People usually fall in love.
But some people were born in love.
Already. And always…

Miss Annabelle Fernside’s dreams of one day becoming a famous painter turn to ashes when her father pressures her to marry. Watching everything she has worked for crumble before her eyes, she is determined to make this courtship fail at all costs.

Phillip Caney, the Marquess of Cottenhorn, has been drowning in sorrow ever since he lost his wife and son at childbirth two years ago. The sole heir to his father’s title, his parents arrange his marriage to force him to take on his responsibilities. However, his resolve to undermine the deal crumbles the moment he meets his intended.

Like an ominous storm cloud, anonymous letters tear through Annabelle and Phillip’s budding love. When Annabelle disappears a wet trail is the only thing she leaves behind, and Phillip must watch his life turn to ashes in order to get to her in time. For the past didn’t have a choice then, and it wears hatred like a cruel second skin.

Phillip Caney the Marquess of Cottenhorn faced a devastating loss when his wife and child died during the birthing. He has never truly recovered and while he doesn’t wish to marry again he knows it’s his duty to produce an Heir. He’s just really not in any hurry to do so.

Annabelle Fernside is a talented artist who dreams of having her work displayed in a Gallery. She realizes this may be a dream out of her reach since women of this time are expected to marry, give birth and run the household. Her father a retired General is pressuring her to marry. She is enduring the courtships of a couple of gentlemen found by a matchmaker. They don’t have an interest in the arts and she really wants a match she can discuss such things with.

When Phillip’s father has a heart attack, the time has come for Phillip to marry. He can’t promise his heart to anyone, he buried that with his wife and child. Any woman chosen will have to accept the union will be one of convenience only.

Annabelle’s parents are friends with the Duke and Duchess of Weavington, General Fernside served in several battles with the Duke in the Napoleonic Wars forming an unbreakable bond. As such they are aware of the Duke’s condition and receive updates from the Duchess regularly. This latest missive contains a surprise, the Duke and Duchess are proposing a match between Annabelle and Phillip. Such a match would not be proposed by their matchmaker, and it is one that they can’t help but think is perfect.

As their courtship begins, Phillip sets a stage of challenges to Annabelle to show her what she’s getting into. Their first outing is a prime example where he insists on her riding next to him as he drives the barouche. Their destination is also designed to shock or dismay. The ruins of a ‘haunted’ priory, which most would find off-putting Annabelle instead finds delight, as she sees it through an artist’s eye.

This is a favorite scene.

The carriage turned once more and they made their way through a bumpy side road at the end of which was a clearing. When they exited on the other side, Annabelle gasped. Before her stood the ruin of what once must have been a truly impressive building. A tower still stood, but a part of it had crumbled away. A window remained intact and the glass within reflected the late morning sun.

Around the tower was what remained of a wall, partially overgrown with weeds. The structure was both eerie and magical at once.

“What a treasure!” She exclaimed, evidentially to the surprise of her companion, for he looked at her with amazement.

“Do you really think so?”

She smiled. “Of course. What is it? Or, I should say, what was it?”

He cleared his throat as the horses came to a stop. “It was a priory once upon a time. Built in the 12th century by William de Cuniac, I believe. After the Dissolution, it fell into the hands of my ancestor, the first Duke of Weavington. I’m sorry to say it was allowed to fall into disrepair and then caught on fire during the War of the Roses. Fiery arrows did most of the damage, and nature did the rest. At some point my ancestor allowed the citizens of the village to use the stones and wood to build their houses.”

“What a shame,” Annabelle sighed. “But what remains is beautiful. Don’t you agree, Mama?”

Her mother shook her head. “I think it rather ghastly. And fear-inducing. I shan’t sleep after laying eyes on it, I declare.”

Annabelle looked at the Marquess and grinned. Leaning in she whispered. “She is a little dramatic, my dear Mama.”

This caused him to chuckle. “As is mine. She refused to eat dinner the one time I brought her out here. Claimed it had upset her stomach so much not a bite would go down.”

