Hi all, in the next few weeks you’ll have several opportunities to win a copy of my new book, The Scoundrel’s Daughter.

If you’re a newsletter subscriber, you’ll already have the details of the competition that’s for people who live outside of the USA. The restriction is because my publisher has run three competitions in the last month or two, but only residents of the US could enter, so because I have readers from all over the world, I wanted to redress the balance a little.
To enter the competition for people outside of the US you just need to email me, using the address in the newsletter or the one on the contact form of my website, and tell me the country you live in — one that’s not the USA. I’ll then email the winner for a postal address.

However there are several more opportunities to win a copy of the book, no matter where in the world you live:—
*    I recently posted a fun little quiz on the Word Wenches blog, and there’s a prize for someone who leaves a comment.
*    On Wed 25th August, Mary Jo Putney is interviewing me on the Word Wenches blog. Again there will be a giveaway open to anyone.
*   I’m doing an interview with PJ on The Romance Dish  — not sure when it goes up but it’ll be in the next couple of weeks, so keep an eye out. And there’s a giveaway there, too.

Of course if you don’t want to hang around waiting for the possibility of a giveaway, you could always pre-order a copy. Publishers really take notice of pre-orders, so that would really help.  And if you do read it and leave a review or a rating, I’d be very grateful. By such things a publisher judges the worth of an author.

Amazon link. 
Universal link (which takes you to the e-tailer of your choice) 
Indie bound Find your nearest independent bookshops.
Barnes&Noble 
Booktopia Australia 
TheBookDepository (which posts books anywhere in the world for free)

Here’s a snippet from The Scoundrel’s Daughter where my hero, James, is reunited with the daughters he hasn’t seen for more than four years. He was a soldier in Wellington’s Army, and his wife and two daughters had happily traveled with the army. But when his wife was pregnant with their third child, she was having difficulties and was advised to return to England to give birth, which she did.  She died shortly after giving birth.

Now, four years later,  James has been released from the army and has returned to England eager to be reunited with his daughters. I won’t include the whole scene, but here is the moment when he meets his youngest, Deborah, aged four. . . 

 * * * * *

James looked at Deborah, the child he’d never met, and took a swift breath. Dark-haired little Deborah didn’t resemble her mother in the least. She was the image of his brother, Ross, at the same age. There was a portrait somewhere of Ross as a child, with the exact same expression. She eyed him suspiciously, then, scowling, plonked her bottom on the stairs and folded her arms, making it clear she had no intention of coming closer.

He almost laughed; Ross, too, had often worn that same stubborn expression.

He approached the stairs and knelt down so that their faces were more or less level. “Good afternoon, Deborah. We’ve never met, but I’m your f—”

“Debo,” she muttered.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I’m Debo, not Deborah.”

He nodded. “I see. Well then, Debo . . .”

She leaned sideways and looked past him at Judy and Lina standing behind him. “You sure this is Papa?”

They assured her he was. She examined him carefully. She didn’t look too impressed. Her scowl was as black as ever. She leaned forward and hit him on the shoulder. “You left us.”

“I did,” he admitted. Technically they’d left him, but he wasn’t going to argue.

“Why you left us?”

“I had to. I was a soldier, and the king needed me. A soldier works for the king.”

“The king?”

He nodded.

“Because of the king . . .” She considered that. Her scowl deepened, and her lower lip pushed out. She hit him on the shoulder again. “Then I hate the king.”

And there it was, another piece of his heart given over to a small, helpless, angry creature.

“We’re all going to be together now. I’ve come to take you and your sisters home.”

“Where is home?” Debo demanded.

“With me, with all of us together. I have a house in London and a house in the country, but we’re going to live in London first.” 

Debo considered the possibilities, then tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “You got a cat in London?”

“No.” Cats made him sneeze.

“Hmph!” The scowl was back.

Behind him Miss Coates spoke, “Deborah has a great fondness for cats. She has been waiting for the kitchen cat to have kittens.” She added softly, “The kitchen cat is a very fat tom.”

James turned back to his smallest daughter. “There might be a cat in one of the houses, Debo—I don’t know.”

The frown didn’t lift. Clearly ‘might be’ wasn’t good enough for this small, adorable despot.

“I suppose we could get a kitten.”

“Good.” Debo stood up. “We going now?”

*  *  *  *  *

You can buy The Scoundrel’s Daughter from Amazon.com, from the e-tailer of your choice or order it through your local bookstore.

Thanks to Kelly Lyonns for the kitten photograph. Stay tuned for more kitten photos. I asked on FB and so many gorgeous kitten photos arrived I can’t choose just one…

*  *  *  *  *

I just spotted this.

A price reduction on the kindle version of MARRY IN SCARLET.

$2.21 on US amazon, @2.99 on amazon Australia. That’s a screenshot from amazon US.

Not sure if it’s the same price on other platforms. 

No idea how long it will last (nobody told me it was happening. The author is often the last to know  *g*). 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X9HM6GN/