Are you a romantic at heart?
I think I was a romantic from the moment I drew breath. By
the time I was twelve I would have to wait a month for Francine Pascale to
write her next installments of Sweet Valley High and publish them. Luckily she seemed to publish two books a month. Then I moved onto
Silhouette romances – which were probably tamer in those days. They are now
part of Mills and Boons/Harlequin.
I cried all the way through the last episode of the Thorn
Birds TV serial and am still traumatized by the end of War of the Roses, a
black comedy starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas. The story is about a
couple who are getting a divorce. She hates him and he wants her back. Neither
of them will give up the house (which is a huge big house). So they live in
separate sides and make each other’s lives misery. Eventually there is a big
accident and they both fall to the ground atop a big chandelier. It’s obvious
they are both dying. He reaches out for her hand and she pushes it away, then
the credits roll.
That’s why you’ll never find anything other than a happily
ever after in an Em Taylor story and it’s probably why I read so much romance
and not a lot else.
Perhaps I’m romantic because I grew up in a household where
my parents adored each other… but not in a sickly advertisement sort of way.
They had met when he had gone to hospital to get an operation of his wrist (due
to having had poliomyelitis as a child) and she was a nurse on the ward. He was
rude to her, she was snippy back, and by the time he left hospital, they had a
date lined up. Unfortunately they both turned up for said date in different places.
But they still got together and had a very happy marriage. The happiness even
survived my dad teaching my mum to drive.
And that’s what I want for my characters whenever I start a
new book. Nate and Sarah have a difficult start to their relationships. They
have to navigate her disability and his problems with alcohol, not to mention
finding out who is trying to kill one or other of them. But any romantic will
tell you that they can and will work through it if they love each other.
BOOK INFORMATION
TITLE – A Desperate Wager
AUTHOR – Em Taylor
GENRE – Historical Regency Romance
PUBLICATION DATE – 25 August 2014
LENGTH – 71,000 words
COVER ARTIST – Samantha Holt
BOOK BLURB / SYNOPSIS
Nathaniel Spencer, the Fourteenth Duke of Kirkbourne wakes up with an almighty hangover and a wager note in his pocket stating he has agreed to marry the Earl of Brackingham’s daughter. And he can’t even remember ever meeting the chit. Clearly his drinking has got out of hand.
Lady Sarah Steele is horrified when her father announces that the Duke of Kirkbourne has agreed to marry her and even more horrified that her father wagered her hand in a game of cards. Not only that, but the earl has not told the duke of the riding accident that left Sarah paralysed when she was sixteen. But he’s dying and she knows he wants to see her settled before the inevitable happens.
Despite Nate’s drinking and Sarah’s possible complicity in the earl’s plan, they agree to marry. But when accidents start to happen, the newly-weds must deal not only with the fact they are practically strangers, but they must find out who is trying to kill one or both of them. Nate’s drink problem and Sarah’s disability are only a couple of the hurdles they must face to find lasting love.
BUY & TBR LINKS
EXCERPT
Nathaniel Spencer, fourteenth Duke of Kirkbourne groaned and rolled over in bed. A tattoo beat a steady rhythm inside his skull, his stomach was bilious and the world spun at an alarming rate. Last night he had been in his cups—again. He knew he should take a more moderate attitude to alcohol but recently, staying sober had seemed somewhat pointless. Why stay sober if you were just going to end up dead at the side of the road—another silly young buck who had killed himself in a curricle race? Damn Crosby! Why had he made the damned challenge? Nathaniel, or Nate as he preferred to be called, would never forget Crosby’s lifeless eyes staring up at him, or the crack of the pistol as a bystander put his horses out of their misery. And he would never forgive himself for being the man whom Crosby was racing. Nate closed his eyes and willed his stomach to stop churning as he tried to recall the events of the night before. He had been at White’s for dinner and had moved to the card room. The brandy had been flowing, and Ormsby had suggested moving on to a less reputable gaming hell. He remembered the Earl of Brackingham tagging along for some reason that defied Nate. He had no issue with Brackingham, but the earl was at least twenty years the senior of everyone else in their party. He had been coughing somewhat alarmingly, Nate recalled. He hoped the old man was not spreading disease around. The last thing Nate needed was to be laid up in bed—his mother fussing around him and pouring vile-tasting concoctions down his throat. There was another thing that took many young, seemingly healthy lives—fever. Curricles and fever—good reasons to get absolutely foxed if ever he needed any. Brackingham! The name seemed to be prodding his tired and very painful brain—waiting for him to remember something significant from last night. He had a vague memory of playing vingt et un with him. There had been a ludicrous bet. Brackingham wagered his daughter’s hand and if Nate lost, he would have to marry the girl. Nate had been on a winning streak. Bravado and alcohol made him foolish. He had a three and a queen. He sat up as the king of diamonds flashed before his eyes. God, damn it. The king of diamonds took him to twenty-three. His head swum and he tamped down the urge to cast up his accounts. Twenty-three. But surely a wager like that was a joke. It had to be. Brackingham did not expect him to marry his chit of a daughter, did he? Had he even set eyes on the girl before? Again, some piece of information about the girl needled his brain. He had no recollection of dancing with her at balls. But then he hardly ever danced at balls. He had no plans to seek a leg-shackle on the marriage mart, so he steered clear and spent most of the evening in the card room. God, he hoped she was at least old enough to have had her come out and this was not some medieval plan to marry a thirteen-year-old off to him. Eighteen was quite young enough—too young in his rather jaded opinion. But no. He had no recollection of ever having set eyes on Lady… Lady what? He had no idea. He fished in the pocket of his waistcoat, which he still wore, having obviously been so foxed when he had returned that he had either shooed his valet away or he had arrived so late the valet had been asleep. There was a note. A wager. He hoped he owed the man a vast fortune instead. Marry Lady Sarah Steele. Dowry - £10,000. Meet Brackingham on 5th day of March to make arrangements. Today must be the fifth of March. Yesterday had definitely been the fourth. Christ, he had to see if this was a big joke or, if not, was there any way he could inveigle his way out of it. He had no plans to marry. None at all. And that was that.
AUTHOR BIO
Em was born and brought up in the Central Belt of Scotland and still lives there. She was told as a child she had an over active imagination--as if that is a bad thing. She's traded her dreams of owning her own island, just like George in the Famous Five to hoping to meet her own Mr Darcy one day. But her imagination remains the same.
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Thank you so much for featuring Em on your blog and for the great guest post. Loved reading that. - Tonya
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