The Memory of Your Kiss
by Wilma Counts
a Historical Romance
by Wilma Counts
a Historical Romance
An Untimely Encounter…
When her father falls
gravely ill, eighteen-year-old Sydney Isabella Waverly dutifully agrees to
marry the earl whose estate borders her family’s modest country home. But on a
trip to Bath before she weds, Sydney meets the enigmatic, heroic Captain
Zachary Quintin, with whom she feels an unmistakable mutual attraction. Still,
they have no choice but to part ways, regretting what might have been. Sydney
cannot know that one day they will meet again under vastly changed
circumstances, that Zachary will play an unexpected role in her life—and that
the man she never forgot still ignites her heart. All that will remain is to
find out if he feels the same way…
For More Information
- The Memory of Your Kiss is available at Amazon.
Sydney is a strongly opinionated woman who kind heart strives to make the world better for those in dire need, including her own orphaned siblings. Zachary is a man with a sense of duty, who fights for those he loves. But both have wounded pride from a misunderstanding stemming from their first meeting 4 years ago. Despite the attraction that remains all these years in a the memory of a kiss, they both fight their feelings. But a kidnapping scheme forces them to rely upon one another again. The mutual respect for the adults they have become begins to outweigh the vanity of their youth. From the tranquility of Bath to the war-torn countryside of Spain, this story takes place against the Napoleonic wars and the teachings of Jeremy Bentham, questioning how society treats its poor and workers, its women and its children.
Wilma Counts spent her
formative years in Dora, Oregon, a location Germans would call a “dorf” since
it was not, at the time, large enough to qualify as even a village. This was in
the age of “Leave it to Beaver”, though television reception was not available
that far out in the boonies. She attended high school in Myrtle Point, a
logging-farming town twenty miles away. Later, she attended what was then known
as Oregon College of Education in Monmouth, Oregon (now Western Oregon State
University).
Armed with a BS degree
in secondary education, she taught English for six years in Oregon (Bend,
Astoria, and Gresham). Then she joined the Department of Defense Dependents’
Schools (DoDDS) in which she taught English, world history, and U.S. Government
to military dependents, first for one year at the Navy base in Guantanmo, Cuba,
then on an Army base in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and finally on an Air Force
base in Ramstein, Germany. During this time, she also earned a master’s degree
in International Relations from Alabama’s Troy State University. With the troop
drawdown in the ‘90s, she seized the opportunity to retire early and returned
to the States.
During her stint with
the DoDDS, Wilma taught all levels of high school English as well as social
studies classes, but most of her work was with 12th grade students. She was
English department chair for several years. She especially enjoyed working with
students in Advanced Placement English and U.S. Government classes—as well as
working with those in the Model United Nations program. For about ten years she
traveled every January with groups of 20-30 students to the International MUN
conference in The Hague, The Netherlands. She loved her students (almost all of
them), but found grading papers to be pure drudgery. She was twice nominated by
former students to be included among Who’s Who in American Teachers.
Model United Nations
trips was not her only travel with groups of high school students, She also led
study tours to England, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Italy, and Tunisia. An exchange
program with a school in Ivanovo, Russia, led to two important developments:
(1) a humanitarian aid project that ended with American military communities in
Germany donating nearly 80 tons of clothing and foodstuff to Ivanovo two years
after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and (2) the Russian school’s involvement
with Model United Nations which has since expanded to include schools in Moscow
and St. Petersburg.
Wilma has also
traveled widely on her own: England and Scotland; most of continental Europe;
India and Pakistan; Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia; and just a touch of the Far
East—Burma (as it was then called), Hong Kong, and South China. Lots of weekend
getaways to France, Belgium, and Luxembourg and The Netherlands. Travel remains
a keen interest, though largely of the armchair variety in recent years. She
plans a return trip to Germany next year.
