Dangerous Decisions (31 page)
It had been, Helena thought, an inspired decision to travel to London alone after their quiet wedding in Lichfield, leaving Rosalind in the care of Aunt Beatrice at Broadway Manor.
And now, as she stood in an ivory silk nightdress before the window awaiting her bridegroom, Faraday House was so silent she could almost imagine it completely empty. Their bedrooms had been redecorated and Nicholas would use the adjoining room only when he had a late call and to dress in â he had dismissed any notion of them sleeping separately. She gazed at the interconnecting door, hearing sounds of movement, watching as the handle turned, and then he was coming through, smiling at her, one hand fingering the lapel of his pale blue pyjamas.
âI feel quite decadent â silk, indeed!'
âBut you like them?'
âHow could I not.' Nicholas looked at Helena, her honey-coloured hair loose around her shoulders, the elegant nightdress almost a replica of the gown she had been wearing when he had first seen her. âDarling, you look absolutely beautiful.'
Slowly she walked towards him. âIt is all as I promised,' she murmured. âWe shall have complete privacy for hours and hours.'
âCan we request that always happens?' He was slipping the strap from her shoulder, his lips moving down to the swell of her breast. âNo maid, no valet coming in each morning, not until we ring for them?'
Helena looked over at the white linen sheets and inviting bed and trailed her fingers in the dark hair of the man she loved so much. Her voice soft, she murmured, âWhat a wonderful idea.'
Born and educated in the Potteries in Staffordshire, Margaret Kaine now lives in Leicester. Her short stories have been published widely in women's magazines in the UK, and also in Australia, Norway, South Africa and Ireland.
Ring of Clay
, her debut novel, won both the Romantic Novelists' Association's New Writer's Award in 2002 and the Society of Authors' Sagittarius Prize in 2003. She has now published seven romantic sagas about life in Staffordshire between the 50s and 70s.
Dangerous Decisions
is her debut novel with Choc Lit.
If you enjoyed Margaret's story, you'll enjoy the rest of our selection.
Here's a sample:
The Road Back
Liz Harris
Winner of the 2012 Book of the Year Award from Coffee Time Romance & More
When Patricia accompanies her father, Major George Carstairs, on a trip to Ladakh, north of the Himalayas, in the early 1960s, she sees it as a chance to finally win his love. What she could never have foreseen is meeting Kalden â a local man destined by circumstances beyond his control to be a monk, but fated to be the love of her life.
Despite her father's fury, the lovers are determined to be together, but can their forbidden love survive?
âA splendid love story so beautifully told.' Colin Dexter, O.B.E. Bestselling author of the Inspector Morse series.
Visit
www.choc-lit.com
for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
Highland Storms
Christina Courtenay
Winner of the 2012 Best Historical Romantic Novel of the year
Who can you trust?
Betrayed by his brother and his childhood love, Brice Kinross needs a fresh start. So he welcomes the opportunity to leave Sweden for the Scottish Highlands to take over the family estate.
But there's trouble afoot at Rosyth in 1754 and Brice finds himself unwelcome. The estate's in ruin and money is disappearing. He discovers an ally in Marsaili Buchanan, the beautiful redheaded housekeeper, but can he trust her?
Marsaili is determined to build a good life. She works hard at being a housekeeper and harder still at avoiding men who want to take advantage of her. But she's irresistibly drawn to the new clan chief, even though he's made it plain he doesn't want to be shackled to anyone.
And the young laird has more than romance on his mind. His investigations are stirring up an enemy. Someone who will stop at nothing to get what he wants â including Marsaili â even if that means destroying Brice's life forever â¦
Sequel to Trade Winds.
Visit
www.choc-lit.com
for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
The Penny Bangle
Margaret James
When should you trust your heart?
It's 1942 when Cassie Taylor reluctantly leaves Birmingham to become a land girl on a farm in Dorset.
There she meets Robert and Stephen Denham, twins recovering from injuries sustained at Dunkirk. Cassie is instantly drawn to Stephen, but is wary of the more complex Robert â who doesn't seem to like Cassie one little bit.
At first, Robert wants to sack the inexperienced city girl. But Cassie soon learns, and Robert comes to admire her courage, finding himself deeply attracted to Cassie. Just as their romance blossoms, he's called back into active service.
Anxious to have adventures herself, Cassie joins the ATS. In Egypt, she meets up with Robert, and they become engaged. However, war separates them again as Robert is sent to Italy and Cassie back to the UK.
Robert is reported missing, presumed dead. Stephen wants to take Robert's place in Cassie's heart. But will Cassie stay true to the memory of her first love, and will Robert come home again?
Third novel in the trilogy.
Visit
www.choc-lit.com
for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
To Turn Full Circle
Linda Mitchelmore
Life in Devon in 1909 is hard and unforgiving, especially for young Emma Le Goff, whose mother and brother die in curious circumstances, leaving her totally alone in the world. While she grieves, her callous landlord Reuben Jago claims her home and belongings.
His son Seth is deeply attracted to Emma and sympathises with her desperate need to find out what really happened, but all his attempts to help only incur his father's wrath.
When mysterious fisherman Matthew Caunter comes to Emma's rescue, Seth is jealous at what he sees and seeks solace in another woman. However, he finds that forgetting Emma is not as easy as he hoped.
Matthew is kind and charismatic, but handsome Seth is never far from Emma's mind. Whatever twists and turns her life takes, it seems there is always something â or someone â missing.
Set in Devon, the first novel in a trilogy.
Visit
www.choc-lit.com
for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
The Reluctant Bride
Beverley Eikli
Can honour and action banish the shadows of old sins?
Emily Micklen
has no option after the death of her loving fiancé, Jack, but to marry the scarred, taciturn, soldier who represents her only escape from destitution.
Major Angus McCartney
is tormented by the reproachful slate-grey eyes of two strikingly similar women: Jessamine, his dead mistress, and Emily, the unobtainable beauty who is now his reluctant bride.
Emily's loyalty to Jack's memory is matched only by Angus's determination to atone for the past and win his wife with honour and action. As Napoleon cuts a swathe across Europe, Angus is sent to France on a mission of national security, forcing Emily to confront both her allegiance to Jack and her traitorous half-French family.
Angus and Emily may find love, but will the secrets they uncover divide them forever?
Visit
www.choc-lit.com
for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
