Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Madam! Need a scorching butler on your staff? Cerise has one in HER BEGUILING BUTLER!

BUY LINK:
http://www.amazon.com/Her-Beguiling-Butler-Delightful-Crescent-ebook/dp/B0135ZLZAU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438449574&sr=8-1&keywords=Her+Beguiling+butler

He is OUT!
Everywhere.
He's hot, he's bothered, he's flummoxed because he's falling madly in love with his blonde, beautiful lady.

Trouble is he's in search of a culprit...and shouldn't have time to admire his mistress or kiss her, or go to her bedroom...and stay.

Look for the next two in the series, starring a temptestuous and tempting governess and a very naughty maid!

I created the Dudley Crescent and the man who cleared the land to build the houses. Similar to those in other London and Bath crescents, Dudley is comprised of houses where ladies and lords live in grand style. And they hire servants, at some coincidence, who are uppity, intriguing and very desirable!


Monday, July 20, 2015

Going to #London, #Paris? Go the old fashioned, fun ways!



Gare de L'est Main Concourse
Need a vacay? Hey, me too! If only to please my significant other who says I spend too much time tapping the keys and talking to "others" on TW and FB! (Really??? I do that? Time flies when you are having fun!)

This fall, he and I are going to...drum roll here...England. And our current argument...um, discussion...is about length of stay. Eight days? Ten? Fifteen?

 I often vote for as long as I can get him to agree to the budget (a term I use too loosely which is why we have our discussions). Our longest vacay recently was a glorious 18 days in eastern France covering the American battlefields of WORLD WAR ONE. But I can get him to agree to 14 days and 10 often!

   What do we do? And why do we stay so long?
   First, very important here, we skip all hotels. Why? Too expensive AND they never let you in until 3 in the afternoon and by that time, you are ready to skin the receptionist because you are so jet lagged.

http://amzn.to/1dWojVz  
   We rent an apartment. With washer and dryer so you can take a smaller suitcase. And a dishwasher. No, not hubby. A mechanical dishwasher.  BUT we have also found that in Europe, people tend to sleep very close together. Single beds or double are the norm. You wince? We do, too. Ergo, hunt for that rental that sports a queen or, if you really need it (and we do), a king.  Tough to find but they are there, trust me.
   I
   s an apartment really that much more affordable? It is. Just think. You have your coffee and breakfast in house. You have a refrigerator so you can, if you wish, pack a lunch. We don't but it is an option, especially if you have food sensitivities or allergies and must do this for health.

   How do we plan? We decide before we go exactly what we plan to see. In order. Then we figure out if there is a Metro card (Visite, in Paris, London GO in London) and the right time period we need to purchase! We are also good to ourselves and KNOW that the first day we're there, we are good for the move in, breakfast at a local cafe, a nap and a glorious dinner. No touring. THEN, the next day we begin.

   Our WORLD WAR ONE trip began in Paris where we went to Les Invalides, where they have the most marvelous collection of items for display for the world wars. We did the Musee D"Orsay, walked along the Seine, and drank champagne till we couldn't any longer...at least, not that day.
What did I get from this trip that took us to Compiegne where the Armistice was signed in 1918 and to Verdun where the most costly battles were fought and to a wonderful museum in Meaux devoted entirely to the La Grande Guerre?

   I got  HEROIC MEASURES, written under my other name. This novel is about thousands of American women whom you've never heard of or eve thought about...I bet. American nurses who volunteered to go to France to nurse Doughboys in 1917 were paid HALF what an Army private was paid and had no rank. NONE. I could go on, but hope instead you will read my novel about these truly heroic Americans.
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BUY LINKS for HEROIC MEASURES:
Amazon:







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 Last fall, we went to Paris again and this time our agenda was to trace the history of France by visiting a few significant places in and around Paris—and to do so by taking only the Metro or the train!  We stayed for 15 days and let me just say, that it was marvelous. We walked at least 3-4 miles a day, because you leave the train station, by golly, you are hoofing it to the site you wish to see. BUT armed with good walking shoes and our umbrellas, we did it. And then—yes, you guessed it—we dined. And I must confess, we drank well, too. Because well, it is France you must taste the local produce, right???
   What did I get out of that visit? Well, I got marvelous backgrounds for my "Cerise went to Paris" Blogs on my own blog here: http://cerisedeland.blogspot.com  

And I have wonderful info for my next few Regencies as Cerise!  Do read THE INCOMPARABLES, 6 HEROES OF WATERLOO AND THE 6 LADIES THEY ADORE BY 6 INCOMPARABLE REGENCY AUTHORS for 99 cents out now! The 6 are: Sabrina York, Dominique Eastwick, Suzi Love, Suzanna Medeiros, Lynne Connolly and me!
   And the material I researched appears in my entry in that box set, INTERLUDE WITH A BARON, Regency Romp #4...and in the soon to be released #3 in that series, MASQUERADE WITH A MARQUESS!

   Keep traveling and keep reading!

Monday, July 6, 2015

Cerise went to #Paris and shares 5 FAB.U.LOUS FREE things to do there!

You know I love to share my travels, especially to Paris and soon (be still my heart) to England and Bath!

But for Paris, ah, ma cherie, I have good news for you!

Aside from spending money, the best thing to do in Paris is spend time!


5. Walk along the Seine
Throw the guidebooks away for a day. Especially if that day is sunny. Take the Metro. Walk.
Go to Point Zero, which is a point in front of Notre Dame from which all points in France are measured!

