The Apothecary to See Miss Bennet

Pride and Prejudice Illustration, Charles Edmund Brock (1870-1938), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Today, I’m sharing an excerpt from my upcoming release, His Father’s Last Gift, (which is currently on pre-order everywhere). The story begins during Jane’s illness at Netherfield, and the apothecary is indeed called to see her… but not just because Jane is not feeling well. Mrs. Bennet needs his assistance for another reason. 🙂

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A Cottage in a Cornfield (John Constable)

John Constable, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This painting made me think of Mr. Dobney’s cottage in So Very Unexpected. It is the first place where he and Lydia really meet — even if they had been introduced the day before. Below is how that meeting started. (And it really did not get any better for some time — though eventually, Lydia finds that the fellow who owns the cottage into which she crept when running away has decided to be her friend, a real friend, unlike any she has ever had before.)

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Twenty-Two Leenie Titles are FREE on Smashwords…

…and the rest are all 50% off until January 1, 2023

A couple of weeks ago, my catalogue of books (except for the five in Kindle Unlimited) were added to the Smashwords store. I was going to let you know about this new place to find my books in my next Saturday Broadsheet. 

But then…

I was asked if I wanted to have ALL of my books and boxsets included in the Smashwords Year End Ebook Sale. 

I said, “Yes!” and selected the 50% off option. 

This means that all my books priced above $0.99 are half-price from December 15, 2022 to January 1, 2023, and all my books that are priced at $0.99 are reduced to FREE for the same time period. 

THIS LINK will take you to my Smashwords Author page that has all my books listed on it. 

THIS LINK will just take you to front page of the Year End Promotion so you can search by various genres, price points, and authors.  

Here’s one more link that I will mention simply because it is the season for giving. 

THIS LINK is all about how to gift ebooks purchased on Smashwords. Maybe you want to give some as gifts, or maybe, you want to share this link and some book titles with those who want to know what you’d like for Christmas. 😉 

Happy Reading! 

Leenie


La Maison De Musique (Pierre Carrier-Belleuse)

La Maison de Musique (The Music House) by Pierre Carrier-Belleuse, c. 1901. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The young lady above could be Miss Mary in my book Christmas in Gracechurch Street.

(Even if, as I look at this image while typing this, the dress reminds me a bit of one that Wes did not approve of Mary wearing in Persuading Miss Mary, but I digress. LOL)

You see, the Mary in Christmas in Gracechurch Street changes when she gets to town with Elizabeth. She becomes more fashionable, and well, as you can see from this excerpt, much more proficient with music. She’s been hiding a quite a few things actually, and discovering this new Mary was fun when I was writing.

Well… it was fun for me. It might have been a little less fun and more shocking and occasionally disconcerting for her sister. But then, I suppose that made it more fun for me. 🙂 Ah, my poor characters. Forced to entertain me before they entertain you.

In this excerpt, which is set in a music room at Matlock House, we are at the darker part of the romance for Elizabeth, which is why the first line is what it is. To find out what has happened to make Elizabeth wish to cry, you’ll have to read the book. 😉

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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. 😉

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