Where in the world?

I just got back from my "themed" vacation this year. Can you guess what it was?

Some clues: 

Yes, that is Diana.

Sam was sorta at Doune Castle.

Guess, if you can, in the comments. I'll come back in a few days to name all the places. :)

A new scene from Book 7 in the Wicked Affairs series

A little wicked scene from Book 7 of my next Wicked Affairs book - unnamed at this point! And a little throwback, too. Tell me what you think.

They say bad things happened in threes and London was rife with talk of the newest bad things to have happened.

The most tragic, of course, had been the shocking death of Louis Ederline, the old and perverted marquess, who owned more primitive erotic art than ought to have ever been made in the first place. He left behind an innocent young wife some speculated had never been deflowered by her ancient husband or at least deflowered in the traditional sense.

The second bad thing had befallen the favorite horse, Maid of Cadiz, in a race at Newmarket. Not only had the thoroughbred lost, she had lost spectacularly. And to an upstart at that. The winning horse was owned by the Earl of Archer, Charles Standifer, running a horse he had owned less than six months and with eighteen to one odds. His wife, Alizabet, had thrown herself into her husband’s arms after, to the shock of all.

The third bad thing was bound to happen sooner or later. Lady Lindley bore her bad luck stoically. Her long-time lover, Trenton James, the current Earl of Dahlingford, had ended their one-year arrangement amid rampant speculation and accusations. For over a week, the Tattler had been full of on dits regarding lying, cheating and certain other insinuations one could hardly countenance. Though if it was to be believed, Dahlingford was the man to do it.

Unless one lived in London during the Season. Then anything was possible.

Rather than believe her grand fete would be ruined by death, debt and debaucheries, the Duchess of Pelham thought it might be a rather spectacular evening.

She saw her husband Randall VanLandingham across the room and shot him her best smile. As he always did, he smiled back, one brow cocked and one hand braced against his hip. Other things happened in threes also.

As she made her way across the ballroom, trying to get to her husband, she congratulated herself. This was her first crush at the renovated Grosvenor Square mansion. Wall-to-wall aristocrats, titillating scandal and the best of everything.

“You look happy,” Randall said, sliding his hand about her waist and ignoring the friends beside him.

She stood to her toes and whispered, “Do you remember that naughty suggestion you had some months ago about a third person with whom to share our bed?”

“Yes?” His brow hitched a bit higher.

“I’ve found the perfect person for us.”

“Does this willing woman have a name?” He was cautious with his question.

“Jet black, wavy hair. Startlingly blue eyes. Sound familiar?”

“If she is in this room, I see three or four possibilities.”

“He is.”

“He!” Randall’s forehead creased.

“Trenton James. I think he would be perfect. Don’t you agree?”

“My darling wife, I will need to be as dead as Ederline before I allow that to happen.”

She leaned against him, pressing her breast to his arm. “Oh, are you sure? He could tempt the most virtuous woman to sin. Why not me?”

Randall laughed. “Because you have me. And I am enough man to overcome any of my wife’s wicked temptations.”

The holidays are upon us.

Merry Christmas!

Only ten days until Christmas! How does this happen? Every year, I ask the same question. Do you?

I wish a very happy Christmas and prosperous 2018 for all of my readers and friends. For those of you who have purchased my books and left reviews - THANK YOU, THANK YOU. Those reviews are the thing that keep my books selling, which keeps me writing.

Downside this year... I didn't get Book Seven in the Wicked Affairs finished. I am well into the story but my day job has kept me very busy. Only so many words come out while sitting in airport waiting areas and uncomfortable hotel rooms. But there will be a release date during 2018!

Upside... LOTS of stories in the works. It's happened this way many times. I'll be working on five stories, one captures all my attention, then all of the sudden the others are at 60,000 word count and only take a couple of weeks to finish up. I'm hoping 2018 will be like that. SEVERAL RELEASES.

Stories that are nearing publication are listed on my COMING SOON page. Which of them sounds most interesting to you? Anything you are particularly looking forward too or wish I would get finished, like YESTERDAY? :)

I'm most excited about a new Paranormal series I've started. The words are flowing and the primary protagonist is bigger than life. My heroine? She knows her responsibility even if it means losing her family - all because of a man she doesn't really know and who doesn't want her to interfere in his life. He may not accept it, but she is all he has.

Again, all the best over the holidays! E.

One Last Night Bestseller

I was surprised (happy, thrilled) this morning to find One Last Night, Book One in the Mad Duchesses series, ranked #1 in the Historical Erotica category at KOBO.

This is a lovely series. Personally, I love the novella From Now On. Yes, I wrote it, but even authors have favorite children.

Hope you enjoy all four books! Available at all major retailers.

As Outlander Turns

I feel a little guilty about the Mt. Everest of expectations to which we hold the Outlander/Tall Ship gurus responsible. It is no small feat considering the Outlander Book Fiends KNOW every word and expression Jamie Fraser has ever uttered or displayed. Yes, Jamie did cry! He fell A.P.A.R.T after he so sweetly and lovingly touched his daughter through those pictures. There. I said it.

