Book Review – Enchanted Summer

13 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Book Review, Contest, Sneak Peek

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Book Review, Enchanted Summer, Gloria Gay

Let’s end the weekend with something sweet.

*****

ENCHANTED SUMMER

by Gloria Gay

GENRE – Regency Romance

PUBLICATION DATE – May 14, 2015

LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – 329

PUBLISHER – Kindle Books/Gloria Gay

COVER ARTIST – Killion Group

Blurb:

When Celia Meade’s uncle impulsively offers Celia and her family a chance at a better life by inviting them to live at his estate near Bath, he is surprised by his daughter Caroline’s animosity against the Meades. Caroline’s hatred of Celia began when Celia attended her aunt’s funeral and Caroline noted the immediate attraction between Celia and Caroline’s choice for a husband, Lord Robert Merrick. Running into each other again in the woods that adjoin Lord Merrick’s property the attraction between Lord Merrick and Celia blossoms into love in the warm days of summer. Enraged that Lord Robert’s sister encourages her brother by planning trips and picnics with Celia, Caroline calls a meeting with her father and Celia, and extracts a promise from Celia to not see Lord Merrick again with the threat that she will force the Meades to leave her house. To ease the tension, Celia accepts a month-long stay at a friend’s home but while Celia is away Caroline plans the downfall of Celia’s family.

AMAZON KINDLE US – http://www.amazon.com/Enchanted-Summer-Regency-Gloria-Gay-ebook/dp/B00X2RBURK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1430683116&sr=1-1&keywords=Enchanted+Summer

AMAZON KINDLE CA – http://www.amazon.ca/Enchanted-Summer-Regency-Gloria-Gay-ebook/dp/B00X2RBURK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1431917189&sr=1-1&keywords=enchanted+summer%2C+gloria+gay

AMAZON KINDLE UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Enchanted-Summer-Regency-Gloria-Gay-ebook/dp/B00X2RBURK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1430686838&sr=1-1&keywords=Enchanted+Summer%2C+gloria+gay

AMAZON PAPERBACK – http://www.amazon.com/Enchanted-Summer-Regency-Gloria-Gay/dp/1512041793/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1430683

GOODREADS – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25537864-enchanted-summer

*****

Excerpt:

She sighed as she saw him busy filling the kettle with water from a keg and measuring tea leaves. He then took two blue and white mugs from a shelf, set them on the table and smiled at Celia. Celia smiled back. It was so easy to smile at Robert.

He seemed at home in the place and knew where everything was kept. Celia had never seen a man engaged in such domestic occupations and he seemed even more endearing to her, if such a thing were possible, as he went about in his preparations.

If there was such a thing as paradise, thought Celia, this was it in essence: a blissful, forbidden paradise. She would never again be as happy as she was at this moment, with the warmth that was beginning to give forth from the fire warming her to a delicious shiver, the scent of pinecones and fir in the air and the woodsy feel of the cabin.

All that was left now for Robert to do was to wait for the water to boil and he came and sat in the sofa near Celia. He seemed at a loss for words, and stood up quickly. He fetched spoons and napkins from a drawer in the table from a cupboard. Celia gazed at him as he did this and when their glances met Robert smiled again at her.

“Have you enjoyed your walk,” he asked and his voice was strained. When she nodded he said, “I hope you will walk here often and I hope…”

Celia waited for him to go on and realized he must have been embarrassed that he had said the word ‘hope’ several times, for a blush was stealing up his neck and cheek and he turned away.

Celia looked at his hands and noticed that they trembled. On impulse she placed her hand over his. The connection was instant. She felt rays of pleasure stealing up her arms clear up to her brain, stunning her with a swirl of pleasure she had never felt before.

Robert took one of her hands and kissed it, slowly and as slowly he pulled her up with him and they embraced. His lips on her neck gave her a floating feeling and as he pressed her closer to him an explosion of feeling coursed in skipping waves along her skin and nerves.

“I love you, Celia,” he whispered in her ear and Celia turned her face so that his lips found hers quickly and the kiss was unlike anything Celia had felt in her life. “I have loved you since the first day I saw you in that awful black gown,” he whispered in her ear, making her smile widely. It was as if she became part of him. He kissed her again and his tongue sent waves of erotic pleasure throughout her body. His hand softly on her breast made her gasp and quietly he led her up to a bed in the loft.

Like a sleepwalker led by a force she was unable to resist, Celia walked up the wooden stairs to the loft with Robert behind her, and when they reached the wide bed and Robert nodded toward it, she lay down on it. She noted vaguely that Robert was taking off her boots and then her bonnet. She floated in a soft cloud as she heard Robert take off his boots and coat, then his cravat.

She knew she would never be alone with Robert again. And she also knew she could not turn away from the swirl of almost unbearable tremors that shook her body with unfamiliar pleasure. He did not insist she take her clothes off as he lay beside her after having taken off his boots. He put his arm under her head and pressed her close to him and Celia felt that she would never in her life feel as sheltered and loved as she was at this moment as she looked deep into Robert’s eyes…

*****

Review:

I enjoyed this one, although it isn’t as tight as I usually like my stories. It was a little more embellished in the writing and there weren’t a lot of true interactions between the characters – more internal dialogue and observations. It kinda reminded me of what I remember Barbara Cartland books being like (and what I imagine Georgette Hayer’s books are like, although I’ve never read any). They are super sweet, with flowery dialogue, and a plot where love triumphs in the end – the good guys get what they deserve and so does the bad guy.

I did like the heroine, who is the character we follow for about 97% of the story – she’s got a very strong sense of familial responsibility and is willing to make sacrifices for them. And I think I could have really liked the hero if we’d had a chance to know him more. He also seems to have a strong family connection but there just wasn’t enough dealings with him to get a good read.

I think that authors like this definitely have an audience and if this is your kind of thing then Gay is definitely a good choice. The trials that these characters go thru on their way to a HEA make for a fun read and you’ll be happy when everything wraps up nicely at the end.

(There were some editing issues in the copy I had but I don’t know if those were cleaned up in the final copy. I saw somewhere that someone else complained about them but I’m not one of those that it bothers so much and they didn’t impact my reading in any way, but that is something else to keep in mind.)

*****

Author Info:

Writing and painting have been Gloria’s main obsessions ever since she can remember. She and her husband consider themselves very lucky to be living in a beautiful place like San Diego, California, but most of all to have their children and grandchildren living nearby.

Enchanted Summer is Gloria’s seventh Regency romance and she has recently published her first time travel romance, A Bridge Through Time. Her other Regencies include the recently published Lovely Little Liar and Scandal at Almack’s, both with Boroughs Publishing Group, as well as Love In A Dangerous Season and Kissed In The Dark which she self-published with Kindle Books.

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE – http://www.amazon.com/Gloria-Gay/e/B0065TEP9M/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

WEBSITE / BLOG – http://gloriagay.com

FACEBOOK – https://www.facebook.com/gloria.gay.58?fref=ts

TWITTER – https://twitter.com/gloria_gay

*****

Giveaway:

5 ebooks

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9944253c177/

*****

Spotlight – Scandal at Almack’s

07 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Contest, Sneak Peek

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Tags

Gloria Gay, Scandal at Almack's

*****

BOOK INFORMATION

TITLE – SCANDAL AT ALMACK’S
AUTHOR – Gloria Gay
GENRE – Regency Historical Romance Novella, ebook only
PUBLICATION DATE –April 25, 2014
LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – 36,000 words
PUBLISHER – BORROUGHS PUBLISHING GROUP

BOOK SYNOPSIS

Beautiful Jenny Longtree was expected to do her duty and accept the marriage proposal of a man she abhorred, Calvin Hazeldeck, an old and rich mortician whose offer of a marriage settlement would save her family from destitution brought about by her father’s bad shipping investments.

Then unexpectedly, Jenny’s dear uncle, Sir Roger Addington, who had been informed of the family’s dilemma, offered his favorite niece a London social season as a last chance to find a husband on her own.

But in the whirl of the London season, Jenny realizes that without a dowry her chances of obtaining a marriage proposal are practically non-existent.

Then on the last ball of Almack’s, and when Jenny feels that time is slipping away, Lady Jersey, the head patroness of Almack’s, introduces her to Sebastian Billington, Lord Corville. As they dance the waltz, Jenny realizes she has fallen in love at first sight with a man she is likely never to see again.

And during the seductive dance with Lord Corville, something happens that has Jenny lying on the floor at Lord Corville’s feet, having momentarily passed out. When she comes to, she finds a sea of faces staring down at her and scandal exploding all around her.

