Snippet Sunday: LILY MINE

I have to start this with a huge THANK YOU to all my readers. Disciplining the Duchess has been out for over a month and to my complete surprise it stayed in the top 100-Erotica on Amazon for over a month (!) and was also a AllRomanceEbooks bestseller. Without your reviews, retweets, and recommendations, this never could have happened. As you probably know, I’m not out there tearing up the social media, organizing street armies or paying for the services of a public relations agent. I’m mostly just acting like a dumbass on Twitter. (If you follow me on there you know it’s true!) I’ve always counted on readers being kind enough to recommend my books when they enjoy them, and I think I have the best readers in the whole world.

Since Disciplining the Duchess was so well received, I thought I’d feature my other Regency-era historical book this week for Snippet Sunday. Lily Mine was a pleasure for me to write, partly because a wonderful friend inspired it, and partly because the story came to me so easily. Lord Ashbourne, Lily Mine‘s hero, was a tad less prickly than the stern Duke of Courtland, but no less alpha when push came to shove.

One of the most delicious things about Lily and Lord Ashbourne’s story is the horrible awkwardness when they first launch their scheme for Lily to play the part of his missing wife–even the servants are kept in the dark.

     Lily stifled a yawn and Mrs. Gertrude came to help her to bed. There was an awkward moment when the old woman stubbornly led her to Lord Ashbourne’s chamber despite Lily’s quiet protestations. She brought water for washing and laid out Lily’s nightclothes, although Lily would not have dreamed of undressing in his room.

     Instead she stood by the window for nearly half an hour, too afraid to leave and be beset upon by Mrs. Gertrude. She used the time to look around his chamber. There was a large bed with luxurious covers of blue and gold velvet, a good amount of ornate furniture, trunks and armoires she assumed were full of his clothing and things. When at last she decided she simply must creep away to another bedroom, the door swung open. Again Lily was caught in a place she did not belong.

     “Mrs. Gertrude led me here,” she explained quickly, going to his bed to gather up the filmy, lacy nightclothes before he saw them.

     “Yes. Lilliana slept here. While she was here with me, anyway, which was admittedly not very long.” He frowned. “It is a problem. There is no bed in Lilliana’s room. I was determined she and I would not have one of those marriages where we slept in separate rooms and I crept off to prostitutes every night.” He stopped. “Pardon me. What an uncouth subject to discuss.”

     “I think that was most admirable of you,” Lily said. “It’s what I would have preferred if I had been a married lady. I think it is better for husbands and wives to be close. To be in love even. Not that I know anything about it,” she added, embarrassed. How droll of her to opine about the best way to be married when she was bound for certain spinsterhood.

     But he smiled at her, and it was not a mocking smile. “Are you a romantic, Lily?” His gaze was so warm and fond, it made something inside her react. She clasped her hands together to still their trembling. It was only natural that he should affect her, wasn’t it? They had spent the entire day together becoming familiar, becoming friends of a sort. He hadn’t gone out of his way to make her feel like a commoner either, not for one moment. She smiled back at him.

     “I am a hopeless romantic.”

     By the soft light of the fire he regarded her, the flames illuminating the muted flecks of gold in his dark hair. “It is a shame I’ve spent the entire day telling you about Lilliana, and learned nothing of Lily in return.”

     He teased her now. Perhaps he even flirted, wonder of wonders. Because it wasn’t true. He had learned many things about her–that she couldn’t read and write, that she loved Lilyvale’s gardens, that she was not adept at chess. That she was not very convincing yet at playing the highborn lady. She had even confided in him about her family affairs. Well, about everything but that. She couldn’t tell him about that. But she was no longer afraid of the same coarse treatment at his hands. He’d treated her with nothing but kindness and respect. Even now, in his bedroom, she felt safe, but she knew it was terribly inappropriate for her to be here, pretend wife or not.

    She moved toward the door. “I should not disturb you further if you wish to retire, my lord.”

     “You are not disturbing me. Well, aside from your habit of addressing me as ‘my lord.’ But I suppose we are still somewhat strangers in an intimate way.”

     A very intimate way…

If you liked Disciplining the Duchess, you might enjoy Lily Mine too. I hope you’ll check it out by clicking the book cover link below.