Diamonds in the Rough... out everywhere!

Well, sort of everywhere... 

Even though friends report seeing DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH in UK shops like W H Smith, the print version seems tricky to get hold of online thus far, although the Mills and Boon web site has copies available. There are tons of places to get a digital version though.

Anyway... DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH is here, and it's the second full length novel in my Victorian set Ladies' Sewing Circle series, and pretty much my big self indulgent Sherlock Holmes fantasy. The handsome hero Wilson Ruffington is a 'consulting scientist' rather than a consulting detective, but he shares many of Sherlock Holmes' eccentricities, although with one significant exception. Whereas The Great Detective was canonically portrayed as asexual, Wilson is very sexual indeed! Especially when it comes to his dealings with his distant cousin Adela, who he can't seem to keep his elegant scientific hands off. 

Feisty, independent Adela Ruffington is similarly drawn to Wilson. She finds him physically irresistible, even though otherwise, there's nothing but antipathy between them. Wilson can be self absorbed and thoughtless, his mind full of his science, and that means he doesn't always employ much in the way of tact and delicacy, even though his heart is very much in the right place. 

These two fiery and pugnacious lovers have a lot of issues to contend with. Due to a complicated will, Wilson inherits all of Adela's grandfather's enormous wealth, leaving her, and her mother and her sisters as good as penniless... and that's not all of it. Wilson is also the lover who took her virginity, back when they were both young and infatuated with each other, and adding injury to insult, he then he caused her to break her nose, when she fled from him after an almighty argument!

So, many obstacles stand between these two. It almost seems impossible for them ever to get along as friends, never mind as sweethearts... and yet, somehow, they're drawn together again, to face their own demons, and as a team, a couple, and even as husband and wife, they join forces to banish the problems of other people that they both care about.

For a flavour of their relationship, read an excerpt here:

http://www.portiadacosta.com/diamonds.html

And if that whets your appetite, you can purchase Diamonds in the Rough from one of these outlets:

DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH - links

Digital Kindle US Kindle UK Nook UK Kobo Diesel Ebooks All Romance Ebooks Harlequin

Print Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com W H Smith Harlequin Waterstones

Digital and Print Barnes and Noble Mills and Boon

Here it is on the shelves of W H Smith, piccie courtesy of my author buddy Saskia Walker!

Gorgeous!

Isn't this gorgeous? It's the UK cover of Diamonds in the Rough, available now in epub from the Mills & Boon site, with print version to follow. Should be on Amazon UK in June.

The US cover is pretty fabulous too...

This US version is available on Amazon.com on 28th June!

A Gentlewoman's Quartet - cover reveal

Isn't this pretty? The book, A GENTLEWOMAN'S QUARTET, is published by HQN as a digital only title, and will be available to buy on 15th March! 

It's an anthology of all four of my Ladies' Sewing Circle short novellas for Harlequin Spice Briefs. 

More info here.

New edition of IN THE FLESH out today!

Fifty Shades 1890 style.

A Victorian spin on the classic story of an innocent heroine discovering the truth depth of her desires

Victorian high society already believes she's a scarlet woman... so why not become one?

Beatrice Weatherly's reputation is in tatters. With scandalous pictures of her being scrutinised eagerly by connoisseurs and condemned by respectable society, and her brother rapidly running them into debt, Beatrice's hope of ever making a respectable marriage is dashed.

Then powerful, wealthy Edmund Ellsworth Ritchie offers an indecent proposal that might save the day... at a cost. His terms are, one month of hedonistic servitude as his sensual plaything, and he'll pay off her brother's debts and settle a fortune on her and her sibling.

But nothing can prepare Beatrice for the reality of Ritchie's scandalous arrangement, and for discovering that she thoroughly enjoys her notorious demimonde status and what's more, she delights in the pleasures and daring games she shares with the handsome, inventive Ritchie. 

Very soon, she's addicted to a man who can never wholly be hers... and deeply in love with the master who's bought her body.

More information, an introductory excerpt and buying links HERE

Constance by Franny Moyle

Constance: The Tragic and Scandalous Life of Mrs Oscar Wilde by Franny Moyle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not sure what to think about this one. It's difficult to judge the quality of the writing etc because appreciation of the book is so intimately wound up in one's impression of the subject of the book, Constance Wilde and by association, Oscar.