But considering I am the O.F. of O.B.F.’s, I do want to acknowledge all the things that have been done right in Season Thee.

OH. SO. RIGHT. Here’s my contribution to the vast opinions on Outlander.

21. Claire’s grief. Not only is she pregnant, but she must also deal with a husband she no longer loves while dying inside from her profound grief and loneliness. I believe Catriona’s performances. I believe I am seeing a woman lost. I should note that I have been a believer since she and Jamie verbally flayed each other after her rescue in The Reckoning.

20. The Print Shop set. I want to live there. I’d line the shelves with leather-bound books and wake to the six o’clock chime in Edinburgh. Ink, leather, polished woods and some fresh hay (you know, to stuff in my mattress.)

19. Frank and Claire. Each of their bouts displayed the decay of lost love. I suppose a nurse could have raised a daughter alone in 1948, but I find it believable that she said yes to Frank. I really do want to hate Frank, but he has a sly wit and for the most part is kind to Claire and loves Bree. Really a beautiful display that, I suspect, reflects reality more than I care to acknowledge. Tobias does understand his characters.

18. The hair. Not just Jamie's DunBonnet hair, but Claire's during the 40's, 50's and 60's. Just fantastic. I could mention the customes, but I think there is no disagreement that they have been incredible since day one. Season 3 has really captured the ear with the hairstyles.

17. The PUDDLE transition. This is the third great transition in the whole series. The other two occurred in Season 2, Episode 1. The first when Frank is burning her “Highlander” clothes and the smoke is wafting upward. Claire is staring out the window and then the transition to the plane parked on the tarmac in Boston. The second transition occurs right after, as Claire walks down the stairs and Frank is reaching for her but then we see Jamie’s fingers as he guides her from the gangplank in Le Havre. But this one is so great because it gets her right where we want her to be. Near Carfax Close and Jamie.

16. All things Batman. The utility belt. The theme song. A great break from an otherwise serious episode. And I loved that Claire sewed her own outfit, but was anyone else surprised she could do this in one day? She wore the same clothes through the whole scene.

15. #IamMadameJeanne. Someone asked the other day on the Heughligans’ FB page, ‘what Outlander character are you?’. This one character is all of us – the fan base. Well, seeing Madame Jeanne’s longing as she looked at James Fraser and the burning jealousy in her gaze when Jamie brings Claire to the whore house – well, I sympathize. We all want him, and Madame Jeanne expresses the longing that all fans feel. Yes, we’ll risk the man you are, Jamie.

14. Rupert stole the show that is Episode 1. Loyal to the end, even though he didn’t need to be. In the books, Jamie didn’t remember so much about Culloden. I liked this whole addition to the story.

Copyright: Outlander Starz/Tall Ship

13. We all know Catriona Balfe is a beautiful woman but we’ve seen her looking pretty plain in previous seasons. The pinnacle Claire is Jamie’s vision of her as he walks into Lallybroch (carrying that hunk of soon-to-be fire-grilled venison) displays Claire at her best. She turns, just a hint of a smile upon her lips. The sun might be reflecting off her perfect skin on top of that. She really is a witch.

12. Walk Off The Earth. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. Don’t ask me why this song works but it does. Bear McCreary, you evil composer wizard you. Don’t worry, I’ll buy the sound track.

11. Clark Butler. Jamie and Willie together. OMG. I’m actually imaging Clark being on the show to reprise his role as Willie when Lord John visits Fraser’s Ridge. Willie would be 12 then; Clark was 11 when he was cast as Willie. Make it so.

10. Matthew B Roberts. Is he single?

9. Don’t miss it. Jamie’s expression when Lady Dunsany offers to seek his parole so he can return to Scotland. Thank you, your Ladyship. Again, another brilliant bit from Sam. Jamie continually sacrifices his own happiness in the service to others and there is no higher service than to his son.

8. Buttons. I didn’t know they could be an aphrodisiac. I want to undo everyone one of them here.

Copyright: Outlander Starz/Tall Ship

7. Mary McNab. I don’t think any of us were looking forward to Jamie being with other women, but Mary’s kindness and her obvious need spilled over into her real desire to give comfort to Jamie. Like one time, in a dark, dank cave, they were soul mates. Oh, that single tear. Someone fetch me my tear catcher!

6. You filthy wee bitch. Some scenes are condensed into such small chunks but contain all the power of a full-length episode. I loved Jamie’s two outbursts here. “How dare you speak that way to me!”

5. “And you never touched me.” The best of Jamie’s eloquent and romantic soliloquies when he is reunited with Claire, ending with “There’s the two of us now.” No list that is worthy of being called a list would be complete without calling out Sam’s perfect performance here. The longing, the doubt, the shock – all of it on display with such overt yet controlled emotion.

