Titles of romances are getting goofy! What do you think of....

Duchess, Countess, Butler, Duke which is sort of a take off of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy?

Or should that read (because the hero is a duke): Grandma, Auntie, the Duke and I???

Or since my hero, the duke, looked differently than he does now when young, could the title be: The Frog and I?

Yes, I am writing romcoms these days for shorter works. And the title should fit, yes?

Tell me what you think of these!

 

 

A man with a plan to acquire a merry housekeeper for Christmas! Romcom romp in MERRY BELLES!

His Merry Housekeeper 

A novelette in Delightful Doings in Dudley Crescent series

By Cerise DeLand

Word among the fashionable is that in that marvelous London crescent, Dudley to be exact, a new storm brews over the romantic interests of the lords and ladies who live there.

Lord Bettington in Number 42 is in need of a new housekeeper. It being Christmas and his house full of his three raucous motherless sons, he is in need of someone bold who can tamp down the chaos of his household—and his boys. 

But the earl wants so much more. He has ordered his young chatelaine, Miss Winifred Mathers, up from his country estate to serve as his housekeeper. Could it be true that that particular servant who is the only daughter of a termagant barrister has pierced dashing Lord Bettington’s lonely heart?

He tells himself he wants his new servant to provide order and emotional succor for his poor (savage) little boys. 

But can he control his yearning for his new employee?

And can Winn suppress her desire for the only man she's ever loved?

BUY LINK for MERRY BELLES, a box set by the Bluestocking Belles: https://www.amazon.com/Merry-Belles-Bluestocking-Collection-Friends-ebook/dp/B0FTQVYSKG

Be sure to read the current three novels about those who live in Dudley Crescent: 

Her Beguiling Butler: https://books2read.com/u/bpjNZ6

His Tempting Governess: https://books2read.com/u/4jenz2

His Naughty Maid: https://books2read.com/u/3npn9B

Today's bon bon: Why advertise for a wife or husband? Tinder of the Regency era!

 TINDER and MATCH.COM are the current ways to meet someone you might like to date or marry.

But in the Regency era, the only way to meet someone new, someone in another town was...yes...to buy an advert in a newspaper!

In MATRIMONY!, my new series for Dragonblade, a London newspaper publisher, Germaine Hammond, decides to devote her entire newspaper to matchmaking.

Those who apply are supposed to have the best intentions and the finest characteristics. But then, you can imagine what might happen when charlatans attempt to make a match that does not quite come up to snuff!

Do READ the first in this amazing series! BUY LINK:  https://amzn.to/3nkslpf

A Diamond of the Season in search of a Diamond of a husband! How difficult can it be?

BUY LINK: https://amzn.to/3uKpdC

    Sitting beside him, Addy held his hand, no matter propriety. He needed her. She knew enough of his malady to sit for many minutes without a word between them. He recovered himself, but slowly. And when a footman approached with a tray of wine or whiskey on offer, Gyles would have taken one.

“Do not,” she admonished. 

He stared at her. “No?”

“Spirits will only aggravate your condition.”

He looked away, but grimaced at the bright light of candles in a nearby sconce.

“Close your eyes. Turn toward me.” She stroked his hand and wrapped her fingers around his wrist and counted. “There. Your heart beat slows. You will be well. Give this a few minutes.”

He did as she bade him and in his time, he opened his eyes to consider her with quiet appreciation shining there. “You know my condition.”

“Bold sounds. Bright lights. Alcohol. Late nights. Exertion. They all contribute to your headaches. How long have you suffered them?”

He exhaled. “Since I was imprisoned by the French when I was young.”

“I see.” She squeezed his hand in sympathy. About that, she would learn more but not tonight. He had to recover first before he relived the cause of his distress. “You should not be at balls, sir. But home where you can be quiet and untroubled.”

“But if I did not attend here tonight, I would not have found you again.”

She bobbed her head to and fro. “We might have met in more sedate gatherings.”

“Perhaps. I would have chanced missing you.”

She had never been so sweetly entranced by a man who confessed to his liking for her in so unique a manner. “My sisters and I are in Brighton specifically to enjoy the Season. We will be…” she said as she circled a hand in the air, “everywhere.”

“Addy, how may I press my advantage?”

