Feed Your Reader: Weddings and Kings!

Posted on May 25, 2017 by escapepublishingblog

The Belshaw brothers are back in Balkissoch…

Bridie Porter is wearing her Vera Wang gown and veil in the back of her wedding limo when she receives a compromising text about her hotelier groom. Panicked, she tells the driver to keep going and she flees from Melbourne to the small town of Balkissoch in the Adelaide Hills.

It’s the perfect pit-stop to hide from her ex and the press and to earn enough cash to stay out of sight. Unfortunately, the admin job she gets is for a wedding photography business and she’s had her fill of weddings lately. But it’s slim pickings on the work front in a town so teeny. And her new boss is strangely compelling…

After the rush and adrenaline of his job as an LA paparazzo, the last place Cody Belshaw wants to be is back in the small town where he grew up. But thanks to a clause in his father’s will that amounts to blackmail, Cody and his two brothers are stuck running a wedding business for at least a month. If there’s one thing that he’s learned in LA, however, it’s to keep business and pleasure very, very separate. Which makes his new admin employee the definition of temptation.

Bridie is desperate to stay anonymous. Cody seeks out secrets for a living. As they delve into the world of brides, boutonnières and dogs-as-best-men, both Cody and Bridie will have to decide if this is a fling…or forever.

Available now

From award-winning author Alison Stuart comes a stirring historical trilogy about soldiers, spies, and the strong women that love them.

By The Sword

England 1650. In the aftermath of the execution of the King, England totters once more on the brink of civil war.

Kate Ashley finds her loyalty to the Parliamentary cause tested when she inherits responsibility for the estate of the Royalist Thornton family.

Jonathan Thornton, exiled and hunted for his loyalty to the King’s cause now returns to England to garner support for the young King. Finding Kate in his family home, he sees in her a chance at a life he doesn’t deserve.

But love is fragile in the face of history. What hope can one soldier and one woman hold in times like these?

The King’s Man

London 1654: Kit Lovell is a disillusioned Royalist who passes his time cheating at cards, living off his wealthy and attractive mistress and plotting the death of Oliver Cromwell.

Penniless and friendless, Thamsine Granville has lost everything. Terrified, in pain and alone, she hurls a piece of brick at the coach of Oliver Cromwell and earns herself an immediate death sentence. Only the quick thinking of a stranger saves her.

Far from the bored, benevolent rescuer that he seems, Kit plunges Thamsine into his world of espionage and betrayal – a world that has no room for falling in love.

Torn between Thamsine and loyalty to his King, Kit’s carefully constructed web of lies begins to unravel. He must make one last desperate gamble – the cost of which might be his life.

Exile’s Return

England, 1659: Following the death of Cromwell, a new king is poised to ascend the throne of England.

Imprisoned, exiled and tortured, fugitive Daniel Lovell returns to England, determined to kill the man who murdered his father. But his plans for revenge must wait, as the King has one last mission for him.

Agnes Fletcher’s lover is dead, and when his two orphaned children are torn from her care by their scheming guardian, she embarks on a perilous journey to save them. She didn’t plan on meeting the infamous Daniel Lovell.

Thrown together with separate quests – and competing obligations – Daniel and Agnes make their way from London to the English countryside, danger at every turn. Will they find the peace they crave, or will their fledgling love be a final casualty of war?

Available Now

Hallowe’en Series: Alison Stuart’s Soldier and Spy

Posted on October 29, 2016 by escapepublishingblog

by Alison Stuart

When you are next stuck in a traffic jam on Queens Road in Melbourne and find yourself looking at this old Victorian mansion (now part of a hotel), spare a thought for Albert whose restless spirit is still causing mayhem (by all accounts).

So, you ask, who is Albert? Settle down, pour yourself a stiff drink and listen to the sad tale of Netherby’s last resident.

netherby

Netherby House c1999 The orderly room was to the right of the front door, officers mess to the left

“Netherby” House, in Queens Road, Melbourne is one of the few remaining Victorian mansions that once lined that street. The building has a chequered history having been variously a private residence, a maternity hospital, ASIO headquarters and since the 1960s had been the home of the Australian Army’s Headquarters 3rd Training Group.

When I was a young pay clerk (Army Reserve) at Headquarters 3rd Training Group in the early 1980s (don’t you love the uniform?) there were stories of boarded up cellars and secret rooms, reputedly a legacy of its use by ASIO (the Australian equivalent of the CIA).

Alison in her days as pay clerk at Netherby – HQ 3 Trg Gp – 1981

Even while I was working there, staff posted to Netherby during those years complained of cold rooms and unexplained trips on the smooth linoleum floor. I was just one of a group of youngsters and while we may have wasted time looking for the boarded up cellar and wondered why there was a room (used as the Officers Mess wine cellar), secured with a safe locking mechanism that any bank would have been proud of, we never saw or experienced anything vaguely paranormal.

