*Review & Giveaway!* BEYOND SCANDAL AND DESIRE by Lorraine Heath

BEYOND SCANDAL

AND DESIRE

Sins for All Seasons

Book 1

by

LORRAINE HEATH

   Genre: Historical / Regency Romance
Publisher: Avon

Date of Publication: January 30, 2018

Number of Pages: 320

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At birth, Mick Trewlove, the illegitimate son of a duke, was handed over to a commoner. Despite his lowly upbringing, Mick has become a successful businessman, but all his wealth hasn’t satisfied his need for revenge against the man who still won’t acknowledge him. What else can Mick do but destroy the duke’s legitimate son—and woo the heir’s betrothed into his own unloving arms . . .

Orphaned and sheltered, Lady Aslyn Hastings longs for a bit of adventure. With her intended often preoccupied, Aslyn finds herself drawn to a darkly handsome entrepreneur who seems to understand her so well. Surely a lady of her station should avoid Mick Trewlove. If only he weren’t so irresistible . . . 

As secrets are about to be exposed, Mick must decide if his plan for vengeance is worth risking what his heart truly desires.

PRAISE FOR BEYOND SCANDAL AND DESIRE:

“Heath builds a community of fascinating, intertwined characters that readers will be eager to get to know as they cheer for the driven hero and the spunky, smart heroine.” -- Publishers Weekly

“RITA Award–winner Heath’s new Sins for All Seasons series is off to an impressive start with an unforgettable, emotionally charged love story that will dazzle and delight readers with its exquisitely crafted characters, deliciously sensual romance, and impeccably rendered historical setting.” -- Booklist/ *STARRED* Review

“For the first book in the Sins for All Seasons series, Heath returns to the world of dark London — a world she understands as well as Dickens. Heath illuminates the city’s underbelly with a powerful romance of healing and redemption. Her talents for drawing readers into the era with her well-drawn, three dimensional characters and realistic dialogue sets her novels apart. The unexpected twists and turns of the plot guarantees it will be placed on your keeper shelf.” -- RT Book Reviews/ “Top Pick” Review

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It’s been a long while since I’ve read a regency romance. It’s not that I dislike them, I’ve just been reading other genres … mostly YA and sci-fi (‘cause I kinda write in those genres myself). But when I saw the gorgeous cover of BEYOND SCANDAL AND DESIRE by Lorraine Heath, I fell in cover-love. Yes, it’s true … I confess that I’m one of those shallow folks who judges a book by its cover. And this cover, oh, this cover. Just look at it! Even now, having read the book, I stroke the cover and think “Dagnabit all to heck! I want Mick Trewlove to take me into his strong arms the way he’s embracing Lady Aslyn!”

But, you know as well as I do that a book is more than the covers that contain the story within. And so, I carefully turned back the delicious cover (because I don’t like my books to look like they’ve been read by anyone…yeah, I’m weird like that) and I was immediately drawn in by this sentence:

Do tell! I thought as I leaned forward, resting my chin in my hand as if I was about to get dished a scandalous story. After all, what girl doesn’t like hearing about a little bit of improper rebellion and a dash of scandal? *Raises Hand* I know I do, yo!

via GIPHY

*Le Sigh* Surely, I’m not the only gal in town who loves a fine-lookin’ bad boy who’s secretly a good guy on the inside, am I? Oh, Mick Trewlove, Ms. Heath did you right when she gave you that last name. Because, dayum! I’ve done fell into trewlove with you, yo! Alas, I digress. The question is: does he or does he not win the heart and hand of the fair Lady Aslyn? Does his jerk of a birth father, an uppity duke, ever claim him as his son?

Oh, how I long to give you all the details of this story, but you know me by now. I’m not one to give spoilers … especially for a book like this. For you see, this book deserves to be enjoyed like a delectable dessert. Each nibble reveals another delicious layer of goodness.

Heath has whipped up a sweet mixture of complex characters, added the right amount of flavoring to tempt the taste buds, and included a dash of delicious spice that leaves the reader wanting just one more bite. 

BEYOND SCANDAL AND DESIRE by Lorraine Heath kept me up into the wee hours of the night, longing to read just one more page.

via GIPHY

Truly, I fell immediately in love with her characters. And not only that, but her world-building is spot on. The reader is delivered a gorgeous regency setting into which to step for a bit of escape. In other words, every paragraph of BEYOND SCANDAL AND DESIRE by Lorraine Heath is delicious!

via GIPHY

Are you hangry for a good read now? What in the heck are you waiting for? 
Click on the purchase link above and take a bite out of this delicious read!

Oh, and don’t forget to scroll down and ENTER TO WIN one of 3 signed copies of 

THE VISCOUNT AND THE VIXEN by Lorraine Heath. 

Yeah, it’s totes on my TBR list, yo!

And so, I hereby grant BEYOND SCANDAL AND DESIRE by Lorrain Heath

5 Gleaming Scandalous Brooms!

Lorraine Heath always dreamed of being a writer. After graduating from the University of Texas, she wrote training manuals, press releases, articles, and computer code, but something was always missing. When she read a romance novel, she not only became hooked on the genre, but quickly realized what her writing lacked: rebels, scoundrels, and rogues. She’s been writing about them ever since. Her work has been recognized with numerous industry awards, including RWA’s prestigious RITA. Her novels have appeared on the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists.

