The House of Women- historical romance excerpt

The House of Women by Anne Whitfield

Excerpt

Grace blinked to clear her frozen mind as her mother and Verity climbed the staircase. If Verity was here then was William here too? Movement at the door caused Grace to close her eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to open them and see the one man she’d longed for since she was sixteen.

‘Miss Woodruff?’ Doyle inquired at her shoulder.

Startled, she spun to face him, but she was blind to him, blind to everything but the sensation of having William here. Crazily, she wondered if she would swoon like a maiden aunt.

Doyle’s hand reached out, but he quickly tucked it behind his back. ‘What is it, Miss Woodruff?’

Grace swallowed, feeling the fine hairs on her arms and nape prickle. He is here.

‘Good evening, Grace.’

At the sound of William’s deep velvety voice, her heart stopped beating, only to start again at a rapid pace. Her stomach clenched and her legs felt unable to support her anymore. Slowly, she swivelled to gaze into William’s blue-green eyes and knew she was lost again. William smiled his captivating smile. He had aged, no, matured since their last meeting. He looked leaner, but broader in the shoulders. There was an aura about him, something that females of any age wanted. He made all other men around him seem insignificant. A magnetism, a mystical air surrounded him, catching Grace in its clutches once more.

 Order The House of Women from Amazon.com,

http://www.amazon.com/House-Women-Anne-Whitfield/dp/0956790186/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306296436&sr=1-6

or

The Book Depository, which has free postage and currently on discount.

http://www.bookdepository.com/House-Women-Anne-Whitfield/9780956790187

 For more information about Anne Whitfield, please visit her website.

http://www.annewhitfield.com

New Release Party: The House of Women by Anne Whitfield

Welcome to the New Release Party for Anne Whitfield's The House of Women, released today by Knox Robinson Publishing.

Let me introduce you to our author:

I've been writing since 1997 and have been an avid reader for a lot longer.

A love of reading fiction started at an early age.

While researching for my hobby, genealogy, I began to write my first novel, a historical and the stories that had been company in my head for years,
suddenly became real on the page.

I'm a writer of two genres - historical women's fiction and modern romance.
I consider myself a storyteller. If I can entertain readers for any length of time then I'm happy.

I'm also active within the writing and reader community. I'm a member of Romance Writers Australia and Romance Novelists Association UK.

And I'm always happy to hear from readers.

What's The House of Women about? I'm glad you asked!! Here's the blurb:

Leeds. 1870. Lonely and brokenhearted, Grace Woodruff fights for her sisters’ rights to happiness while sacrificing any chance for her own.

The eldest of seven daughters, Grace is the core of strength around which the unhappy members of the Woodruff family revolve. As her disenchanted mother withdraws to her rooms, Grace must act as a buffer between her violent, ambitious father and the sisters who depend upon her. Rejected by her first love and facing a spinster’s future, she struggles to hold the broken family together through her father’s infidelity, one sister’s alcoholism, and another’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy by an unsuitable match.

Caring for an illegitimate half-brother affords Grace an escape, though short-lived. Forced home by illness and burdened with dwindling finances, Grace faces fresh anguish –and murder– when her first love returns to wreck havoc in her life. All is not lost, however. In the midst of tragedy, the fires of her heart are rekindled by another. Will the possibility of true love lead Grace to relinquish her responsibilities in the house of women and embrace her own right to happiness?

Want more? Check out this excerpt in our Goddess Fish Excerpt Library.

More? View The House of Women book video in the Goddess Fish Video Library.

Anne will be visiting here all day today, so stay tuned for lots of fun and excitement.

And remember, Anne will be giving away autographed copies of two of her backlist books, Broken Hero and Hooked On You today, one each to one lucky commenter (TWO winners!) -- so let us know what you think about The House of Women right here on the party blog and be entered to win!