Sneak Peek Sunday July 14

It's Sneak Peek Sunday again, this time with a six-paragraph snippet from my sweet Regency romance, Lady Elinor's Escape, showing Elinor's first meeting with Stephen Chaplin.

In this scene, Lady Elinor has run away from her abusive aunt and made it as far as the nearest coaching inn where she just missed the coach to London. Aware of her plight and suspecting she is in trouble, Stephen approaches to offer his assistance.

Elinor turned to face the gentleman who had suddenly appeared. She stared at him through a haze of black, taking advantage of her veil to get a closer look at this tall, dark-haired, seemingly well bred gentleman. He was above average height, with finely chiseled features, and while he could not, strictly speaking, be deemed handsome, there was something in the intense scrutiny of his light brown eyes that drew her to him. By the cut of his bottle green Superfine coat, which emphasized his broad shoulders but was not so tight as to hamper movement, and his casually tied neckcloth, she surmised he was no society dandy.

“How do you do?” she said politely, extending one black-gloved hand.

“Fine, thank you.”

As he took her hand and bowed over it, Elinor savored the warmth of his touch for a moment. It had been a long time since someone had touched her out of kindness. Suddenly realizing she was clutching his hand, she withdrew hers. He studied her, his gaze seeming to penetrate the veil, and she could only stand like the veriest lump under his scrutiny.

“I beg your pardon, madam, but what did you say your name was?”

“Eli—” Elinor broke off and feigned a cough, panic bubbling up inside. Her name. Dear heavens, she needed a new name. If she told him who she was, he would never agree to take her to Mimi. She stared down at the gentleman’s yellow nankeen trousers and shiny brown boots. “Brown,” she stammered. “Ellie Brown.”

Lady Elinor's Escape is on sale for 50% off at Smashwords for the month of July during their Summer/Winter Promotion. Use coupon code SSW50. Rogue's Hostage and Worth The Risk, by Lyn O'Farrell, are also 50% off this month.

Lady Elinor's Escape is also available from Amazon, All Romance eBooks, BN/Nook, iTunes, and Kobo.

And as always, click here to read this week's fabulous Sneak Peek Sunday snippets.

Happy reading!

Linda