I’d like to welcome Brita Addams to my blog today on the book tour for her new novel, ‘Her Timeless Obsession’. Lovely to have you here, Brita and I hope the readers enjoy the blurb about your book, learn a little something about you, read a wonderful excerpt and of course, enter the giveaway!
TOUR ORGANIZER: CREATIVE MINDS PROMOTIONS https://creativemindpromotions.wordpress.com/
A little bit about Britta
Born in a small town in upstate New York, Brita Addams has made her home in the sultry south for many years. In the Frog Capital of the World, Brita shares her home with her real-life hero—her husband, and a fat cat named Stormee. All their children are grown.
Given her love of history, Brita writes both het and gay historical romance. Many of her historicals have appeared on category bestseller lists at various online retailers.
Musa Publishing publishes Brita’s heterosexual historical romances, including the rewritten and expanded, best-selling Sapphire Club series, each with new titles. Again, each of the titles have again hit the best-selling lists at various online vendors.
Tarnished Gold, the first in her gay romance Tarnished series for Dreamspinner Press, was a winner in the 2013 Rainbow Awards, Historical Romance category. The book also received nominations for Best Historical and Best Book of 2013 from the readers of the Goodreads M/M Romance Group.
Sue’s comment – I read and reviewed this book for The Romance Reviews. I really enjoyed this story and you can see the review here. Tarnished Gold Review
A bit of trivia—Brita pronounces her name, Bree-ta, and not Brit-a, like the famous water filter. Brita Addams is a mash-up of her real middle name and her husband’s middle name, with an additional d and s.
And now for the real meat of this blog post – Brita’s new novel, Her Timeless Obsession
PUBLISHER: Musa Publishing
RELEASE DATE: 23rd January 2015
LENGTH: 44,325 words
BLURB: A love that transcends time.
Ever the explorer, Honey Danby discovers a treasure trove in her dusty 1910 London attic. Old trunks filled with clothes, journals, and love letters written between two lovers in 1810 entertain her and leave her longing for a time and a man long past. Dressed in an irresistible gown from one of the trunks, Honey discovers a heart-wrenching love story. When she learns that all was cruelly torn asunder, the handsome soldier’s loving words written to his H. catapult Honey into an adventure that defies logic.
When, dressed in a crisper version of the gown, Honey inexplicably awakens inside a rumbling horse-drawn carriage, she discovers she shares the antiquated vehicle with the man who tore the lovers apart. Can she convince this stranger to forego his unreasonable demands, or will history repeat itself on a misty August morn in Green Park?
BUY LINKS: http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=35_59&products_id=859
AUTHOR LINKS:
Website/Blog – http://britaaddams.net
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/BritaAddams
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/BritaAddams
Fan page – http://www.facebook.com/BritaAddamsEroticRomance
Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/BritaAddams
Booklikes – http://booklikes.britaaddams.com
Monthly column at The Novel Approach – http://thenovelapproachreviews.com
Please stay in touch by subscribing to my monthly newsletter– https://www.facebook.com/BritaAddamsEroticRomance/app_100265896690345
GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
Winner gets a $20 Musa Publishing Gift Card
A Runner-up will also be chosen who will win a Copy of any Brita Addams book (Choice of the Runner-up)
Contest Begins: 26th January, 2015
Contest Ends: 31st January, 2015
EXCERPT
October, 1910
Upper Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, London
During a lifetime spent at Danby Terrace, Honoria Danby, Honey to those who knew her best, had excitedly explored the secret passageways and hiding places that made living in the red-bricked townhouse worthwhile. As mistress of the old pile, she intended to restore some of the old charm the place must have once held.
With an autumnal storm blowing sheets of rain against the windows, Honey answered the call of her curiosity, as she had often done on such days during her childhood. She’d spent hours alone amid the relics of years gone by. The high-ceilinged attic beckoned her to poke around amongst paintings by the dozens, statues, and fine china. She had, over the years, restored furniture used by Danby ancestors and filled the rooms downstairs with them.
“Come on, Maizie,” she said to her less than thrilled maid. “Let’s explore that corner with all the trunks.”
“Yes’m. I’ll get the kerosene lamp.”
Honey changed into a work dress and met Maizie at the foot of the stairs. “I’ve been dying to explore those trunks. What about you?”
“I don’t like the dust. Now, you know that.”
“I know, but think of the treasures we might find.”
Maizie grumbled as she lit the lamp, and the dark attic took on light. With the dim recesses lit, Honey strode past covered furniture, rusted rifles, a patinaed garden bench, and an entire dining room set.
“Look here. How have I missed these in all our explorations?” Honey pulled back the sheets that covered paintings of animals, expressionless people, and admirably executed still lifes, “We’ll take some of these down to hang in the dining room.”
While Maizie stacked the paintings by the stairs, Honey delved deeper into the corner. Against the rough-hewn beams rested an age-stained oilcloth-wrapped mystery that had somehow escaped her frequent explorations.
On creaking floorboards, she advanced on the corner, distracted for several moments by copies of old magazines and a marble bust of a bald, bearded man that looked like her grandfather.
She hung the lamp on a nail in the beam. “Maizie, come help me uncover this.”