“You made an impression on me yesterday, Gyles. I will not soon forget you.”

He grasped her hand tightly. “Don’t forget me at all.”

“I won’t. How could I? You like my syrup.” She had to tease him and make him smile.

“I do. Among other things.”

She nodded, compassion in her heart for so afflicted a darling man. “Perhaps my dancing, too?”

“Indeed,” he said. “I’d like to kiss you for it.”

She gave a shocked little laugh. Since Grandpapa died and she knew she’d have to find a husband soon, she’d taken to kissing any man who appealed. Alas, she’d found none. But now, she was not only complimented but tempted to kiss this man. “Not here.”

“No. But somewhere and soon. With my thanks for the syrup, the dance and the laughter.”

Oh, my. Was he much too chivalrous? Was he a rake of no morals? A man who complimented women? Women like her? Young and naive. For all her good looks, for all her pride in them and understanding of them as a tool to attract men, she was still untried, uninformed of much of the physicality of mating. She could be all too easily influenced by a practiced man’s charms. Of that she had always been on guard. 

“A kiss for relief from a headache? Oh, surely that would be—”

“Bliss,” he vowed. “I will try for it tomorrow.”

“When you come for tea?”

“I come for you, Addy.”

He lifted her hand and pressed his firm lips to her glove in a stunning kiss. Had he blessed her bare skin with his mouth, she would have taken him to an alcove in the hall and tasted the flavor of his desire and called herself barely satisfied.

“Tomorrow then,” she whispered and longed to taste his lips on hers.

TRAVELS WITH CERISE a new element in my novels for you!

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JJNXZXS

Inside THE VISCOUNT'S ONLY LOVE is a treat for the historical romance lover in you.

I've decided that another wonderful way to share my research with you is to include in my novels addenda about my trips abroad! Yes, I've done a few Live Chats on FB called Travels with Cerise (and do go watch them please), but I wanted to give you something more permanent to relish. 

You know that in each novel, I take great care to give you accurate history from all my research in books, monographs and travel abroad. Many times those little details that I like to put into my novels can naturally go unnoticed or undocumented.

Now to thrill you more, I've taken advantage of the new technological ability to include my photos inside my works. So you see my great pictures like this one of Azay-le-Rideau and you can read what and why I've included those pictures in my text!

http://cerisedeland.blogspot.com 

I'm very excited about this. That means that I will first go back into all 3 of THOSE NOTORIOUS AMERICANS, then CHRISTMAS BELLES to show you my pix and explain how those items or places are reflected in my novels. When I put those in, I will notify you here and you can go to your provider into your account and download the newest version! So tickled to share these with you!

In box set, NINE LORDS
FOR CHRISTMAS

Do write to me and let you me know what you think and what you've loved!

Amazon

Amazon

www.cerisedeland.com

LADY STARLING'S STOCKINGS hits bestseller list! Free on KU, 99 cents for this spicy Regency! In Print too!

On Kindle Unlimited FREE, 99 cents to buy!
Amazon

This Regency starring a lady spy and her spymaster is once again on the bestseller list! So tickled!
Hope you will give her a go with her new cover, new text, too.

When she debuted in 2011, she was in an erotic romance. Now? She's still in love with Monsieur Noir, but now she's in a spicy romance.

I transitioned to mainstream with a bit of hotness a few years ago. One can do erotic for so long and then, it's time to become more mainstream!

So here she is, still finding spies in her cousin's garden in Naples, ferreting out the person who attempts to keep Napoleon's brother-in-law in power in Italy!

Enjoy!
Amazon Kindle Unlimited in digital and also in print!

Did Cerise's #Marquess and his lover, the Countess, really find Pauline #Bonaparte's missing gold? #Regency

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You love your historical fiction to have a few facts? Of course you do!

Not just the way the characters dress or talk or regard each other with proper manners. No, no. You like them to have a foot in their own era, their own problems.

Well! Do I have fun for you!

Lots of occurrences in my MASQUERADE WITH A MARQUESS are true. Like what, you ask?

George III really did die in Windsor Castle January 29, 1820 only days after his youngest son passed away. And that man was Duke of Kent, Victoria's father. A year and a half mourning period ensued. The royal court wore black. Noblemen and women wore black armbands and Parliament did adjourn, then reconvene later in the spring. Parties were at a minimum or scaled down in reverence for the king's passing.