In the mid 1980s a couple of members of the regular army staff, attending a late dinner in another part of the city, returned to retrieve a car one of them had left parked at the back of the building. To their surprise the hallway light was on and as they neared the building they saw a figure sitting near the window in the orderly room. The man wore what looked like a red checked shirt. Concerned about the security, the staff members unlocked the front door and, entering the orderly room, saw the PABX light on the phone in glowing red, as if the Commander was on the phone – unlikely as it was 1.30 in the morning. Thinking it had been left off the hook in his office, they went upstairs and found the phone in place on the hook. Back in the orderly room they noted the light still glowed red so they went back upstairs and this time found the phone off the hook. They replaced it, switched off the lights, locked the door and fled!

I had left Netherby in 1982 to do officer training (that’s another whole story – no ghosts!). In the early 1990s I returned as a student on a promotion course. It had not changed at all, still the same linoleum floors and cold, dusty offices I remembered. The chief clerk at the time was a mild mannered regular army Sergeant who in the latter part of his posting was quite often the only person in the building for days on end. This is his story.

Alison, seated front row middle, outside Netherby 1992

The sergeant lived quite a distance from Queens Road so he began the practice of sleeping overnight after the Wednesday night parade. The first night he did this, he chose a small, quiet room at the rear of the building. About 3.00 am he was woken with a start. The room was icy cold, despite a heater that was still on. Struggling to focus, he had the distinct impression of a figure at the foot of the bed staring down at him. He leapt out of bed, switched on the light and with his heart in his mouth did a tour of the house. The room and the building were deserted. He never slept in that particular room again but chose instead another room affectionately called “Netherby Hilton Suite 69”.

3 Training Group was in the throes of moving and this meant that during the day only one or two of the regular staff were present. One of the officers worked with him in the orderly room for company in the large empty building. On one occasion the Major brought his dog to work. The dog dozed contentedly in front of the heater. Suddenly and without warning the dog leapt up, heckles raised and began barking and growling at one of the pillars which extended from the front verandah into the orderly room. This continued for about 5 minutes before the dog returned to its slumbers in front of the heater. Both men jokingly began referring to the third resident of Netherby as “Albert”.

The massive front door to Netherby

Once the Major moved to the new headquarters building, the sergeant was on his own during the day for the next twelve months and perhaps thinking the sergeant was lonely and in need of company, “Albert” began his haunting in earnest. One fine spring morning while working in the orderly room (which was adjacent to the front door), the front door suddenly opened and slammed shut. Footsteps were heard stomping up the rear service staircase to the area which would have been the old servants quarters. Upstairs doors could be heard slamming shut and the footsteps descended the stairs again. The front door, which I recall as being a large, heavy door (see picture), opened and slammed shut again.

Frozen to his desk during this visitation and wondering if he was suffering from an over active imagination, the sergeant went to investigate. Upstairs he found three office doors which had been left open were now closed. The front door, which was kept locked to deter salesmen, was still firmly locked and could not be opened without turning the handle.

One Saturday evening after a mess dinner at “Grosvenor” (55 Queens Road- also haunted), the sergeant and his wife retired to Netherby to save the long drive home to Frankston. Alone in the empty building, they made a cup of coffee and sat on the bottom step of the back staircase drinking their coffee and talking. His wife removed her high heels and left them with the coffee cups on the staircase as they both retired to the “Netherby Hilton” for the night.

During the night they were awoken by the sound of a door slamming, but dismissing it as just the noise of an old house, they went back to sleep. When they awoke the next morning, they found the high heeled shoes neatly placed at the foot of the wife’s bed and the dirty coffee cups back beside the urn in the Officers Mess.

Shortly after this incident “Albert” began to show himself. The sergeant described him as a grey shadow with a lot of detail. He appeared to be Caucasian and although his facial features were not easily distinguishable, he was about 175 -180 cm tall and wore a long coat of the style of the 50s and 60s. I recall the sergeant speculating that he may have been a Romanian “diplomat” who died while being “questioned” by ASIO. “Albert” was also seen by the sergeant’s young son who was visiting during the holidays. Both sightings were at the foot of the service staircase, over the sealed trap door that allegedly led to the cellars.

“Albert” was not without a sense of humour and would occasionally play tricks. One Tuesday evening the sergeant and another army reserve member were moving a filing cabinet. The sergeant recalls that the office they were moving it from was icy cold on this particular evening. The two men picked the empty cabinet up and as they carried it towards the door, the other man stumbled and fell. When he recovered himself, he grumbled that it had felt like someone had tripped him. When the sergeant looked out into the corridor, he had a fleeting glimpse of “Albert”.

