Fair
Cyprians of London
By
Beverley Oakley
Beverley
is giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate to a randomly drawn
winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Please use the RaffleCopter
below to enter. Remember you may increase your chances of winning by
visiting the other tour stops. You may find those locations here.
About
Forsaking Hope:
Two
years ago, she missed their secret assignation and disappeared
without a trace. Now the divine "Miss Hope" is in Felix
Durham’s bed - a 'surprise cheering-up gift' sourced by his friends
from London's most exclusive brothel. Felix is in heaven - and he
wants to stay there.
So
does Hope, but she can’t.
Hope
Merriweather lives by a code of honour – even if she’s a
prostitute. Having sold her soul, she’s prepared to sacrifice
everything else to protect what she believes in.
Even
if honour – in her eyes – comes at the cost of thieving and
breaking hearts. Including her own.
Available
for preorder here:
~*~*~*~*~*~
Excerpt:
Wilfred
Hunt.
If
there was a name to tip Hope into the abyss of despair she was
hearing it spill from Madame Chambon’s lips now as the older woman
directed Hope to take a seat in the reception room, presumably so
Madame could loom oppressively over her.
With
her hands on her ample, expensively padded hips, Hope’s
benefactress—procuress, employer and gaoler were other
monikers—sent Hope a beetling look that needed no interpreting:
Regardless of Hope’s true feelings, Hope must project the required
show of warmth and delight at being the chosen one.
Madame
patted the side of her faux curls. Years of hot irons had reduced her
hair to the texture of wool but her crowning glory these days was
supplemented by the lustrous locks of those girls who dared cross her
– before they were thrown back into the street from where most had
come.
Nevertheless,
Hope had to make her resistance clear. Surely Madame who knew her
history would understand her loathing for this man, above all others.
“I
shan’t do it,” she whispered. There was little evidence of the
willful child and wild adolescent who’d been the despair of her
family. “I won’t—”
Outside,
the noise of the traffic rumbling over the cobbles and the shrill
calls of competing vendors settled upon the tense silence. Madame
Chambon’s other girls, ranged around the sumptuously appointed room
on red velvet upholstered banquettes, watched the exchange with
prurient fascination. Hope knew it had been a calculated ploy of
Madame’s to conduct her interview in public so that Hope would
serve as an example to them.
No
one crossed Madame Chambon.
The
shrill cry of a fishmonger caused Madame to look pointedly out of the
window. With something between a smile and a sneer, she smoothed a
Marcel wave. “Is that where you plan to return, Hope? The gutter?”
Her nose twitched and in the sunlight that filtered into the room,
the grooves chiseled between mouth and chin were thrown into harsh
relief, highlighted rather than hidden by the thick powder she used
to conceal her age.
Madame
Chambon’s comfort, now and into retirement, depended on obedient
girls. Hope knew that as well as anyone. She’d had to bury her
rebellious streak just to ensure food in her belly.
*~*~*~*~*~
About
Today’s Focus Author:
Beverley
Oakley was seventeen when she bundled up her first her 500+ page
romance and sent it to a publisher. Unfortunately drowning her
heroine on the last page was apparently not in line with the
expectations of romance readers so Beverley became a journalist.
Twenty-six
years later Beverley was delighted to receive her first publishing
contract from Robert Hale (UK) for a romance in which she ensured her
heroine was saved
from drowning in the icy North Sea.
Since
2009 Beverley has written more than thirteen historical romances,
mostly set in England during the early nineteenth century. Mystery,
intrigue and adventure spill from their pages and if she can pull off
a thrilling race to save someone’s honour – or a worthy damsel
from the noose – it’s time to celebrate with a good single malt
Scotch.
Beverley
lives with her husband, two daughters and a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy
the size of a pony opposite a picturesque nineteenth century lunatic
asylum. She also writes Africa-set adventure-filled romances tarring
handsome bush pilot heroes, and historical romances with less steam
and more sexual tension, as Beverley Eikli.
You
can get in contact with Beverley at:
Beverley - love the premise and excerpt. Definitely checking out your book.
ReplyDeleteDelsora