In Your Arms by Merry Farmer + Giveaway!!

Historical romance author Merry Farmer is celebrating the release of her latest Montana Romance novel, In Your Arms! To celebrate, Merry as provided Leatherbound Reviews readers with a tasty excerpt from In Your Arms as well as a giveaway! Enter to win a $10 Amazon gift card and an e-book copy of In Your Arms. Make sure you COMMENT and FILL OUT the RAFFLECOPTER form BELOW! 

Today I would like to welcome two of Cold Springs, Montana’s residents, Miss Lily Singer and Mr. Christian Avery, to the blog.

Christian:  That’s Christian Avery, Justice of the Peace.

Lily: (rolls eyes)

Interviewer:  It sounds like you’re very serious about your position in Cold Springs, Mr. Avery.

Christian:  I am!  I’ve lived in Cold Springs for more than ten years now and the lives of the people of Cold Springs are my responsibility.

Lily:  They are yours to interfere in, you mean.

Christian:  You call it interfering, I call it looking out for them.

Lily:  I was under the impression that it was Sheriff Porter’s job to look out for the people of Cold Springs.

Christian:  Yes, well, Kent’s a decent guy and all, but he couldn’t look after his own backside if it weren’t right behind him all the time.

Lily:  (shakes head)

Interviewer:  What is your position in Cold Springs, Miss Singer?

Lily:  I teach the sixth grade at Cold Springs’ school.

Christian:  And a finer teacher we’ve never had.

Lily:  Thank you, Mr. Avery, I can speak for myself.

Christian:  Oh, so it’s “Mr. Avery” now?

Lily:  I suppose you would rather I call you “Mr. Justice of the Peace”?

Christian:  I’d rather you call me “Christian”, although I’d settle for “Sweetheart”.

Lily:  “Arrogant Blowhard” it is, then.

Christian:  Hey!

Interviewer:  So I understand that the two of you didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye when you first met?

Christian:  It was a simple misunderstanding, a conflict of interest, if you will.

Lily:  Christian was laboring under the misapprehension that the best way to provide the highest quality education for the children of Cold Springs was to separate the Native American children from the rest of their peers.

Christian:  I was merely making the point that not all of the citizens of Cold Springs are as progressive as they should be.  Even you have to admit, Lily, that things were getting dangerous.

Lily:  A few schoolboys starting a fight at recess is hardly a riot.  Boys will be boys, which means they occasionally fight.

Christian:  These were not small boys.

Lily:  Did you fight when you were in school?

Christian:  Well….  Um….

Lily:  My point exactly.

Interviewer:  How did the two of you meet?

Christian:  We met when Lily came to Cold Springs to be interviewed for a teaching position at the new school.

Lily:  I am a graduate of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, but for the last several years I have been teaching at a school in Chicago.

Interviewer:  What made you decide to leave that school to move to Montana?

Lily (pausing for a moment):  I do not know much about my heritage.  I was taken from my tribe when I was very young.  I…I had hoped that by moving to Montana I might discover something about my people…(visibly upset) I’m sorry, I don’t think I can talk about this.

Christian (taking her hand):  It’s all right, sweetheart, you don’t have to…(to the interviewer) Lily was far and away the most qualified candidate for the job.  The town council was a little hesitant when they learned she was an Indian, but I was convinced she was the right woman for the job.

Interviewer:  What convinced you of that?

Christian:  Well, her experience, of course.  And her eyes.  And that stubborn look she has.  Her soft hair….

Lily (frowning):  Christian.

Christian:  The way the light makes her skin look like coffee with cream…..

Lily:  Christian, really!

Christian:  The way her school teacher dress settles over the curve of her figure….

Lily (jabbing him with elbow):  Honestly!

Christian:  But her experience, mostly.  She’s the best teacher I’ve ever had.  I mean, we’ve ever had.

Lily: (shakes head)

Interviewer:  I see.  And is it true that you caused Miss Singer to lose her job, Mr. Avery?

Christian:  Uh….  Well….  You see….  No comment.

Interviewer: Lily?

Lily:  No comment.

Interviewer:  One final question.  What do you think of the string of robberies that are plaguing Cold Springs?  Do you believe the local Indian population is to blame?

Lily:  Absolutely not!

Christian:  Not at all.  I’m sure it’s some fools who don’t have enough brains to rub together to cause a spark.

Interviewer:  But it seems as though most of the population of Cold Springs disagrees with you.

Lily:  People will believe what they want to believe, particularly when those who look different from them are involved.  I am not too proud to say that I am deeply concerned for the wellbeing of the Native American families living nearby.

Christian:  If anyone steps out of line, I’ll handle it.  This is my town and I will see to it that all of its citizens are safe and happy.

Interviewer:  Miss Singer, do you believe him?

Lily:  I hate to encourage Mr. Avery’s arrogance, but if anyone in Cold Springs can get to the bottom of these things, it will be him.  I only hope a peaceful solution is possible.

Christian:  It is and I’ll find it.  And then I’ll move heaven and earth to make sure that you, Miss Lily Singer, are the happiest woman in all of Montana.

Lily (crosses arms, arches eyebrow, slight smile):  We’ll see.

Interviewer:  I wish you the best of luck, Mr. Avery, in solving the robberies and in winning Miss Singer’s heart.  Looks like you have your work cut out for you on both accounts.

If you’d like to read more about Lily Singer and Christian Avery and the lives and troubles of the people of Cold Springs, be sure to pick up a copy of In Your Arms by Merry Farmer at your soonest possible convenience.

