The action takes place in Constantinople, with boat rides up the
Bosphorus, bears in the woods, spies and strange customs, as well as
kidnapping, a visit to the Harem and ...well, lots more fun, suspense and
intrigue.
Beth Elliott
0.99 $1.99
Nell was struggling to maintain her composure. It was difficult to appear unaware of the stares people were casting at her and the heads drawing together as people commented. She was never at ease with strangers and felt quite panicky at the sudden crowd of gentlemen requesting a dance. The marquise, delighted by this success, was selecting partners for both girls. At this point the crowd thinned a little and Nell saw Joachim striding towards her, with Bertrand by his side, talking as usual.
Help me, she signalled by a look and his answering smile reassured her that all would be well. She prayed he would ask her for the first dance. That would help her through the ordeal of being inspected and commented on. But oh, no, that horrible Anne suddenly sprang out and grabbed his arm. Will she never give up?
He stopped, he went aside with her. Nell swallowed her disappointment. She jerked her head round not to watch them, and found the marquise beside her.
‘My dear, let me present Monsieur de Lordat.’ She smiled graciously at the young gentleman who was hovering breathlessly in front of her, his eyes fixed on Nell. He was so young his cheeks were still smooth and pink, while his high shirt points prevented him from turning his head more than an inch in either direction. No danger there, in fact, she felt almost motherly.
She placed her hand on the youth’s arm and let him lead her into the line that was forming. Her youthful partner informed her that he was Paul de Lordat, the third brother in the family. He danced well and treated her almost with awe, saying how honoured he felt to dance with her. Nell was touched by his youthful adoration, but slightly embarrassed because he was so very young.
Cravat styles of the Regency Era
If you want a few hours of escape from the current restricted way of life, you could join Arnaut and Louise, a totally mismatched pair of messengers, racing between England and France, dodging blades and bullets as they attempt to carry out a vital quest.
THE RAKE AND HIS HONOUR is currently on a Special Low Price.
https://karenkingauthor.wordpress.com/
A couple of excerpts. See below for a link to the full interview
JMR- How did you come to be a writer of historical romance? Did you always want to be a writer?
BE- Far away and long ago always attracted me, so through school and then over the years I wrote stories in various historical times and mostly in far off settings. When I wrote with the aim of getting published, the Regency era felt like a familiar place to set the tale. We still have so much evidence of that time, towns like Bath or Brighton, museums and so on. Then the characters do need to think and act according to the period. Cue Jane Austen as a teacher of social behaviour and finally add in some personal ideas and experience.
JMR- Your books take your characters outside of England to the Continent and to Mediterranean countries. What inspired you to include far flung settings in your stories?
BE- I’m a linguist and love nothing more than communicating in new languages. You may say I met my Waterloo when, living in France, I met my Turkish husband. Like me, he’d studied French and Italian at university, so at first we had those two languages in common. He then learned English and I learned Turkish. We taught in eastern Turkey for some years, and thanks to visiting his numerous relatives in various regions, I’ve learned much about customs and skills, and experienced incredible kindness and hospitality. It was a pleasure to show a little of that warmth in my stories. And the crowning glory, where else is there an ancient city set on two continents, with such a rich heritage? Istanbul, or Constantinople as it was at the time my stories are set, is truly magical. I’m always overjoyed when I go back there.
But France pulls at me as well, especially the south-west and the Pyrenees, which remind me of Wales, but so much grander. So I combined the two, and had a French diplomat marry a Turkish princess. They live in his chateau in the Pyrenees. They have three sons, whose adventures now fill three novels.
Find the full interview at :
https://www.thebookdelight.com/2021/03/author-interview-beth-elliot.html
Prequel to SCANDALOUS LADY
The story begins when Olivia has nearly reached Constantinople. But how did she manage to escape from the strictly chaperoned life of a debutante and set off to travel abroad, like her role model, Lady Hester Stanhope?
London, November 1810
Olivia was admiring her new hat in the pier glass, when the drawing room door opened and two middle-aged ladies sailed into the elegant entrance hall. The look they cast her warned Olivia that Aunt Sophie was about to hurl more reproaches at her. Aware of their scrutiny, she stroked the curled ostrich plumes and adjusted the saucy bow under her left ear until Crowbold, the butler, had bowed the ladies out. Then she grimaced at her reflection and whisked herself into the drawing room to brave the storm.
'You may take that hat off,' snapped Lady Hollis. 'We are not going to drive in Hyde Park today.'
'Why ever not?' Olivia enquired. 'Surely you're not upset by anything your friends may have told you? It’s all gossip.'
'It is all shocking!' Lady Hollis wrung her hands. 'As if you had not caused enough scandal by your all-night escapade with Lord Craybrook.'
'There was no escapade,' Olivia stated scornfully. 'He claimed his curricle had a loose wheel and we must stop at an inn while it was repaired - but it was all a plot to compromise me. Nothing happened, Aunt…except that I gave him a black eye,' she added with a gleam of satisfaction.
'It was in all the scandalsheets.' Lady Hollis dabbed at her eyes with a lace-edged handkerchief. 'I warned you then that you would have to accept him.'
'Never.' declared Olivia, swirling away to stare out of the window at the passers-by in Clarges Street. 'It was he who told his version to the reporters, Aunt Sophie.'
'If he will still have you after this…this latest episode. Wretched girl. You were seen riding astride! Galloping in Hyde Park! And with Captain Lucas, of all possible companions!'
'He rides so well,' murmured Olivia. She gave a wicked grin when her aunt covered her eyes with one trembling hand.
