Praise for Amanda McCabe:
A NOTORIOUS WOMAN âCourt intrigue, poison and murders fill this Renaissance romance. The setting is beautiful â¦â âRT Book Reviews
A SINFUL ALLIANCE âScandal, seduction, spies, counter-spies, murder, love and loyalty are skilfully woven into the tapestry of the Tudor court. Richly detailed and brimming with historical events and personages, McCabeâs tale weaves together history and passion perfectly.â âRT Book Reviews
HIGH SEAS STOWAWAY âSmell the salt spray, feel the deck beneath your feet and hoist the Jolly Roger as McCabe takes you on an entertaining romantic ride.â âRT Book Reviews
âWhat has happened to you, Celia?â he said roughly.
âWhat do you mean?â she gasped. She went very still and stared at the hard angle of his jaw above the high collar of his doublet. A muscle flexed there and his lips were pressed in an angry line.
âYou look like the Celia I remember,â he said. One hand slid slowly down her arm, rubbing her velvet sleeve over her skin until he touched her bare wrist. Something flared in his eyes as he felt the leap of her pulse, and he twined his fingers with hers.
Celia was too frozen to pull away. She felt like the hawkâs prey, in truthâmesmerised as he swooped closer and closer.
âYouâre even more beautiful than you were then,â he said, his voice softer and deeper. âBut your eyes are hard.â
Celia jerked in his arms. âYou mean I am not the foolish, gullible girl who can be lured by a manâs pretty words? I have learned my lesson well since we last met, John, and Iâm grateful for it.â
AMANDA McCABE wrote her first romance at the age of sixteenâa vast epic, starring all her friends as the characters, written secretly during algebra class. Sheâs never since used algebra, but her books have been nominated for many awards, including the RITA>®, RT Book Reviews Reviewersâ Choice Award, the Booksellers Best, the National Readersâ Choice Award, and the Holt Medallion. She lives in Oklahoma, with a menagerie of two cats, a pug and a bossy miniature poodle, and loves dance classes, collecting cheesy travel souvenirs, and watching the Food Networkâeven though she doesnât cook.
Visit her at http://ammandamccabe.tripod.com and www.riskyregencies.blogspot.com
Previous novels by the same author:
TO CATCH A ROGUE* TO DECEIVE A DUKE* TO KISS A COUNT* CHARLOTTE AND THE WICKED LORD (in Regency Summer Scandals) A NOTORIOUS WOMANâ A SINFUL ALLIANCEâ HIGH SEAS STOWAWAYâ THE WINTER QUEEN (in Christmas Betrothals) THE SHY DUCHESS SNOWBOUND AND SEDUCED (in Regency Christmas Proposals) THE TAMING OF THE ROGUE
And in Mills & Boon>® Historical Undone! eBooks:
SHIPWRECKED AND SEDUCEDâ
TO BED A LIBERTINE THE MAIDâS LOVER TO COURT, CAPTURE AND CONQUER GIRL IN THE BEADED MASK UNLACING THE LADY IN WAITING ONE WICKED CHRISTMAS
*The Chase Muses trilogy â linked by character
Did you know that some of these novelsare also available as eBooks?Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk
When I wrote my book The Winter Queenâthe story of Anton Gustavson and Rosamund RamsayâI was very intrigued by Antonâs cousin Celia Sutton. She seemed so unhappy, so haunted, and I wanted to know why! I wanted to know what had happened to her, and what it would take to make her believe in love again.
I so enjoyed spending time with her and her gorgeous hero in this story. I also enjoyed researching the storyâs setting and learning more about Mary Queen of Scots. I knew quite a bit about her late life in English captivity, but not much about her early days back in Scotland after years in France. It was fascinating to read about this time in her very complex and tragic life, but very hard not to shout warnings at her not to marry Darnley!
Her life does indeed slide into disaster after her marriage, just as Queen Elizabeth predicts. For a detailed look at the events surrounding her marriage and its violent unraveling I like Alison Weirâs Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley.
Celia and Johnâs part in the tale is fiction, of course, but much of what happens to them and the people they meet is part of history. Mary and Darnley, Elizabeth and Burghleyâand their disagreements over Maryâs marriageâMaryâs four Marys, the terrible weather on Darnleyâs journey to Scotland, Maryâs efforts to recreate a French Court in the rougher environs of Scotland, her religious feud with John Knox, even her excursions out into the city dressed in menâs clothes, are all things I enjoyed incorporating into the story. It also seemed like the perfect backdrop for Celia and Johnâs tumultuous romance!
If youâd like to read more about this period, there are many, many sources on Mary Queen of Scots. Here are just a few I enjoyed:
âJohn Guy, The True Life of Mary Stewart, Queen of Scotland (2004) âGW Bernard, ed., Power and Politics in Tudor England (2000) âJ. Keith Cheetham, On the Trail of Mary Queen of Scots (1999) âRoderick Graham,