Four Enchanting Love Stories, One Little Season to Remember

A Season to Remember

Ava Stone

Catherine Gayle

Jerrica Knight-Catania

Jane Charles

Thank you for having us today at Get Lost in a Story!

In the fall of 1813, the Bartlett siblings take to London to experience the Little Season. Devlin has hopes to find suitable gents to whom he might marry at least some of his younger sisters off. None of them have any idea, however, that before the end of the Parliamentary sessions, all four of them will have found their happily ever after.

As a primer to A SEASON TO REMEMBER, in which you can find all four of their stories, the authors present to you a primer of each of our heroes and heroines, presented in trading card fashion.


DEVIL IN MY DREAMS – JANE CHARLES

Devlin Bartlett, Viscount Marston & Miss Louisa Whitton

Just the facts –

Devlin, Lord Marston
Age: 27
Birth order: 2 of 5, 2nd son
Hair: deep auburn
Eyes: brown
Favorite Pastimes: Spying on and then thwarting the French; fencing; being anywhere his sisters are not, unless it is the Season, or Little Season, where potential husbands lurk in every ballroom.
Quote:  “I am not at all sure how I feel about ladies with loaded pistols.”
Miss Louisa says: Devil is a much more appropriate name for Lord Marston because I seriously doubt he has ever experienced an angelic moment in his life. He has spellbound me somehow. Otherwise, why would I find myself dreaming about him every night when there is nothing special about him? Well, except his wide shoulders, warm brown eyes, and that wicked grin that makes my toes curl.  But we can’t tell him, and I must swear you to secrecy, or I will never bring him up to scratch before Christmas.


Louisa Whitton
Age: 20
Birth order: 2nd of two daughters
Hair: blonde hair
Eyes: blue eyes
Favorite Pastimes: target practice; eavesdropping and reading lips of those too far away to be heard; embroidery; and planning how to find a groom of her choice before her grandfather, the Duke of Danby, picks one for her, who will undoubtedly be a vicar.
Quote: “Your skill with the sword was very impressive, Lord Marston.”
Lord Marston says: I was drawn to Louisa Whitton the moment I spied her in the garden at Bentley Manor.  Unfortunately, I recently inherited guardianship of my three sisters, all of an age to be married, who I must to see to before I can consider a future for myself.  I just need to convince Miss Whitton to wait a year or two to marry, when I will be able to properly court her.

TO ENCHANT AN ICY EARL – CATHERINE GAYLE

Miss Calista Bartlett and Tristan Cavendish, Earl of Fordingham

Just the facts –

Calista Bartlett
Age: 22
Birth order: 3 of 5, 1st daughter
Hair: dark brown, almost black
Eyes: clear blue, like the Greek sea
Favorite Pastimes: scouring the gentlemen of London in search of a potential match who is as unlike her former beau as possible; evading Miranda and Penny at every turn, but especially Miranda, because…well, because she’s Miranda; consistently being surprised, both by herself and others.
Quote: “I deserve a man in my life who will do what I ask of him when he can, even if he goes about it in a way I never would have expected. I deserve to be kissed senseless on occasion, and continually surprised—and you give me all of those things and more.”
Lord Fordingham says: I’ll never be deserving of having someone so good and true in my life as Calista Bartlett, but it would take more than a thousand soldiers to convince me to let her go now. A man needs something good in his life.

Tristan, Lord Fordingham
Age: 30
Birth order: 1 of 2, eldest son and heir
Hair: sandy
Eyes: no specific color
Favorite Pastimes: removing annoyances from his life; issuing commands, before remembering that he should instead deliver requests; discovering how he ought to live his life, as opposed to living life in the manner his father thought he ought to do
Quote: “I’ll be asking for her hand within the week. Draw up the marriage contract.”
Miss Bartlett says: Lord Fordingham is at once everything he seems on the surface and nothing one would expect him to be. And while it is true he can be a bit demanding, he is so very caring and protective. A little more teasing will do him a world of good.

MY LORD HERCULES – AVA STONE

Miss Miranda Bartlett & Lord Harrison Casemore

Just the facts –

Miranda Bartlett
Age: 19
Birth order: 4 of 5, 2nd daughter
Hair: dark brown
Eyes: hazel
Favorite Pastimes: eavesdropping; sneaking into dangerous places she shouldn’t be; and putting arrogant men firmly in their place.
Quote: “You said you were keeping my secret so Marston wouldn’t put a ball in your chest. I don’t see that I owe you my name in exchange for your cowardice.”
Lord Harrison says: Miranda Bartlett caught my attention the moment she entered my favorite gaming hell, dressed like a dandy. She’s held my attention every moment since.

