A Valentine's Day excerpt from A Dream Defiant

To celebrate Valentine's Day, I'm posting a second excerpt from my July 2013 interracial historical romance novella, A Dream Defiant. (The first excerpt is here, on my website.)

Today I'm giving you the proposal scene--only it's the heroine, Rose, proposing to the hero, because the previous night she was attacked by a soldier who'd heard a rumor that she was hiding a treasure. (Which she is. The story takes place in Spain in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Vitoria in 1813, when the British army plundered the French baggage train, which contained not only the army's equipment and payroll, but assorted treasures either belonging to Joseph Bonaparte and his court or looted by them from Madrid. Rose's first husband died just after obtaining a spectacular ruby necklace, which he entrusted to the hero, Elijah, to give to her.)

Rose knows her only protection is a husband she can trust, and she can think of no one better than Elijah, who's one of her dearest friends AND is physically imposing enough to scare or fight off anyone who'd harm her. (He's 6'4", so he'd still be imposing in 2013. Among the common soldiers of the British army in 1813, who tended to come from the lowest, most malnourished end of society, he's almost a foot above average.) The only problem is, he knows very well she hadn't intended to remarry before the rumors about the rubies got out...

“What do you need?” he asked when she did not immediately speak. 

“I—” She bit her lip, closed her eyes and then opened them, wide and gray and imploring. “I don’t know the right way to say this but—will you marry me?” 

His heart pounded. If not for what she’d said last night, this would be a dream come true. But it wasn’t her dream, so he couldn’t let it be his. “Marry you?” His voice rose in disbelief. “But—I thought you didn’t want to marry anyone, at least not now.” 

“I didn’t, but—even with what Luisa did, people are going to keep coming after me, with these rumors of a treasure, and even if I left for home, I wouldn’t be safe. You’re almost the only one I trust.” Her words tumbled out in such haste Elijah couldn’t get a reply in edgewise. “I know it’s not right. You deserve better, a woman who loves you, but I—I do like you, ever so much, and I’d try to be a good wife to you. Luisa thinks my leg will be almost healed in a week, and—” 

He held up a hand. “Rose. Don’t worry. I’ll marry you.” She was right. She wasn’t safe now, and what else could he do but be her protector? He couldn’t fulfill his promise to Sam that he’d give the rubies to her, only to walk away and let them be her shackles instead of the price of her freedom. It might be a sad mockery of a marriage, but he cared too much for her to deny her what she needed. 

She blinked in astonishment. “You will?” 

“Yes. Don’t worry,” he hastened to assure her, “I know it’s not what you wanted. We can make—what would Lieutenant Farlow call it?—a marriage of convenience. Once the war is over and we’re back in England with that thing safely sold—” he flicked a glance at the spot on her leg where the necklace lay hidden, “—we’ll go our separate ways, and you can do as you like and marry someone you fancy better someday.” 

He’d meant to make her smile, but her face stayed solemn. “That’s not how marriages of convenience work. They’re as permanent as any other kind.” 

“For the quality, they are. But for us, if we go back to England, and you go to your village, present yourself as the widow you are and buy your inn, who’s to know, or care, if there’s more to the tale than that?” 

She cocked her head to one side, considering this. “Anyone in this regiment, for a start. Probably all the Light Division. You’re memorable, Elijah.” 

His mouth twisted. “I know. But that’s all the more reason for no one to be surprised if you walk away from me, once you have what you need.” 

“Is that what you want?” She stared at him, her eyes wide and anxious. 

Why did she look so baffled and sad, when he’d meant to ease her mind? She couldn’t possibly want a true marriage with anyone, especially not with him. “I want to do what it takes to keep you and Jake safe,” he said. “Because I promised Sam, and because you…you’re my friend. I can’t stand by and watch you be prey for men like Yonge.” 

She nodded. “I see. Very well. And—thank you, Elijah.”

Available for preorder!

My second novel, A Marriage of Inconvenience, is now available for preorder in the Kindle Store at Amazon! So if that's your preferred e-reading format, follow the clicky link, place your order, and the book will be waiting for you bright and early on the morning of April 11.

The book will of course also be available directly from Carina Press, not to mention Barnes & Noble, the Sony ReaderStore, the Google eBookstore, etc.--pretty much wherever ebooks are sold. But for some reason Amazon is consistently quickest off the mark getting books up for preorder. And since the moment the book is actually available for sale somewhere is the moment it feels real, crossing that Amazon threshold is a Big Deal to me.

In order to further motivate you to Buy My Book (if I can't shamelessly self-promote on my own blog once in awhile, where can I?), here's my lovely cover along with an excerpt from the novel:

James knew quite well that he had merely had the wind knocked out of him, and that the young woman leaning over him was therefore no celestial being. Also, angels were generally represented as fair creatures, golden of hair and garbed in heavenly blue. Nothing angelic about deep brown eyes that fairly crackled with intelligence behind their momentary anxiety, nor about those dark curls peeping from beneath a scarlet cloak.

Yet for all that, the girl was an angel. He smiled lazily at her.

Her brows drew together slightly, which only served to further highlight her deep-set, expressive eyes.

“Sir, are you injured?”

Her voice was clear and melodious. Angelic, even.

“Nothing worse than bruises, I trust, miss,” he assured her.

“Do you think you can rise?”

The angel could not possibly realize she had committed a double entendre. Sweet-faced and innocent, she was no older than Anna and likely a little younger. She spoke in the soft, cultured tones of a gentlewoman.

