Everyone raised their wine glasses, except King, who reached for a glass of water without a flicker of regret.
“To Beatrice Agatha,” he said, wishing his daughter everything that was good in life.
He looked down the table at Charlie, and Ceci, who had little Birdie sitting on her lap; at Susan, Lydia, Rebecca, and Jane, who were all laughing and chattering; at his special little man, George, and his big brother, Harry, who was helping him cut up his meat. He knew that Walsh, Gelly, and Spargo were all enjoying a good get-together down in the kitchens, and looking forward to Boxing Day. King felt a rush of warmth and happiness, of pride in this family, his family. He looked to the end of the table to his wife, to Livvy, and she met her eyes, smiling at him and blowing him a kiss.
King raised his glass to her.
“To you, my dearest love,” he said, too quietly for her to hear the words, but he knew she understood all the same.
Also, just in time for the Holidays….
Winter’s Wild Melody
A Rogues & Gentlemen Christmas Novella
Caught in the storm on his way home after a week of overindulgence, Viscount Debdon takes shelter in an abandoned farmhouse, only to realise…
He is not alone.
When his ghostly companion is revealed to be not only an earthly body but a heavenly one too, the temptation to remain lost in the woods is hard to resist.
Out Christmas Day, December 25, 2020
Pre-order your copy here: Winter’s Wild Melody
Want more Emma?
If you enjoyed this book, please support this indie author and take a moment to leave a few words in a review. Thank you!
To be kept informed of special offers and free deals (which I do regularly) follow me on https://www.bookbub.com/authors/emma-v-leech
To find out more and to get news and sneak peeks of the first chapter of upcoming works, go to my website and sign up for the newsletter.
http://www.emmavleech.com/
Come and join the fans in my Facebook group for news, info and exciting discussion...
Emmas Book Club
Or Follow me here......
https://www.instagram.com/leech.emma/?hl=en
http://viewauthor.at/EmmaVLeechAmazon
Emma’s Twitter page
About Me!
I started this incredible journey way back in 2010 with The Key to Erebus but didn’t summon the courage to hit publish until October 2012. For anyone who’s done it, you’ll know publishing your first title is a terribly scary thing! I still get butterflies on the morning a new title releases but the terror has subsided at least. Now I just live in dread of the day my daughters are old enough to read them.
The horror! (On both sides I suspect.)
2017 marked the year that I made my first foray into Historical Romance and the world of the Regency Romance, and my word what a year! I was delighted by the response to this series and can’t wait to add more titles. Paranormal Romance readers need not despair however as there is much more to come there too. Writing has become an addiction and as soon as one book is over I’m hugely excited to start the next so you can expect plenty more in the future.
As many of my works reflect I am greatly influenced by the beautiful French countryside in which I live. I’ve been here in the South West for the past twenty years though I was born and raised in England. My three gorgeous girls are all bilingual and the youngest who is only six, is showing signs of following in my footsteps after producing The Lonely Princess all by herself.
I’m told book two is coming soon ...
She’s keeping me on my toes, so I’d better get cracking!
KEEP READING TO DISCOVER MY OTHER BOOKS!
Other Works by Emma V. Leech
(For those of you who have read The French Fae Legend series, please remember that chronologically The Heart of Arima precedes The Dark Prince)
Rogues & Gentlemen
The Rogue
The Earl’s Temptation
Scandal’s Daughter
The Devil May Care
Nearly Ruining Mr. Russell
One Wicked Winter
To Tame a Savage Heart
Persuading Patience
The Last Man in London
Flaming June
Charity and the Devil
A Slight Indiscretion
The Corinthian Duke
The Blackest of Hearts
Duke and Duplicity
The Scent of Scandal
The Rogue and The Earl’s Temptation Box set
Melting Miss Wynter
The Winter Bride (A R&G Novella)
Winter’s Wild Melody (A R&G Novella) (December 25, 2020)
Girls Who Dare
To Dare a Duke
To Steal A Kiss
To Break the Rules
To Follow her Heart
To Wager with Love
To Dance with a Devil
To Winter at Wildsyde
To Experiment with Desire
To Bed the Baron
To Ride with the Knight
To Hunt the Hunter
To Dance until Dawn
Daring Daughters
Dare to be Wicked (February 19, 2021)
Dare to be Brazen (Coming soon)
Dare to be Wild (Coming soon)
The Regency Romance Mysteries
Dying for a Duke
A Dog in a Doublet
The Rum and the Fox
The French Vampire Legend
The Key to Erebus
The Heart of Arima
The Fires of Tartarus
The Boxset (The Key to Erebus, The Heart of Arima)
The Son of Darkness
The French Fae Legend
The Dark Prince
The Dark Heart
The Dark Deceit
The Darkest Night
Short Stories: A Dark Collection.
