RELEASE DAY - AFTERNOON TEA & PIMMS
We had such a fabulous afternoon on Saturday with a group of absolutely gorgeous ladies who arrived for afternoon tea and Pimms to celebrate the release of Under the Full Blooded Moon. We put up a couple of gazebos and the sun graced us with its presence, so much so that we all sat around in a state of gentle tranquillity and enjoyed each other's company.
We had sandwiches with the crusts cut off and plenty of little cakes, the recipes for which I will be posting over the next few days.
It's release day today, if you'd like to get your copy, please follow the links:
Blurb
Since he lost his father
and his childhood at the age of ten to a witch’s curse, cynical journalist
Stuart Caldwell has searched the world in his quest to find the key to his
family’s centuries-old curse.
What he finds when he lands
on the Scottish island of Breggar is far from what he expects. Instead of a
battle to the death with the cruel enchantress he believes resides there,
Stuart finds he’s the one in the firing line, and the target is his heart.
Excerpt
A wave of
tiredness swept over him as he rounded the corner of the house and came to a
standstill.
She was there. The
lush grass under her naked feet, the brilliant sparkle of sunshine on the water
behind her almost blinded him, while the white-streaked
sky framed her dark beauty. Her wild locks churned in the wind as she fought
the sheet she attempted to put on the line until she could pin it down with
wooden pegs.
Unable to tear his
eyes from her willowy form, he waited while his heart thundered and his pulse
raced.
The brightness of
the day just served to make her stand out against her background as she bent to
retrieve a pillowcase. Her struggle far less than before, she bent once more,
flicked out the last pillowcase and punched the pegs onto it to tether it to
the line.
Fascinated, Stuart
crossed his arms over his chest and squinted against the glare of the sun
reflecting off the water. Pleasure rippled through him at the simplicity of her
actions, the fluidity of her moves. Somewhere in his hesitant thought process,
he recognized the surge of passion which had his blood thundering through his
veins. The swift rush of it filled his ears until he could hear nothing. He
couldn’t attribute it to jetlag, but to the undeniable beauty of the woman who
drew him to her with her quick, efficient
moves.
As the wind
whipped her long hair over her shoulder and she turned in his direction, she froze at the sight of him. Her
green gaze glowed from a face as pale as porcelain.
Storm clouds
rolled in thick and furious behind her to blot out the brightness of the day.
The wind lashed at her long, dull brown dress and made a vicious grab at her
hair. Stuart’s stomach lurched in confusion and his vision tunneled to narrow
in on the apparition before him. Water churned thick and fetid, rising over her
ankles to drag at the material of her dress.
Her gaze entranced
him while she reached out a ponderous hand, ragged nails blackened with dirt
clawed the air in an entreaty. Emerald eyes pleaded with him as they swamped
with tears. Her full lips quivered while she begged without words for his help
and wrenched at a little part of his consciousness like a memory dredged from
deep within.
Dizzy, he raised a
hand to his forehead and blinked, convinced he’d lost his mind. He sucked in a
deep breath and fought the confusion, pushing back on the darkness.
“Stuart?”
The picture
flashed negative in his mind's eye
followed by a blaze of vibrant green grass, bright sparkles on the white spume
of the sea, and a clear azure sky.
Tempted to shake
himself, he ducked his head to stare at his feet as a wave of nausea struck
him. It had to be jetlag. There was no other explanation. While he hauled in
another lifesaving breath, powerless to stop her move toward him, he swayed on
his feet. Perhaps all he needed was to rest in a darkened room, rid himself of
the powerful vision still vivid in his mind.
“Stuart? Are you
all right?”
Not yet ready for
her, he raised his head, his pulse raced fast and erratic.
He wanted to ask
her how she’d done it, but the look of genuine concern made him falter.
Whatever she’d
done to him, it had left his mind in a pure fog and evaporated his ability to
speak. He raked his gaze over her with narrowed eyes and felt the ground
solidify beneath his feet again. “I’m fine.” His voice thick and rusty, he gave
a small cough to clear his throat.
“Are you sure?
You’ve gone very pale.” She reached out one elegant hand, clean nails clipped
square, and touched her cool fingers to his cheek. He may look pale to her, but
fiery heat rushed to his face, to scorch his skin so only the gentle graze of
her touch could cool it.
With no thought to
his intent, he pressed his hand against hers to hold it against the blaze of
his skin. Her fingers gave an almost imperceptible spasm, but instead of
removing them, she brought her other hand up to cradle his face.
Lost in the misty
depths of her sea green contemplation, Stuart took one of her dainty hands in
his and placed a kiss in her palm.
She curled her
fingers inward and tucked the kiss inside, warming his heart with the simple
action.
Time slowed down
so when he dipped his head, he knew without a doubt in his mind he was about to
kiss her sweet, lush mouth, which curved in secret invitation.
So secret, it
appeared Ruth had no idea of his intention as she dropped her light hold on him
and stepped back.
“I think you
should sit down before you fall.” She gave
a flick of her fingers in an airy wave at the picnic table and bench, but her
accent had thickened through the husky tones of her voice. “I’ll make you a cup
of tea.”
She was gone. In
the blink of an eye, she disappeared. Bereft he gazed after her.
Buy Links
Amazon UK http://amzn.to/2t68wnl
Amazon.com Amazon.com http://amzn.to/2taBQd7
Kobo http://bit.ly/2t62Adz
AppleiBooks http://apple.co/2uyWv7k
Barnes&Noble http://bit.ly/2sBrfmH
Amazon.com Amazon.com http://amzn.to/2taBQd7
Kobo http://bit.ly/2t62Adz
AppleiBooks http://apple.co/2uyWv7k
Barnes&Noble http://bit.ly/2sBrfmH
Where to
Find Diane Saxon
Website - http://dianesaxon.com/
Amazon Author Page http://www.amazon.co.uk/Diane-Saxon/e/B00DDL4C5W/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
About the Author
After working for
years in a demanding job, on-call and travelling great distances, Diane gave it
all up when her husband said, “follow that dream”.
Having been hidden all
too long, her characters have burst forth demanding plot lines of their own and
she’s found the more she lets them, the more they’re inclined to run wild.
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