“I suppose that is why they are such good friends. An equal tendency toward over-exaggeration.”

The two exchanged a look and something odd happened to Annabelle. Suddenly, she saw him as something other than an obstacle to her dreams. Something more than the cause of this sudden divergence in her life’s path. She saw him as a person, one she’d once called a friend. And one she was supposed to one day soon call husband.
Patricia Haverton. The Portrait of His Winter Marchioness: A Historical Regency Romance Novel (Kindle Locations 1091-1109). Patricia Haverton.

This will not be the only time Annabelle surprises Phillip with her reactions. Phillip becomes a bit disconcerted by his reactions to this lovely woman he is to marry. He finds himself feeling guilty for enjoying her company and the repartee between them.

There is someone who isn’t so pleased with this match as becomes apparent with letters showing up in the manor.

A bit of mystery and intrigue in a delightful tale of rediscovering love.

5 Contented Purrs for Patricia!

Born the oldest of three children, Patricia Haverton grew up believing that she’d follow in her father’s footsteps and pursue a career in science. However, her worldview changed when she decided to explore her British mother’s roots. The trip to her ancestral lands solidified her conviction that she had found her true calling in the romanticism of the Era of Kings and Queens.

A hopeless romantic and a firm believer in the idea of soulmates, Patricia changed the course of her life and decided to get her degree in Creative Writing and Psychology. As she jokingly says ever so often, “she lives in the past now, where love shows the way and Dukes save the day!”

When she’s not weaving tales of love that prevails, Patricia enjoys spending time with her husband, roaming the British countryside, where they have been living in for the past decade.

Now would be the time to let yourself go and experience the true magic of the Regency Era! Let your imagination run wild, live amazing adventures through the eyes of brave heroes! Like the legendary wise wizard, Patricia will be your guide!

“Wanting him was never part of my plan.
But he woke a fire of desire inside me…”

Forced to travel to the Far East to escape the mistakes of his teenagehood, Charles Dowding, Earl of Wintervale, is ready to reclaim his old life back. A plan that backfires when he stumbles across the one part of his past he still hasn’t come to terms with: Lady Lydia and her devilish ways.

The biggest scandal of the Season was the last place Lady Lydia Agar ever wanted to find herself in the middle of. With her marriage options dwindling, she is forced to accept a most unlikely courtship: a man she loves and hates in equal measure.

Forced together out of pure misfortune, a fire they thought extinguished is reignited from its ashes. A flame that threatens to burn them and everything they have worked for when Lydia goes missing, leaving behind nothing but a letter. For the lion does not apologize to the sheep for being at the top of the food chain. They accept their role and have a feast.

Charles Dowding, Earl of Wintervale has finally returned from the far east. He had been sent there by his father to grow up and to take responsibility seriously. He’s attending a ball at Whitehall manor when he runs into his childhood friend Lady Lydia Agar, the daughter of the Duke of Tidewell. He is delighted and dismayed when he finds she has been promised to someone she has no desire to wed.

In a rather amusing turn of events, a fall places Charles and Lydia in a compromising position that is discovered almost immediately. To save both their reputations and hopefully cheer Lydia he declares he will marry her. He still loves her and would be most pleased to have her as his bride. That is until a friend gives him a missive written by Lydia regarding her upcoming nuptial’s.

Lydia on the other hand worries that Charles is only marrying her to save their reputations. She loves him but doesn’t want him forced into marriage. Her worries amplify as she joins him at the alter. He seems distant and a bit cold.

Charles makes reference to the letter without saying anything of where he gets these impressions. Lydia is more than a little confused and confronts him asking for the truth.

This is a favorite scene.

“You find me intolerable. Your eyes tell the tale.”

“I just despair of you. What would make you think such a silly thing?” she said, growing impatient.

“Hmmm,” he mumbled.

