Monday, February 23, 2015

I’ve Got My Duke to Keep Me Warm (The Lords of Worth #1) by Kelly Bowen - Blog Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway


Tour Wide Giveaway for a $20.00 Amazon or B&N eGift Card


I’ve Got My Duke to Keep Me Warm
The Lords of Worth # 1
By: Kelly Bowen
Releasing December 16th, 2014
Forever



Where Secrets Smolder...

Calm. Cool. Collected. Gisele Whitby has perfected the art of illusion—her survival, after all, has depended upon it. Years ago, to escape an abusive husband, Gisele "disappeared." Now she must risk revealing her new identity to save another innocent girl from the same fate. But she needs a daring man for her scheme, and the rogue in question shows a remarkable talent . . . for shattering Gisele's carefully constructed façade and igniting her deepest desires.

...Passion Ignites.

This isn't the first time Jamie Montcrief has awakened naked and confused from a night of drinking. It is, however, the first time a stunningly beautiful woman offers him payment afterward. Gisele has a business proposition for him, a mission involving cunning thievery and a brazen rescue. How can he say no to a plot this dangerous . . . and a woman this delectable?





Well, shit.  He deserved that.  “Who are you?”
She smiled at him, the first genuine smile he had seen, and it did strange things to his chest.
“I am… just Gisele.”
That was helpful.  He knew nothing more about her than he knew last night.  Annoyance bubbled up again.  “Very well then Just-Gisele, since you won’t tell me anything useful about yourself, would you be so kind as to enlighten me as to what it is you’d like me to do should I accept your generous offer of employment?”
Her smile turned brittle.  “Not yet.”
“Not yet?”  Jamie’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline.  “How the hell am I supposed to make a decision based on not yet?”
The ice queen shrugged.  “You’ll have to trust me.”
Jamie closed his eyes, fighting for patience.  “Will I need to steal something?”
“Unlikely.”
“Kill someone?”
“Hopefully not.”
“Blow something up?”
“You’re familiar with explosives?”
His eyes popped open at the undisguised interest in her last question.   What the hell kind of woman used the word explosives the way most used the word marmalade?  Or teapot?


Ah, the first kiss. 

It is always a highlight in any love story.  One imagines soft candlelight, dreamy gardens, and swirling dance floors.  The heroine would be a vision, wearing a gown costing more than a major appliance.  There would be beautiful music playing in the background, and the handsome hero would be whispering romantic poetry.  If you were a Disney princess, there would likely be fireworks. If you were a contestant on the Bachelor, you might get fireworks AND a helicopter.

Unfortunately for my characters, they got me as a writer.  The first kisses are usually unexpected and there is a decided lack of premeditation. No one cued the music or ordered the flowers or remembered the dress.  My characters are not often at their finest, but they are always at their most real.  And that, more than any material consideration, is what sets them on the path to true love.

Here is a sneak peek at Jamie and Gisele’s first kiss from I’ve Got My Duke to Keep Me Warm.  And though I couldn’t produce any helicopters (this being a historical romance and all), there are definitely some fireworks on the way…


Gisele hit Jamie’s chest with a thump, turning desperately away from both the fashionable woman stalking towards them and the bevy of maids and footmen clutching bags and lapdogs in her wake.  Jamie glanced down at Gisele who was looking up at him with wide, panicked eyes.  They were trapped between the side of the inn and the crush of people behind them.  Two of the tiny lapdogs started yapping hysterically, and as Jamie gaped alternatively at the foul canines and the bellowing woman, he suddenly felt Gisele’s hands curl into the front of his coat and jerk him around with a shocking force.
His hands hit the rough wall on either side of Gisele’s shoulders as she slid her fingers from his coat to his face and hauled his lips to hers.  He struggled to breathe—drugged instantly by her scent and her softness—as he fought vainly to make sense of what was happening.  And then Jamie felt Gisele sigh into his mouth, and he stopped thinking altogether.



Kelly Bowen grew up in Manitoba, Canada. She worked her way through her teenage years as a back country trail guide and ranch hand. She attended the University of Manitoba and earned a Master of Science degree in veterinary physiology and endocrinology.
But it was Kelly's infatuation with history and a weakness for a good love story that led her down the path of historical romance. When she is not writing, she seizes every opportunity to explore ruins and battlefields.
Currently, Kelly lives in Winnipeg with her husband and two boys, all of whom are wonderfully patient with the writing process. Except, that is, when they need a goalie for street hockey.




2 comments: