November 8, 2025
Welcome to the November 2025 Broadsheet. I hope your November is going tolerably (if not handsomely) well. Mine is going okay.
Here in Nova Scotia, the clocks rolled back an hour this past weekend, which means we have officially entered “The Cozy Season”! This means that each day as the sun is sliding off to its early bedtime, I close the curtains, turn on my desk lamp, and fire up a YouTube fireplace video (complete with crackling sounds) on the tv in the corner. (This is a link to the video that is currently playing as I write this.)
It also means that sweaters and fleece vests and fuzzy socks are enjoyed. The thermostat gets moved to the heat side, and sticking a casserole in the oven for dinner is both nostalgic and comforting.
I do love The Cozy Season. (Not all of it – I’d rather not have to shovel or battle with ice – and we know those are coming eventually.) But there is just so much to enjoy at this time of year.
My youngest sister was the one who shared the concept of the cozy season with me one year when I was sighing over the time change. I loved the idea and since I have adopted it as an official time of year for me, that time change doesn’t hit me as hard. Mindset is a POWERFUL thing.
In writing news…
My Annilee Nelson book is a chapter and a half away from completion. Then, I will need to start working on a Leenie book as my next work in progress. I have not decided which one that will be. I don’t even know which couple’s new beginning to write about in the final chapter of my Annilee book – and I need to know that by next week. So first things first. I’ll decide that and then decide on the Leenie book. 🙂
I have finished adding all my books to the Patreon library. So for as little as $2 USD ($3 CAD) per month, a reader can become a subscriber to the library and read all my books!
In audiobook news…
Hope at Dawn is now available in many places, including YouTube, Patreon, Nook, Kobo/Kobo Plus, Everand, Spotify, and more. You can find links to those places on the Audiobook page on my website here.
I have been working on adding my Other Pens series to the FREE ElevenReader library. I just have one more book to add next week, and then, I’ll begin adding my Darcy Family Holidays books over there (since they tie in with my Other Pens series).
I am currently working on producing Two Days Before Christmas as an audiobook. It’s going slowly. I am planning to start sharing it by the chapter (one per week) on YouTube by the end of November. Once the full book is done, I will share that as a complete audiobook there and then publish it to all the places. But this way, I’ll have content to hopefully make the algorithm happy and so listeners can hear something new if they choose to listen like it’s a podcast. (I still need over 400 subscribers to hit monetization status.)
eBOOK DEALS
Last weekend, when I sent out an email/post about my book promotions for the month focusing on the Marrying Elizabeth series, I said I had some books submitted to a couple of Kobo book promotions and would let you know if any of them were accepted. Well… I have info about one of those promotions to share today.
These are my books that have been included in the November 40% Off Sale. Both Marrying Elizabeth box sets are 40% off from now until November 17. You will need to use the code NOVEMBER40 at checkout to receive the discount.
These Kobo promotions are only in the following regions: Canada, United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
[As I was preparing my newsletter on Friday, I could not find the first box set on Kobo. It was there in the morning when I got the promotion info, but presently, I can’t find it. I have a help request into the Kobo team. Maybe by the time you see this, it’ll be fixed?]I did hear back on the other Kobo promotion, but it doesn’t start until Nov 15. The book that made it into that promotion is Her Father’s Choice, but I’ll have more details about that next week.
Until November 30, Protecting Miss Darcy is on sale everywhere for $0.99 USD, EUR, CAD, NZD, AUD, GBP, with all other currencies reduced.
OCTOBER’S PATREON FREE READ and MEMBERSHIP PERKS
FREE READ: If you follow me for free on Patreon, there is a series starter that can be read for free each month. This month’s series starter read is Confounding Caroline, which is part of my Marrying Elizabeth series.
MEMBERSHIP PERKS: Each month, I offer an eBook or two to download and keep to my $2 or more Patrons, and every time there is a new audiobook finished, I also make a link to download that available to them.
Hope at Dawn is now available in the audiobook downloads collection.
This month’s eBook offerings are Confounding Caroline and Becoming Entangled.
SOMETHING NEW TO READ
Our story continues this month with the beginning of the conclusion. Harriet’s plan to lure the watch thief out has been put into motion. (It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.)
Please remember that there are sections where previous chapters from this story can be read on whichever platform you subscribe to.
- On my blog, look for Harriet and the Colonel in the menu options.
- On Substack, look for the Harriet and the Colonel section on the home page.
- On Patreon, look for The Colonel’s Lady in the collections tab.
Chapter 4, part 1
Richard stretched and yawned. He was supposed to be at home in his own bed, not sitting guard in the little library at Lillesley house. Of course, it was his own doing. No one had given him this assignment. He had volunteered to take a shift.
Dinner had produced a couple of interesting leads where the watch was concerned. Most people had not paid attention to Lillesley’s frequent checking of the time, but two had. One was a footman, and the other was Mr. Newland, a fellow of social standing whose means had been squandered some years back but was well on its way to being replenished, thanks to a relative of some sort who had passed away just over a year ago. Strangely his relation’s passing had occurred close to the same time that Harriet’s older brother, Andrew, had died.
It was that bit of coincidence, paired with his obvious appreciation for the engraving on Lillesley’s watch – both of which had come to light during a card game after dinner – which had marked him as suspicious.
