Tag Archives: Book Hooks

Book Hooks: Earl of Winchester has no time for mad scientist Lady Jamison yet when he’s with her, desire explodes. #HistoricalMystery #RomCom #VictorianRomance #RegencyRomance

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Richard, Earl of Winchester, has no time for their family friend and mad scientist, Lady Laura Jamison, yet when he’s with her, passion and desire explodes. Scenting Scandal By Suzi Love Book 2 Scandalous Siblings Series. books2read.com/suziloveSS 

Richard had schooled himself into playing the role of mentor with such brilliance, Laura’s brothers and sisters would applaud his aptitude for match-making. He’d find Laura’s perfect husband as quickly as possible. And at those long and interminable dinners, he’d prove his own unsuitability by arguing until their fellow diners rolled their eyes and closed their ears to another of their battles of wit. When their companions’ eyes glazed over and they turned to more interesting conversation, he’d be free to let his eyes roam and his senses feast on Laura as she raved about the wonders of evolutionary science.

It was more likely that he’d need to dig his fingers into the elegant carvings on his chair to stop himself leaping across the table like a lunatic and shocking everyone at the sixty-seat table. He’d been in control of himself and his minor kingdom since he’d turned eighteen. So, for pity’s sake, why did being within thirty yards of Laura turn him into a wet-behind-the ears randy youth?

After her olfactory tests had proved he wasn’t her ideal mate, he should feel relieved, not affronted. And rather than reveling in a bachelor’s escape from the clutches of another would-be countess, Laura’s rejection had prompted him to childishly extol his own virtues. For an earl who also held minor titles and controlled several estates, being categorized as ‘Examined and Disregarded’ was as abnormal as it was lowering.

“Laura,” he said, dodging lace frills. “Picture my brutalized face if Michael and Jonathon caught me, the one man able to resist your charms and ignore your demands, composing appalling odes to the length of your lashes like your other fawning fops.”

“Is that why Sherwyn needed to coerce you into acting as my keeper?”

Ah yes, trust Laura to demand to know the reason he complied with his cousin’s wishes. “I was the only able-bodied male available for the time required.”

SS_ScentingScandal__Lady Laura Jamison accepts help from her nemesis, the Earl of Winchester, as the unlikely pair fight to protect innocent railway investors at London’s Stock exchange.

Book Hooks: Earl of Winchester has no time for mad scientist Lady Jamison yet when he's with her, desire explodes. #HistoricalMystery #RomCom #VictorianRomance #RegencyRomance https://books2read.com/suziloveSS Share on X
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Book Hooks: Pleasure House Ball: Lady Armstrong scrabbled for an excuse for her being at a scandalous ball. #RegencyRomance #BookHooks #EroticRomance #ReadARegency

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Pleasure House ball Book 3 Irresistible Aristocrats books2read.com/suzilovePHB.

Lady Lillian Armstrong’s mind raced, scrabbling for an excuse for being here. Shock held her captive. Her best friend stood behind her and he’d recognized her, despite the pains she and Maggie had taken with their enormous masks and gowns purchased from the dressmaker who designed flamboyant gowns for courtesans. Lord Mallory, Brenton, was the last person she’d expect to meet at a ball for procuring a mistress.

Maggie, her companion and procurer of ball invitations, had assured her that the majority of gentlemen attending tonight would be vetted acquaintances of Lord Browning’s. Gentlemen on the lookout for a new mistress, young men eager to exchange their quarterly allowances for a brief affair with a rising star in courtesan circles, or men with aspirations of wealth who hoped to afford a full time mistress in the next year or two.

Brenton didn’t fit any of those categories, or perhaps she was mistaken and he lived an entirely different life than the one she saw. He’d barely ventured ten miles from his estate in the past five or six years and preferred evenings at home with his daughter to roaming London’s streets with his peers, gambling at clubs, or getting drunk and visiting brothels. She lifted her fan to her face and waved air across her heated cheeks, not wanting her male admirers to notice her distress. Maggie had promised that all conversations and connections were incognito, so Lillian wouldn’t be recognized as the duke’s disgraced daughter, giving her an opportunity to let the repressed side of Lillian to fly free.

The last thing she needed was a serious conversation with Brent, or to have him criticize or interfere in the outrageous night she and her companion had planned. Maggie’s twelve months of wearing depressing black and pretending to grieve for a man who’d been cruel and abusive had almost destroyed her, so she’d urged Lillian to avoid her mistakes. Advised Lillian to avoid spending months in seclusion and under censure from ignorant family members. Urged Lillian to do something rash and abnormal. Something to clear her mind and soul of the stink of her husband’s infidelity, uncontrolled spending, and irrational actions.

