Thursday, September 4, 2014

BLOG TOUR, GIVEAWAY, & EXCERPT: Once More, My Darling Rogue by Lorraine Heath

Once More my Darling Rogue
The Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James # 2
By: Lorraine Heath
Releasing August 26th, 2014  
Avon


Blurb

From New York Times bestselling author Lorraine Heath, comes the second book in a brand new series, The Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James, featuring three eligible bachelors...and the scoundrels that reside within each.

Born to the street but raised within the aristocracy, Drake Darling can't escape his sordid beginnings. Not when Lady Ophelia Lyttleton snubs him at every turn, a constant reminder he's not truly one of them. But after rescuing her from a mysterious drowning, he realizes she doesn't remember who she is. With plans to bring her to heel, he insists she's his housekeeper—never expecting to fall for the charming beauty.

While Ophelia might not recall her life before Drake, she has little doubt she belongs with him. The desire she feels for her dark, brooding employer can't be denied, regardless of consequences. So when Ophelia's memory returns, she is devastated by the depth of his betrayal. Now Drake must risk everything to prove she can trust this rogue with her heart once more.


EXCERPT

Irritated with himself for being drawn to the sound, he glanced back over his shoulder to spy her flirting outrageously with the Duke of Avendale and Viscount Langdon. Their families were well-respected,  powerful, and wealthy. He was not surprised to see two other ladies in the group. The gents were sought-after, but just as he tended to avoid social affairs, so did they. Marriage was so far in their distant future that they wouldn’t be able to see it with a spyglass. They were here only because they were close to both Grace and Lovingdon. But now that the happy couple had departed, he suspected Avendale and Langdon would be headed elsewhere for their entertainment.
Unlike Lady O they would invite him to join them. Ophelia’s laughter reached him again, only this time when the sound went silent, her gaze landed on him like a huge stone, then dipped to the champagne, and her lips tipped upward in triumph, just before she wrinkled her nose as though she smelled something quite unpleasant. Her face settling once more into deceptive loveliness, she shifted her gaze back to Avendale, summarily dismissing Drake in the process.
Unfortunately for her, he was no longer quite so easily dismissed.
Ophelia knew a quick spurt of panic. Darling strode toward her with purpose in his step, his large hands—a workman’s hands—dwarfing the flute he carried. His expression shouted that he was tossing down the gauntlet and she feared she might have misjudged his mood tonight, that managing him might be more challenging than she’d expected, but manage him she would. She would not be cowed, not by him, not by any other man for that matter.
He was a commoner who came from common beginnings. He might wear the outer trappings of a gentleman, but she had no doubt that deep down he was a scoundrel, with a scoundrel’s ways, and a penchant toward sinful behavior.
She didn’t know why that thought caused her to grow uncomfortably warm. It was the crowded room, the gaslit chandeliers, the layers of petticoats, and the tight corset. She certainly wasn’t imagining those hands exploring her body. She was not of the streets. She was a lady. And ladies did not contemplate such things.
But as he neared, something within the black depths of his eyes twinkled as though he knew precisely where her errant thoughts had journeyed and was more than willing to serve as her companion on a sojourn into wickedness. He was not handsome, at least not classically so. His features were rugged, craggy, as though shaped by an angry god. His nose was too broad, his brow too wide. His jaw too square. She could see the beginning of shadow, bristles that hadn’t the decency to wait until later to appear. Why was she wasting her time cataloguing each and every inch of him when she had lords aplenty willing to give her attention?


Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19099623-once-more-my-darling-rogue?from_search=true

Buy Links

Author Info
LORRAINE HEATH always dreamed of being a writer. After graduating from the University of Texas, she wrote training manuals and computer code, but something was always missing. After reading 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 RITA® and a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award. Her novels have appeared on the USA Today and New York Times best-seller lists.



Author Links





Rafflecopter Giveaway ($25.00 eGift Card Winners Choice Book Seller )


a Rafflecopter giveaway



1 comment:

  1. Really loved this excerpt as well! It old me something I didn't know before, that Ophelia was really attracted to Drake all along, but snubbed him anyway. Whoa. Poor Drake was damned if she did and damned if she didn't. Hmm. Ophelia seems to be a very calculating woman . . . jdh2690@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete