THE VISCOUNT'S VOW-Excerpt 3 G-Rated

This is one of my favorite scenes in The Viscount's Vow. It takes place in Vangie's vardo (wagon).
 

Ian placed a hand on Vangie’s shoulder. “I’m so very sorry.”

Oh, how she needed a comforting touch. But not his. Never again his.

She wrenched away from him.

Her voice ringing with scathing condemnation, she said, “Tell me, Lord Warrick, are you terribly disappointed I’ll not have a distended belly proclaiming to the world I carry your seed before you discard me?”

Vangie heard him suck in a great gulp of air.

“She was lying, Vangie.”

She clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the sobs demanding release.

Was she? Or was Lucinda telling the truth, and Ian the liar?

When she didn’t respond he pressed, “Lucinda knew you were behind me. Her lies were contrived to cause you pain and grief.”

He laid a hand on her shoulder. “We’re legally married. By all that is holy, I swear it.”

What did he know of holiness?

Vangie struggled to turn over, the weight of the quilt covering her adding to the burden of her grief. She pinned him with a direct look.

“Tell me one thing,” she rasped. “Did you or did you not venture to London for the express purpose of causing my downfall?”

“Vangie. . .”

“Perhaps downfall isn’t accurate. Putting me in my place? Giving me my just due? Ruining me?”

He said nothing. Had guilt rendered him speechless? She searched his face. His handsome features were etched with sorrow, and his eyes . . . was that regret? Or . . . could it be? Were those tears awash in the silvery depths?

Her heart twisted painfully. Blast and damn. No. She’d not feel compassion for him. She was the victim. She would offer him no quarter, no mercy.

“Well, did you?”

“That was before I. . .”

Pain, razor-sharp pierced her heart and left it bleeding. “It’s a simple question, Ian. Yes or no?”           

“It’s not that simple—”

With a doggedness that surprised even her, Vangie persisted. “Yes or no?”

“Sweeting, I’d been told. . .”

Told? Fury whipped anew. She bit out, “Yes. Or. No?”

Absolute, resolute, demanding truth’s validation, either to mend her shattered heart or annihilate it completely, Vangie would have her answer. No more a corked-brained, beguiled miss, blinded by love. Looking through the twin lenses of betrayal and deceit, she could at last see Ian clearly.

His eyes pleaded with her to understand. His voice low and filled with self-condemnation, he uttered but one syllable.

“Yes.”

The Viscount's Vow is Available at Amazon.com

http://amzn.com/B00EZ8RBN2/

To celebrate The Viscount's Release, I'm having a giveaway on my blog. Items you can win include a Kindle, ebooks, bookmarks, and teacups. 

http://blueroseromance.com  

  

I'd love to hear from you.

http://collettecameron.com 

I'm on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Linedin, Google+, Tumblr, & Wordpress too.

 

 

 

THE VISCOUNT'S VOW-Excerpt Two G-rated GIVEAWAY TOO!

In this scene, our reluctant bridegroom and bride share another dance.

 

You didn’t eat much, wife.”

They were alone on the dance floor. Ian deftly twirled Vangie around his aunt’s smallish ballroom, mindful of the interested gazes watching them.

Stealing a glance at the smiling and nodding onlookers, he suppressed a frown. He felt like a curiosity on display at Bullock’s Museum. He wished others would take to the floor, so he could dispense with the devoted bridegroom facade.

The twelve courses at dinner had been torturous. His wife hadn’t taken more than a dozen bites nor said as many words. He’d tried to eat the succulent foods Aunt Edith had gone to such efforts to have prepared, but his anger made everything dry as chalk and every bit as tasteless.

“I’d not much appetite, my lord.”

He chuckled. “Don’t you think you might address me by my given name, wife?”

“Why?” she asked pertly. “I’ve known you but four days, certainly not long enough to be so familiar with you.”

He lowered his head, breathing in her ear, very aware every eye in the room was trained on them. He’d give them something to gossip about. “Because I want you to, wife, and you did promise to obey.”

He nipped her ear.

She jumped and a tiny yelp of surprise escaped before she clamped her lips together. Her eyes were shooting sparks again; only this time they were directed at him.