Lily Singer has never belonged. Taken from her tribe as a child and raised in a white man’s school, she no longer has a place in either world. Teaching has become her life. When that life is threatened by rumors and prejudice after a string of robberies, she must turn for help to the one man who spells disaster for her carefully ordered existence. Will he save her or steal her heart?

Christian Avery, Justice of the Peace, is used to having things his way. Cold Springs is his responsibility, and when its citizens blame the local Indian population for the mysterious robberies, it’s up to him to restore order and maintain calm. The one person who refuses to follow his lead is the beautiful, native-born Lily. Her defiance turns his life upside down.

But when town gossip shifts from robberies to romance after a foolish indiscretion, Lily’s job and reputation are on the line. She must choose between the only life she has ever known and the only place she has ever felt at home, in Christian’s arms.

About the Author:

Merry Farmer is an award-winning author of Historical Romance and what she likes to call “Sci-Fi for Women.” She lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats and enough story ideas to keep her writing until she’s 132. Her second novel, The Faithful Heart, was a 2102 RONE Award finalist and her unpublished futuristic novel A Man’s World won first place in the Novel: Character category at the 2013 Philadelphia Writer’s Conference. She is out to prove that you can make a living as a self-published author and to help others to do the same.

***GIVEAWAY TIME***

Merry Farmer and Badass Marketing are giving away ONE (1) e-book copy of In Your Arms AND ONE (1) $10 Amazon gift card. Both are open INTERNATIONALLY!! Please make sure you COMMENT on this blog post AND FILL OUT the RAFFLECOPTER FORM! 

Best of luck! 

Giveaway ends December 3 at 11:59 EST!

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Alias Thomas Bennet Blog Tour!

Leatherbound Reviews is pleased to announce our second blog tour! Join us January 7-15, 2014 for another diverting tour around the blogosphere with Meryton Press's soon-to-be-released novel, Alias Thomas Bennet by Suzan Lauder.

…of most interest to Bennet was Mr. Darcy of Pemberley.

When Fitzwilliam Darcy attends the Meryton assembly, he befriends a quiet, intelligent gentleman. In frequent visits to his friend’s home, he becomes acquainted with the Bennet family of Longbourn. Yet Mr. Darcy is distracted by a strange feeling of having met some of them before.

This is a different Bennet family from the cleverly crafted one in Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. This Mr. Bennet is a responsible gentleman who takes an active role in the education and upbringing of all five of his daughters, manages Longbourn to be prosperous, and displays loving guidance toward Mrs. Bennet—a gentle, caring mother and wife.

There is a mystery lurking at Longbourn—a secret unknown even to Elizabeth Bennet—and Mr. Darcy is entangled in its extraordinary revelations.

Who is Thomas Bennet?

This book contains one brief scene of non-explicit sexual violence that may be concerning to sensitive readers. The sexual violence does not include Elizabeth Bennet.

To join the Alias Thomas Bennet blog Tour, please fill out the form below!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at jakki36 at yahoo dot com. 

Review: Steampunk Darcy by Monica Fairview

From the publisher:

William Darcy is obsessed with his ancestors. So much so that he intends to rebuild Pemberley (destroyed during the Uprising) stone by stone, and he wants to employ reconstruction expert Seraphene Grant to help him. 

Or does he? Seraphene wasn’t born yesterday. She can smell a rat, particularly when it stinks all the way up to her airship. She knows Darcy is hiding something. But with the Authorities after her and her other options dwindling by the moment, the temptation of genuine English tea and a gorgeous Steampunk gentleman are very difficult to resist. 

But what if Darcy’s mystery job courts nothing but trouble? What if Darcy is harboring a secret to kill for? When kiss comes to shove, will Darcy’s secret destroy Seraphene, or will it be her salvation?

Join us on a romantic adventure like no other in this whimsical Pride and Prejudice-inspired tribute, featuring Wickham, Georgiana, dirigibles, funky fish, and swash-buckling pirates.

Review:

Centuries have passed since Fitzwilliam Darcy and his lovely bride, Elizabeth, began their journey together as husband and wife on the magnificent estate of Pemberley. The simple days of strolling through the dew-kissed grass, arms linked with the one you love, planning the life you will build together are long gone. Now, that dew is likely composed of toxic slime rain and is more likely to do physical harm than to merely dampen the hem of your skirts. This is the post-Uprising world, where William Darcy lives and works in what once was Boston, desperately trying to recreate that idyllic, serene world in which his forebears lived. But, William’s ancestral Pemberley has long since been destroyed, and it will take much work, and some help from the beautifully strong-willed Seraphene, to make his vision come to life. Now, if all these obstacles would somehow remove themselves, he could really get down to work.

This was my first experience with steampunk. So, I did some research before I began reading Steampunk Darcy and set my expectations according to what I found. I expected a good bit of brass and copper, Victorian clothes and hairstyles, and some interweaving of history and sci-fi. I was not disappointed. I did not expect sky pirates, a hairstyling automaton, or mutant fish. Those threw me just a little.

Sky pirates notwithstanding, I am a sucker for a story about a tough girl from the wrong side of the tracks who refuses to be rescued from herself and the gentleman who finally takes her away. That is exactly what Steampunk Darcy promises and delivers. While there are many similarities between William Darcy’s love story and that of his famous ancestors, there are enough differences to keep his and Seraphene’s tale fresh. I am fairly sure, for example, that Elizabeth Bennet never mastered the fine art of operating a dirigible. Ultimately, it is a beautiful and genuine gesture that William makes with only Seraphene in mind that earns him her trust and softens her heart – and mine.

*Review copy provided by author. Review written by Leatherbound Reviews contributor Heather Head.

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