4. Jamie riding away from Helwater. All the feels. All the awards.

3. That amount of time doesn’t exist. The most perfect, the most heartbreaking words in the Outlander universe.

2. Murtagh. This has been one of the biggest and best surprises of the entire Outlander series compared to the brilliant books. I never really noticed Murtagh in the books. Well, you can’t blame me. Uh, Jamie...  Yeah, he was Jamie’s godfather and all, but he didn’t jump off the page like he has on screen. Great casting is the culprit of this shameful and sinful deviation from canon. Duncan LaCroix made Murtagh a man for all seasons and a great romantic sideshow. A few of us, of a certain age, regrew ovaries at the sight of Murtagh and Suzette getting it on. Am I right? And there he is at Ardsmuir. How relieved and satisfying to know he lives. Note to writers: Don’t make the rookie mistake of hooking him up with Aunt Jocasta though. Ellen lives strong in this one.

1. Of Lost Things. Without a doubt, the best episode to date in the Outlander run. Of course, those who say it is The Wedding or A. Malcolm are wrong. Just when we think Jamie is at peace, and dare I say happy, he has yet another brutal heartache. I measure the true beauty of this episode by the amount of salty tears in my tear catcher (also known as a wine glass). Don’t judge me.

I do have one question for Diana, which I will ask her when I see her in June on the Avalon river cruise: Is there anything that you have seen in the Outlander tv series that you thought would have been a good addition to the books?

Friend me at Eliza Lloyd Author on Facebook

Release Day: A Mistress To Remember

Hi all! It's time for the release of the much anticipated A Mistress To Remember. This is Book Three in the Birds of Paradise series, so you know it's going to be steamy. It's up for pre-order now on Amazon with a release day of September 26th (I think the 27th everywhere else.)

Here's the blurb:

Baroness Katrina Klee is an outsider looking in. Born in Russia and raising her three half-English/half-Russian sons while trying to fit in English society is a continuing challenge. When Mark Turnbow, the Earl of Compton, seeks her out as his mistress, she is intrigued. Giving into such a temptation involves weeks of passion and exploration. While their search for the ultimate pleasure is rewarding, Katrina is injured in their play.

And worst of all, her secret affair is discovered by her sons' guardian. His threats are real. Give up her sons or give up her lover.

If you've read The Darkness in the Marquess of Dane, you might remember Mark Turnbow. He is the brother of Christina, who is now married to the dark marquess, Luc Conover.

And, I have to say, another wonderful cover from #Dar Albert. I just love this one:

And, the good news, there is one more story left in this series. Book Four brings the Birds of Paradise series full circle. Let me start at the beginning.

In Another Lover, Isabella St. Hillaire takes her final lover, Dorian Montgomery. She was pursued by the dark marquess, Dane, but rejects him for the Scottish ship magnate - the final lover she has dreamt about...

In The Darkness in the Marquess of Dane, Luc Conover is approached by the virginal Christina Turnbow, willing to sell the last thing she has of value in order to save her family.

Now, in A Mistress to Remember, Christina's brother Mark Turnbow finds an exquisite treasure in Russian émigré Katrina Klee.

Finally, in a book I have tentatively titled. His High Seas Temptress, Christian St. Hillaire, captain on one of Dorian Montgomery's ships, finds a stowaway who is desperate to return to England. She claims to be a countess. Christian might have thrown her overboard if he'd realized she was also the Marquess of Dane's cousin.

New Releases

Hi everybody! Once again I have been slacking on blog posts, but I do have good news for you. I've been very busy on the writing front. 2016 was a downer year what with all the goings on at my last publisher. I've got all my books back and republished, except for my Romantic Suspense series at Amazon.

So what's going on:

A Sleight of Hand is out and available at all retailers. This is Book 3.2 of The Body of Knowledge series. It is a novella and the second part of Eadan MacMurrough's love story. In the novella, The Trouble With Scots, we learned that Eadan's visions of Gellie Cabot have propelled him into a dream world where he lives in a place between death and life.

For all anyone knows, Gellie doesn't really exist.

Except Gellie Cabot was there that night. She was at the inn where Eadan was first stricken.

In A Sleight of Hand, Gellie is summoned to Dunbar Castle to use her gift to heal the dying earl. She's afraid of her gift because she cannot control it and she knows she might kill him.

Next will be A Mistress To Remember, Book Three in the Birds of Paradise series. I love this one, not only because of the beautiful Russian heroine, trying to establish herself and her sons within the ton, but also because she is a curious and warm lover to the Earl of Compton, a newly widowed man searching for comfort. The wicked Marquess of Dane is back for a couple of scenes. He is married to the earl's sister, Christina. I think you are going to like this one.

This cover is another one by Dar Albert. I absolutely love it. She just catches my vision when I describe the cover I want. And then does it ten times better.

It is currently in edits, so it should be a month or so until release day.


And I'm wrapping up A Wife Is Forever. I'm not sure this is the title I'm going with. This is Book Three in the Infamous Forresters. This plot is interesting. No spoilers yet.