Hello, folks! 

Did y’all get snow? We got snow … a whole 1.3 inches, not counting last week’s little dusting (it ended the three-year snow drought in our area). Meanwhile, the Southern city I moved here from, New Orleans, got between eight and ten inches, and broke a record set in 1895.

While I was living in New Orleans as an adult, I only remember it snowing once in seventeen years, and I’m not even sure the snow entirely covered the ground. My dad remembers it snowing in New Orleans when we lived there in the late fifties to early sixties. He was from St. Louis, Missouri, so snow was not unusual to him. That’s why he laughed when he saw the local New Orleans kids putting snow in boxes to save! He used to tell that story all the time.

Two and a half years after we moved here, Raleigh had its own record snow event. Twenty inches fell, for the first time in 100 years. Rene and I looked at each other and thought, “Isn’t this supposed to be the South? What the heck?” Nick loved it, of course. He was twelve. But the weather stayed in the 20’s for a week, so the snow sat and sat. Needless to say, we didn’t love it nearly as much as he did!

Anyway, I hope most of you got a nice, pretty dusting. Not twenty inches!

Snowily yours,

Nick enjoying the snow.	Our car (and yard) in twenty inches of snow!

Lady Celia Plays a Regency Dating Game in A Lady Never Surrenders 

Last week, the final book in my Hellions of Halstead Hall series released with a brand new cover! A Lady Never Surrenders tells the youngest Sharpe sibling’s story. With just two months left to find a husband to fulfill her grandmother’s ultimatum, Lady Celia Sharpe sets her sights on three eligible bachelors. Becoming betrothed to one of these wealthy, high-ranking men will surely prove her capable of getting married, so hopefully the wedding itself won’t be necessary for Celia and her siblings to receive their inheritance. 

Step two of her audacious plan is hiring the dangerously compelling Bow Street Runner Jackson Pinter to investigate the three men she’s chosen. But with Lady Celia bedeviling Jackson’s days and nights, the last thing he wants is to help her find a husband. And when she recalls shadowed memories that lead his investigation into her parents’ mysterious deaths in a new direction—putting her in danger—Jackson realizes the only man he wants Celia to marry is himself!

Exclusive ARC Giveaway!

I received my advance reader copies (ARCs) of Hazardous to a Duke’s Heart, the launch book in my new Lords of Hazard series starting April 29. If you'd like to read and review an early copy of the new book, fill out this form by Sunday, February 16, for a chance to win. Random Number Generator will choose 10 winners, and I'll notify them via email and will announce them in my March 1 newsletter.

I'm always grateful for honest reviews (even a line or two!) from readers on Goodreads, Amazon, and other bookish retailers and sites. If you ever have or ever plan to leave a review for one of my books—a million times, THANK YOU! 

If you want to make sure you'll have a copy of Hazardous to a Duke’s Heart waiting for you when it comes out April 29, you can preorder it here. 

Regency Tidbit

As many of you Regency lovers know, London had some very cold winters, especially in 1814, when my new book is set. That was the year of the last Frost Fair. The Thames froze so hard for four days that an elephant was led across it. Merchants set up booths with food and drink right there on the ice and it had the usual fair-type fun. There was even ice skating. Many theories abound about why it happened (the Little Ice Age, the bridges having wider supports that blocked the flow of the water) and why it never happened again (climate change, differently built bridges, the way the Thames was embanked), but no one knows for sure. Some people drowned, however, when the ice broke … and that’s how I got rid of the duke my hero inherited the title from! Don’t worry—the other guy wasn’t a nice man, by all accounts.. My hero, on the other hand … well, you’ll have to read the book!

Exclusive Subscriber Giveaway

Cuffing season is in full swing! And, since book boyfriends are always better, here’s your chance to cozy up with two dashing gents from the Duke Dynasty series. One lucky winner will receive a copy of The Bachelor and Who Wants to Marry a Duke—two swoon-worthy romances filled with mystery, danger, and irresistible dukes who will steal your heart. 

• The Bachelor: A rugged bodyguard and a lady with a secret past—can they outrun danger and find love?
• Who Wants to Marry a Duke: A bookish chemist and a rakish duke team up to solve a murder… and spark undeniable chemistry of their own.

Fill out this form by Sunday, February 16, for your chance to win this romantic duo. 

Congratulations to Jo Anne H., from Richmond, VA, for winning January’s giveaway of two series starters, The Truth About Lord Stoneville (The Hellions of Halstead Hall) and Never Seduce a Scoundrel (The School for Heiresses).