As they lifted the heavy cloth, dust motes clouded the airless attic as she and a sneezing Maizie unveiled a life-size portrait, well-preserved in a dull gilt frame.
Honoria slid her finger over the textured deep scarlet of the subject’s uniform, over the braided cords at his shoulders, and then higher. She shone the light on his handsome angular face—square jaw with a hint of a shadow. Unsmiling, he stared straight ahead, as though through the painter. “Oh, my, who do we have here?”
She lowered the lamp to the dusty brass plaque at the lower edge of the frame. With a moistened thumb, she cleaned the filthy piece of metal.
Captain Jeremy Saintaubin, Marquess of Galmore, 1803.
Honey stared at the ribbons on the captain’s scarlet coat and imagined his pride as he received them. The hem of his eternally creased black trousers disappeared into his highly polished Wellington boots. His stylish curly black hair, perfectly coifed, did nothing to soften his stiff, broad-shouldered stance. Honey’s heart skipped a beat when she studied his face. A man’s eyes had always enthralled her, especially those that held a hint of mystery.
“He’s handsome, isn’t he, Maizie?”
Her maid held her apron to her face. “Yes’m.” She sneezed again.
Though the captain’s eyes bored through to her soul, Honey tore her gaze from the visage of the handsome Lord Galmore to root amongst the old trunks that lined a darkened wall and peek beneath dust-laden cloths at the discarded remnants of another century.
A swath of blue drew her attention to a blue-and-cream striped Hepplewhite sofa and matching chairs. “Even at a hundred years old, these are in good repair.”
Maizie batted away the dust and mumbled a reply.
“We’ll take these downstairs. We can clean them up, can’t we?”
Maizie coughed. “I suppose we can.”
“You should keep your face covered so the dust doesn’t affect you like that.”
“Yes, miss.”
With Maizie’s help, Honey tugged the furniture out of the way and settled before the first of many trunks that lined the darkest wall. After leveraging one rusted clasp open, she giggled with glee. “Oh look, Maizie. Old clothes.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Honey sat on the plain wood floor and pulled dresses and bonnets from the trunk—silks, satins, cambric, and muslins in styles that had long since lost favor. “They are remarkably unspoiled.”
Maizie sneezed several times, but she managed a weak, “That’s nice.”
“We need to get you out of this attic. Will you go get Frederick and Paul, and they can take these trunks and that huge portrait downstairs? I want to see it in a better light”
“Yes, ma’am.”
While Honey dug even deeper in one of the trunks, Frederick and Paul appeared. “I’d like to have these trunks, this beautiful portrait, and the blue Hepplewhite furniture taken downstairs. You can put them in the corridor until I decide what else to do with them.”
Honey supervised the removals, prodding as much as she dared, eager to see everything in the stark light of day and electrical lighting.
“What do we do with the portrait, ma’am?” Frederick asked.
Honey ran her fingers through a thick coating of dust. “After Maizie dusts it, bring it and this trunk into my bedchamber. The furniture goes to my drawing room.”
Guest Post by Brita
One of the most interesting things I’ve ever done is scrounge around an old attic in my family home. My family passed the home down for several generations and each family left behind furniture, trunks, and more, photos and journals that told the story of their time in the world.
In my newest historical romance release, Her Timeless Obsession, I delve into something that has interested me for many years—family history. As a non-professional genealogist, I have researched my own ancestry and gone back many generations. In doing so, I’ve uncovered many stories, some touching and others quite tragic.
In the book, I gave my female protagonist my interest in family history and in doing so, Honey Danby goes to places I only wish I’d gone. Her Timeless Obsession tells the story of a gallant soldier from the Napoleonic Wars and a young woman his sister and mother insist he entertain, with the prospect of offering marriage. Though they do fall in love, their marriage is less than perfect due to outside forces.
Honey, living in 1910, answers her intense curiosity and makes regular forays into her relic-laden attic. There, she uncovers an aged portrait of Regency-era Captain Jeremy Saintaubin, as well as a treasure trove of 1810-era trunks. With the help of a family history, Jeremy’s journal, and touching love letters, Honey steeps herself in what turns out to be her own tragic ancestry.
Have you ever wished you could change events in favor of a more positive outcome? Take back a hastily spoken rebuke, not be in a specific place at a particular time? Change history? So does Honey.
I invite you to join Honey on her unusual journey to save Jeremy and ultimately, herself.
Thanks again for having me here on my Her Timeless Obsession tour. I’d like to invite readers to visit my website, where I have information on my books, as well as writing articles, my blog and on occasion, I host fellow authors.
It was a pleasure having you here Brita and I wish you all the best with your new release.
Catch the other stops on the tour, and enter the Rafflecopter below for the chance of winning the prize!
Jan 26th – Susan Mac Nicol
Jan 27th – Bayou Book Junkie
Jan 28th – The Pen & Muse Blog
Jan 29th – Foxylutely Book Reviews
Jan 30th–3 Chicks After Dark
Giveaway: One random commenter over the course of the entire tour will win a $20.00 gift card from Musa Publishing and their choice of my backlist books. A second commenter, over the course of the entire tour, will win their choice of one of my backlist books. Winners selected by Rafflecopter.
Rafflecopter Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0f7bf72012/?
SUSAN MAC NICOL 