Stand Alone
The Book Lover (a paranormal novella)
This Girl is Not for Christmas (Regency Romance)
Audio Books!
Don’t have time to read but still need your romance fix? The wait is over…
By popular demand, get your favourite Emma V Leech Regency Romance books on audio at Audible as performed by the incomparable Philip Battley and Gerard Marzilli. Several titles available and more added each month!
Click the links to choose your favourite and start listening now.
Rogues & Gentlemen
The Rogue ***
The Earl’s Tempation
Scandal's Daughter
The Devil May Care
Nearly Ruining Mr Russell
One Wicked Winter ***
To Tame a Savage Heart ***
Persuading Patience
The Last Man in London
Flaming June ***
The Winter Bride, a novella ***
Girls Who Dare
To Dare a Duke
To Steal A Kiss ***
To Break the Rules ***
To Follow her Heart
The Regency Romance Mysteries
Dying for a Duke ***
A Dog in a Doublet **
The Rum and the Fox **
The French Vampire Legend
The Key to Erebus (coming soon)
** Available on Chirp
*** Available on Chirp and Audible/Amazon
Also check out Emma’s regency romance series, Rogues & Gentlemen. Available now!
The Rogue
Rogues & Gentlemen Book 1
1815
Along the wild and untamed coast of Cornwall, smuggling is not only a way of life, but a means of survival.
Henrietta Morton knows well to look the other way when the free trading ‘gentlemen’ are at work. Yet when a notorious pirate, known as The Rogue, bursts in on her in the village shop, she takes things one step further.
Bewitched by a pair of wicked blue eyes, in a moment of insanity she hides the handsome fugitive from the local Militi
a. Her reward is a kiss that she just cannot forget. But in his haste to escape with his life, her pirate drops a letter, inadvertently giving Henri incriminating information about the man she just helped free.
When her father gives her hand in marriage to a wealthy and villainous nobleman in return for the payment of his debts, Henri becomes desperate.
Blackmailing a pirate may be her only hope for freedom.
Read for free on Kindle Unlimited
The Rogue
Girls Who Dare– The exciting new series from Emma V Leech, the multi-award-winning, Amazon Top 10 romance writer behind the Rogues & Gentlemen series.
Inside every wallflower is the beating heart of a lioness, a passionate individual willing to risk all for their dream, if only they can find the courage to begin. When these overlooked girls make a pact to change their lives, anything can happen.
Eleven girls – Eleven dares in a hat. Twelve stories of passion. Who will dare to risk it all?
To Dare a Duke
Girls Who Dare Book 1
Dreams of true love and happy ever afters
Dreams of love are all well and good, but all Prunella Chuffington-Smythe wants is to publish her novel. Marriage at the price of her independence is something she will not consider. Having tasted success writing under a false name in The Lady’s Weekly Review, her alter ego is attaining notoriety and fame and Prue rather likes it.
A Duty that must be endured
Robert Adolphus, The Duke of Bedwin, is in no hurry to marry, he’s done it once and repeating that disaster is the last thing he desires. Yet, an heir is a necessary evil for a duke and one he cannot shirk. A dark reputation precedes him though, his first wife may have died young, but the scandals the beautiful, vivacious and spiteful creature supplied the ton have not. A wife must be found. A wife who is neither beautiful or vivacious but sweet and dull, and certain to stay out of trouble.
Dared to do something drastic
The sudden interest of a certain dastardly duke is as bewildering as it is unwelcome. She’ll not throw her ambitions aside to marry a scoundrel just as her plans for self-sufficiency and freedom are coming to fruition. Surely showing the man she’s not actually the meek little wallflower he is looking for should be enough to put paid to his intentions? When Prue is dared by her friends to do something drastic, it seems the perfect opportunity to kill two birds.
However, Prue cannot help being intrigued by the rogue who has inspired so many of her romances. Ordinarily, he plays the part of handsome rake, set on destroying her plucky heroine. But is he really the villain of the piece this time, or could he be the hero?
Finding out will be dangerous, but it just might inspire her greatest story yet.
To Dare a Duke
From the author of the bestselling Girls Who Dare Series – An exciting new series featuring the children of the Girls Who Dare...
The stories of the Peculiar Ladies Book Club and their hatful of dares has become legend among their children. When the hat is rediscovered, dusty and forlorn, the remaining dares spark a series of events that will echo through all the families... and their
Daring Daughters
Dare to be Wicked
Daring Daughters Book One
Two daring daughters ...