Pauline Bonaparte

But in the novel, my heroine Sophia di Contini searches for treasures stolen from her during the Napoleonic wars. The treasures she seeks were taken by Napoleon's sister Pauline and Sophia has the names of those who may have taken them into their own possession!

Is it true that Pauline was inclined to take items that did not belong to her? Yes.
Is it true she took them to her own home in Paris? Yes.
Is it true she sold her house to Wellington? Oh, yes.
Is it also true that her portrait is the only one of a woman hanging in the Duke's Apsley House Waterloo gallery in London? Oh, yes.
And is it true that she wished to use this money to finance Napoleon's return from Elba and to the Imperial Throne of France?
Indeed, it is.
Do you know what happened to the remainder of that money?
No? Then you must read MASQUERADE WITH A MARQUESS!

Winston Churchill

And might you know what has become of that house today?
It is the residence of the British Ambassador to France.
Oh, yes, and one more fact. Winston Churchill's mother, American Jennie Jerome, and Winston's father, Randolph Churchill were married in Pauline's home. Do you know why?
The Churchills did not approve of the match and they refused to attend!

Hotel Charost

Cerise's MASQUERADE WITH A MARQUESS, #3 in #Regency Romp series, videos of hero's home!

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Victor Cameron, the hero in MASQUERADE WITH A MARQUESS, is a nobleman with wealth and a few fabulous homes. One is in London, one near the border in Yorkshire, but the other lies in Berkshire. And a fabulous abode it is, too.
Want to take a look?
Of course you do!
This picture is the National Trust's photo of Basildon Park in Reading, Berkshire.

YOUTUBE OF HOUSE (28 minutes long): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovA1lQeRx5E

Missed it in 2005 Pride and Prejudice? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep7NVFZbEPY

The real house of Basildon was built beginning in late seventeen hundreds for the then current owner. In the Palladian style which conforms to very strict standards of elevations and dimensions of apertures such as doors and windows, this house is nonetheless a late example of the style brought from the Continent by those noblemen who took their grand tours.

During the Regency period, the center block was the main house for the owners, with ground floor used as wine cellars, servants quarters and service rooms. The rooms opened to the center court, hall or stairs and were in a row, one leading to another. The wings would have served secondary functions.

Do watch the videos of the house. I think you will enjoy seeing the true "Cameron Park" as much as I!
I also hope you are reading (if you haven't already) the other three novels in this series. Each stars a man who fought, served and spied for the Crown during the wars against Napoleon.

Cerise celebrates release of 2 New #Regency #romances w contest for Lady's Maid's Bag, more!

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I celebrate the release of 2 of my Regency Romps novels, MASQUERADE WITH A MARQUESS and INTERLUDE WITH A BARON, together! Aiding me is FUSSY LIBRARIAN where to enter the contest, they ask you to sign up for their newsletter and I ask you to sign up for mine!

What: 2 sign-ups

Where?

   My newsletter: http://eepurl.com/Jm55L

   Their Rafflecopter locale: http://www.thefussylibrarian.com/for-readers/giveaways/

When: March 6-12

   That's right. ALL WEEK LONG.

   Enter often!

Who: Readers who love to get books, Gift Cards and SWAG (this maid's bag is direct from my recent research trip to England)

Why? Cuz you love the fun of it!

Amazon ARe   NOOK   KOBO   iTunes    

And (drum roll!) to celebrate the release of my two new Romps together, I am reducing all of my Regency Romp romances and HER BEGUILING BUTLER for a limited time to 99cents.

Why?

Because it has been a long time, (too long) since Lady Varney's Risque Business and Rendezvous with a Duke debuted and I want you to refresh and enjoy the series, all four of them!

 

LADY VARNEY’S RISQUE BUSINESS, Regency Romp #1

Amazon   ARe:    NOOK:   KOBO:  

RENDEZVOUS WITH A DUKE, Regency Romp #2

Amazon    ARe    BarnesandNoble    KOBO  iBooks

And this is the prize, pictured left and down, in the contest offered in conjunction with Fussy Librarian this week only! Digital copies of THE INCOMPARABLES box set plus 2 more of my backlist. Go here and follow the directions in the Rafflecopter drawings.

