This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kate Ellington will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Isabel Tate yearns for the simple pleasures she took for granted before scandal rocked her family two years ago. On May Day, she’s determined to forget her troubles and enjoy herself at the Claremont family’s annual festival.

Meanwhile, Robert Claremont steels himself to begin courting the haughty heiress next door, but his bashfulness is only one obstacle to winning her hand. Despite a deep sense of family obligation, he dreams of choosing his own bride.

Captivated by each other from the moment they meet, Robert and Isabel are kept apart by a misunderstanding until a chance encounter leads to friendship and more.

With opposition on all sides, they must overcome inconceivable odds to claim happiness.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Isabel turned her horse into the woods, directing him to a gurgling stream under a canopy of trees. The forest was quiet but for the splashing of the water, bird songs and the rustle of branches. They hadn’t been there long when Isabel heard a new sound. Hoofbeats and muffled voices. She urged her horse closer to the road, and easily heard the riders’ conversation.

“What makes you think she came this way?” a man asked.

A deeper voice answered, “Merely a guess. It seemed as good a place as any to look, but I’m thwarted again.”

“Let’s turn back, we can look for her tomorrow.”

“I’m sitting for the portrait tomorrow.”

Isabel’s pulse quickened as she recognized the deeper voice. Robert Claremont. So he’d been looking for her. Why hadn’t he come to the house? She started back toward the stream, but suddenly reason left her and she guided her horse through the trees, emerging just as Robert and his companion rounded the bend going in the opposite direction. They hadn’t seen her.

Isabel paused for a moment, thinking what to do. Go back home and hope he came to the house soon? Or seek him out for herself? Her reckless side won. Spurring her horse to a gallop, she chased after them. Robert turned in his saddle and Isabel was delighted with the look of shock on his face as she sped past him and who she could now see was Mr. Kensington.

About the Author: Kate grew up in a woodsy New England town where summer days at the lake seemed to last forever. She read her first historical romance at age eleven when a teacher challenged her to find a book in the library written by an author she’d never heard of. Thus began a life-long love of love stories.

After graduating from college with an art degree she settled in the Pacific Northwest, where she currently resides with her family.

Kate wrote her first romance when she was sixteen, then set her pen down for years until another story floated into her head out of the clear blue sky. She jotted it down, just for fun, but soon it took on a life of its own.

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kate Ellington will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Elsie Hayward moves into her uncle’s seaside estate on what should have been her wedding day. All she wants is peace and quiet, and to escape the guilt that’s haunted her since her betrothed was lost at sea. Any hope of tranquility is dashed, however, when Charles Rockingham arrives in town. A lifetime ago they’d been best friends and almost more. If there’s one person she can’t hide her feelings from, it’s him. Charles hasn’t received a letter from Elsie in over a year. He returns home hoping to recapture the deep bond they once shared, but shadows of the past stand between them. One last secret must be revealed before they can find their way back to each other.

Enjoy an Excerpt

As they got up to leave, Charles took her hand to help steady her over the slippery rocks, and a warm glow rippled through her. Instead of letting go when they reached the grassy bank, she laced her fingers through his, her heart racing as fast as the stream. He looked at her and his eyes held something like tenderness. She almost tripped over her dress.

The sky was softening to the faintest hint of dusk. She wished it was morning so they could begin their day together all over again. They continued down the trail and turned onto a narrow path that came out behind Max’s stables, then walked up the lawn to the front of the house. An unfamiliar motorcar was parked in the drive.

“Who’s here, Mr. Anderson?” Elsie asked when he opened the front door.

“An associate of Mr. Lambert’s.”

Charles’s fingers slipped out of hers as they stepped inside. Elsie removed her hat and dropped it on the table.

“Let’s go see who it is,” she said to Charles, tugging on his jacket sleeve.

From the dining room came the sound of laughter: two gravelly chortles and one tinkling, delicate giggle.

Charles stopped in his tracks. Elsie looked up at him. The color had drained from his face. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but Max called out: “Don’t hang about in the doorway, you two. Come see what the cat dragged in.”

About the Author:Kate Ellington grew up in a woodsy New England town where summer days at the lake seemed to last forever. She read her first historical romance at age eleven when a teacher challenged her to find a book in the library written by an author she’d never heard of. Thus began a life-long love of love stories.

After graduating from college with an art degree she settled in the Pacific Northwest, where she currently resides with her family.
Kate wrote her first romance when she was sixteen, then set her pen down for years until another story floated into her head out of the clear blue sky. She jotted it down, just for fun, but soon it took on a life of its own.

Buy the book at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

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