Willow Hall Romance Series

Wintery Night in the Park

Wintertime night scene in the park. Author: psychoshadow. Image sourced from Depositphotos

This image that I found on Depositphotos feels like the story that I’m sharing from today in this post. It’s lonely and quiet. It’s rimmed with shadows that hide many things. And yet, it’s got that light which is chasing away those shadows and making the scene feel a little welcoming.

I’d say this story, Frosted Windowpanes, is like that. There’s a welcome to the scene in which the main character finds himself, but is it a lasting welcome or will the shadows of the past and circumstances of the present snuff out the glimmer of home? I can’t tell you how it happens because that would be spoiling the story. But, this is a Leenie Brown story and touched with inspiration from Persuasion, so you know the ending cannot be bleak, right?

Below is the first chapter of this four-chapter novelette from my Nature’s Fury and Delights Collection. For those who are familiar with my Willow Hall series, you’ll see a few names that should be familiar since Mr. Mullins’s estate is located in Derbyshire near Willow Hall and Kympton.

One more note before I let you read the beginning of the story: Frosted Windowpanes is the free Ream and Patreon read this month, so at the end of the chapter, I will include links to find it on those platforms (you do have to sign up as a free follower to access it there) and links to where the story is available in stores and such.

Enjoy!

Meet Philip Dobney

Painting of the parish church of St James the Greater, Stirchley, Shropshire, seen from the southeast. Circa 1850. John Holmes Smith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

I liked sharing a full chapter last in the previous Story Connections post, that I decided to do it again. 🙂 I’m also sharing the full chapter to give you a good understanding of who Philip Dobney, the hero of And Then Love, is — just in case you haven’t already met him. If you have, it’s always fun to revisit an old friend.

Philip, as well as Lucy, in this story are good friends of Fitzwilliam Darcy. They’ve grown up together, so the friendship is of long standing. Philip is the person to whom the living at Kympton fell when Wickham refused it.

The fact that Philip is a parson is why I picked the painting above to share with this post today. I thought it was a pretty little church, even if it is in Shopshire and not Derbyshire. 🙂 I also liked that it includes a graveyard because that is the setting for the excerpt below that sets up why Lucy needs Philip’s help.

Oh, and one more note about the setting of this story. It begins at the time when Wickham is petitioning Darcy to give him that living he refused. Between him and Lucy’s uncle (who is far worse than Wickham), there’s most certainly going to be some trouble in this story.

Enjoy!

A Cottage in a Cornfield (John Constable)

John Constable, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This painting made me think of Mr. Dobney’s cottage in So Very Unexpected. It is the first place where he and Lydia really meet — even if they had been introduced the day before. Below is how that meeting started. (And it really did not get any better for some time — though eventually, Lydia finds that the fellow who owns the cottage into which she crept when running away has decided to be her friend, a real friend, unlike any she has ever had before.)

The September 2022 Saturday Broadsheet

This month’s Saturday Broadsheet, with all my writing life updates, is now available at the link below.

In this issue of the Broadsheet you will find:

a llama
a chamber horse
my writing news
and a few books that are on sale

CLICK HERE TO READ THis Month’s SATURDAY BROADSHEET

Have a great weekend!

I hope you have time to read a book.

I’ll be back on Wednesday (hopefully) with a Story Connection, and then again, on Thursday with the final chapter of His Inconvenient Choice.

The June 2022 Saturday Broadsheet

The Saturday Broadsheet, with all my writing life updates, is now available at the link at the bottom of this short post.

In this issue of the Broadsheet you will find:

Info about what is posting on my blog. (As if you didn’t know, right? LOL)
Info about what will be posting at Patreon, starting next Friday
Info about the two books I have on sale for $0.99 this month and one boxset that is on sale for this weekend only.
Info about some other books, which are not mine, that are either free or on sale.
And in the something interesting section at the end of the newsletter you will find, a video that has been paired with an excerpt from one of the books in the boxset I have on sale this weekend.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE June 2022 SATURDAY BROADSHEET

Have a great weekend!

I hope you have time to read a book.

I’ll be back on Thursday with a new chapter of His Inconvenient Choice.