The fact that he seemed to be on exceptionally friendly terms with one of the footmen, employed by their club, named Carrick, had changed Lillesley’s opinion of the servant from being someone who admired the finer things in life, which his station did not afford him, to a possible informant and associate of Newland’s.
To the untrained eye, the two men would have appeared as jovial and amiable – the one being counted as a fabulous dinner guest, and the other as a servant who would make any household appear to be of the finest and most welcoming sort.
However, Richard’s eye was not untrained. To him, they were too agreeable. Too eager to please. Too charming. Their good nature read like a veneer applied to a damaged table to hide the scars made by some sort of accident.
Soft footfalls in the hall stopped his ruminations about the men from the club. As he sat in the silent darkness of the little library, a soft glow from a candle could be seen drawing ever closer to the library door.
He had heard no doors or windows open, so whomever this was had either entered through the kitchen or was a member of the household.
A few moments later, a vision of loveliness stood in the doorway.
“Your brother would be less than pleased to know you were here,” Richard whispered. And likely he did know since he was in his study.
“Then, it is a good thing that he is not here yet,” Harriet replied, as she walked along the bookshelves to the right of the room, stopping now and again to run a finger along the spine as if she were contemplating reading that volume. “I need something to occupy my mind,” she said softly. “Or I will spend the full night trying to piece things together. As it is, I have gone over what we know from three different viewpoints – at least twice.”
She pulled a book from the shelf and then, made her way to the chair next to his.
“It is best if you return to your room to read,” Richard said. Having her here could prove to be a distraction. It was not guaranteed that she would be, but there was the possibility. Added to that, there would be danger to be had if someone came looking for that watch.
“I will. In a minute or two.” She placed her book and candle on the table near her chair before snuffing out her light. “I would just like to sit her and hold your hand for a time. I promise not to be a distraction.”
He heard her making herself comfortable in her chair and then, felt her hand tap the arm of his chair. He obliged her by taking it, which elicited a sigh from her.
So they sat for more than a minute or two. Indeed, they sat as they were until Harriet’s hand and arm fell limp and he could hear soft, even breathing coming from where she sat. Apparently, her mind had finally found some rest and allowed her body to follow.
To be honest, having her sitting next to him, made the task of listening and watching in the dark more bearable. His thumb brushed back and forth across hers, and his mind wandered to things that had nothing to do with traitors and murderers. Instead, he imagined evenings before a fire, sitting as they were now. He pictured children on his lap and at his feet. He contemplated being the master of his own little estate.
The idea had, at one time, seemed a drudgery. Something that would hold little to entertain or excite him. So mundane. So dull.
He placed a gentle kiss on Harriet’s hand. Nothing would be dull or mundane with her as his wife. She was not the sort to simply sit, stitch, and entertain callers. That thought had just started him thinking about what she would wish for in her home and duties when the distinct sound of a window sliding open with some complaint was heard.
Carefully, he returned Harriet’s hand to her lap, and rising, readied himself to confront the intruder directly if necessary, or after the interloper had attempted to gain what he wanted.
Richard could just make out Harriet’s sleeping form in the greyness of the room. Her plan was coming to fruition. He’d hate for her to miss it, and it would be dangerous for her to wake in the midst of whatever happened. Therefore, he decided to alert her to what was occurring. That way she would be ready to escape to safety if it became necessary.
“Harriet,” he whispered near her ear, “someone is here.”
He felt her wake.
“Stay here and remain silent as long as you are able,” he instructed, before giving her cheek a kiss.
A whispered “I will” was her only reply.
A floorboard creaked in hall. Whomever it was, was light of foot, for he was making very little noise as he crept nearer to the study. He also seemed to know exactly where he was going. This bit of information caused a realization to crash upon Richard with some force. There was only one way for the intruder to know where to go. Someone inside Lillesley’s home was playing two sides.
Carefully, he moved to stand next to the door, where he could see just a bit of the corridor, but he, himself, would not be seen from the hall.
A second set of stealthy steps descended from above.
“She’s not there,” the one whisper to the other. “Do you have the watch?’
She’s not there? Who was the she they were speaking of?
“Not yet,” the other answered.
“Then, it might be best to leave it,” the first man said.
“We can’t and you know it,” the other answered in a soft snarl.
“But if she is not in her room, she might be sitting guard in her brother’s study.”
Richard sucked in a breath. The she they were looking for was Harriet!
“You have no idea how devious that one is,” the first man continued. “She’s the one who found the watch, you know.”
“How would she know I was coming for it?”
“I don’t know how, but I am telling you, she’s smarter than any of those military men Lillesley employs.”
“I don’t see no light coming from under that door,” the second man said. “And it’ll make our job easier if she’s there. We can get both of the things we need at the same time.”
Richard heard the door to Lillesley’s office open.
“I say, is there no one to announce you?” The question rang loud and clear from the other room and was followed by soft light illuminating the hall. Jimmy had lit a sconce further down the hall and was now standing in the way of escape at that end.
Richard sprang into action to make certain that his end of the hall was also unable to be used for escape. He drew his pistol. “Into the study,” he ordered. “Both of you.”
—–
Thank you so much for being my readers! Have a lovely weekend!
<3 Leenie