Lord Harrison Casemore
Age: 27
Birth order: 2 of 3, 2nd son
Hair: brown
Eyes: green
Favorite Pastimes: assaulting punch bags at Gentleman Jackson’s, trying his luck at one gaming hell or another, making certain his little sister is as happy as she can be.
Quote: “Whatever excitement you’re searching for, I’m certain I can provide it for you, whether it’s driving my phaeton or… something else. There’s no need to put yourself in a dangerous spot again.”
Miss Miranda says: Don’t tell Lord Harrison, but he’s reminded me of Hercules ever since I first met him. If he ever finds out, I’ll die of embarrassment. Can you imagine his ego should he ever discover I think of him as a demigod?

A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS – JERRICA KNIGHT-CATANIA

Miss Penelope Bartlett & Drake Lockwell, Viscount Flitwick

Just the facts –

Penelope Bartlett
Age: 18
Birth order: 5 of 5, 3rd daughter
Hair: light brown
Eyes: hazely-brown
Favorite Pastimes: talking to her cat Wilhelmina who is very wise and always has sage advice; pestering her siblings; and alternately avoiding her siblings
Quote: “Even if he was [still in the garden], he wouldn’t appear now for your amusement.”
Lord Drake says: There’s no one quite like Penny, so young and impulsive and trying desperately to break from the mold that her elder siblings have cast for her. In the end, what she really wants is to be loved for exactly who she is.

Drake Lockwell, Viscount Flitwick
Age: 31
Birth order: 1 of 3, 1st son
Hair: blond
Eyes: blue
Favorite Pastimes: avoiding his parents at all costs, spending time in the country with loved ones, stealing away from crowded ballrooms for a cheroot in the garden
Quote: “You are…like no one I’ve ever known. You are both Heaven and Hell wrapped up in one sweet, tempting package. But by God, I will not take you on the floor of a hired hack.”
Miss Penelope says: I never expected for such a handsome and refined gentleman, who is heir to an earldom, to be so very kind…and sentimental…and romantic. *sigh* He is the stuff of my dreams.


A SEASON TO REMEMBER

In Jane Charles’s DEVIL IN MY DREAMS, Devlin Bartlett was never meant to be Viscount Marston, yet he has inherited not only the title but three younger sisters, all of marriageable ages. He soon learns that thwarting the French was much easier than playing guardian to three young ladies, and decides the simplest solution is to marry them off.

Louisa Whitton needs to find a husband of her own choosing before Christmas.  At her sister’s house party, she meets the perfect gentleman—thus foiling her grandfather’s plans.  However, Marston refuses to even think about courting her until his sisters are wed, and he has the audacity to ask her to wait.  Louisa’s grandfather will never agree, so she sets out to find the perfect substitute for Marston, forcing him to choose between his sisters’ future and his own.

In Catherine Gayle’s TO ENCHANT AND ICY EARL, as the Earl of Fordingham, Tristan Cavendish has lived by the code his father beat into him for so long he’s driven everyone in his life away, including his brother. Now he is alone. Loneliness dictates he must change, so he sets out to make amends with his only sibling. Alas, his brother seems none too inclined to hear him out, and a woman who must be a vision from Fordingham’s dreams walks into his path. Now, more than ever before, he knows he must change his ways or risk driving her away as well…but how?

Calista Bartlett is on the hunt for a husband—but one who is nothing at all like the betrayer who was her former beau. When she sees the Earl of Fordingham across the room at a soiree, she knows she’s found the very man who is everything her one-time beau was not. Fordingham presents an icy façade to the world, but Calista discovers a passionate man who kisses her feverishly and warms her through to the bones. Can she ever convince him to let down his guard permanently?


In Ava Stone’s MY LORD HERCULES, Miss Miranda Bartlett is on a mission to locate her missing friend. Determined hoyden that she is, she’ll do whatever it takes to get the answers she seeks too, even if that means dressing like a dandy, sneaking into a gaming hell, and surrounding herself with London’s worst reprobates. However, she didn’t plan on bumping into a Herculean gentleman along the way. The handsome and honorable Lord Harrison Casemore immediately thwarts her plans and seems determined to save her at every turn, making it more than difficult to accomplish her task.

Ever since Harry Casemore spotted the exotic temptress trying to pass herself off as a fop, he’s been drawn to her. He hasn’t figured out what she’s after, but he’s fairly certain he’d sell his soul if she’d just let him help her with whatever it is.


In Jerrica Knight-Catania’s A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS, Penelope Bartlett has had a rough year, to say the least. She lost her eldest brother and her father in one fell swoop, and to make matters worse she had to miss out on her very first London Season. Now she's in the thick of the Little Season and all she wants to do is run away. It's torture to watch her siblings fall in love and she's simply not in the mood to make merry with all of them. Especially when they treat her as if she's still a little girl in leading strings. 

