"Season for Surrender" Giveaway and Excerpt

As part of the "Season for Surrender" tour, I have the first excerpt from the book and a giveaway for an copy of the book, autographed by Theresa Romain!

Enjoy!

"Season for Surrender"
by Theresa Romain

Publisher: Zebra
Release Date: Oct 2, 2012

Back Cover Blurb:

HONOR AMONG ROGUES
Alexander Edgware, Lord Xavier, has quite a reputation—for daring, wagering, and wickedness in all its delightful forms. But the wager before him is hardly his preferred sport: Xavier must persuade a proper young lady to attend his famously naughty Christmas house party—and stay the full, ruinous two weeks. Worse, the lady is Louisa Oliver, a doe-eyed bookworm Xavier finds quite charming. Yet to refuse the challenge is impossible—he will simply have to appoint himself Miss Oliver’s protector…

MISCHIEF AMONG MISSES
Louisa knows her chance for a husband has passed. But she has no desire to retire into spinsterhood without enjoying a few grand adventures first. When Lord Xavier's invitation arrives, Louisa is more intrigued than insulted. And once inside the rogues’ gallery, she just may have a thing or two to teach her gentlemen friends about daring…

Purchase here:

Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository
Books-a-Million

 
Author Bio:

Historical romance author Theresa Romain pursued an impractical education that allowed her to read everything she could get her hands on. She then worked for universities and libraries, where she got to read even more. Eventually she started writing, too. She lives with her family in the Midwest.

Connect with Theresa at:

Website: http://theresaromain.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theresaromain
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTheresaRomain
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4844891.Theresa_Romain

Giveaway Details:

One randomly drawn commenter from each tour stop will win one autographed copy of SEASON
FOR SURRENDER. Contest is open internationally.

Tour Stops:

Additional tour stops can be found at:
http://events.litconnect.com/season-for-surrender-by-theresa-romain

The more stops you comment on, the greater the chance of winning!



Excerpt:

The scene: At the end of a difficult Christmas day, Alexander, Lord Xavier, has come to the library of his country house for the solace of conversation with Louisa Oliver. But the conversation—and the solace—don’t go as he expected…

Her slim arms slid out, stretched forward on the table; then she folded them and laid her head down upon them. The lamp turned her skin golden, her hair the dark of ebony. The expanse of uncovered skin above the bronze silk back of her gown seemed endless and defenseless.

He wanted to run his hand over that skin, to test it and protect it and understand it. How could a woman with a knife-sharp mind have such satin-fine skin? The combination was devastating. There was no possible armor against it.

He watched the movement of her lips as she spoke.

“Alex, you trusted me with the truth when I first came to your house. I’ll do the same for you now. You come from wicked stock, perhaps, but that’s no matter. You have a—well, I needn’t describe your reputation to you. But it doesn’t matter, either. Nothing matters but the choices you make. Rumor and reputation will follow.”

His reputation. It felt like a manacle. “It’s not so easy as you seem to think. When I attended this morning’s service, no one could stop fidgeting and staring at me.”

She shut her eyes. “The effect of novelty, that’s all. The first time I saw a lion in the Royal Menagerie, it seemed wondrous and frightening. The second time, it was nothing more than an imposing creature tugged from its rightful element.”

Was this how she saw him—an imposing creature, caged?

Then . . . what was his rightful element?

“I see,” he said. But she was the one who saw. When her eyes opened, sweet and slow, her face like a sculpture on her folded arms, he felt as though she’d read his every thought.

And still, she’d pulled out a chair for him to sit at her side. That was a Christmas gift in itself.

He wanted to understand how she knew these things. How had she seen what he had just realized himself?

“Did you . . .” He trailed off. Shook his head. Began again. “The lion. You visited it twice, you said. Would there be any point to your seeing it again?”

Her mouth softened at the corners; the lamplight gilded the fine hairs that had pulled loose from her coiffure. “The lion wouldn’t know or care if I saw it again. My opinion of the lion does not matter to it. It simply is, itself.”

Xavier mulled this over. “You think it does not notice if the crowds thin around it? Or if the exclamations turn to jeers?”

“It might. But does that matter? It exists in the best way it can. There’s very little anyone can do—be they animal, vegetable, or mineral—to influence a crowd.”

No. That wasn’t so. He’d gambled his entire adult life on the idea of influence. “I disagree with you.”

Louisa unfolded herself. Lamplight played over the bronze sheen of her gown as she shifted, as her curves flexed into brightness and dark.

Xavier’s mouth went dry. He did not permit himself to shift and squirm in his seat.

She leaned back in her chair, her face passing into shadow. “You have the right. But I’m the one who saw the lion.”

He shook his head. “The ton. I know you’re talking of them. Do you truly believe they cannot be led?”

“Of course they can be led. You lead them every day, don’t you?”

Before his quick squeeze of relief had time to spin through his body, she continued, “But their passing attention is all they can give. The polite world as a group—you’ll hold its notice only as long as you fill the scandal sheets.”

Her fingers played on the arm of her chair. “A person is different from a group, though. Only make a connection with a person, and he or she will gladly look beyond the surface.”

“You assume I want that?” 

Read the next part of the excerpt on tour tomorrow, 9/25, at Book Lovin’ Mamas: http://booklovinmamas.blogspot.com/

Additional Tour Stops can be found here! 


GIVEAWAY RULES:

The publicist has generously provided an autographed copy of "Season for Surrender" for a lucky reader of my blog!

All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and fill out the Rafflecopter form below! Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :)

• International
• Must be a follower to enter
• Books will be mailed out by the author/publisher, email will be shared with publicist who will contact you for your mailing info
• Must be 18 or over 

• Ends Oct 5

Thanks to everyone for entering! Good luck!

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