Complicated Courtship

Complicated Courtship is a short story about Kirsten, a staunch patriot during the American Revolution whose fiance has stopped paying attention to her. She fears he no longer loves her but isn't willing to let it go. Seducing him on the advice of her stepmom, Kirsten realizes it isn't that James no longer loves her, but that he's being blackmailed by a British officer.

Excerpt:

“If you’ll excuse me, I’m gong to look for James.”

She saw Margaret nod serenely from the corner of her eye, but focused her attention on the Lieutenant.

He sputtered a little. “Isn’t it proper for the two of you to meet here in the parlor?”

“Oh, it’s no bother,” Margaret said casually. Waving a dismissing hand she added, “Let the young couple have a few moments of privacy.”

Nodding to her stepmother, Kirsten quickly exited. Her footsteps echoing sharply in the hall, she wasn’t paying attention and ran straight into James’ chest.

“Oh!” she gasped, looking up at him.

His arms steadied her, and Kirsten swore she could feel his touch through her many layers of clothing. Caught in his intense blue gaze, all she could think of were the things Margaret told her. For a heartbeat, his face showed his emotions, and it was the James she remembered. But then he closed himself off, and she wondered if she’d imagined it.

Breath short, she shakily stepped backwards. His hands stayed on her waist for a moment, before he, too, moved away.

“He’s an insufferable man,” she managed. Her voice sounded breathless, and she had to clear her throat before going on. “I don’t know how you stand him in your house.”

He looked to the side, and she wondered what he thought. “He’ll be gone before long.”

Opening her mouth to say more on Leftenant Cromwell, Kirsten changed her mind and stepped closer. This was her chance. Ignoring the nerves in her stomach, she said softly, “I hope for nothing more,” she turned his face to hers, wishing she was taller, “than for your attention.”

James’ surprise gaze hurt, but she went on.

“I’ve missed you,” she whispered, threading her fingers through his queue. His unpowdered hair was soft beneath her fingertips. “I don’t see why we have to be apart until our wedding night.”

Wicked Seductions: Complicated Courtship

There are 3 published books in the Wicked Seduction Series with Ravenous: Complicated Courtship, Wanton Woman, and Starlet.

What's the Wicked Seduction Series? Strong women who get what-rather who-they want no matter the costs. They aren't necessarily outgoing women with no shame, but they are women who are confident enough in themselves to go through this, either for love or for gratification, but who stick with it for the long term.

Complicated Courtship 1774 Boston

Kirsten St. Clair wonders how to win back her fiancé's love. James Montgomery never meant to ignore Kirsten, but he's got smuggling charges hanging over his head and an unwanted British soldier eating him out of house and home. When Kirsten arrives intent on seduction, how can any red-blooded male resist?

Kirsten smoothed the front of her dress again. They waited in the parlor for James’ butler to retrieve him from whatever business took his time today. She’d sent a note round telling him of her visit, so she knew he was home. Hoped he would be and didn’t forget she was coming.

That was an insult she didn’t think her nerves could take.

It was bad enough she’d agreed to Margaret’s scheme. When her stepmother began telling her all the ways for a man and woman to be together, she thought. . . well she hadn’t been sure what to think.

Except she wanted to try those positions with James.

Which caused her to blush harder and hope he arrived soon.

Footsteps echoed on the floor and she turned, a smile already on her face.

Regencies

I'm doing an informal survey (7 questions) about Regencies and why they're so popular. If you'd like Regencies and want to participate, email me!

I've decided to call this The Lack of the Death of the Regency. Mostly because my most popular historical short story is my Regency one, Wanton Woman. Not Complicated Courtship set in Boston during the beginning of the American Revolution. Not Starlet set during the racy Prohibition. Regency.

Don't get me wrong, I love the era, but I want to know why. Why it's so popular, why the setting has endured, what draws people to it.

Short stories only $0.99

All my short stories (OK, all Ravenous short stories) are only 99¢.

My historicals: Complicated Courtship from 1774, Wanton Woman from 1810, Starlet from 1934 and my contemporaries: Love Birds and Sex in the Springtime.

Tryst! I forgot the prequel to my Dark Desire of the Druids series, The Tryst.

Short Story Sale!

Ravenous is having $.50 short story day today! You can get all 6 of my short stories for just $3.00! Love Birds and Sex in the Springtime from my Four Calling Birds series; my Wicked Seductions series, Complicated Courtship, Wanton Woman, and Starlet; and The Tryst, the prequel to my Dark Desire of the Druids series (Murder & Magick and Sex & Subterfuge).

From the Ravenous site:
Today only, all Ravenous Rendezvous short stories are just $.50! Buy 10 to build your own custom anthology, and then email us at submissions@ravenousromance.com to tell us the theme of your anthology and which stories you chose. If we like the anthology you created, we'll publish it and send you a gift certificate!

Today I'll be at...

Slip into Something Victorian blogging on women's rights during the Victorian Era and how they changed and how they sometimes just didn't.

Today is also the last day to leave a comment on either of my 2 Coffee Time Romance posts: Win a copy of Murder & Magick on that thread, and either Complicated Courtship or Wanton Woman on that thread.

Hot Sex & Historical Accuracy

I'm over at Coffee Time Romance again today with a piece about writing erotica for the historical market. (Try this link.)

Check it out, leave a comment, I'll be giving away a copy of either Complicated Courtship or Wanton Woman...the lucky winner's choice!

Wicked Seductions

As I posted yesterday, Complicated Courtship is the first in my Wicked Seduction series now available from Ravenous. In this series of (so far) 6 stories set in various time lines strong women are the focus of the story. This doesn't mean the men are wimps, far from it, but the plot revolves around the women. They want what they want and will do anything in their power to get it...in this case, him.

In Complicated Courtship, Kirsten St. Clair, a Bostonian during the early stages of the Revolutionary War, wants her fiancée, James, back. He's ignored her these past months and she doesn't know why. What's a woman in love to do? Seduce him of course. It's not as easy as it sounds and she's never done anything remotely like that. With the help of her stepmother, and James' need for her, she sets out to get what she wants.

Wanton Woman, the second in this series will be available soon. There, a proper English widow wants her roguish neighbor. Click here to read a blub.

Sunday News

Over at Unusual Historicals, the winner of a free copy of Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick is...Teresa! Please contact me with your snail mail address for your free download of my story - or a gift certificate if you'd like to download it yourself, your call.

The first in my Wicked Seduction series, Complicated Courtship is now available from Ravenous.

As the turmoil for America boils over, can a complicated courtship survive an unwanted guest?
Kirsten St. Clair isn’t the proper Bostonian she’s expected to be. She’s fiercely for the American Cause. But when she believes her fiancée loses interest in her, the only thing she can do is remind him with her kisses and body.

James Montgomery is a smuggler, fending off British taxes and his own uninvited houseguest all for the sake of freedom. When Kirsten sets out to seduce him, he’s helpless to resist. Captured by her innocent fire and lustful determination, James teaches her the ways of the bedroom. Will passion and love, clear the way?