BUY & TBR LINKS

AMAZON KINDLE US – AMAZON KINDLE CA – AMAZON KINDLE UK – BARNES & NOBLES NOOK
SMASHWORDS – ITUNES – GOODREADS – SHELFARI

EXCERPT

Lord Corville was surprised that Lady Jersey had led him directly into a vision of lovely youth. Usually wallflower duty was how it sounded, giving an opportunity to dance a few sets to girls who were in their first season and not likely to obtain dancing partners on their own because they lacked pedigree or were pretty enough but lacked an attractive dowry. The Almack’s patronesses took their duty to young girls in their first or second season very seriously, and in every ball the two in charge could be seen walking about, matching young ladies to reluctant young men.
Sebastian seldom if ever glanced toward the wallflower area, but now he regretted it. The moment he gave his gloved hand to this girl and led her to the dance floor, it was all he could do to keep his balance until they began their waltz.
Her touch was so sensual, he felt her hand not on his but directly on his groin. A hot frisson coursed along his nerve endings, and his whole body shuddered in anticipation. If he felt so much with only the soft touch of her hand on his, what would he feel with her in his arms?
Suddenly realizing where his mind was going, he shook off such outlandish thoughts. He was a bit foxed and couldn’t even remember what Lady Jersey said the girl’s name was during the introduction. He should have skipped that stop at Rothyn’s townhouse, as they’d dipped into bottles of claret before coming here.
Of course, it was turning out amazingly easy to keep his promise to his sister Camie. One dance with a wallflower debutante? Why this beautiful girl lacked dance partners was beyond his understanding. She was as lovely and as rare as an orchid, and her scent intoxicated him even more than the claret.
He had never felt such jumping sensations as he was now feeling while waltzing with her. Her eyes as she looked at him were sparkling blue aquamarines, and the tingling ripple the mere touch of her hand had started now throbbed along his groin so that his hand tightened on hers even as his breeches tightened. He quickly forced his eyes away from her lithe form, for just a quick glance at her curves unhinged him.
They swayed around the vast ballroom, and the lights from a thousand candles and the twirling couples confused him. The lovely girl in his arms became three identical girls who twirled round and round like the racing dials of a mad clock. He heard the waning notes of the waltz as it was coming to its end and felt so dizzy that, had he not held her, he would have lost his balance. He looked into the girl’s beautiful eyes and his gaze drifted downward. Her breasts, the tops of them peeking alluringly from her filmy gown, were so fetching that he wondered when he had ever seen a better pair. There was a small dark mole on her left breast, and a tiny rosebud by it, and so compelling was the tiny beauty mark that he was hypnotized.
The music had stopped. He looked into the girl’s lovely blue eyes and wondered why they were wide with alarm, and her voice was loud and clear in the silence that followed the conclusion of the waltz.
“Oh!” she exclaimed.
Her hand on his shoulder slipped away as she fell to the floor, her crumpling body settling softly on his feet. Sebastian leaned down toward her prone body.
After a few seconds, the girl opened her eyes. A crowd had rushed forward, and there was a large circle of people around her and Sebastian, three or four deep, looking down with concern. And silence, as everyone just stared.
The girl was helped up by two gentlemen while Lord Corville continued to stare, speechless.
Lady Jersey broke the silence. “What happened to you, my dear?”
A twittering of exclamations rose like a deafening wave, and then sudden silence fell again as the crowd waited in suspense for the girl’s reply.
The girl spoke slowly but clearly, so that everyone heard her words. She looked directly into Lord Corville’s eyes and said, “Lord Corville touched me inappropriately.”

AUTHOR BIO

Gloria Gay has lived in San Diego, California the greater part of her life, where she worked as a legal secretary for twenty-five years and as a stringer for a local newspaper. Her heart, though, has always been with art and literature and it was one of the happiest days of her life when she wrote her first book.

Boroughs Publishing Group recently published her fifth Regency romance, Lovely Little Liar. Scandal at Almack’s, with the same publisher is Gloria’s sixth Regency romance. Her debut novel, First Season, earned a four-star review from Romantic Times Book Reviews. She is also the author of Forced Offer, Canceled Courtship and Known to All.

She lives with her husband, Enrique, an architect, in San Diego, California, and couldn’t be happier that their children and grand-children live nearby.