“What’s my name, wife?”

“Please, don’t call me that. I too have a name, as you well know.”

Drawing her closer, her breasts pressing against the breadth of his chest and cresting the edge of her bodice, he murmured, “Indeed, but Evangeline sounds . . . angelic, and we both know you’re no such thing.”

“Pardon?” She stiffened, trying to shove away from him. “I don’t under—”


His head descended again. “Say it, or I’ll trace your ear with my tongue.”

He grinned as her breath hissed from between clenched teeth. She stumbled, her fingers digging into his shoulder and hand. A very becoming flush swept across her face.

“Will you cease?” Her worried gaze careened around the room. “We’re being watched.”

Voice husky, he said, “Say my name, sweeting.”

Giving her a gentle squeeze, he started to dip his head, caressing her elegant neck with his hot breath.

“Ian, your name is Ian,” she gasped breathlessly, twisting her head away.

 

The Viscount's Vow is Available at Amazon.com

http://amzn.com/B00EZ8RBN2/

 

To celebrate The Viscount's Release, I'm having a giveaway on my blog. Items you can win include a Kindle, ebooks, bookmarks, and teacups. 

http://blueroseromance.com  

 

  I'd love to hear from you.

http://collettecameron.com 

I'm on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Linedin, Google+, Tumblr, & Wordpress too.

 

 

 

 

THE VISCOUNT'S VOW Excerpt-G Rated

 

It's always fun to see what happens when the hero and heroine first meet. In this scene, Ian and Vangie have just been introduced. They have no idea how complicated things become as a result of this waltz.

 

 

Noticing the numerous pairs of eyes watching him escort Miss Caruthers onto the polished floor, a wry smile touched Ian’s lips.

“I haven’t danced with any other ladies this evening. No doubt the rumormongers are hissing envious conjectures as to why I’ve asked you.”

She shot him a startled look before glancing around the ballroom.

“Why did you?”

“To see if what I’d heard was true.”

Ian watched for a reaction.

She opened her mouth then closed it. They waltzed around the dance floor for a few moments in silence. The string quartet was quite satisfactory. Ian allowed the lilting strains to soothe his troubled spirit.

“What did you hear?”

Miss Caruthers’s soft question reminded him of his purpose.

“That you are an excellent dancer.”

It was true. She moved with natural grace, following his lead, all the while holding herself in a most proper stance. He had to acknowledge she was a superb actress. Her gaze remained fixated on a spot above his left shoulder, except for one brief instance when she’d flicked her cobalt-blue gaze upward and unintentionally met his eyes.

“Is that all?” she asked softly.

He’d never seen eyes such a dark blue before. “All?”

“You’ve heard nothing else about me?

Her eyes held the perfect combination of trust and innocent curiosity. So convincing was she, that when their gazes fused, a peculiar jolt stabbed the center of his being.

What was it?

 ~ ~ ~ ~

Here's the book trailer for The Viscount's Vow

 

 

The Viscount's Vow is Available at Amazon.com

http://amzn.com/B00EZ8RBN2/

To celebrate The Viscount's Release, I'm having a giveaway on my blog. Items you can win include a Kindle, ebooks, bookmarks, and teacups. 

http://blueroseromance.com  

 

I'd love to hear from you.

http://collettecameron.com 

I'm on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Linedin, Google+, Tumblr, & Wordpress too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Romani Patshiv, Celebration, For THE VISCOUNT'S VOW Release

The Viscount's Vow is not your typical Regency.

The heroine is part Romani (gypsy) so I thought it would be fun to talk a bit about Romani culture.
 

First, all Roma—that’s how they refer to themselves—have a Gadžo name, their Christian name, and a Roma name.  Our hero, Evangeline Caruthers (Vangie) has a Roma name --Zora. Gypsies vistas, or clans are ruled by a bandolier, who deals with the day-to-day issues that might come up. This person is chosen because of their maturity and wisdom. He is not the gypsy king. 

The hero, Ian the Viscount Warrick  is accepted as a gaje, a Gypsy Friend, which essentially makes him an honorary Gypsy, and he is entitled to the hospitality and protection of the clan. It’s a good thing too, because he has an extended visit with the Roma after Vangie leaves him.

