Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book? When did it come out? Where can we get it?
Devil’s Run is about two match-making sisters, a rigged horse race and a marriage
wager riding on the outcome. It was huge fun to write - because, after all,
what could possibly go wrong with such a premise? – and you can get it on all
platforms here.
Nice!
Is there anything which prompted Devil's Run? Something that inspired you?
This book was inspired by a character that
appeared in the previous book in the series, Rogue’s Kiss. Eliza was a young girl, then, of 18, who was nearly
run over by a carriage while trying to flee with her illegitimate infant in her
arms, after her governess had been ordered to ensure she put the child into a
basket in front of the Foundling Home. In Devil’s
Run, the action is picked up seven years later when Eliza is betrothed to
the odious George Bramley whose uncle’s estate she visits and where she
discovers that the child she was forced to give up is a pauper child who
regularly visits to play with the aristocratic children.
Oh, yeah, there are definitely some characters that leave a mark on us. :)
So, when did you know you wanted to write? Or has it always been a pastime of yours?
I’ve been writing since I was seven years old
and wrote my School for Witches Series, which I read to my younger sisters
during long holidays with no television at our beach cottage in South
Australia.
Great! I got started at an early age as well.
Do you have any favorite authors yourself, Beverley?
Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen, Karleen Koen, Jo
Beverley, Anna Campbell, Susan Wiggs and Liz Carlyle – to name just a few!
It's hard to narrow them down, right? ;)
So...do you write in a specific place? Time of day?
Anytime I can when the kids are home and religiously
for at least a couple of hours, either in my study or at the kitchen table –
sometimes late at night and often early in the morning. I’ve never been good at
routine. It comes from perfecting my role as a ‘trailing spouse’, following my
pilot husband around the globe and living in twelve countries. ;)
Wow! And I agree about routine. I have trouble staying boxed in, though I try to focus as much as I can when I'm really into a project.
Are there any words you'd like to impart to fellow writers? Any advice?
Never give up. Success could be just around
the corner.
So true! That's great advice.
Thank you so much for stopping
by to visit us here today at Writing in the Modern Age. It was wonderful
having you! :)
A rigged horse race and a marriage offer riding on the outcome. When Miss Eliza Montrose unexpectedly becomes legal owner of the horse tipped to win the East Anglia Cup, her future is finally in her hands—but at what cost?
George Bramley, nephew to the Earl of Quamby, will wager anything. Even his future bride.
Miss Eliza Montrose will accept any wager to be reunited with the child she was forced to relinquish after an indiscretion — even if it means marrying a man she doesn't love.
But when the handsome and charming Rufus Patmore buys a horse from her betrothed, George Bramley, whose household her son visits from the foundling home, her heart is captured and the outcome of the wager is suddenly fraught with peril.
**This is book 3 in the Scandalous Miss Brightwells Series, though it can be read as a stand-alone.
Here is an excerpt from the book.
This excerpt begins after Eliza
has just plunged into the lake to rescue three drowning children and their
nanny. Having dragged them – and herself – to shore, she makes a shocking
discovery.
Eliza had forgotten what it felt like to enjoy a man’s
attention. He’d started to dry her in a vigorous attempt to warm her but then
his touch gentled and he simply stared down at her.
The wonder in his eye as he murmured words of praise was
a rare sensation. Embarrassed, she turned away. Yes, turned away because she
could not afford to be so obviously disquieted by another man when she was
affianced to George Bramley who stood a few feet away from her. He was also
staring but there was no softness in his
countenance.
Hoping to avoid any more gestures of admiration or
kindness from Mr. Patmore, Eliza politely extricated herself and put out her
hand to arrest the progress of the Foundling Home lad whom Nanny Brown was
pursuing with a piece of dry linen.
His impish grin
reminded her of young Miss Katherine’s, Lady Fenton’s daughter. Clearly the two
had had a great adventure, unlike Young George who was lying on his stomach upon
the grass, shaking with sobs.
“Did you drink a lot of water, Young George?” Eliza asked,
looking down at the crying boy but he ignored her. “I said we shouldn’t go out! I said!”
He pounded his fists. “No one ever listens to what I say!”
Eliza shared a
wry smile with the rather lovely Mr. Patmore whom she found still staring at her,
but as he looked about to approach her again, she turned her back on him and
instead brought the Foundling Home boy to stand in front of her now that she’d
succeeded in catching him. Eliza would not have Mr. Bramley – or anyone else –
accuse her of encouraging the attentions of a man not her betrothed.
