pounds and sustain his reputation.
A reputation he didn’t even want anymore. Maybe.
Was he Xavier, or Alex? He was all knotted up, all confusion. Yet no matter who he was, he wanted. He wanted to convince her of his value. She, who was the first to suspect he had a hidden stash of it.
He wanted her eyes on him; her thoughts turned his way. And if he kissed her—when he kissed her—by God, he’d make sure it was a kiss she wanted to hold fast to.
Her hand slipped around his tense forearm, and he flinched. He hadn’t heard her approach. She rested her hand on his sleeve—one second, two. Gently, then, she pressed down on his arm. Let go.
He dropped his hands from the mantel, his shoulders sagging, and turned to face her. Tried for a smile.
She must have seen something dreadful in his face, because she took a step backward. Her hands lifted, palms out, the silk of her gown shushing over the carpet. “You look like you could use some privacy. I’d best bid you good night now, and happy Christmas. Do excuse me.”
Before he could unlock his tongue, she had already backed up several more steps.
“Wait, please.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Please. Louisa. Don’t leave. Not like this.”
He didn’t want her to ask him any more terrible questions. But he couldn’t let her leave; not before he had an answer for her. Or himself.
She stopped. “How should I leave, then? Shall I recommend a book to you first? Purgatorio was good enough for your ancestors, and they were good enough for the queen.”
“No.” He pulled in a sharp breath. “Yes. Louisa. We don’t have to be only about books, do we?”
She looked away, into the dark depths of the library. “You and I? We don’t have to be anything. I’m just here for your house party, to entertain myself in a safely scandalous way, then retreat to the library whenever real life gets too overwhelming.”
“I see,” he replied. His hands felt blocky and numb at his sides. “Yes. I—I shouldn’t have expected anything else from you.”
He stammered under a wave of mortification. It welled up from within; it washed over him with every flicker of her dark eyes.
She didn’t leave, though. And she didn’t stop looking at him. With a tilt of her head, she said, “I’ve told you not to expect me to react in the common way.”
She sank to the floor before the fire and extended her hands. The burning coals cast their warm light through the wavy glass of the fireplace screen, burnishing her skin to flame gold as her bronze gown pooled around her.
“In a novel,” she commented, turning her hands before the flames as though toasting them, “someone would surely interrupt our conversation at the decisive moment.”
Xavier stood by the fireplace like an andiron. “Can it be possible that this conversation hasn’t yet reached the decisive moment? I think we’ve had twelve decisive moments already. I’ll have to go directly to bed and pull the coverlet over my head.”
A trick he’d often used with Lockwood: stating the truth so baldly that it sounded like a lie. Lockwood always laughed.
Louisa didn’t, though. She only watched the flicker of flame behind glass. “That’s not much of a way to spend Christmas night, is it?”
His jaw flexed. What on earth was there to say by way of reply? There was no point in denying anything to her. At best, she’d shrug it off; at worst, leave.
He didn’t like the idea of her leaving—and not because of the wager with Lockwood.
“No,” he said. “It isn’t. But then, not much about this Christmas has gone as I wished.”
She rose to her feet, graceful as a danseuse. “And what did you wish for?”
Giveaway Details:
One randomly drawn commenter will win an autographed copy of SEASON FOR SURRENDER by Theresa Romain.
Contest is open internationally.
Contest is open the duration of the tour. (Ends 10/5)
Winner(s) will be randomly selected and notified via email.
I usually do not do this, but you will get 1 extra entry if you like Theresa on
facebook
1 extra entry if you follow her on
twitter
Author Bio:
Historical romance author Theresa Romain pursued an impractical education that allowed her to read everything she could get her hands on. She then worked for universities and libraries, where she got to read even more. Eventually she started writing, too. She lives with her family in the Midwest.
Connect with Theresa at:
Website:
http://theresaromain.com
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/theresaromain
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTheresaRomain
Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4844891.Theresa_Romain
Tour Stops:
Additional tour stops can be found at:
http://events.litconnect.com/season-for-surrender-by-theresa-romain
The more stops readers comment on, the greater their chance of winning.
Back Cover Blurb:
HONOR AMONG ROGUES
Alexander Edgware, Lord Xavier, has quite a reputation— for daring, wagering, and wickedness in all its delightful forms. But the wager before him is hardly his preferred sport: Xavier must persuade a proper young lady to attend his famously naughty Christmas house party—and stay the full, ruinous two weeks. Worse, the lady is Louisa Oliver, a doe-eyed bookworm Xavier finds quite charming. Yet to refuse the challenge is impossible—he will simply have to appoint himself Miss Oliver’s protector…
MISCHIEF AMONG MISSES
Louisa knows her chance for a husband has passed. But she has no desire to retire into spinsterhood without enjoying a few grand adventures first. When Lord Xavier’s invitation arrives, Louisa is more intrigued than insulted. And once inside the rogues’ gallery, she just may have a thing or two to teach her gentlemen friends about daring…
Purchase Links:
Amazon.com:
Barnes & Noble:
Book Depository:
Books-a-Million:
Posts