You can take the
teacher out of the classroom—but not for long! Shortly after retiring from
DoDDS, Wilma took a part-time position teaching classes in freshman English at
Western Nevada College in Carson City, Nevada. At the same time, she realized a
life-long dream of becoming a published writer. Eleven Regency novels and two
novellas (all with Kensington) are closely linked to her love of Jane Austen’s
work. In addition, she has a novel set in WWII, In Enemy Hands, born of her love of
modern European history. She is among the contributors to the ALWAYS LOST exhibition
(currently touring nationwide), a tribute to the sacrifices of men and women
who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Today, Wilma devotes
her time largely to writing and reading. She loves to cook, but hates cleaning
house. She has never lost her interest in literature, history, and
international relations. She spends a fair amount of time yelling at the TV.
She maintains contact with many friends from each of those lives mentioned
above. She is an active member ofLone Mountain Writers in Carson City.
She considers herself
to be the second most computer illiterate person in the universe, but she loves
hearing from friends, former students, and readers at wilmacounts@att.net.
For More Information
Visit Wilma’s website.
Starling
by Virginia Taylor
a Historical Romance
by Virginia Taylor
a Historical Romance
from Lyrical Press
BLURB
An aspiring
dressmaker, orphaned Starling Smith is accustomed to fighting for her own
survival. But when she’s offered a year’s wages to temporarily pose as a
wealthy man’s bride, she suspects ulterior motives. She can’t lose the chance
to open her own shop, but she won’t be any man’s lover, not even handsome,
infuriating Alisdair Seymour’s…
To prevent his
visiting sister from parading potential brides in front of him, Alisdair has
decided to present a fake wife. He lost his heart once, and had it broken—he
doesn’t intend to do it again. But stubborn, spirited Starling is more alluring
than he bargained for, and Alisdair will risk everything he has to prove his
love is true…
Set against the
sweeping backdrop of 1866 South Australia, Starling is a novel of
cherished dreams and powerful desires, and the young woman bold enough to claim
them both…
For More Information
- Starling is available at Amazon.
Virginia Taylor is an
Australian writer of contemporary romantic comedy, romantic suspense,
historical romance, short stories, and children's stories.
After a stint at the South Australian School
of Art, I worked for an advertising agency, re-trained as a
nurse/midwife, and then married the man of my dreams. Two children later, I
began writing romance. While awaiting publication, I painted and designed
various theatre sets with a fellow School of Art graduate.In 2013 I sold my
first novel-length story.
For More Information
Visit Virginia’s website.
The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor
by Amy Reade
from Lyrical Press
by Amy Reade
from Lyrical Press
"Do you know what
stories Sarah could tell you about the things that happened in these little
cabins? They’d curl that pretty red hair of yours."
Outside of Charleston,
South Carolina, beyond hanging curtains of Spanish moss, at the end of a shaded
tunnel of overarching oaks, stands the antebellum mansion of Peppernell Manor
in all its faded grandeur. At the request of her friend Evie Peppernell,
recently divorced Carleigh Warner and her young daughter Lucy have come to the
plantation house to refurbish the interior. But the tall white columns and
black shutters hide a dark history of slavery, violence, and greed. The ghost
of a former slave is said to haunt the home, and Carleigh is told she
disapproves of her restoration efforts. And beneath the polite hospitality of
the Peppernell family lie simmering resentments and poisonous secrets that
culminate in murder—and place Carleigh and her child in grave danger…
For More Information
- The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor is available at Amazon.
Thanks for
visiting! I grew up in Northern New York, just 30 miles from
the St. Lawrence River. I live in New Jersey now with my husband,
three kids, dog, and two cats, just a few miles from the
Atlantic Ocean. I love being near the water, whether
it's a river or an ocean or just a stream. My favorite place on
Earth is Hawaii, where I'm surrounded by the blue waters of the
Pacific.
I also love wine
and music. You'll find wine recommendations on this website
from my latest favorites, as well as playlists to go along with
my books.
Please visit my blog
at http://amreade.wordpress.com/
I am on Facebook
at http://www.facebook.com/amreadeauthor
I am on Twitter @readeandwrite
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