Pleasure House ball Book 3 Irresistible Aristocrats books2read.com/suzilovePHB.

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Book Hooks: Pleasure House Ball: Lady Armstrong scrabbled for an excuse for her being at a scandalous ball. #RegencyRomance #BookHooks #EroticRomance #ReadARegency http://books2read.com/suzilovePHB Share on X
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Book Hooks: “Yes, yes, I know. They’ll dispense with us regardless.” #HistoricalRomance #HistoricalMystery #FamilySaga #VictorianRomance

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Embracing Scandal Book 1, Scandalous Siblings Series. Lady Rebecca Jamison sneaks into the house of the Duke of St. Martin to beg his assistance to combat a rogue and murderous group of railway investors.

Lady Rebecca Jamison told The Duke of St. Martin. ‘We utilize Foster and Braithwaite as our stock trading agents and invest through them using the minimum identification on any documents.” 

“Impressive. I heard that Foster and Braithwaite’s business grew twelve fold in the last few years by riding on railway stocks.” 

“Hence, our problem. Their profits, our profits, became legendary. People speculated about the mysterious names on share certificates.” At his puzzled look she added, “Simple enough. We draw up letters. Ladies sign with their initials and family name, nothing more, so no one realizes the investors aren’t men. Or rather, no one did before.” 

“And now?” 

“Two weeks ago, some members of the outer circle approached my brother, Michael. They believe him to be personally responsible for our own change in fortune.” 

“How big a change in fortune?” 

“Oh, nothing too major.” She waved a hand in a vague manner and hoped her face didn’t flush. “Modest successes. Dividend rates in excess of six percent in some situations.” 

His eyebrows shot upwards. “Six percent! Nobody I do business with calls that modest. No wonder they wish to obliterate all reference to your family, and your Society.” 

“Yes, if only we’d been able to keep our good fortune a secret. We take the uttermost care with our clandestine activities, as we value our privacy and our reputations.” 

The Duke raised a brow and pointed at his clock. “Oh, yes. Great care with your reputation!” 

She chose to ignore him. “Michael laughed it off. Refused to join their so-called group of friends who dabbled in investing. So they raised the stakes. If he refuses to hand over m … his calculations for all the new railway share ventures opening, within the next two weeks, they vowed to destroy the members of his family. One by one, until he gives in.” 

“Ah, now I understand. That’s why they’re keeping you alive. They’re waiting to acquire the records. They assume as eldest, and involved in a charitable society, you hold the most knowledge of…” When he mumbled, she stiffened. Did he guess? “Of Michael’s future stock predictions. Then, when they have all they require, they’ll kill all–” 

“Yes, yes, I know. They’ll dispense with us regardless.” 

She lifted her chin a notch. “But I can resolve this situation. Given a little more time, plus a little assistance from you.” 

“Ah! Back to the crux of the matter. What you require from me.”

ES_EmbracingScandal_Lady Jamison saves family from financial ruin by railway investing but when her friend is murdered, Becca begs assistance from new Duke of Sherwyn. https://books2read.com/suziloveES
Book Hooks: "Yes, yes, I know. They'll dispense with us regardless." #HistoricalRomance #HistoricalMystery #FamilySaga #VictorianRomance https://books2read.com/suziloveES Share on X
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Book Hooks: The duke asks, “Who protects you from the current set of fire-breathing dragons?” #HistoricalRomance #HistoricalMystery #FamilySaga #VictorianRomance

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The Duke of St. Martin asks Lady Rebecca Jamison, “Who protects you from the current set of fire-breathing dragons?” #HistoricalRomance #Mystery https://books2read.com/suziloveES

“And who protects you from the current set of fire-breathing dragons?” 

She raised her chin. “I’ve outgrown such childishness.” 

She lowered herself to the closest settee, a demonstration of ladylike maturity and a reprieve for her trembling knees. 

“Pity.” His forehead furrowed into a pained frown. “Ah. 

That’s why you wore a disguise. And why you came so late at night.” 

She nodded. “The consortium watches our house and tracks our movements. In order to speak with you alone, I was forced to dress like this and sneak out the servant’s entrance in the dark. Although luckily, the syndicate’s inner circle doesn’t want me dead. Not yet. 

“Wonderful!” He glared at her. “Your blithe not yet offers such comfort to my nerves.” 

She glared back. “Oooh! I cannot explain if you interrupt with your sarcastic jabs.” 

