Her Grace Notes: Vol. 1

Fifteen short essays taken from Grace’s newsletter exclusively for writers. Topics range from the writing weakness Grace sees most often in contest entries to what not to do at your first writer’s conference.

Putting the H in HEA and Making a Scene

In Putting the H in HEA, the romance novel is a unique piece of writing, and requires an approach to structure that sets it apart from other fiction genres. Read Grace’s take on how to make the challenges inherent to romance tales work for your story rather than against it.

In Making a Scene, Grace describes how to make sure your scenes are as compelling as they can be, because strong scenes make for a strong novel.

Twelve Tweaks to Perk Up Your Prose

No matter how spiffy your premise or clever your plot, if your prose is dull, you’ll have trouble holding the reader’s attention. Grace shares twelve often-overlooked techniques for making good prose great.

Twelve Tweaks to Perk Up Your Prose & Making a Scene & Putting the H in HEA

Twelve Tweaks to Perk Up Your Prose: No matter how spiffy your premise or clever your plot, if your prose is dull, you’ll have trouble holding the reader’s attention. Grace shares twelve often-overlooked techniques for making good prose great.

Making a Scene: Grace describes how to make sure your scenes are as compelling as they can be, because strong scenes make for a strong novel.

Putting the H in HEA: The romance novel is a unique piece of writing, and requires an approach to structure that sets it apart from other fiction genres. Read Grace’s take on how to make the challenges inherent to romance tales work for your story rather than against it.

Christmas Treats

Two holiday novellas:

“The Appeal of Christmas” previously published in the anthology Christmas in Duke Street:

Hazel Hooper is the daughter of barrister Gervaise Stoneleigh’s old mentor, and over the years has become Gervaise’s reliable sounding board, conscience, and chess opponent. While Gervaise abhors the Yuletide holidays, he most assuredly does not abhor Hazel, though lately he’s been distracted by an unsigned love letter he came across at their favorite bookshop…

“A Knight Before Christmas” previously published in Christmas in the Duke’s Arms:

With her year of mourning at an end, Penelope Carrington must remarry in haste, or her portion of her late husband’s estate won’t be enough to dower her younger sisters. Shy, handsome man of business Sir Leviticus Sparrow longs to give Penelope a marriage proposal for Christmas—and his heart—but Sir Levi must first foil the other bachelors scheming to meet Penelope under the mistletoe in his place.

No Other Duke Will Do

Julian, Duke of Haverford, is barely keeping his handsome head above water amid a sea of inherited debts. His sister, Lady Glenys, decides to throw a house party Julian can ill afford in hopes of finding an heiress for him to marry. Julian tries to turn this disaster into opportunity by inviting every well-heeled bachelor in the realm, because Lady Glenys is also in want of a spouse.

Elizabeth Windham is among the guests at the Haverford house party, though her goal is to elude matchmaking from any quarter. Julian and Elizabeth are attracted, however, despite meddling siblings, financial woes, and gossips lurking behind every potted palm. Just as Julian and Elizabeth realize that they can snatch true love from the jaws of duty, Julian’s difficulties become ruinous. Which will it be? True love or true disaster?

Marquess of Mistletoe

He left her standing in the cold…
As a girl of seventeen, Marielle Redford waited and waited for Leopold Drake, her first love, to meet her at their trysting place so they could elope. She got a bad case of lung fever and a broken heart for her troubles.

She sent him off to war…
Leo Drake was all set to share his future with the lady of his dreams, when he was told Marielle had changed her mind. Bewildered and heartbroken, he joined the army and sailed for Spain. It’s ten years later, and fate has thrown Leo and Marielle together on Christmas night. Will they say farewell for all time, or let the magic of the holidays rejoin their hearts?

Available for free directly from Grace

Too Scot to Handle

Colin MacHugh is trying to come up to scratch as the brother and heir of a newly minted duke, but Polite Society isn’t keen on a former army captain acquiring even a courtesy title. At the suggestion of an aristocratic friend, Colin takes an interest in a charitable home for urchins. Miss Anwen Windham is devoted to the same institution, and as Colin and Anwen work together to save the failing orphanage, their interest in each other becomes passionate.

When the orphanage’s troubles take a criminal turn, everybody is suspect, from Colin, to the children, to Anwen. If Colin blows retreat and heads home to Scotland, the orphanage will surely fail. If he stays to fight the accusations coming at him from all sides, he could lose a future with Anwen–and his life….

Ashton

Ashton Fenwick was raised to be the bastard older brother—the charming, happy bastard older brother—but now an earldom has been foisted upon him. His family urgently needs him to find the right countess, and the best place to look for prospective countesses is London during the social Season. With charm at the ready, Ashton is prepared to go wife-hunting, though it’s the landlady at his lodging house who catches his eye—and his heart.

Matilda Bryce bakes a delicious apple tart and does not suffer fools. Ashton falls hard for a woman who doesn’t put on airs, even as she looks after street urchins and does what she can to acquaint him with the challenge before him. As Ashton gets to know Matilda better, he realizes somebody is out to destroy her happiness. He’s found the lady for him, but before he can make an honest countess of her, he must risk all to free Matilda from her past.

The Jaded Gentlemen

When the Lonely Lords came under contract for publication, I kept back a trilogy of stories early in the sequence. Thomas, Matthew and Axel are finding their happily ever afters just about the same time as The Heir and The Soldier are taking place. I wanted to leave that chronological window less crowded for a time while the Lonelys and Windhams were in production. Once those series were published in their entireties, I went back and issued the Jaded Gentlemen, which I initially intended as a trilogy. A fourth book, Jack – The Jaded Gentlemen, Book IV – was needed to complete the series, but the first three books have been on the shelves long enough that I think a bundle makes sense. Happy reading!