Again, directions:

What: 2 sign-ups

Where?

   My newsletter: http://eepurl.com/Jm55L

   Their Rafflecopter locale: http://www.thefussylibrarian.com/for-readers/giveaways/

When: March 6-12

   That's right. ALL WEEK LONG.

Cerise asks, What do gin, smuggling, shoes and London docks have in common during #Regency period?

Women's slippers, circa 1829
corsetsandcrinolines.com

During the Regency, all was not serene decorum in this bustling, growing city. While the ton dined and danced and courted especially in our Regency romances, the commerce that kept them on their toes and money in their pockets could be a raw and nasty business on the east end of town where the ships from all ports docked.

I doubt anyone would want to walk in these dockland areas if they could help it. Or even try because to walk the approximate 4+ miles from the docks to (for example) Mayfair would be dangerous. Plus the general challenge of walking over cobbles and uneven surfaces in what were (I cringe every time I see them) terrible shoes or boots seems daunting. And for a refined lady to walk in these rough and tumble dock areas would be unthinkable.

West India completed docks, 1802.
Public domain.

West India Docks, East India docks and London docks were areas inhabited by shipwrights, seamen of merchant marine and Royal navies. With men and goods of all kinds going in and out, it was a bustling area and, except for the demands of the Customs officials, largely unregulated. So you have ships coming in, being unloaded, goods stored in warehouses and transported from there. The nature of the activities there would inspire much criminal activity. Smuggling was the biggest problem and the private companies employed their own watchmen (later maritime police) to try to deal with it. Lawlessness of all types occured, including theft, avoidance of import taxes, prostitution and gaming. Add to this drunkenness, brawling and general poverty, and this area is not a safe place.

East India dock looking south towards the River Thames, 1806.
Public domain.

Indeed in 1824 when the bill for the building of St. Katherine's Dock (next to the Tower) was introduced in Parliament, much of the debate discussed not just commercial need for another dock (and its destruction of thousands of homes and displacement of people there to make way for it) but also the fact that those who remained would be subject to similar disastrous social conditions. Years later, when Parliament later debated the bills for establishing a police force, they'd cite not only love of gin among laboring classes, but also the lawlessness of those in the dock areas as justification for a group for regular law enforcement.
References:
To view a map of London's docks, plus other sections of the city, see this 1830 map in high resolution: http://www.motco.com/Map/81003/

Today THE STANHOPE CHALLENGE 11+ months on #Regency bestseller lists! THANK YOU from Cerise!

ARe

AMAZON 

NOOK

KOBO

iBooks

I am delighted to announce that as of today THE STANHOPE CHALLENGE about 4 brothers, 4 love affairs, 4 marriages and one big family curse is officially on Amazon's Regency bestseller list for 11 months! Eleven.  On ARe's for more than 2 months, as well.

Astonishing and delightful to behold, that achievement makes me very proud and very, very grateful to thousands of readers worldwide who have bought the box set and enjoyed it.

This box set's reception has taught me much about the habits of those who read Regencies, those who buy this genre and what many look for and appreciate in a book and a box set.

The set, I do believe, has done well because of the very nature of the stories. First, it is a family tale. Four brothers, titled and talented, have agreed that marriage is not a fine idea in a family supposedly cursed by an incident more than one hundred years before their time. This incident was not even of their making but done to them by King Charles II who took a Stanhope wife to be his mistress and destroyed the love affair between the Stanhope couple.

Second, the price of 99 cents remains appealing to many. While it is "a deal" to many who love to read, it is also a great price by which an author can be introduced, so to speak, to a new reader.  That phenomenon has occurred here as many of those readers have tried my other Regency romances.

That has sustained me and my writing throughout the past 11 months.

It also encouraged me to try my hand with another box set with five of my colleagues who write Regencies.  The success of THE INCOMPARABLES, also a best seller at Amazon and ARe, has been truly wonderful.  With Sabrina York, Susanna Medeiros, Suzi Love, Lynne Connolly and Dominique Eastwick, I put together this collection of novels about heroes who fought at Waterloo. This set sells for 99 cents and will soon go off sale! Do purchase this wonderful set of superb stories NOW!

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