I found it a compelling read, but it just made me realise how alien the life of these middle/upper class Victorians is to me. I feel sorry for Constance, for a lot of the things that happened to her, and the disaster Oscar inflicted on her... but she's also an infuriating character herself some of the time. She has good qualities, and some not so good ones, like anybody, and of course she's very much a product of her times and her class.

Leaves me wondering how her later life would have turned out if Bosie Douglas had been run over by a horse and cart, and Oscar had been, well, just a little bit less Oscar.

But we'll never know...

View all my reviews

Yay, I'm a historical author now!

I'm thrilled to announce that A Gentlewoman's Predicament is published today! Although most people who visit here will know that because I've been battering on about my first historical Spice Brief and it's imminent arrival for long enough... :)

Have got to admit that I'm a bit nervous about this one. Though I experimented with some historical scenes in Gothic Blue, this is the first entirely historical work I've released and it's a definite challenge to create a period 'voice' when all I've ever really done until now is work with modern characters and settings. I hope it works. I think it works. My editor certainly seems to like it. But now it's up to the readers to judge whether I've pulled it off. Eek!

Still, writing stories set in the Victorian era is a gamble I'm totally committed to now, given that my first ever full length Harlequin novel is set in that time period too. I'm loving the research, and I was fascinated by everything Victorian long before it ever occurred to me to write about those times... so I'm hoping for the best and trying my utmost to get In The Flesh right so that it'll be a worthy contribution to the Spice erotic list.

Anyway, back to A Gentlewoman's Predicament. It's already available from eHarlequin and Kindle, and by the time you read this it might also be live at Diesel Ebooks. It's also listed at the Mills & Boon ebook store, but I'm not sure whether you can buy it there yet, as it's listed as a June title. I'm sure it'll pop up at other outlets soon too, so check at your favourites.

Here's the official Harlequin blurb for 'Predicament'. I must admit, it contains a little bit of a spoiler, but it's not really a problem as Mme. Chamfleur's naughty secret is very quickly revealed in the story. ;)

"Sofia Harewood's problem: finding a partner who can please her in the bedroom better than her disappointing first husband! She senses there should be so much more to lovemaking—and she's determined to discover what she's been missing.

Sofia's mission takes her to A. Chamfleur, purveyor of "Intimate Advice to the Gentlewoman"...but the encounter is not at all what she had imagined. For A. Chamfleur turns out to be Monsieur Chamfleur—and he and his associates are more than willing to introduce Sofia to a new world of sensual delights....

And look for Portia Da Costa's next story of Victorian sensuality, A Gentlewoman's Ravishment, the second installment of the Ladies' Sewing Circle series."

Oooh, A GENTLEWOMAN'S PREDICAMENT goes live!

Am very excited today, as A GENTLEWOMAN'S PREDICAMENT has just gone live at eHarlequin for pre-order!

This is a big thrill for me, as I'm sort of officially a historical romance author now, and this is a first peek into the overall 'world' of IN THE FLESH, too, although the characters from the novel don't actually appear in this short. Sofia Harewood, the heroine of Gentlewoman, does however go on to appear not only in the sequel, A GENTLEWOMAN'S RAVISHMENT, but also as a supporting character - under her new married name - in IN THE FLESH.

Something fun, on the Harlequin page, that I hadn't expected, is that the two Gentlewoman books also have a series title - THE LADIES' SEWING CIRCLE! At the moment, there are only the two Briefs, and a reference to the Circle in the novel, but now I'm fancying writing some more short stories about the Ladies who gather, not so much to embroider but to sew seeds of mischief amongst one another. Maybe they could even feature in longer works, such as another novel, or novellas?

Writing more Victorians would be lots of fun for me to do, and also, more stories set in that era would justify my extravagance on books and magazines about those times! Only this morning, I received a copy of The Times from 1889... fascinating stuff!

A GENTLEWOMAN'S PREDICAMENT - available at eHarlequin

ps. as the Brief becomes available at other outlets, I'll post info here and on its page at my site.