He dipped his head, and then waved a hand. “I apologize for my uncertain temperament this evening. Please, tell me about Peggy, and what she did at your Women’s Society.” 

“She writes — No, she wrote the letters for women who wish to invest in stock ventures. We were trying to keep their identities, and their objectives, a secret.” 

“Why? Because they’re women? Because jobbers stood for them in the Exchange?” 

She raised a brow. “For someone only recently returned to London, you appear exceedingly well acquainted with the inside activities at the Exchange.” 

He shrugged. “I’ve spent every spare moment since my return settling the family’s finances. Naturally, I’ve looked in at the Foreign Funds Room a time or two. Nobody in my position can afford to let bank balances sit idle, despite some labeling it as trade.” 

“I’m impressed, Cayle. You detested accounts when your father wanted you to learn.” 

Once more he shrugged, yet his show of nonchalance appeared overdone. “Perhaps it was more of not liking the methods of the educator, rather than the subject being taught.” 

She shuddered at her recollection of the late duke’s disciplinary methods. “But you’re correct,” she said, pushing away images of birch rods twanging on bare flesh. “Some in our prudish society frown upon a gentleman of your caliber frequenting auction rooms. But, for a woman, it’d be an outrage.” 

His eyes fixed upon her, all signs of his earlier fatigue vanished. “I can well imagine.” 

“Though legally nothing prevents a woman from owning shares,” she said, assessing his concentration by the tense way he held his long, muscled body. “Visiting members are vetted at the door. Bank managers and jobbers pay eight guineas a year to enter the main Exchange room, yet self-righteous men evict females.” 

“So, is it your gender that sees you under threat?” 

“Not merely our gender. When the consortium heard we invested in secret, and often did very well, at first they became alarmed. Then, they became angry. Very angry indeed.” 

“I can well imagine men abhorring being bested by a female.” 

ES_EmbracingScandal_Cayle to Becca: “I will have you. I will not stop until I find a way.” Embracing Scandal By Suzi Love. #MysteryRomance #HistoricalRomance https://books2read.com/suziloveES

Book Hooks: The duke asks, “Who protects you from the current set of fire-breathing dragons?” #HistoricalRomance #HistoricalMystery #FamilySaga #VictorianRomance https://books2read.com/suziloveES Share on X
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Book Hooks: Bodies don’t walk out of hospitals. #ContemporaryRomance #MedicalRomance #outback

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Outback Arrival : A contemporary medical set in an outback Australian hospital. A city nurse follows the doctor she loves to the bush town where he manages his family’s cattle properties, determined to prove her love for him. But can he accept that she is carrying his baby and that those he trusts have lied?

‘No, no, no! Bodies don’t stand up and walk out of hospitals.’

‘I’m real sorry, Nurse Kristie.’ The weather beaten grounds-man shuffled his feet in front of her office desk, distress adding a decade to his sixty something years.‘Looked everˈwhere. Can’t find it.’  

‘This can’t be happening, Joey. A corpse cannot just disappear. Somebody must have noticed something.’ 

‘Sure ain’t sometin´ no normal person’d tuck un’erneath their arm. Walk out with, when visitors go ‘ome.’ 

Kristie adopted the calm and confident demeanor that had helped her tackle hundreds of emergency room dramas without showing a moment of panic. Casualty nurses joked that no matter how many crazy things you’d dealt with, something stranger was always about to walk in your door. Or in today’s case, walk out of the morgue’s door. 

She hauled in a deep breath, while mentally chastising herself for not making more time to attend yoga classes, for Joey’s sake if not her own. She faked a confident smile. ‘We have to find his body, Joey. Quickly. Before the board’s fusspots hear what’s happened. Or we’ll have them arriving, en masse, and breathing down our necks.’

When she’d arrived four weeks earlier, the majority of the board members had welcomed her with open arms. Enticing an experienced nurse away from a city hospital to a remote outback town didn’t happen every day and the town had seen them as heroes saving their stretched outback health system. The few remaining few board members, however, were old-fashioned, staid, and highly suspicious of her motives.

Kristie had learned to be vigilant at work and circumspect when off duty. During her three months’ probation as Director of Nursing, she couldn’t afford any slip ups or she wouldn’t be contracted for a permanent position, no matter how desperate rural towns were to keep medical staff.. Those board members, the ones lacking a sense of humor, would be horrified that a recently deceased member of their small community had mysteriously disappeared from the hospital’s morgue. Although morgue was a loose term for a brick shed which housed a refrigerator, a work bench, and was supposedly cooled by a temperamental air-conditioner. Misplacing a body, without any of her rostered staff noticing, would be classified by the board as her first mistake, a huge mistake.

