Happy Monday! Today, I decided to share a song because, well, it has just been stuck in my head a lot lately. It is just one of those that sticks. I love this group’s music. And even though this has a more traditional country sound to it, I like it, which is not always the case for me. But then it has such fantastic lyrics which I am certain plays almost as big a part in my liking it as the rhythm and melody. Although I did not choose the song to have a connection to what I have been writing this week, I think I can make one.
Highvalleymusic. “High Valley – I Be U Be (Official Music Video).” YouTube. YouTube, 07 Apr. 2017. Web. 08 Apr. 2017.
This week, I reached what I think is the end of Not an Heiress. It still needs an epilogue and would have one by now, but I ended up with a touch of the flu and had to take a day off from writing. (That was not easily done 😉 )
In this story, the hero, Richard, and the heroine, Mary, are really opposites when you consider them separately. She is bent on propriety, and he is more willing to have some fun. However, they blend together into something unique and strong. They have a passionate love that overcomes her propriety, and they both have a desire to help those who are less fortunate. And though, they, at first, think they cannot be together, it becomes obvious that their love is not going to just fade away and be replaced by another. Thankfully, Lady Catherine guesses that they love each other and forces the issue, so the coming together of the two happens more rapidly than it would have otherwise. And it is a sweet relationship that they have! I can see Richard singing this song to Mary. It seems to echo what his thoughts of Mary are.
In addition to finishing the main portion of Not an Heiress, I also completed the line edits of Discovering Mr. Darcy. And, just now, late on Sunday evening, I have just submitted my ebook files for review to all my retailers for a short preorder. The release day for the ebook book is April 18, 2017. (Print will probably be about a week later.)
Tomorrow, it is my turn to post on Austen Authors, where I will be sharing an excerpt from Discovering Mr. Darcy and talking about short stories/novellas a bit. And there is a chance to win an ebook copy. I hope you drop by and say hi!
Before I post an excerpt of what I wrote this week, I thought I would share the cover images for Discovering Mr. Darcy and Not an Heiress.
And now for a bit of what I wrote this week. Remember, this is from the end of the book so it will contain spoilers. It is a bit shorter of an excerpt to hopefully avoid any major reveals. Read at your own risk. 🙂
EXCERPT FROM Not an Heiress:
(note: Alexander is Darcy and Elizabeth’s son.)
Mary watched Richard as he sat on the ground rolling a ball to Alexander and then taking it from the child when he carried it back to his uncle. A tin of biscuits sat loosely covered next to Richard.
“She is beautiful, is she not?” he asked Alexander, who had trotted back to his spot and sat down. He nodded his head, and Alexander followed suit. “You are a bright boy.”
He rolled the ball to his nephew, who immediately stood and with ball in hand walked to his uncle.
“But it is not her beauty that stole my heart,” he said, taking the ball and lifting the lid to the biscuit tin for Alexander. “She is kind and intelligent and caring and determined, and so many good things. You will understand this one day. A wife should be more than a pretty face. Not that a pretty face is not also nice.”
Alexander climbed onto his uncle’s lap and looked up at him as if listening carefully as he ate his biscuit.
“And this garden will be ours — mine and Mary’s, and I may be able to have a seat in parliament if I can get the right supporters. And you shall be able to visit me and your Aunt Mary in London and here and play with our babies.”
“Mama?” Alexander asked, his brows furrowing into a serious expression.
“Yes, with your Mama and Papa.” He ruffled the young boy’s hair. “Will you like to have cousins?”
“He will likely enjoy them as long as they do not eat his biscuits,” said Mary, coming to sit next to Richard. “I thought you would be with Darcy and Bingley, but you were not.”
“I decided Alexander with his lack of vocabulary was a better discussion partner.” Richard stood Alexander on his feet. “Get the ball,” he said as he sent it slowly rolling.
Alexander giggled and trotted after it.
“Darcy was merciless in his teasing,” Richard said in further explanation of why he was in the garden with a two-year-old rather than in the billiard’s room with men of his own age. “Alexander thinks only of naps and bedtime stories when you speak of sleeping.” He glanced at her with a crooked smile. “Gentlemen of Alexander’s father’s age think of more.” She blushed as he knew she would.
She wrapped her arms around his arm that was closest to her and propped her chin on his shoulder as he took the ball from Alexander and rolled it again. “You are very good with him,” she said. “You will be a good father.”
He turned and kissed her cheek. “And you will be a good mother.”
“Perhaps sooner than is entirely proper,” she whispered.
“We marry on Monday. People do not judge the arrival of a child as improperly early if it arrives a few days before it should,” he reassured her as he kissed her cheek again.
She sighed. “I do not know why I allow you to cause me to forget propriety, but I do.”
“I do not find that to be a fault,” he said with a roguish grin.
Alexander had returned for another biscuit and was beginning to rub his nose and eyes as he snuggled into his uncle’s arms.
“I think it is time for this young man to return to the nursery.” Richard shifted to rise.
Mary gathered the tin and handed the ball to Alexander to carry so that one of her arms would be free to link with Richard’s, and so they proceeded to the house and up the stairs to the nursery.
~*~*~
KOBO AMAZON NOOK IBOOKS MAILING LIST
Loved the excerpt. Can’t wait to read this book.
That is awesome to hear! It is a fun book with a healthy dose of impropriety, which adds to the fun but, I will admit, makes me a little nervous about how it will be received. I mean Mary? Acting like that? 😉
Woo hoo! Mary concerned about an early birth? Scandalous! (But I love it!) I also loved the song (never heard it before) and the book covers. You always have beautiful book covers that capture the romantic feel of the story inside. I am really looking forward to reading this book.
So scandalous…and she is rightly worried. (Gasp!) 😉 That is nice to hear about my covers, I tend to worry about them. (But then I tend to worry about many things 🙂 )
This is the second story I have seen about Richard and Mary, this will be a little more lively I think going by the excerpt, naughty Richard, but he is not a rogue like Wickham and obviously loves Mary, can’t wait to read all. (Fyi, would not Richard and Mary be Alexander’s cousins, as Darcy is Richard’s not Uncle?)
Julie R
Definitely lively and treading more on the improper side than normal for me (and Mary, haha). Mary is definitely an aunt as Elizabeth is Mary’s sister and Alexander’s mom. I went with uncle for Richard–instead of what would it be? Cosin once removed?–just because he and Darcy are like brothers and when Richard marries Mary who is Alex’s aunt he would become his uncle as in an aunt’s husband is your uncle. Yeah, uncle just seemed least confusing both for me and Alexander. ☺
Love the excerpt and the Song. Can’t wait for the books 😊
Great! Glad you liked them both! 🙂