But he allowed himself an inward smile nonetheless. “I trust I can,” he said, pushing himself up to a sitting position with a slight wince. He had landed on his left shoulder, and it pained him when he moved.

She rocked back on her heels to maintain a correct distance between them, and the hood of her cloak fell back to reveal all her thick brown hair, which James knew must have begun the morning neatly coiled but was now wind-tossed.

“But you are injured, sir! I’m so very sorry.”

He blinked at her. “Whatever for?”

“I startled your horse.”

“Not deliberately, I trust, unless you have the power to summon the wind.”

Her lips twitched as though she wanted to smile but was uncertain of the propriety of such a course. “No, sir.”

“Well, then. You’ve no need to apologize. I’ve but a trifling pain in my shoulder, nothing more.” He glanced over the offending shoulder and spotted Ghost galloping down the valley, with Anna on Shade in close pursuit. “Ghost is uninjured as well, and giving my sister a chance to exhibit what a master equestrienne she is.”

“It must be a fine thing, to ride so well.”

The angel’s voice was wistful, and James turned to look at her again. “Are you a horsewoman, miss?”

“I never had the opportunity to learn.”

He studied her more closely. Her simple dress and cloak were well made, but without the fashionable line and elegance that marked the work of an expensive London modiste. She must come of family genteel enough to see its daughters educated, but not wealthy enough to keep a stable. She couldn’t be Lord Almont’s intended, as he had first suspected, and he rejoiced that this pretty innocent wasn’t to be the bride of a foolish lord almost old enough to be her grandfather.

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Copyright 2011 by Susanna Fraser
Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A.

Two months to release day...and an excerpt!

The Sergeant's Lady hits the virtual bookshelves two months from today...and in honor of that milestone, I'm posting an excerpt!

It's from Chapter 5, in the aftermath of my hero and heroine's first kiss:

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The next morning they prepared to march while dawn was but a faint hope of light. As teamsters hitched their oxen and soldiers bustled about, Anna waited by a wagon, conversing politely with one of the wounded, an artillery lieutenant she had met several months ago in winter quarters.

Footsteps approached behind her, a tread already familiar. “Mrs. Arrington, ma’am?”

Never before had she heard Sergeant Atkins sound so tentative. She turned to face him, straightening her bonnet and smoothing her dress. “Yes, Sergeant?”

“May I have a word with you, if you please?”

“Of course.” She swallowed and forced a smile. “Lieutenant Ellis, if you’ll excuse me.”

He smiled back, inoffensively flirtatious. “As long as you promise to visit me again soon.”

She agreed and followed Sergeant Atkins to the edge of the rough road. They were in plain sight of the hurrying soldiers, teamsters and orderlies, but in the dim light and bustle of preparation, they were inconspicuous.

For a moment they surveyed each other in strained silence. There was something different about him. It puzzled her briefly, but then she realized it was his uniform. She’d never seen him look so correct before. His green jacket was buttoned all the way up to his throat where his black stock was neatly fastened. That distracting saber scar of his, which last night she had imagined tracing with her tongue, was hidden. No bare head or jaunty foraging cap today; instead he wore his tall shako. Even his shoes looked as though he’d given them a polish, and his red-and-black sash—like his stripes, a mark of his rank—was carefully knotted and settled just above his lean hips with geometric precision. A lump formed in her throat. He looked like a model for a toy soldier.

He stared past her. “Mrs. Arrington, ma’am,” he said with the air of a rehearsed speech, “I owe you an apology for my behavior last night. I took advantage of you. I’m ashamed of it, and it won’t happen again.”

“Don’t apologize,” she blurted. How could he be the one apologizing when it was her fault? Their eyes met, and she swallowed hard. She’d never seen more beautiful eyes on a man, so golden and intent.

He narrowed them. “But I kissed you. I had no right—”

Her gaze dropped to his lips. “I kissed you back,” she murmured, then wished the words unsaid. He must realize she had hardly been a passive recipient of his attentions, but she cursed her wayward tongue for acknowledging it so openly.

His parade-ground posture relaxed a trifle, and he was recognizably her Sergeant Atkins again. She released the breath she hadn’t meant to hold. But he shook his head. “We can’t let it happen again.”

She closed her eyes. “I know.” She looked at him again and forced herself to speak in a level voice. “But do not insult me by apologizing for something that was as much my doing as yours. I wish it hadn’t happened, because I wanted you for my friend on this journey, and now—” she spread her hands, “—it’s impossible. I’m sorry.”

He smiled, achingly wistful. “If I’m not allowed to apologize, neither are you.”

“That wasn’t an apology. That was regret.”

“Oh.” Abruptly his eyes widened, his nostrils flared slightly, and he turned stiff and correct again. “Lieutenant Montmorency.”

Anna whirled around to discover the young officer watching them from no more than four feet away, his expression hovering between accusation and bewilderment.

“Has Sergeant Atkins been disturbing you, ma’am?” he asked.

Anna thought quickly. What explanation could she give for the inappropriate familiarity that had doubtless been obvious to this interloper? “Not at all, Lieutenant,” she said. “He only asked me if I could think of anything to make the journey easier for Juana, since it is so soon after her confinement.” She turned back to Sergeant Atkins and tried to infuse her voice with both the warmth of friendship and the coolness of superior rank. “And I shall be glad to do anything I can.”

Something flickered in his eyes—amusement? Admiration? “Thank you, ma’am. You’re very kind.”

“Very well, then. Sergeant, Lieutenant, I bid you good morning.” She walked slowly toward her donkey, her head held high, her mind in a whirl.
----

Copyright 2010 by Susanna Fraser
Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A.