“Fine. Play your games. I will not meet you upon this imaginary chess board,” Lydia teased, trying to milk the fun from the conversation and avoid it turning sour.

“You really mean to deny it?”

“I do!”

“Humbug! That wouldn’t be the first time you’ve said that and not meant it.”

“Pardon? Charles, I am at a loss. Please just tell me what you mean. You can be honest with me. Are we not childhood friends?” Lydia shook her head, clearly aghast by his unexplainable change in demeanor.

“Fine…” Charles agreed in a huff and arose from the settee, making his way out of the sitting room door with haste.

“You mean to abandon me once again?” Lydia shouted at him. He walked back into the room, seeming most offended. His brow was deeply furrowed and his broad shoulders seemed tense as they met the curled tips of his brown hair that stopped short of his shoulders.

“You think I abandoned you by choice?” he asked, drawing close and looking deeply into her eyes with an intensity that she had not seen before; he was so close that she could feel his warm breath against her face. His lips parted slightly as he waited for her answer. They looked so kissable that Lydia stuttered.

“N… No… Charles,” she whispered, looking up into his dark, earthy eyes that were only inches away from hers as he loomed over her like a dark spell. Lydia could smell the most bewitching scent coming from him; he smelt of sweet, earthy spices and perfume that she had never smelt before. “You smell amazing,” she said with a chuckle.

“Oh… It is a perfume I fell in love with from the East,” he replied with surprise. “I will be back in a moment.” His deep, serious voice returned as he reminded himself of his objective and left the room. She could hear his boots as he trotted up the stairs.

Lydia sighed and stared into the amber glow of the hearth, feeling irked by his cryptic displays and unsure about what or whom he was going to retrieve. He had always been so honest and upfront as a youth, but now was behaving like a child. It infuriated her.

As she waited for Charles to cease with his strangeness, she gazed around the prettily decorated sitting room that boasted many fine and alien ornaments and books. She was as charmed as ever by the house that reminded her of the good old days of childhood frivolity and carelessness, but Charles still vexed her with his uneven ways. It was as though he had something to say but refused to speak.

Charles’s face suddenly returned under the doorway; he looked weighed down with a regretful mourning and clutched a piece of familiar-looking parchment.

“What is that?” Lydia enquired calmly, feeling intrigued and slightly apprehensive about the strange item.

“I am ashamed to discuss it, but I should be fully honest with you,” Charles replied with a dark earnest that set Lydia’s teeth on edge. His mysterious eyes studying the parchment that lay in his palm. Lydia’s heart sank; she was suddenly burdened by a deep and unsure sense of foreboding that made her stomach churn under her tight corset.

“You must…” she started, addressing him with wide and waiting eyes as the sheepish Earl returned to his seat.

“I was given this letter. It is by your own hand, discussing how beastly you think me, how terrible it would be to marry me. It confused me and upset me, for I thought I was doing the right thing by marrying you. I did not suspect that I was making things worse and ‘breaking’ you, as you state here.” He pointed to the inky words.

“Well, Charles… That ink is certainly by my hand,” Lydia went on.

“So, that is how you feel… Admit it, to my face.”

“It is not. That letter does not contain a discussion of you, but of Lord Bainbridge. You have made a mistake and jumped too quickly to your conclusions. If you read further up the letter you will see his name.”

“I have only a section of it, there is nothing before it, and of course, I would have seen that,” Charles replied, feeling slightly embarrassed and turning a little flushed in the cheeks as he slicked his hair back with his right hand.

“You mean to tell me that somebody has given you a portion of a letter, that addresses nobody by name, and you have assumed that it discusses you? How egoistical and self-indulgent, Charles!”

“He told–” Charles stopped mid-sentence.

“Who told you what?” Lydia frowned. “Clearly someone is trying to turn you against me, and you lapped it up like a foolish imp!” Lydia said with a cheeky half smile; she was serious, yet approachable.

“I…. Erm… Yes, it would seem so.” With difficulty he swallowed the hefty lump that was his pride and reached frantically into his breast pocket for a much-needed cigar.