Lady Elizabeth and Lady Charlotte are the daughters of the Duke and Duchess of Bedwin. Raised by an unconventional mother and an indulgent, if overprotective father, they both strain against the rigid morality of the era.
The fashionable image of a meek, weak young lady, prone to swooning at the least provocation, is one that makes them seethe with frustration.
Their handsome childhood friend ...
Cassius Cadogen, Viscount Oakley, is the only child of the Earl and Countess St Clair. Beloved and indulged, he is popular, gloriously handsome, and a talented artist.
Returning from two years of study in France, his friendship with both sisters becomes strained as jealousy raises its head. A situation not helped by the two mysterious Frenchmen who have accompanied him home.
And simmering sibling rivalry ...
Passion, art, and secrets prove to be a combustible combination, and someone will undoubtedly get burned.
Pre Order your copy here: Dare to be Wicked
Interested in a Regency Romance with a twist?
Dying for a Duke
The Regency Romance Mysteries Book 1
Straight-laced, imperious and morally rigid, Benedict Rutland - the darkly handsome Earl of Rothay - gained his title too young. Responsible for a large family of younger siblings that his frivolous parents have brought to bankruptcy, his youth was spent clawing back the family fortunes.
Now a man in his prime and financially secure he is betrothed to a strict, sensible and cool-headed woman who will never upset the balance of his life or disturb his emotions ...
But then Miss Skeffington-Fox arrives.
Brought up solely by her rake of a step-father, Benedict is scandalised by everything about the dashing Miss.
But as family members in line for the dukedom begin to die at an alarming rate, all fingers point at Benedict, and Miss Skeffington-Fox may be the only one who can save him.
FREE to read on Amazon Kindle Unlimited.. Dying for a Duke
Lose yourself in Emma’s paranormal world with The French Vampire Legend series…..
The Key to Erebus
The French Vampire Legend Book 1
The truth can kill you.
Taken away as a small child, from a life where vampires, the Fae, and other mythical creatures are real and treacherous, the beautiful young witch, Jéhenne Corbeaux is totally unprepared when she returns to rural France to live with her eccentric Grandmother.
Thrown headlong into a world she knows nothing about she seeks to learn the truth about herself, uncovering secrets more shocking than anything she could ever have imagined and finding that she is by no means powerless to protect the ones she loves.
Despite her Gran’s dire warnings, she is inexorably drawn to the dark and terrifying figure of Corvus, an ancient vampire and master of the vast Albinus family.
Jéhenne is about to find her answers and discover that, not only is Corvus far more dangerous than she could ever imagine, but that he holds much more than the key to her heart …
FREE to read on Kindle Unlimited The Key to Erebus
Check out Emma’s exciting fantasy series with hailed by Kirkus Reviews as “An enchanting fantasy with a likable heroine, romantic intrigue, and clever narrative flourishes.”
The Dark Prince
The French Fae Legend Book 1
Two Fae Princes
One Human Woman
And a world ready to tear them all apart
Laen Braed is Prince of the Dark fae, with a temper and reputation to match his black eyes, and a heart that despises the human race. When he is sent back through the forbidden gates between realms to retrieve an ancient fae artefact, he returns home with far more than he bargained for.
Corin Albrecht, the most powerful Elven Prince ever born. His golden eyes are rumoured to be a gift from the gods, and destiny is calling him. With a love for the human world that runs deep, his friendship with Laen is being torn apart by his prejudices.
Océane DeBeauvoir is an artist and bookbinder who has always relied on her lively imagination to get her through an unhappy and uneventful life. A jewelled dagger put on display at a nearby museum hits the headlines with speculation of another race, the Fae. But the discovery also inspires Océane to create an extraordinary piece of art that cannot be confined to the pages of a book.
With two powerful men vying for her attention and their friendship stretched to the breaking point, the only question that remains...who is truly The Dark Prince.
The man of your dreams is coming...or is it your nightmares he visits? Find out in Book One of The French Fae Legend.
Available now to read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited.
The Dark Prince
Acknowledgements
Thanks, of course, to my wonderful editor Kezia Cole.
To Victoria Cooper for all your hard work, amazing artwork and above all your unending patience!!! Thank you so much. You are amazing!
To my BFF, PA, personal cheerleader and bringer of chocolate, Varsi Appel, for moral support, confidence boosting and for reading my work more times than I have. I love you loads!
A huge thank you to all of Emma’s Book Club members! You guys are the best!
I’m always so happy to hear from you so do email or message me :)
[email protected]
To my husband Pat and my family ... For always being proud of me.
The Girl is Not For Christmas: A Christmas Regency Romance Novel Page 29
