Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Today, we're joining Rachel's Random Resources and bloggers throughout the blogosphere for a RELEASE DAY celebration! It features a NEW Historical Romance title from author Lara Temple that from the sound of things, if you're a fan of the genre it'll be hard for you to sit through this post....but, sit through it you must (please?) because you will be well rewarded. How so? Well, for starters, we'll do the proper introductions (and HF fans know, it's all about the intro!), then get you tantalized with a SPECIAL EXCERPT, and then finally we'll reel you in for your CHANCE TO WIN! Sound good? I thought you might agree. Ladies and gents, prepare your reading list for today's title in the spotlight...
The Return of the Disappearing Duke
by
Lara Temple
Mills & Boon
About the book...
A scarred mercenary…Or the Disappearing Duke of Greybourne?
Rafe has spent years running from his true identity. He’s a lone wolf, living far from aristocratic England and his violent father. Then unconventional Cleopatra Osbourne requests his protection as she crosses the Egyptian desert. In Cleo he discovers a fellow outcast—and a fierce desire! Cleo must return to London, and here lies Rafe’s dilemma—because following his heart means claiming the title he’s avoided for so long!
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~~~ EXCERPT ~~~
Towards the end of
their desert escapade Rafe and Cleo are camped out in an ancient
temple in the Egyptian desert. Cleo knows her time with Rafe is
drawing to an end and is determined to try and seduce the scarred
mercenary while she can…
Her
nails trailed down his back and with a shattered groan he caught her
arms and drew her away before she utterly destroyed him.
‘Cleo,
please.
This is a mistake.’
A
mistake.
There
was such anguished insistence in his voice it muted the drums of
warmth beating inside her. Cleo leaned back to inspect his face. He
was
beautiful. But he was looking worried and angry again. She
desperately wanted him to feel what she did—as warm and doughy as
fresh bread and as light as sunbeams. She knew this was not proper,
but it felt right.
How could he not feel that, too?
‘It
doesn’t feel like a mistake,’ she murmured, resting her palms
against his chest. His muscles shivered beneath them and it spread to
her. She liked
that sensation. It filled the great big echoing cavern inside her
with incandescent light.
She
had no idea what the morrow would bring but for the first time in…she
did not know how long…she felt truly herself. Cleo.
'But
it is, Cleo. I can’t take advantage of you.'
‘May
I take advantage of you,
then, Mr Rafe Grey?’
‘No!’
‘In
two months I shall be twenty-seven years of age. Twenty-seven!’
‘What
on earth has that to say to anything?’
‘Twenty-seven
and I have never felt this before…this fire. That cannot
be right. Even when William and I—’
She squeaked as his hands tightened briefly on her arms.
‘Who
is William?’
Clearly
mentioning another man while propositioning one was not a good idea.
She had a lot to learn about seduction.
‘It
doesn’t matter. He was an antiquarian friend of my father’s and
just as dishonourable. But that was a long time ago and I never felt
like this when he touched me. I like
feeling like this. It feels as though you are lighting fires inside
me, as though—’
‘Cleo,
please, please
stop.’
‘I
don’t want to stop. Tell me why it is so wrong to wish to kiss you?
I am not asking for anything else…’
‘Cleo…’
There
was such an entreaty in that one word her fires doused a little
further. He looked tense and miserable and with a shaft of pain she
realised he really did not wish to do this.
‘Is
the idea so distasteful?’
‘No,
Cleo—’
‘You
think me mannish in these clothes…and ugly.’
Are
you mad? I think…I know
you are torturing me. Believe me, I would like nothing better than to
do precisely what you are asking. And more. But you placed yourself
in my care. Try to understand what that would make me if I gave in to
base instincts. It would be a betrayal.’
‘I
wouldn’t hold you responsible.’
‘But
I
would.’
For
a moment they both remained there, facing each other in the firelit
temple.
She
should not argue with him. Lust had not completely killed her common
sense, yet she couldn’t stop herself.
‘And
if I weren’t in your care?’
‘I
don’t…dally with innocents.’ He would have sounded priggish if
his voice hadn’t all but cracked midway through the sentence.
‘What
a silly word. What if I weren’t innocent?’
‘You’re
impossible.’
‘Oh,
just tell me the truth.’
‘If
you were experienced and not in my care, I would fall over myself to
coax you into the nearest bed, Cleopatra. But you aren’t and you
are. And that is that.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the author...
Lara Temple writes strong and sensual Regency romances about complex individuals who give no quarter but do so with plenty of passion. She lives with her husband, two children, and one very fluffy dog and they are all very understanding about her taking over the kitchen table so she can look out over the garden as she writes and dreams up her Happy Ever Afters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOUR CHANCE TO WIN...
(1) of 3 ecopies
of The Return of the Disappearing Duke
(Open INT)
*Terms
and Conditions –Worldwide
entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box
below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter
from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email.
If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random
Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to
all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part
of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not
be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’
information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only
for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random
Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for
despatch or delivery of the prize.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Special thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this promotion, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. Be sure to check out the rest of tour for more bookish fun!
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
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