'Your reputation is fatally damaged. My dearest friends have just hinted that you are no longer welcome at their tea parties -'
'How uncharitable,' Olivia swiped at the potted ferns on the window ledge.
Lady Hollis waved a delicate hand towards the marble mantelpiece with its row of tasteful ornaments, 'We have not received a single invitation this week. Your only chance is to accept Lord Craybrook's offer.'
'So that he may gamble my fortune away on cards and horses. No, I thank you.' Had she pushed her aunt to the limit? She clasped her hands behind her back and managed to hold back a cry of triumph when Lady Hollis announced, in failing accents, 'If no one will receive you, you cannot stay in London. You have even replaced Lady Hester Stanhope as the chief subject of gossip in society.'
'Well, she’s left the country,' said Olivia. 'I envy her.'
'And your brother gone off to those savage eastern lands.'
'Just so,' Olivia agreed, smothering another grin. 'And the poor lamb will be in such a muddle without me to look after him. In fact…'
[c]Beth Elliott
Several months later, Olivia reaches Constantinople and is reunited with her brother.
As an artist, she's busy capturing the sights of this ancient city.
But it doesn't take many days before she's in trouble again.
Ice
cool Lord Berannes is the chief diplomat negotiating peace between the Ottoman
Sultan and Russia. Then he encounters fiery, rebellious artist Olivia Hartford.
And after that, nothing goes to plan – for either of them.
Read their story in
SAFRANBOLU
an ancient town on the Silk and Spice Road
famous for its Saffron and its timbered houses
Going off the beaten track is my idea of enjoyable travel. The usual reason for any visit is to do research for a story. In this case, the museum-city of Safranbolu provided a perfect setting and rich details of Ottoman life for a couple of my tales set in Turkey.
The local style of architecture set the standard for all Ottoman architecture throughout the empire. So the environment is special, with the black and white beamed houses and cobbled alleys. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
And it isn't just any hotel owner who greets you on arrival with a tray of tea and cakes, and then asks what are your favourite dishes, so she can prepare them for dinner. During our time in the town we were offered endless free cups of tea and coffee, we had a free tour of the ladies' bathhouse [hammam] and were allowed to spend as long as we wished in any of the museums and galleries.
Thank you, kind people of Safranbolu, for outstanding hospitality.
The town is so special it deserves an article just about itself. The piece I wrote starts on Page 61 in the December issue of The Writers and Readers' Magazine.
As well as writing stories and articles I enjoy travelling, both at home and abroad, the excuse being that it's all research.
This
picture shows Kitty at a truly dark moment in her adventure.
When she arrives in London, Kitty considers the Season a waste of her time.
But soon she finds that under the veneer of social visits, balls and walks in
Hyde Park, many social activities mask plots and danger. Even a visit to the
theatre can have sinister undercurrents.
While
her friends flutter from one entertainment to another, Kitty realises that a
dangerous spy is intent on betraying vital secrets, and she bravely attempts to
prevent this treachery, even when it seems it will cost her her heart – and possibly her life.
published by www.joffebooks.com
In my post on The Third Brother, a couple of weeks back, I mentioned that 1818 is the year Joachim is in charge of running the family estate and his burning ambition is to prove he can manage everything perfectly.
What Joachim doesn't expect is the upheaval caused by his mother's visitors - two sisters who bring a coach-load of problems with them. For a start, their actual coach arrives many hours late in Toulouse, where Joachim and his friend Bertrand have come to meet them and escort them on the last part of the journey into the Pyrenees to the family home.
Not only has Joachim lost a day he can ill afford to spare, the two girls immediately make a bad impression. One is a beauty but attention-seeking and a desperate flirt. The other is all buttoned-up, sullen and dressed from head to foot in grey.
At the inn where they stop, Bertrand has already made up his mind about them. He tells Joachim:
‘My
friend, I don’t envy you being saddled with that pair for months. I couldn’t put
up with either of them for a week, even.’ He perched on the windowsill and raked
his fingers through his mop of curly brown hair.
Joachim
poured water into the basin and dipped his head in it. He splashed water over
his neck and shoulders, emerged with a sigh of relief and groped for a towel. ‘Aren’t
you being a bit hasty? Only yesterday you said you were planning to marry one
of them to restore your family fortunes.’
Bertrand stretched, moving his neck from side to side until it creaked. ‘Yes, well, that’s before we’d set eyes on them - and ears. All that shouting in the coach! Now, I assure you, even if they were as rich as Croesus, I’m not interested.'
Sophie [the flirt] goes on to scandalise the whole household within 24 hours of arriving, while Nell remains a grey shadow, locked in her unresponsive gloom. Privately, Joachim thinks it's no wonder their father and his new wife cast these two horrors out. Only now they are going to be an extra problem for his mother and that will really annoy him. And when Joachim's temper is roused, things can get very uncomfortable.
In The Hobbit, Tolkien observed that "things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway."
In other words, if there is no conflict, there is no story. So the characters can expect to have problems which get ever more difficult, they must face their fears and see their ambitions endlessly thwarted. No wonder they sometimes shut off and refuse to act as the author wishes.
Writers all experience the phenomenon of a character taking over the story and dictating what he or she will do and most certainly will not do. It takes time, a lot of thought and some bargaining between author and characters, to get things moving again. The revised plot rings truer and is more satisfying for all concerned.
So an argument with the characters is a sign that they are ready to walk off the page; and as every writer knows, that is the best thing that can happen in any story.
[ Photo of my workbook for The Rake's Challenge. There are four rakes in that tale,
two of them brothers. ]