Enter Drake Lockwell, Viscount Flitwick. He, too, is typically eager to escape crowded ballrooms and matchmaking mamas in favor of his own company in a deserted garden or library. But a chance meeting in his brother’s garden one night changes everything. Miss Bartlett is young and impetuous, yet he can't help but fall prey to her charms. Perhaps she will be the one to finally mend the hole in his heart...

Or will his secrets be more than Penelope is able to handle?


We, the authors, are delighted about the very near release of A SEASON TO REMEMBER, and in celebration we will offer an e-book copy of its predecessor, THE BETTING SEASON, to one commenter. Thank you again to the ladies of Get Lost in a Story for inviting us to join you!

Get Lost in These Regency Christmas Tales...

Today, on the blog, we’re joined by four fabulous authors (and their characters!) who are here to tell us about their Regency Christmas anthology.  So I’m just going to hand the blog right over to them and enjoy the fun…

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Earlier this year, 12 of us embarked on an adventure of sorts – an anthology collection that revolves around 12 different cousins during the same Christmas holiday. You see, the powerful Duke of Danby has summoned all of his wayward grandchildren home for the Holidays.  Some are more eager to come than others.

Today, four of us – Ava Stone, Jerrica Knight-Catania, Lilia Birney and Julie Johnstone – are happy to introduce you to the characters we wrote for the collection. (It was an adventure being responsible for a character who shares a history with other authors’ characters. But we had a wonderful time collaborating.)

Often times, siblings are very similar to each other. They are raised by the same people in the same house and have the same experiences in their formative years. But other times, siblings are as different as night and day, despite the sameness of the blood that flows through them.

The Whitton siblings, from the Regency Christmas Summons Collection, fall into the latter category. First there is the eventual heir to the dukedom – Andrew, Earl of Hardwicke. His younger brother, Lord Philip. And their twin sisters Lady Emma and Lady Isabel. Oh, I know what you’re thinking… The twins will be the same, right? Nope – still different as night and day. But don’t take our word for it – they’ll tell you that themselves. (All four Whitton siblings will be around today to answer any follow up questions.)

What is something readers might not know about you, if all they had to look at was the blurb from your book?

Andrew: I’m a closet romantic and adore Sense and Sensibility, a charming novel I read this last year.

Isabel: (can’t comment because she’s laughing too hard at Andrew’s comment)

Philip (glances around and spies a pianoforte in the corner): Do you mind if I play a little whilst we converse? I find it damned hard to talk to anyone unless I am able to play a bit. (Walks over to the pianoforte and sits; begins playing Lully. He relaxes and faces the interviewer squarely.) My brother is such a romantic that he reads novels. Whereas I am such a romantic, I tried to off myself over a lady. 'Course, that's all water under the bridge, and all that. And my family kept the matter very quiet.

Emma: My dear brother Philip, so misunderstood. (She sighs as she looks away from him and back to her other siblings. Then she locks eyes with Isabel and the two of them double over laughing.) Sense and Sensibility?  I cannot wait to tell Heath!

 And now, tell me a little something about each of your siblings. 

Andrew: I tortured Philip from the moment he was born because I was sure he was trying to ‘do me in’ to take my place as the next duke. Emma reminds me of myself - my better, more capable, straightforward self.  On second thought, what it is about Emma that reminds me of myself is her ability at subterfuge.  Must be why I adore her.  As for Izzy, her knowledge of books far outweighs mine, which is why I run scared every time she tries to pull me into an intellectual debate.  Now if she wants to converse about the finer points of whiskey or the hundred ways to please the woman you love, she need only look as far as my doorstep or Char's ear.  Char would be more than happy to explain all the excellent ways I please her.

Isabel: Well, clearly, Andrew has a healthy respect for me. Philip, well, he’s just troubled, so I try not to make waves there. And Emma, she is and always will be my better half – the half that knows how to dance and needlepoint and do all those other feminine things that I seem to always fail miserably at.

Philip: Did Andrew really torture me? Can't remember, really. (Shifts on the bench and begins playing Chopin). It was of no consequence to me, for I couldn't care less about being a lord. In fact, it kept me from marrying the one I loved many years ago. As for Em and Izzy, they needed to learn how to give a fellow more privacy. Many's the time they walked in on me just as I was being, ahem, affectionate with my beloved Emily.

Emma: Andrew is our troublemaker. If there is a rule, he will find a way to break it. Philip spends more time in his own mind than he does out of it. But he plays so beautifully, doesn’t he? And, of course, there’s Isabel. She’s so sweet, though she denies it. She thinks of herself as very analytical; and though she is that – there is so much more to her. She is the most brilliant person I know.  

Your father, the Marquess of Norland, has the reputation of being a very difficult man to read. What is he like as a father? 

Andrew: Norland was an overbearing father who made my life hell, though mother has tried to tell me he was once a very kind man.

Isabel: Thankfully, I wasn’t the heir – or the spare -- so he wasn’t quite as overbearing with me as he was with Andrew and Philip. Though he is a force to be reckoned with, I know he’s got a rather soft heart beneath it all. It’s Mother who’s always given me the hardest time.