Stroll along the river to admire the vendors with old postcards, prints, paintings, clothing and snacks!
Take pictures and breathe in the Paris air.

Buy an ice, if you must. But inhale the aromas of French roast coffee and baking croissants. Admire the flowers. I've never seen such blooms.

Walk over to the Place des Vosges, ordered built by Henri IV and a favorite place for Parisians today to take a picnic!

Doors at entrance to
Napoleon's Tomb
4. Go to St. Louis's Dome. Walk inside to visit Napoleon Bonaparte's Tomb.

Gives me chills every time I see it.

What a man he must have been.

Be sure to pay homage to General Foch who was the last of four French generals to lead the French military in La Grande Guerre, in the First World War.

Carried by a member of each of the branches of the French military, his coffin denotes the sorrow of the French who suffered enormous the destruction to home and civilians during that first global conflict.
General Foch carried by his French comrades
in Les Invalides

3. Visit the train stations!
I know you think I'm nuts, but really, they are a slice of architectural beauty. My favorite is Gare (pronounced not Gar, as in garage, but Garrrrrrrr) de L'Est. This Station of the East is a beauty opened in 1849 and it retains all the glorious expansive beauty of the Belle Epoch. Look at the fan windows. Admire the wide concourse. Both were innovations in their day.

Now imagine through here traveled millions of French and American soldiers from 1914 to 1919. Why?
The fronts were to the north of Paris for all Entente forces. The American front for the American Expeditionary Forces was to the north and east and the best way to get to them, if not by truck convoy, was by train. Often these train tracks did not couple and forces had to wait for hours for the arrival of another train on an adjoining track. Needless to say, the journey was long and arduous.

The cars, during wartime, were overcrowded, stinky, few seats available, without WCs (bathrooms, to Americans) and without any refreshment or dining cars.

People fled the fighting and the bombs and the invading armies on these trains. Carrying their chickens, their family photo albums, their clothes, millions boarded these trains and fled south. Many never returned. Villages were abandoned to the men fighting with sabers, rifles, flares, chemical gases and cannon.

2.  Take the Metro to Montemarte and walk into the square where you will find dozens of artists selling their wares. 

If walking distances is a challenge, get off the Metro at Lamark and walk up up up the stairs.  Good for the gluts, you see. (Yes, then another set of steps to the square!)

Dart into the many galleries to admire works by contemporary artists.

Walk down the steps toward Rue de Caulingcourt (named after one of Napoleon I's closest friends, ambassador to Russia and famous general). Note The Agile Rabbit on your right where dozens of Impressionist painters and sculptors and writers went nightly to drink and inspire each other!

Stroll along the Rue and walk into a wine shop for your vin. Next door, buy a cheese (dozens to choose from) and a demi baguette. Further along is a fabulous shop whose owner rotisseries chickens and little potatoes in a little roaster right out there on the sidewalk!

Take them all home or to your hotel and feast!


1. Walk along the Champs Elysee and discover Musee D'Orsay, Place de la Concorde and the Tuileries Gardens! 

Pack a lunch to sit in the gardens! Buy a sandwich of brie and ham, a chocolate croissant and coffee and admire what was saved for you by a Nazi general who refused Hitler's order to burn Paris in August 1944. Drop into Laduree and buy scrumptious macaroons.

Sit and imagine you are Marie Antoinette or Josephine or even Napoleon I or his nephew, Napoleon III admiring the view. Yes, on this site there once stood a Tuileries Palace where Marie Antoinette hid from the Revolutionaries and where Josephine bemoaned Napoleon's affairs. Admire what Napoleon saved and improved about Paris which include the bridges that bear his N emblem, river transportation, water availability and many roads into the capital.




Thursday, July 2, 2015

Need a sexy butler? Doesn't every gal? And a man who catches spies? Cerise has 2 men for you!


Debuts everywhere July 22!
This month I'm excited about 2 men~one is Drayton Worth in THE INCOMPARABLES box set of 6 fab.u.lous Regency romances for 99 cents and my hot-to-the-touch bangin' butler in HER BEGUILING BUTLER!

Drayton Worth caught spies during the Napoleonic Wars and one of them was the husband of the woman he adored. Catching Henri Montroy meant ruining Emma Bedlow. But 5 years after Waterloo, Dray seizes the opportunity to make her his. And he starts by giving her the house next door to his own!

Dray stars in INTERLUDE WITH A BARON, #4 in my Regency Romp series and in this box set!)

THE INCOMPARABLES features 6 wonderful stories by 6 regency authors you will adore!

A best seller already at ARe and AMAZON worldwide!



Kobo https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-incomparables

As for the delectable butler in HER BEGUILING BUTLER, Mr. Finnley is the hottest darn man servant you've ever met! And every gal needs a man to wait on her, true? He debuts July 22!!!!

A lady shouldn’t desire her butler. But what’s a woman to do when the man fascinates her? She must taste him…or dismiss him.

And how does a man kill his scandalous desire to kiss his charming employer? Especially when he must protect her from an unknown villain…as well as his dastardly need to possess her.   


Finnley starts a new series, DELIGHTFUL DOINGS IN DUDLEY CRESCENT, about...ahem...affairs in proper English households between the lords and ladies and their staff. Among staff we have HIS TEMPTING GOVERNESS and HIS NAUGHTY MAID.


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