Book Hooks: Bodies don't walk out of hospitals. #ContemporaryRomance #MedicalRomance #outback https://books2read.com/suziloveOutbackArrival Share on X

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Book Hooks: Duke of Stirkton throws off his rigid upbringing after his grandfather’s death. #ReadARegency #RegencyRomance #EroticHistoricalRomance #mfrw #bookhook

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1821, April 1st; Duke of Stirkton’s residence, Mayfair, London. Being the object of someone’s ridicule might be a novel experience for Maximus Meacham, Duke of Stirkton, but it wasn’t one he cared to repeat, even if the woman laughing at his proposal spoke like a queen and looked like a goddess.

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As the Duke of Stirkton, he was well accustomed to being watched. Young pups copied his dress style. Toad-eaters mimicked his behavior in futile attempts to ingratiate themselves into his life. Conservative groups applauded his somber public behavior, while cartoonists ridiculed his straight-laced demeanor and suggested he take a mistress. Or two. 

Whichever way people viewed him, no one had dared ridicule him to his face. Until this evening. The Countess had side-stepped his butler and marched into his drawing room as if an unannounced call upon an unmarried duke was something she did regularly. Max had informed her, in great detail, of the extensive search he and his cousin had undertaken to locate her and the other women. She’d huffed and rolled her eyes. Normally, his month-about- mistresses gleefully accepted his proposal because sharing a duke’s bed for a month would set them up for the rest of their lives. Apart from the financial benefits, he was a generous lover. One benefit of his abnormal upbringing had been an early and full education into what women wanted in a bed partner. Until the Countess had laughed at him, he’d never had reason to doubt his sexual prowess. In the brief time she’d been in his house, she’d challenged several of his beliefs. 

“It’s the ideal solution.” And something he needed. “I will help you search my grandfather’s boxes by day and, in exchange, you’ll make yourself available to me in the evenings.” Max waited, unsure what to expect. An odd situation for a man who prided himself on reading adversaries as easily as he tallied the accounts.

FTAV_Tortured duke reunites with a mysterious lady to search for answers from their intertwined pasts and expose those who orchestrated the evil that scarred them both. She’ll do anything to protect her younger sisters and he’s desperate to make amends. books2read.com/suziloveFTAV
Book Hooks: Duke of Stirkton throws off his rigid upbringing after his grandfather's death. #ReadARegency #RegencyRomance #EroticHistoricalRomance #mfrw #bookhook books2read.com/suziloveFTAV Share on X
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Book Hooks: The Duke of Stirkton stared, open-mouthed, at the countess. “You’re a cool one.” #RegencyRomance #HistoricalMystery #ReadARegency #EroticHistoricalRomance

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Book Hooks: The Duke of Stirkton stared, open-mouthed, at the countess. “You’re a cool one.” #RegencyRomance #HistoricalMystery #ReadARegency #EroticHistoricalRomance https://books2read.com/suziloveFTAV

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Book Hooks: ‘I did not come here to find a mistress,’ Lord Mallory said. #RegencyRomance #HistRom #ReadARegency #EroticRomance

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‘Brent,’ Lady Lillian murmured as she entwined her fingers with his and gave him a begging look. ‘If I promise we’ll leave in an hour or two and not stay until dawn, will you keep my secret. Let me have a couple of hours here to watch and learn and…’

Earl Mallory frowned. ‘And what? Has your companion, whose name I still don’t know, made some sort of arrangement?’ He looked worried and suspicious, and with good right. Perhaps she’d reveal half of their plans, enough to pacify him and give them room to explore without him hovering like a distraught father.

‘Please, let me go on my way. You can do whatever you came for, too.’

His hands were on his hips and he looked angry. ‘I did not come here to find a mistress, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m more than happy to leave now and take you home.’

She mimicked his stance by putting her hands on her own hips and scowling at him. ‘I am not leaving. Not until I’ve explored all the upper rooms as well.’

‘The upper rooms? Are you mad? A lady cannot go prowling around the bedrooms. There will be couples in those bedrooms having–’

‘Having sex? I do know these things. I’m a widow, not a spinster.’

‘Huh! And what will you do if you walk into a room where there are more than two people? Perhaps three or four, or even five, in one bed.’

‘Oooh, do you know which rooms they are in?’

‘I do not. And I don’t wish to know.’ He sucked in a breath and pointed a finger at her face. ‘And neither do you.’