Philip (shrugs and continues with a different Chopin selection): Father's not difficult. In fact, I must say my family acted remarkably well when I tried to kill myself. Can't say a word against any of them, and I dare any man to try it.

Emma: I have never had a problem with either of my parents. I do wish Papa hadn’t discovered me with… (A blush stains her cheeks) Just forget I said that last part, Heath would die of embarrassment if he knew what I almost revealed.

Which sibling are you the closest to? 

Andrew: I’m a consummate diplomat, if nothing else.  I adore all my siblings equally.  I would have to say my closest relative is Edgy.  He’s gotten me out of more trouble than I care to admit, and he dragged my arse across the channel to reunite me with Char.

Isabel: Well, that’s easy, since Emma and I shared a womb. You can’t get much closer than that.

Philip: I love all my family, but Emily—my wife—is the only person in the world who really understands me.

Emma: My heart has always hurt a little for Philip. I never could understand him, no matter how badly I tried. (A beleaguered sigh escapes her.) And Drew – despite the fact that he ALWAYS cheated in hide-and-seek – without him I would have never met my Heath, and so I’ll owe him all of my days. BUT, Izzy is right – we shared a womb and no matter what madcap schemes I’ve come up with over the years, and despite her warnings about each and every scheme – she is my closest and dearest friend and sister. I love her with all my heart.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 

Andrew: In bed in Char’s arms.  Is that too much information?  Fine, fine.  I see myself surrounded by my five children, one for every year.  We will, of course, be at the theatre watching my astonishingly beautiful wife perfume in the latest and greatest production.

Isabel: Well, I’m making desperate pleas for Damien to take me on safari in the Serengeti. Perhaps spend some time abroad in a remote part of India or China and study the ancient civilizations of the Shang Dynasty…

Philip: Emily and I have discussed opening a music school in London, so I suppose we will settle there. And though she has one child already—Rose, my sweet little darling—I cannot wait to have more children. I shan't return to Italy for some time. Too many memories there.

Emma: (smiles brightly) In five years, in ten, in twenty – I’m sure I’ll be doing the same things. Loving my dear Heath, raising our children, entertaining as often as possible, and living my life to the absolute fullest.

And if Norland is difficult to read, your grandfather the Duke of Danby is reputed to be downright terrifying. Do you have anything to say about him? Of course, we won’t divulge a word of what you say to His Grace, so feel free to be as honest as possible. 

Andrew: The thing you have to understand about Grandfather is he only wants what is best for his family.  He can be your greatest ally or your greatest enemy, if he thinks you are making a mistake.  Grandfather is a romantic at heart.  He kidnapped Grandmother and forced her to the altar. She detested him, until he got her in the bedchamber.  Shh…no one knows that!

Isabel: Grandpapa has always been my champion, and for that I will be eternally grateful. He never rolled his eyes at me for devouring books or shouted that I needed to be more ladylike. He simply accepted me as I was, which is a rare thing for me.

Philip: I suppose Grandfather is rather baffled by us all—none of us really turned out the way we were supposed to. I married a commoner after becoming a wastrel abroad, for example. But then, the old fellow still wants to be surrounded by us all, despite our flaws. (Stops playing abruptly, stands up, sending the bench scraping backwards.) I'm off. Ready to see my Emily—it's been too long without her. Drew, Izzy, Em—see you at dinner.

Emma: (stares at Philip’s retreating back. Once he’s gone, she turns back to the interviewer.) I don’t know what he’s talking about. I think I turned out exactly as I was supposed to.  (She shakes her head as though to refocus on the question at hand.) You asked about Grandpapa? Well, he can be more than intimidating. He can stop one’s heart with just a glare or the clearing of his throat. I love Grandpapa. I love all my family, and though he can terrify me on occasion, I think I have finally learned how to manage him. Or as close as anyone can possibly claim to do so.  A word of warning, however, should you visit Danby Castle – DO NOT run in the corridors. Doing so makes him extremely cranky.

We hope you have enjoyed this glimpse of the Whitton siblings. Andrew and Emma can be found in A Summons From Yorkshire; Philip and Isabel can be found in A Summons From The Duke. If you have any questions for these siblings, please post it below. Be sure to add your email address so you can be entered into the Regency Christmas Summons Prize Extravaganza. Winners will be drawn during a live chat Thursday December 15^th from 8p-10p Eastern time at LadyScribes.blogspot.com (You do not need to be present to win, but it will be fun if you’re there!)

Today we are also giving away an ebook copy of both A Summons From Yorkshire and A Summons From The Duke. Do you have siblings? If so, are you similar or as different as the Whittons? And if not, do you miss the camaraderie of brothers and/or sisters – or are you glad for your solitude?