Corsets and Kisses Newsletter

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Welcome to the September issue of Corsets and Kisses, 
where I’ll share News and Notions, 
Excerpts and Explorations, Historical Idioms and Ideals, 
and Corsets and Kisses, of course.
 
News and Notions
Once upon a time, a fairy tale went terribly awry.
 
      In the aftermath of the romantic fable turned salacious farce, the Earl of Dunaway seduced his way through the ladies of London, and fathered six daughters he adores in his customarily careless way.
 

   Taming Beauty is the story of Lilith Aberdeen, the eldest of Dunaway’s Daughters. This story first appeared as a novella in the 
Once Upon a Regency: Timeless Tales and Fables box-set. I have expanded the story-line a tad and spiced up the naughty bits a smidgen, transforming it from a lengthy novella into a novel just this side of short.

    If you’ve not yet read Taming Beauty, or you’d like to enjoy the new version, you can 

Pre-Order and Enter the Giveaway

 for a chance to win a swag bag of goodies, including a signed copy of both Pretty Poison and My Darling Gunslinger, 2 Wine Bottle Corsets and 2 Corset Bookmarks. This giveaway only runs through September 5th so don’t dawdle. Or if you prefer to forego the giveaway, you can simply Pre-Order Taming Beauty here or Read and Excerpt here.


   This next little bit of news tickles my fancy: Mr. Tim Cross was the winner of the Sizzling Historical Romance Giveaway. He entered in hopes of winning the Kindle and Six Vintage Historical Romance ebooks as a surprise for his wife. Mrs. Cross is a lucky lady.
 
   If you’ve a notion to journey to Idyllwild, you can begin today with Portrait of Passion for only $0.99 or Free on Kindle Unlimited.
 
 
 
Excerpts and Explorations


   Courtesans, ladies of the demimonde, mistresses, concubines, paramours, call them what you will, I’ve always been fascinated by these women and the roles they played in society. As confidants to kings, members of parliament and gentlemen of enormous wealth, oftentimes these women were influential in shaping the policies, social customs and all important fashions of the day.
   There was an odd sort of dichotomy to their lives. In many ways they enjoyed greater independence than their married counterparts, yet they were entirely reliant upon the generosity and goodwill of their protectors. A successful courtesan possessed both innate sensuality and inherent business acumen, and wielded both when negotiating terms for the pleasure and privilege of her company. A smart mistress captured a man’s heart while locking her own away and guarding the key at all costs. Because, contrary to what we’ve read in some of our favorite romance novels, a mistress was almost as unlikely to marry her protector as she was to spot a unicorn galloping through Hyde Park. 
   One notable, and extremely interesting exception, was Elizabeth Armistead. Beginning her long, and rather illustrious, career in an exclusive London brothel, Elizabeth went on to become mistress to some of the wealthiest and most powerful members of English society, including politicians, men of industry, peers of the realm and a certain prince known for his dissolute ways. Until she encountered a unicorn in the form of The Honorable Charles Fox, second son of a baron, grandson of a duke and member of parliament for nearly four decades. After ten years as Fox’s mistress, Elizabeth became his wife. And if the accounts of their life together are true, they lived happily ever after.
  
 
Historical Idioms and Ideals
   While writing Taming Beauty, I introduced four of Dunaway’s six daughters, including Miss Kate Price and Miss Harry O’Connell. Shortly after the two young ladies escape from Miss Beaumont’s Academy for Young Ladies by way of a tree outside a window, they ride to the rescue of their sister who has unwittingly become a pawn in Dunaway’s latest scheme. Now, one might surmise that Lilith is the proverbial sacrificial pawn, a chess piece the reprobate earl is only too happy to forfeit for the greater good of the game. His game and his greater good, selfish scoundrel that he is.
   But perhaps Lilith is actually a pawn of a different sort: a pledge offered up as security for money owed. From kings who pawned the crown jewels to finance their various wars, to sailors who pawned their meager belongings to provide the barest essentials for their families until they returned from sea, men from all walks of life have long been pawning goods in hopes of reclaiming them at some happier, and more financially secure, time in the future. Though one would hope they did not make a habit of pawning their daughters.

 

Corsets and Kisses
 
 
    I like a handsome viscount with a haunted past as much as the next woman. When the viscount is paired with a witty, irreverent virgin who may or may not actually be a virgin, well, that’s a story I have to read. And when the story contains a delicious first kiss written from the hero’s perspective, I simply have to share it with you. Charis Michael’s The Virgin and the Viscount, features just such a first kiss between Bryson and Elisabeth. A first kiss which, rather like the heroine herself, delights and surprises the hero, who finds her to be “a dizzying mix of uncertainty and eagerness, her innocence as erotic as her enthusiasm”
 
Congratulations to the winner of August’s Corset, 
Diana Ware-Page. 
 
September’s Corset is a pretty pink bit of feminine frippery, perfectly matched to the cover of Taming Beauty.  
 

To enter simply visit My Website and post a Comment. Any comment will do, a bit of news, an idiom that’s always struck you as amusing, a historical ideal you’ve found ludicrous or a notion of any sort.
I’ll randomly choose one winner from all entrants on October 1st.

If you like to lose yourself in sensual, sophisticated stories featuring multi-faceted women and men, I’d like to invite you to join my Reading Group. It’s small and cozy, and open to a select group of readers. To join this group you’ve only to be one of the first fifty people to accept this invitation to receive a free ebook copy of my future New Releases in exchange for the promise to post an honest review on Amazon. Posting to additional review sites would be welcome and appreciated, but Amazon is a must. 

If you would like to join my Cozy Reading Group, click here.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this issue of Corsets and Kisses and I look forward to sharing another with you next month.

 

Lynne Barron