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I like a man with a good hand. A slow hand. A determined hand. A kind one.
This is "a part" of a new Box Set cover that I am releasing in the next few weeks!
Stay tuned for all of him!
Facts, fun, drama of writing fiction by Cerise! (copyright 2009-2025, Cerise DeLand)
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I like a man with a good hand. A slow hand. A determined hand. A kind one.
This is "a part" of a new Box Set cover that I am releasing in the next few weeks!
Stay tuned for all of him!
Excerpt, HIS MERRY HOUSEKEEPER, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright Cerise DeLand, 2025.
Tio’s bedroom was very warm when Winn stirred. Realizing she could not sit up and that she was in Bettington’s embrace, she sank back down. From this cozy cocoon, she could see that Tio still slept, his little mouth open, his arms wide. She did not move as the fragrance of lemon and sandalwood permeated her being. Bettington had always smelled of springtime and solidity. She ached to belong to him. Never wished to part from him.
She burrowed into his strong essence. Suddenly, his fingers were in her hair, pushing back her long tendrils from her cheek and her throat.
“My dearest Winn,” he breathed against her lips, “this is how I have wanted you near me, so close one to the other, united in all we do.”
Her head cradled in the crook of his arm, she did not move but, as once she had last summer, she crossed the distance that separated them and put her lips to his. Once again, she was met, not with his surprise this time, but with his fire and his fierce claim of countless kisses.
She did not stop but went, careless to the consequences, her nails clutching at the heavy silk of his banyan. He sent kisses down her throat, across the exposed expanse of her simple muslin gown. Ignited by his flames, she wanted only his possession.
He cupped her cheek. His sky blue eyes devoured her in a look of love. “Winn, my darling. I want to marry you.”
This could make her life divine. To be his in word and deed would be all she ever asked for in this world. “Sweet man. That cannot be. You are an earl.”
“That is a title granted to a distant man. Who knows if he ever wanted it or was even happy of it.”
She pulled herself to sanity. “Whoever he was, whatever he wanted, you have it as your own. Rules come with that. Rules long standing among your peers.”
His fingers in her hair, he did not look into her eyes. “My days are not consumed with the duties of my title. I live here in London, but the work I have done over the years to manage the land and the tenants is very good. I have ensured the prosperity of my estate. I now have time for politics for bills I know are important to Britain’s integrity.”
She shook her head. Confused.
“What’s more, I have lived here in London but each time I go to the Grange, I have learned to enjoy my days more than I ever have before. I value you and each moment with you more.”
“Impossible. You do not know me.”
He seized her hand. “But I do. I know you like to read and dance. I know you carry a tune very well. You play the piano with a modicum of accomplishment.”
“Don’t be too kind.” She grimaced at him.
He gave a laugh. “My darling Winn, I know you love your friends, like our Bridgette. I know you love my boys. I know you love children.” A fond light appeared in his large blue eyes. “I want to give you many children.”
Burning with a blush, she tried to rise.
But he would not let her go.
“That…that is risqué,” she blurted, but a chuckle escaped.
He grinned. “You see? You want my babies. I know you do. I love you, Winn,” he whispered. “I love your humor and your wit. I love your joy of living. I love your—”
She pushed up and away from him.
BUY LINK: https://books2read.com/MerryBelles
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
Just in time for the holidays, seven charming stories of romance from award-winning and best-selling authors:
· A murder brings a lady and her lost love together, just close enough to heal old wounds.
· A young lady must foil a friend’s betrayal to have her Yuletide wish for love come true.
· A widowed lord’s new housekeeper tames his rowdy boys and pierces his lonely heart.
· A lady determined to find her wayward young son finds herself stranded with the persistent earl determined to woo her out of widowhood.
· Will restoring a family manor together help two people acknowledge a secret attraction and claim a future together?
· A soldier’s wife is determined to find her missing husband, even if she must walk the length and breadth of England with her children in a wheelbarrow
· Home from the wars, a soldier is shocked to learn that his fiancée plans to wed someone else. Can he reach her in time to prevent the nuptials?
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Cerise-DeLand/author/B0089DS2N2
A highwayman is attacking travelers on a dark deserted road!
Who is he? Does he really want what he steals? If so, why does he seem to give it away...or take things he can never return?
And what happens when one robber waylays one special carriage and insists that one woman step down...only to steal a kiss?
What dastardly, delicious creature would do that, eh?
Love's road is surely perilous this autumn in LOVE'S PERILOUS ROAD, a box set by the incomparable Bluestocking Belles!
BUY LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Merry-Belles-Bluestocking-Collection-Friends-ebook/dp/B0FTQVYSKG
***
And what of that fellow who steals only kisses?
In Cerise DeLand's STOLEN KISSES, he is a charmer.
***
When Lance Winters first kissed Emma Tomkins pretending to be a highwayman years ago, she was ruined. Retiring to the country for succumbing to one delightful embrace, she endured society’s sting.
But things have changed. Now she has money—a fortune of 8,000 pounds a year, and she’s determined to live a rich and full life. Alone.
But men know of her new status, and seek her out like lemmings to the sea.
As a lowly cousin of a viscount and a captain in the Army Engineers, Lancelot Winters never had anything to his name. No right to claim a lady. Only a future fighting in Spain and France—and sent abroad to Canada soon after. Yet now Lance has a inherited an noble title and an estate to make his life comfortable. But he can’t and won’t do it alone. One woman is his answer.
When he appears in London to begin to court her, she refuses him. But he is not one to be put off. Not by society’s rules and not by her. So he disguises himself as the same highwayman of years ago and tracks Emma in her carriage one day on her way to Brighton. He grabs her off the coach—and in front of amused passengers and her niece, he kisses her.
Oh, yes. She remembers his lips. His voice. His rakish charm. But he ruined her once and she’s determined it won’t happen again. After all, she has rehabilitated herself…plus she intends to be a respectable wealthy grumpy spinster.
But the man is persistent. He shows up at the Old Ship Hotel on the Marine Parade in Brighton and makes a point to be everywhere! In The Lanes, in Aria Rocatti’s modiste shop, at the sea bathing rental post along the coast, and finally at the ball hosted by Lord Peter Summerville at his home at the conclusion of his house party.
Each time they meet, they befall a few…um…mishaps. Lance thinks Emma’s his angel. She thinks he’s a delightful, star-struck fool. If only Emma’s niece weren’t trying to become his lady love too!
Lancelot might be his first name, but chivalry is his middle. He can’t live without her. And she can’t imagine marrying anyone else.
Their biggest problem?
A Bow Street Runner shows up at the Summerville Ball to arrest Lance as the highwayman who’s plagued the south shore of England.
What’s a woman to do if she now is in love with a highwayman?
HARVEST MOON, the newly released box set by award-winning Bluestocking Belles, is set in Cheshire during the harvest!
In my story, my hero Stafford Barlow, 6th Earl Barlow, is just home from the wars. His home as I envisioned it is similar to the famous structure, Little Moreton Hall.
I had so much fun with this building with its Great Hall, seen here in this ground floor plan and marked as room #1. Twenty-two people are invited to dinner the night before the event and later, my heroine (who is rather upset at herself after dinner) goes to walk in this garden.
To her its seems almost like her family's parterre at home in the Loire Valley in France. But in reality it is more an English maze, called a knot garden, with flowers and herbs and chaise longue...for those special rendezvous every loving couple wishes for!
But I also use area #4!
Small, yes. What do you think it is? And how would my hero and heroine use it????
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https://www.amazon.com/Cerise-DeLand/e/B0089DS2N2/ |
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