“Jack – that’s
your name, isn’t it? Well, you’ll have something to tell them back at the
Foundling Home.” She’d seen him only from a distance and now, mud bespattered
and with his hair matted over his forehead it was difficult to make out his
features, though she knew from various anecdotes that young Jack distinguished
himself for keeping Miss Katherine’s wilfulness in check and peace between
Katherine and her cousin, Young George.
Jack stood obediently before her as he started to wring
out his threadbare shirt. “Nah, I’m fine, m’lady,” he said, glancing up to
reveal a pair of small white teeth in a freckled face. “But thanks for savin’
me, an’ all.”
Eliza was about to let him go. Releasing her grip a
second later might have changed the course of her life, she thought later that
evening, and perhaps it would have been better if she had. Why repeat the
trauma she’d already experienced?
But for now she was acting on instinct and instead of
letting him go when it would have seemed natural, her grip on his wrist
tightened while the air in her lungs disappeared, and she had to open and close
her eyes three times before she was ready to believe what she saw.
“Gideon?” There seemed still no air to say his name. A
great pressure was building in her head. Finally she was able to gasp in a
breath, forcing herself to resist the urge to draw him into her embrace and
wail her joy.
And pain.
How many other boys of seven years sported a tiny extra
claw on their left hand? Or had been thrust into the cold, unloving world of
the Foundling Home, she thought bitterly.
He stopped what he was doing to look at her
uncomprehendingly and she added faintly, “Though that’s not what they call you,
of course.”
An amused look crossed his face, making him look older
and wiser than his seven years. Nearby, the weeping and wailing George was a
puling infant. Smiling at her was a little man.
He pushed out his chest and said in a tone that was
neither boastful nor self pitying, “There’s some ‘at call me Devil’s Cub, or
bastard, but at the manor here they call me Jack.”
Devil’s Cub? The sixth finger accounted for
the nickname, of course.
“Miss Montrose?” In the distance, Lady Fenton was
calling her. Eliza was suddenly shaking like one suffering the ague. “Jack,”
she repeated in a whisper, still staring at him as she clenched her own fists.
Was the child tormented by his deformity? It looked as if not much troubled him,
though Eliza couldn’t remember how many times Eliza had been told the sixth
finger was God’s punishment upon her bastard babe.
“Miss Montrose! Come away! Susan is waiting in the house
with a warm bath and blankets. You must be chilled to the bone!”
Vaguely, she could hear the sounds of concern all around
her but all Eliza could focus on was the impish face before her; that of her
lost child.
Purchase Links:
Universal Amazon: http://books2read.com/u/m2XzAR
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/devils-run-beverley-oakley/1126385396?ean=2940154261316
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/devil-s-run-1
Books in the Series:
Wow! Such a riveting teaser! I wonder what happens next...
☆.•°☆ GIVEAWAY ☆°•.☆
Beverley is giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter. Remember, you may increase your chances of winning by visiting the other tour stops. You may find those locations here.
It certainly sounds like a fascinating book! We'll be sure to check out this historical romance!
Don't forget to enter the giveaway, everyone! Thanks, Reviews by Crystal, for introducing us to this book during your awesome blog tour!
Author Bio
Beverley Oakley was seventeen when she bundled up her
first 500+ page romance and sent it to a publisher. Unfortunately, drowning
her heroine on the last page was apparently not in line with the expectations
of romance readers so Beverley became a journalist.
Twenty-six years later Beverley was delighted to receive
her first publishing contract from Robert Hale (UK) for a romance in which she
ensured her heroine was saved from
drowning in the icy North Sea.
Since 2009 Beverley has written more than thirteen
historical romances, mostly set in England during the early nineteenth century.
Mystery, intrigue and adventure spill from their pages and if she can pull off
a thrilling race to save someone’s honor – or a worthy damsel from the noose –
it’s time to celebrate with a good single malt Scotch.
Beverley lives with her husband, two daughters and a
Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy the size of a pony opposite a picturesque nineteenth
century lunatic asylum. She also writes Africa-set adventure-filled romances
starring handsome bush pilot heroes, and historical romances with less steam and
more sexual tension, as Beverley Eikli.
Beverley Oakley was seventeen when she bundled up her
first 500+ page romance and sent it to a publisher. Unfortunately, drowning
her heroine on the last page was apparently not in line with the expectations
of romance readers so Beverley became a journalist.Author Links:
Website: www.beverleyoakley.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBeverleyOakley/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BeverleyOakley
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Beverley-Oakley/e/B01HOFCS8K/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/5989577.Beverley_Oakley
Google+: https://plus.google.com/106643093417321292361
Pinterest: https://au.pinterest.com/beverleyeikli/
Beverley's Books:
Writing as Beverley Eikli:
Writing as Beverley Eikli:
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