“That will kill you,” Lydia said tauntingly, her blues eyes glinting like lively sapphires; they enticed Charles.

“You will kill me,” he laughed, and was shortly joined by Lydia in hearty laughter that soon turned to a joint guffaw, reducing the pair once again to their former selves.

The pair gradually recovered from their fit of gaiety and found the room once again warmed by each other’s company.
Scarlett Osborne. His Minx of a Countess: A Steamy Regency Romance (Kindle Locations 1215-1260). Scarlett Osborne.

Once that mystery is resolved Lydia reveals her sense of unease and been watched. An ominous sort of feeling.

While they are walking in the gardens Charles sees the mysterious figure, and goes on a mission of sorts to solve who is torturing them in such a way.

A very enjoyable read with many twists and turns, suspense and the love between Charles and Lydia that is both enduring and sizzling.

5 Contented Purrs for Scarlett!

Born in the Sunshine State of Florida, but of both British and Nordic descent, Scarlett Osborne grew up reading historical romances from the land of her ancestors. Fascinated with the British society of the 1800s and armed with a wild imagination, she obtained a degree in Creative Writing and immediately started her career as a Regency romance author.

A daydreamer extraordinaire, Scarlett likes to jump in the shoes of her heroines, immersing herself in her own stories, living the adventures that she wished she had experienced as a child. An avid reader and fan of the outdoors, Scarlett spends her free time either reading or going on long horseback rides along with her two sons.

Get lost in a land of enchantment, where adventure and love await around every corner…Scarlett hopes that through her heroes, you too will get to live a whirlwind romance in the Regency era, when fairytales were real and all dreams possible!

Lucy Woods has dreamed of her perfect wedding since she was a young girl. A designer of jewelry and dresses, she designs her own dress and will marry the man of her dreams in a Christmas wedding at the Triple C Ranch. She worries something will go wrong to ruin the wedding.

Jack Barr will marry the woman he loves in just two days. The rehearsal dinner is tonight. But after the ranch foreman is hospitalized with a stroke, horse thieves have stolen all ten horses from the ranch and he’s the one man close enough to chase them.

With the help of the Brotherhood Protectors and the state police, will they catch the thieves? Will Jack make it to the rehearsal dinner on time? Will Lucy’s fear that something will go wrong and ruin the wedding come true?

Lucy’s perfect wedding can’t take place at the ranch where they met, but Jack is able to persuade the Triple C Ranch to host the wedding. There are a lot of rules to follow by Lucy and Jack are more than happy to follow them.

With all the plans for the wedding the Triple C is jumping with activity and then their foreman, Buck, has a stroke and is hospitalized. The good news is it hasn’t affected any of the wedding preparations. Just threw a minor wrench into the day to day operations.

The day before the rehearsal dinner, Jack and Lucy drive to the ranch to check on the decorations and find a serious problem. The barn is open and so are the pasture gates. There are cows everywhere except where they belong. But that’s not all.

This is a favorite scene.

Outside the barn, Jack saw only cows in the paddock, wandering about, no horses. He started to look for horse tracks.

As he searched, he got a strong gut feeling about this. His gut had never steered him wrong.

When he found their tracks and followed them, the tracks bore out what he’d been thinking. Someone had taken the horses.

Horse thieves. Do they still hang them here in Montana? Montana had a long history of horse thieving.

It looked to Jack like that history was alive and well today.

The tracks indicated that someone had led the horses out, single file, all the way to the open gate and beyond. The gate now stood open, just like the stalls inside the barn.

Whoever had taken them had been in a hurry, not bothering to close the gates or doors.

He headed back to the barn to tell the others.

As he stepped inside the barn, he saw that George had joined Leah and Lucy.

“The horses are gone,” Jack said, as he walked back in. “They’re not in the paddock. Just cows. Best look around the barn, see if anything else is missing.”

