The Trouble of a Curricle (and the gentlemen who drive them)

Morburre, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

If you’ve read Waking to Mr. Darcy, then you know that at the end of that book we discover Mary Bennet has as secret crush. Nicholas Hammond is that crush. He’s also the Bennet’s neighbour, the eldest son of a spendthrift of a father, the older brother to a rather reckless brother, quite practical (perhaps to a fault?), and not uninterested in Mary.

Below is when we first get to meet Nicholas’s brother, Fred, and his friend, Whit. This excerpt tells of just one incident where the two of them cause trouble with a curricle and the first of four times they cause issues through racing.

Despite all that, they are two of my favourite troublemakers. 😉

Continue reading The Trouble of a Curricle (and the gentlemen who drive them)

The July 2022 Saturday Broadsheet

The Saturday Broadsheet, with all my writing life updates, is now available at the link at the bottom of this short post.

In this issue of the Broadsheet you will find:

  • Info about what is posting on my blog. (As if you didn’t know, right? LOL)
  • An excerpt from my current work in progress, His Father’s Last Gift
  • Info about the two books I have on sale for $0.99 this month, a couple of other books that have been reduced in price, and one boxset that is on sale for this weekend only.
  • A link to a multi-author promotion I am taking part in
  • And in the something fun section at the end of the newsletter you will find, a music video that has been paired with an excerpt from one of the books in the boxset I have on sale this weekend. (It features one of my all-time favourite troublemakers. ;))

Have a great weekend!

I hope you have time to read a book.

I’ll be back on Thursday with a new chapter of His Inconvenient Choice.


Le mariage (Julie Delance-Feurgard)

Le mariage (1884) Julie Delance-Feurgard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

I could not pass up pairing this image with the excerpt below because there is some confusion involved and likely lots of whispering amongst those in the church waiting for a wedding to begin. 🙂 Although this excerpt is from near the end of A Very Mary Christmas, I don’t think it contains too many spoilers. In fact, it will likely raise more questions than it will answer. 😉


“Mr. Bennet,” said Whit just as everyone took their places at the front of the church. Mary watched, curiosity suffusing her, as her father nodded and, after whispering something to Mr. Darcy that made Mr. Darcy smile broadly, left his place and went to have a whispered conversation first with Mr. Whittemore and then Mr. Hammond, who could not contain his shock, no matter how he attempted to school his features. Then at the conclusion of the discussion, Nicholas rose, and with Whit and Fred trailing behind, slowly made his way to a side room at the front of the sanctuary.

“Mary,” her father stood before her. “Come.” He took her hand and led her toward the same room where Mr. Hammond had gone. “All will be well,” he assured her.

Mary glanced over her shoulder as she walked. “Why is Mr. Darcy coming with us?”

“Mr. Whittemore might need his assistance,” replied her father with a chuckle.

“I am very confused.” Surely, they were not to discuss Mr. Hammond’s decision now when her sisters stood at the front of the church and the few family and friends who had gathered awaited the ceremony.

She glanced at Jane and Elizabeth. Jane was dabbing at her eyes again as she had been all morning. Tears of happiness she had said. Elizabeth was smiling as if she understood what was happening, and she probably did since Mr. Darcy was somehow involved.

[from A Very Mary Christmas]


Leenie B Books
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Walking Dress (c. 1803/1804)

Fashion Plate (Walking Dress). England, early 19th century, between circa 1803 and circa 1804. Possibly from Madame Lanchester’s 1803-1804 La Miroir de la Mode. The drawing was copied and reused in October 1812 in La Belle Assemblée with a fur-trimmed pelisse and other slightly changed details. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Mary saw the horse only a moment before it rose in the air. She had been so caught in her imagination and so certain the horses would stay to their path racing along the adjoining field that she had not expected one of them to approach her. With a startled cry, Mary jumped to the side, but not with any sort of grace. Her ankle rolled, sending her sprawling on the ground. The hedge snagged her bonnet as she fell, yanking it from her head and freeing a hairpin or two so that a portion of her hair fell in waves to her shoulders.

“Blast,” she muttered as she sat up and rotated one wrist and then the other. They hurt but had not sustained any significant damage from catching her on landing. Her gloves, however, were not so fortunate. One had a rip across the palm, and both were covered in soil, as was her skirt, which she flicked quickly to cover her legs.

“Are you injured?” Fred knelt beside her. “I did not see you there.” He took Mary’s arm as she attempted to rise with some grace.

“My glove is ruined.” She winced as she stood. “And my ankle…ooh,” she moaned a bit as she tried putting her weight on it. It was tender but not broken.

Fred wrapped an arm around her waist.

Mary pulled away. “Sir, please.”

“I only wish to help.”

“Then fetch my hat while I straighten my clothing and assess if there are any further injuries.” She gave him a stern look that begged him to comply. It was the look she had used with limited success on Lydia. Thankfully, this handsome young man did not seem so stubborn as her younger sister and complied. Mary brushed dirt from her skirt and took a limping step. Her left hip was nearly as sore as her ankle.

[from A Very Mary Christmas by Leenie Brown]


A Very Mary Christmas is one of the five novellas in this Cottage Collection.

Leenie B Books
Click to find all of Leenie’s books at your favourite retailer.

 MAILING LIST    PATREON


Music Monday: Welcome Home for the Holiday (Howard Eddy)

I have been listening to lots of instrumental Christmas music lately as I have been writing a couple of Christmas stories. I completed one of those stories this week. Christmas in Gracechurch Street should be published in the first half of December. But that is not the story I am highlighting today.

Today’s story excerpt is from A Very Mary Christmas, which is currently on sale until tomorrow, November 24, 2020. I have chosen to pair this story with this relaxing Christmas album, which has been on my listening while writing rotation, because I’m thinking Nicholas might have benefited from being able to play some soothing music after he ends up with unexpected and very troublesome holiday visitors. (And it is because of those somewhat unwelcome guests that I picked “Welcome Home for the Holiday.” 🙂 )

Continue reading Music Monday: Welcome Home for the Holiday (Howard Eddy)