║ Website ║ Facebook ║ Twitter ║  Instagram║ Goodreads 

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3 SIGNED COPIES of The Viscount & the Vixen JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 8, 2018

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*Excerpt & Giveaway* ELEPHANT DREAMS by Martha Deeringer

ELEPHANT DREAMS

by

MARTHA DEERINGER

  Genre: Young Adult / Historical Fiction / Sweet Romance

Publisher: Melange Books

Date of Publication: September 2, 2017

Number of Pages: 224

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Desperate to escape her squalid life on the streets of New York City, sixteen-year-old Fiona Finn seeks help at the magnificent Church of the Ascension where Charles Loring Brace, a social reformer horrified by the plight of New York City’s street children, arranges for her to go west aboard an Orphan Train.

Fiona’s homeless, alcoholic father has other plans, however.  He wants Fiona to “work” the streets to support his drinking and pursues her across the midwest until she is forced to abandon the train in Houston to avoid a sheriff bent on returning her to her father.

Alone in the dark on the Texas prairie, Fiona’s terrifying experience with a circus elephant, Bolivar, sets the stage for a future she could never have imagined.

PRAISE FOR ELEPHANT DREAMS:

Elephant Dreams will be featured in the January, 2018 issue of the Historical Novel Society magazine. “What a story! With scenes to be likened to any Charles Dickens novel, the author, Martha Deeringer, carries the reader on a breathtaking journey through despair and hope that changes as often as the wind changes direction. Great characters, a believable story, an insight into another world, and an empathy for a character that a reader would have to have a heart of stone not to sympathise with. Although billed as a young adult story, this will readily appeal to an adult reader. Very visual writing and the makings of a classic.” 
- Jane Finch for Readers’ Favorite 

“I absolutely adored this novel; I couldn't find a single thing to dislike about it, other than of course the characters we are meant to dislike. The secondary characters were just as well rounded as the primary characters, leaving the reader with a feeling of contentment at the end of the novel. Each character brought his or her own three-dimensional personality to the novel, giving me a reason to either love or hate them passionately.” 
- Acwoolet for Online Book Club

“I thoroughly enjoyed Elephant Dreams. It is a captivating story with a spunky heroine who is determined to turn her life around. I loved the unique settings that covered New York City slums, an orphan train and a Texas Circus. I would recommend it for teens through adults.” – 5 Stars, Kindle Edition | Verified Purchase

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Afterword from Elephant Dreams

By Martha Deeringer

Mollie Arline Kirkland Bailey, the “Circus Queen of the Southwest” was one of the best-known and most beloved women in Texas during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Described as a woman of “great charm and quick wit” she seemed most interested in making others happy.

After her marriage to James A. (Gus) Bailey in 1858, the couple formed the Bailey Family Troupe with Mollie’s sister, Fanny, and Gus’s brother, Alfred, and traveled on a riverboat through Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas dancing, singing, and acting in short skits. The Bailey’s would eventually have nine children; the first, a daughter, Dixie, was born on the riverboat.

When the Civil War broke out, Gus served in Hood’s Texas Brigade and Mollie, leaving Dixie with friends in Richmond, Virginia, traveled with them as a nurse. Some say she also served as a spy for Generals John Bell Hood and Jubal A. Early, disguising herself as an old woman and selling cookies in the enemy camp as she searched for information. In her later years, Mollie admitted that she had once carried desperately needed medicines to a Confederate camp, passing through enemy lines with the packets of medicine concealed inside her famous pompadour hairdo.

In 1879, the Bailey’s traded their showboat for a small circus, which found immediate success in Texas as the Bailey Circus, “A Texas Show for Texas People.”

When Gus became too ill to travel with the circus and retired to the Bailey’s winter home in Blum, Texas, it was renamed the Mollie A. Bailey Show.. The circus flew the flags of the United States, the state of Texas, and the Confederacy over the big top.

Gus Bailey died in 1896, but Mollie, known to nearly everyone as “Aunt Mollie,” continued in the business. In 1906, the circus switched to railroad travel, and Aunt Mollie often entertained governors, senators, military officers, and other important guests in her newly appointed parlor car.

During that same year, Mollie married A. H. (Blackie) Hardesty. Much younger than Mollie, Blackie managed the circus gaslights. During this time, Mollie showed the first motion pictures in Texas in a separate tent.

When her youngest child, Birda, died in 1917, Mollie ran the circus from home until her own death the following year. The one-ring circus was said to have had thirty-one wagons and over two hundred animals at its height, including camels and elephants.

For many years after the demise of the Mollie Bailey Circus, people would exclaim when they heard a loud noise that it was “louder than Mollie Bailey’s calliope.

Martha Deeringer lives with her husband and their large, extended family on a central Texas cattle ranch. She writes magazine articles, often about history, for children and adults and is a frequent contributor to regional and national magazines. 

Martha also writes Young Adult fiction, occasionally inspired by her teaching experiences or the antics of her children and grandchildren. She loves ranch life and sometimes abandons her writing to cope with assorted issues involving kids, dogs, cats, horses, orphan calves, and occasionally armadillos, coyotes and rattlesnakes. 

 ║ Website ║ Facebook ║  ║ Amazon Author Page ║ Goodreads 

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