WeWriWa: A Game of Hearts/A War of Wills

I’ve just ordered paper copies of my soon to be re-released Regency-set historical, SWEET TEMPEST. Something about the weighty feel of words between two covers brings them to life in a different way than seeing them on a back lit reader screen. I love the heft and smell of a book, the sound of the pages turning, the sight of them lining my shelves . . . the permanence of a dream captured and tangible. Sigh . . .

I’m sharing from my first published novel, written under the pen name Lauren Giddings (back when publishers wanted you to use a name they could own the rights to!). This scene is a bit further into the book as my desperate hero bargains for the use of our feisty heroine in a deception to win back his inheritance, unaware of how dangerous that ruse will become.

Though she tried to deny it, Tempest had hoped he'd come to lure her back, and she wasn't sure she'd have put up much of a struggle, but here he sat, practically ignoring her, talking about her as a tool to be discarded when its usefulness had ended, boldly courting her father's vanity with silken half-truths to fire his desperate greed. How sure he was, dangling his wealth as Will Swift sat back in a daze, considering the perfect solution to all his troubles, until her father's answer came as a surprise. 

"You are being most generous, sir, but I cannot accept. It be up to Tempest as it's her help you need and I but benefit from it." 

Connor's gaze shifted to her, knowing he'd found her price—her family’s welfare. 

Tempest regarded him in silence, basking with a cold, unhappy enjoyment in the beauty of his face. Her pride demanded she throw his offer back at him, her intuition warning her to stay far away, that he would hurt her terribly, but her loyalty insisted she think of her family, of easing her father's fears, and of keeping Eddie from any more daring mid­night raids. More subtly, her emotions whispered, Go with him . . . . he might be made to love you.

In a firm, determined voice, she answered, "I will play the game, but I want to be free to go, once all are convinced I am who I pretend to be." 

"Done," he agreed too quickly to suit her.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave . . . especially when we don’t think we’ll get caught up in it!

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KINDLE & PAPERBACK

A Fetching Robber, An Unscrupulous Rogue and A Daring Risk . . . to Die For 

SWEET TEMPEST 

By Nancy Gideon w/a Lauren Giddings 

A crafty scheme that doesn't exactly go as planned . . . 

A Thief of hearts . . . 

A female of Tempest Swift's brains and beauty should be fending off suitors, not hiding in the shadows boldly robbing coaches. But lean times leave her with a family to provide for . . . until shot from her horse while making her escape. Waking as the pampered prisoner of a sinfully handsome gentleman has her pulse pounding for all the wrong reasons. His suggestion she be his mistress is shocking enough, but he has more on his clever mind . . .

A Desperate noble . . . 
Cut from a longed for inheritance due to hell-bent living, a foiled robbery provides Connor Amberson with an daring solution, passing off a ragamuffin thief as his long-lost cousin to win back his grandfather's favor. But producing the supposed sole survivor of a tragic accident stirs dangerous troubles, both from those hungry to inherit and within Connor's jaded heart, as his true reward becomes something he never expected . . . until about to lose it.

Nancy Gideon's debut romance, written as Lauren Giddings 

SWEET TEMPEST 

Sassy, Sexy and Sinister, and finally back in print! 

Watch for the return of Bartered Bride, available soon.

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What a month! I’ve gone from shoveling 6-8 inches of snow off my car to surfing through that many of water on the roads, huddling under blankets to grilling on the patio! And it’s not even March yet! Fickle February is usually my favorite winter month because it’s short but this one, I’ll be ready to see end!

How’s winter treating the rest of my Weekend Writing Warriors?

Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.

Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.