My steamy Victorian novella, How To Woo… A Reluctant Bride is a marriage of convenience story with a twist. The part Indian hero woos his reluctant bride with the help of the newly translated Kama Sutra!

Here’s an excerpt that I hope will hook your interest.

She licked her lips then plunged ahead. “I know how these things work. Arranged marriages, that is. I won’t expect fidelity from you.”

His shocked expression surprised her. “Is that what you think, Lydia? That I’m marrying you with the intention of cheating on you?”

“Perhaps not now,” she said. “But in a few years… It’s not as if ours is a love match. I won’t cut up a fuss if you decide to take a mistress. As long as you are discreet.”

“How very… sophisticated of you,” he said, his tone dry enough to parch a desert.

She took a deep breath before continuing. “And once I’ve produced the requisite heir and spare, I assume I’ll be free to seek my pleasure elsewhere.”

The thunderous look on his face startled her and she stepped back.

“You will do no such thing,” he said fiercely, reaching for her. “Ours may not be a love match now, but I fully intend to see it turns into one.”

With that, he pulled her into his embrace, trapping her arms between them as his encircled her shoulders and waist.

Before she could say a word, he pulled her into his embrace, trapping her arms between them as his encircled her shoulders and waist. Covering her mouth with his, he kissed her with a heady combination of passion and anger. Her resistance crumbled in the face of his onslaught. She clutched at his lapels and returned his kiss, even parting her lips when his tongue probed them. Overwhelmed by the sensations his lips provoked, she let her eyes drift shut as she clung to him.

When he let her go, he was still visibly upset. “There will be no more talk of infidelity. Have I made myself clear, Lydia?”

Blurb:

A marriage of convenience, nothing more…until darkly handsome Evan Channing and demure Lydia Blatchford meet. The rules are simple for an arrangement such as theirs. There should be no misunderstanding, no illusions of anything more. But the rules are about to change…

Lydia wants the kind of love and romance she reads about in books. Fortunately, she hasn’t specified which book, and Evan has a copy of Richard Burton’s new translation of the Kama Sutra, with its ancient wisdom on love and courtship. He sets out to win his high-born bride, blending seductive heat with exotic lessons in love-making.

Lydia is prepared to tolerate this man she’s been sold to, but his scorching kisses send her pulses racing. Can an arranged marriage lead to love?

(Previously published under the title Love… By the Book by Amber Quill Press,)

Available from Amazon, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble/Nook, Kobo and Smashwords.

This month, How To Woo… A Reluctant Bride is a Binge-Worthy Book Festival Selection at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven. The Festival runs from August 1 – 31. Prize drawing will be held on September 1.

Feed your book addiction with N. N. Light’s Book Heaven Binge-Worthy Book Festival. 68 books featured plus a chance to win one of the following:

Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $25 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $15 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $10 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card

The Festival runs August 1 – 31, and the Prize Drawing will be held on September 1.

Lyndi Lamont

As always, click on the linky list below to read more great MFRW Book Hooks!