George went directly to the tack room and came right back out, moving faster than Lucy would have guessed the older man could move. “Somebody broke into the tack room last night. Three saddles are missing.”

“Oh no,” Leah said, her eyes widening. “What can we do?”

“Nothing you can do,” George said. “Except put the cows back right now.”

“I’ll help you with the cows,” Lucy said quietly. “I’m sorry about the horses.”

“Thanks,” Leah said and sent her a sad smile. “Two of the horses are ready to foal in just three more weeks.”

“Get the cattle out of the paddock. Put them back in the pasture,” George said to the women. Then he turned to Jack. “Show me where they took them,” he growled, containing his anger, even as it radiated off his wiry body.

“Tracks are back here,” Jack said and gestured for George to follow him.

“Take me to where the tracks are. Then I’m calling the sheriff. I’d better check Buck’s apartment when we get back, too, to see if they got into it. He’s got a land line. I can call the sheriff from up there.”

He followed Jack outside to where the horse’s tracks were.

They both looked down at the ground.

“Looks like the horses were led out.” Jack said. “Single file. Probably on a lead.”

The women were trying to move the stubborn cows out of the paddock, into the pasture on the other side.

Jack watched his bride out of the corner of his eye as he talked to George.

Seeing her trying to move a big cow was sort of comical, as she began by waving her arms and shouting, “Shoo, move on, cow.”

It even caught George’s attention. “Got yourself a city gal, I see.” He shook his head. “She’s not dressed for this. Don’t let her stay out in this cold too long. You can leave her with Leah, but Leah is a hard worker, raised on a reservation, and used to being outdoors in all kinds of weather. She’ll outwork and outstay your bride.”

“Honey, why don’t you go on into the house,” Jack called out. “Tell them what’s happened and send Dan out here. Get Cecelia to find the number for the sheriff and call them.”

Lucy waved and went back inside to get warm and to tell the others.

She was too worried about Jack, and about the horses to enjoy all the beautiful red and white flowers and the decorated Christmas tree. But the scent as she came in the door was wonderful. She closed her eyes and breathed in.

It smells like the magic of Christmas.

They needed some Christmas magic right about now. Too many bad things had started to happen. Lucy stood breathing the scent in and wishing that when she opened her eyes everything would be better and there would be nothing to do but enjoy the beautiful decorations and look forward to their wedding day.

Parmley, Debra; Protectors World, Brotherhood. A Triple C Ranch Christmas Wedding: Brotherhood Protectors World. Kindle Locations (819-846). Twisted Page Press LLC. Kindle Edition.

With the horses gone, time is of the essence to get them back. As soon as Buck hears, he knows immediately who has taken them and why.

Jack is the one following closest much to Lucy’s dismay. There’s a storm in the mountains to the north and that’s where they’re headed. Lucy doesn’t want him to miss the rehearsal or the wedding because of the horses, but she also knows he’ll find them and get them home safe.

This is a fun, read with some excitement and plenty of friendship and love.

5 Contented Purrs for Debra!

Debra Parmley

Fascinated by fairy tales and folktales ever since she was young, Debra Parmley has always ended her stories with a happy ever after. Every story she writes has an element of romance. She started out writing gritty western historical romance and damsel in distress stories. Her first book, A Desperate Journey, was traditionally published in 2008, after competing in the American Title II contest. A hybrid author, she went on to write for five publishers before branching out with her own Indie press, Belo Dia Publishing Inc. Belo Dia is Portuguese for Beautiful Day.

Debra writes historical romance, contemporary romance and romantic suspense. An Air Force veteran’s wife, she writes military heroes in the present and in the future. Debra’s work as a travel consultant gave her the opportunity to visit many countries. Her luggage often carried home folk tales from the countries visited.

Her three favorite things are dark chocolate, visiting the beach and ocean, and hearing from her readers. Each card, letter and email is a treasured gift, like finding a perfect shell upon the beach. For more information about Debra, please visit her website, links below.