Gypsies are a blood family, and the only way for a gawdji (a non-gypsy) to become part of the family is to either be sponsored by a member of the clan, or travel with the gypsies for a time. Then the vista votes whether to accept the gawdji into the tribe. If a vote of consent is passed, an initiation ceremony must be undergone. Ian doesn’t ever go to this extent, because his time with the Roma is temporary.

 

The Viscount's Vow is Available at Amazon.com

http://amzn.com/B00EZ8RBN2/

 

To celebrate The Viscount's Release, I'm having a giveaway on my blog. Items you can win include a Kindle, ebooks, bookmarks, and teacups. 

http://blueroseromance.com 

 I'd love to hear from you.

http://blueroseromance.com

I'm on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Linedin, Google+, Tumblr, & Wordpress too.

 

 

 

 

NEW BOOK RELEASE - HIGHLANDER'S HOPE

HIGHLANDER'S HOPE by COLLETTE CAMERON

RELEASES May 15, 2013

Soul Mate Publishing

Available at Amazon.com

 

Regency propriety and Scottish boldness clash in this romantic suspense flavored with a liberal dose of humor and a dash of inspiration.

 

She was the heiress determined to never marry.

Shipping heiress Yvette Stapleton is wary of fortune hunting men and their false declarations of love. She’d rather become a spinster than imprisoned in the bonds of marriage. At first, she doesn’t recognize the dangerously handsome man who rescues her from assailants on London’s docks, but her reaction to Lord Sethwick’s passionate kisses soon have her reconsidering her cynical views on matrimony.

He was the nobleman who vowed to make her his own. 

Not a day has gone by that Ewan McTavish, Lord Sethwick and Laird of Craiglocky, hasn’t dreamed of the sensual beauty he danced with two years ago; he’s determined to win her heart. On a mission to stop a War Office traitor, he unwittingly draws Yvette into deadly international intrigue. To protect her, he exploits Scottish Canon law to declare her his lawful wife—without benefit of a ceremony. Yvette is furious upon discovering the irregular marriage is legally binding, though she never said, “I do.”

Amidst murder and betrayal, Ewan attempts to win Yvette’s forgiveness. But is it too late? Has his manipulation cost him her love?

 

 

collettecameron.com

blueroseromance.com

facebook.com/collettecameronauthor

twitter.com/Collette_Author

 

WED WITHOUT A CEREMONY-HIGHLANDER'S HOPE

I had my characters, Yvette Stapleton and Ewan McTavish, marry without a ceremony. How?

Read on. . . 

I needed something recognized by the Scot’s Church. I starting digging into Scot’s marriage laws of the 1800s and was pleased-as-punch to come across Scot’s Canon Code and irregular marriages.

Irregular and clandestine marriages—those not performed by a cleric of the church—included simply agreeing to take one another as husband and wife before two witnesses (Gretna Green), cohabitating in Scotland under the ruse of being wed, and finally, by merely declaring you were married—even if no ceremony had taken place. You could also agree to marriage in writing with express consent.

 

I arranged for Yvette and Ewan to claim they were married in the midst of a very dangerous situation in order to prevent Yvette from being ravished. I reinforced it by having Ewan declare to several kin and clans members that he and Yvette were married, and then I had them cohabitate at Craiglocky Keep under the guise of marriage.

 

To say Yvette was not altogether pleased with Ewan taking advantage of the law to marry her is an understatement.   

 

Here's a snippet of her reaction.

 

Yvette stood on unsteady legs, grasping the table’s edge for balance. She strove for poised composure, despite feeling like a powerless pawn in a despicable game of human chess, played for the amusement of those who enjoyed tragic endings at the expense of someone else’s happiness. No-their very existence.

The Great Hall radiated silent tension. All eyes were on her. She looked at the strangers staring at her, their eyes reflecting a myriad of emotions. Embarrassment, horror, dismay, pity, outrage, compassion, and yes—even a few smugly satisfied.