‘I’m my own person now and I’ll do what I want. I’m going upstairs to explore, and to observe. To join in if I’m asked.’

‘You deserve better than the men you’ll find here, Lillian. Go to a respectable ball. Dance with some decent men. Find another husband.’

‘Why are you eager for me to risk a repeat of my miserable marriage, when you’ve declared that you’ll never marry again?’

‘Because you’re a woman and I’m a man.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘That’s a very biased view, and I thought you better than that.’

He groaned. ‘You’re right. It’s unfair to tell you to risk more unhappiness when I won’t.’

Pleasure House ball Book 3 Irresistible Aristocrats books2read.com/suzilovePHB.

PHB_Lord Mallory, attends first courtesan’s ball in years to appease concerned friends. http://books2read.com/suzilovePHB

Book Hooks: ‘I did not come here to find a mistress,' Lord Mallory said. #RegencyRomance #HistRom #ReadARegency #EroticRomance http://books2read.com/suzilovePHB Share on X
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Pleasure House Ball: Lord Mallory attends his first courtesan’s ball in ten years to appease his concerned friends. #christmas #RegencyRomance #HistRom #EroticRomance #ReadARegency

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Lord Mallory, attends his first courtesan’s ball in ten years to appease his concerned friends, though he’d rather stay home and read to his motherless daughters. Leaning in, Lord Mallory whispered in Lady Lillian’s ear. “Well, well. I certainly didn’t expect to find you in attendance at a scandalous ball.” Pleasure House ball Book 3 Irresistible Aristocrats books2read.com/suzilovePHB

Pleasure House Ball: Lord Mallory attends his first courtesan’s ball in ten years to appease his concerned friends. #christmas #RegencyRomance #HistRom #EroticRomance #ReadARegency http://books2read.com/suzilovePHB Share on X
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Book Hook: “Mama, why doesn’t that man like me?” Daniel asked. Love After Waterloo. #RegencyRomance #ReadARegency #Militaryromance #Waterloo

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“Mama, why doesn’t that man like me?” Daniel asked, his singsong voice echoing loudly around the walled chamber. 

Slowly, the Captain turned to face them. He took two steps closer to Daniel and squatted as low as he could manage on one leg, while keeping his bandaged leg straight and using it for balance. “I apologize, your lordship.” He spoke directly to Daniel. “My name is Gabe, and I don’t dislike you. In fact, you remind me of my three nephews and I like them. A lot.” He sighed. “I have several decisions to make, difficult decisions, but that isn’t an excuse for bad manners.” He glanced up at Anne. “As I’m certain your mother has told you.”

Daniel nodded. “Uncle Bren told me to be good for Mama, and you, ‘cause you’re the Captain and you’re taking me and Mama to En…En…” He tugged on her hand. “Where are we going, Mama?” 

Anne smiled at her son. “England, darling. We’re going to England.”

Daniel pulled his hand from hers and stepped up to the Captain, careful to avoid his bandaged leg. His tiny hand rested on Gabe’s shoulder and he patted him. “My mama will help. Mama knows ‘bout Englin, and she makes sores better.” He pointed at Gabe’s outstretched leg. “Kisses make it better.”

Anne gasped, while Gabe chuckled. His amber eyes held a twinkle as he spoke to Daniel. “I’m sure your mama’s kisses would make any man feel better.” He looked up at her and smirked. “Will you kiss me, Lady Melton?” 

Anne groaned and put her hands to her burning cheeks, thankful that Daniel’s focus was on his new friend and not her red face. When Gabe stood and slowly drew his bandaged leg under him, Anne realized that he didn’t have his crutch. 

“Captain, please, lean on me.” She moved closer and was relieved when, with a muffled groan, he slid his arm around her shoulder and settled a little of his weight on her.

LAW_When Lady Melton and son join antagonistic Captain Belling and last group of wounded British soldiers evacuating Waterloo, she expects clashes with army deserters.What she doesn’t anticipate is how much she and her son will need the belligerent Captain after they reach London. #RegencyRomance #MilitaryRomance https://books2read.com/suziloveLAW
When Lady Melton and son join antagonistic Captain Belling and last group of wounded British soldiers evacuating Waterloo, she expects clashes with army deserters.What she doesn’t anticipate is how much she and her son will need the belligerent Captain after they reach London. #RegencyRomance #MilitaryRomance https://books2read.com/suziloveLAW
Book Hook: “Mama, why doesn’t that man like me?” Daniel asked. Love After Waterloo. #RegencyRomance #ReadARegency #Militaryromance #Waterloo https://books2read.com/suziloveLAW Share on X
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