“You knew?” She looked to Hugh and Duncan, before swinging her gaze to Alasdair and Gregor. They bowed their heads in chagrin. Her turbid gaze swept the rest of Ewan’s family.

“You all knew?” Yvette searched Giselle’s sorrowful eyes, then Adaira’s tear-filled ones. “You must think me such a fool.” Her agonized whisper exposed her vulnerability. Her shame. Her absolute humiliation.

Ewan touched her arm. “Evvy—”

She whirled around. “Don’t you touch me,” she hissed between stiff lips.

Yvette knew her gaze was a mirror of desolation when she finally met his eyes. “How could you?” she whispered. “I trusted you.” She’d never make that mistake again.

He reached for her again. “Please . . .

She slapped away his hand. “Don’t.”

She clenched her teeth to still her quivering mouth and chin. Closing her eyes against the torrent of tears cascading down her face, she drew in a bracing breath.

Lord, give me the strength to walk from this room with my head held high.

On wooden legs, she stepped away from her chair.

Ewan grasped her elbow, restraining her. “Evvy, I don’t know what she told you, but . . .”

 

http://collettecameron.com

http://blueroseromance.com

http://facebook.com/collettecameronauthor

http://twitter.com/Collette_Author

 

 

 

HIGHLANDER'S HOPE RELEASE PARTY EXCERPT

In this scene, Yvette is being pursued by a pair of unsavory characters. Ewan rescues her, but she's not so sure he's less dangerous than the men who'd been chasing her.  

He knew her?

Careening along neck or nothing, Yvette peered over her shoulder. The men continued to chase her, only now, they were closer. There’s no help for it then. It’s either this stranger, or them. She had no idea who this ornate carriage belonged to, but she prayed he was better than the blackguards chasing her.

He knew her name and besides, she had her dagger. She released her bonnet which promptly plopped onto her forehead. Doubtful but desperate, she extended her hand.

At once it was clasped in a strong grip.

Yvette jumped, lurching into the carriage. The momentum flung her, arms and legs splayed, across a very stylish, very male lap. Her valise thwacked the occupant alongside his head. Her squeal of surprise was drowned out by his grunt of pain.

“Oh.”

“Oomph.”

His hat toppled to the carriage floor. Through the black lace edging her bonnet, she glimpsed a tanned, hawkish face and midnight hair. Tangled in her skirts and shawl, she whiffed his spicy scent even as she tried to scramble off him. Levering herself upward, her hand pressed against his generous maleness.

Lord have mercy.

Cheeks reddening, Yvette released her hold on the satchel, and flopped onto the floor in an undignified heap. Her gaze flew to his face and darted away again before he looked up.

A low chuckle rumbled throughout the bouncing vehicle.

He was laughing at her, the lout. Who was he?

Her curiosity and gratitude faded into leeriness. Perhaps jumping into his carriage hadn’t been the better choice. She righted herself and crawled off the floor and onto the opposite seat. Reaching to grasp her bag, at the precise moment her rescuer bent to retrieve his hat, Yvette smacked her head on his square chin.

The man grunted in pain for a second time.

Dear Lord, I’ve injured him, again.

“Blast it all. I’m terribly sorry, sir.” Quite cross, she retreated into the shadowy corner of the plush carriage and rubbed her throbbing forehead. “Who are you?”

Peeking at him from beneath her lashes, she reached to straighten her bonnet. It hung askew off the side of her head, like a giant drooping peony. She shoved it into place but the moment she removed her hand, it flopped over once more.

The stranger's unrestrained laughter filled the carriage.

“Oh, bother.” Yvette’s patience with both her rescuer and the silly bonnet were at an end. She had no choice but to remove the dratted thing to reaffix it. Several strands of hair tumbled to her shoulders when she removed the cap from her head. Suppressing a shriek of annoyance, she placed the hat beside her. She then set about securing the wayward curls. Pinning the last strand in place, her eyes met those of her companion.

She stilled, as did the world around her. The air hung suspended in her lungs. Her eyes widened in disbelief, her stunned gaze riveted on his face.

“You exist?”

 

http://collettecameron.com

http://blueroseromance.com

http://facebook.com/collettecameronauthor

http://twitter.com/Collette_Author