The telephone system in Netherby was a “PABX Commander” system. At about 4.00 a.m one morning after a parade night, when the sergeant was quite alone in the building, the phone in his bedroom rang. Blearily he picked it up. The voice on the line was more of a grunt than anything else, so dismissing it as a crank call, he hung up. As he closed his eyes, he realised that the call was an internal call made from another extension in the building. He shot out of bed, turned on all the lights and did a thorough search of the building. It was just as he had left it, locked up and secure and quite deserted.

Convinced by now that “Albert” had singled him out for special attention, the sergeant began to acknowledge his existence, greeting him cheerily in the morning and bidding him good night in the evening. He even invited Albert to accompany him when he had to go out during the day, although whether he ever did is a question for speculation. I rather like the idea of the spectral “Albert” occupying the passenger seat of an Army vehicle on little excursions.

Once Albert’s existence had been acknowledged the sergeant found that the hauntings ceased and the building became noticeably warmer. Not long afterwards, the last elements of 3 Training Group moved out. Netherby was locked up and left empty for many years before being bought by the hotel next door.

Netherby today

Interestingly, the story of Albert reached the staff at the hotel and some years later, the sergeant and I were invited by the manager of the hotel to lunch and to view the restoration of the lovely old house. Albert, it seemed, had not taken kindly to the disturbance to his home. The builders complained about their tools being moved and unexplained cold spots in the house. One member of staff was on crutches having broken an ankle after being, in his words “tripped”.

Many years have now passed but I still think of Albert when I pass by Netherby and wonder how he has taken to living in a hotel.

From award-winning author Alison Stuart comes a stirring historical trilogy about soldiers, spies, and the strong women that love them.

England 1650. In the aftermath of the execution of the King, England totters once more on the brink of civil war. The country will be divided and lives lost as Charles II makes a last bid to regain his throne.

Kate Ashley finds her loyalty to the Parliamentary cause tested when she inherits responsibility for the estate of the Royalist Thornton family. To protect the people she cares about, she will need all her wits to restore its fortunes and fend off the ever-present threat of greedy neighbours.

Jonathan Thornton, exiled and hunted for his loyalty to the King’s cause now returns to England to garner support for the cause of the young King. Haunted by the demons of his past, Jonathan risks death at every turn and brings danger to those who love him. Finding Kate in his family home, he sees in her the hope for his future, and a chance at a life he doesn’t deserve.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Worcester, Jonathan must face his nemesis, and in turn, learn the secret that will change his life forever. But love is fragile in the face of history, and their lives are manipulated by events out of their control. What hope can one soldier and one woman hold in times like these?

My book setting: the small girl and the old house

Posted on April 8, 2016 by escapepublishingblog

by Alison Stuart

This is a love story… an enduring love story between a little girl and an old house…

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Once upon a time a little girl went to visit an old moated manor house in an obscure corner of Worcestershire, called Harvington Hall. The house creaked and groaned with a history dating back to the Middle Ages. Secret hiding places called Priest Holes dotted the house in strange corners.

The little girl had never seen anything so old… so mysterious… and she began to imagine a world of people who may have lived in this old house called the Thornton family.

The house became Seven Ways and the cast of imaginary inhabitants lived on with the little girl as she grew up. Over the years she scribbled stories, sketched illustrations, drew family trees, floor plans and breathed life into the imaginary world of the Thorntons and their home.

The story became lost in the bottom of the drawer and forgotten until one day she dislocated her shoulder in a skiing accident and left alone in a ski lodge all by herself she began to write… and in no time at all she had written A BOOK. The little girl had become a writer and the BOOK became By the Sword.

Many years passed and one day the writer mentioned it to her lovely publisher (Escape Publishing) and her publisher thought it was a good story and they had an idea to make three interwoven stories—the Guardians of the Crown series. The rest is history…

I have lived a somewhat peripatetic life. I was born in Kenya and have lived most of my life in Australia. Don’t get me wrong, I consider myself an Australian to my bones (Aussie Oi!), but I get the strangest sensation when I return to a particular corner of England—the Midlands and, more specifically, a band that runs along the southern edges of Birmingham from Worcestershire to Warwickshire. That is where my family origins are strongest and whenever I return there I know I am coming home.

Harvington Hall_Cynthia Todd_1938 My grandfather lived in the little village of Clent in the north of Worcestershire and he knew and loved Worcestershire with a passion. So on one of those rare visits to England in 1969 he took me to Harvington Hall, which had always interested him (this painting by my step-grandmother done in 1938 hangs in my study). Harvington Hall’s history dates back to Saxon times but the house itself is largely a late middle ages construct. In Tudor times it was owned by the Packington family and in the 17th century it fell into the hands of the Throckmortons (Throckmorton = Thornton… stream of consciousness!). The Packingtons and Throckmortons appear to have retained Catholic sympathies. Hence the Priest Holes… My favourite is the one concealed behind a pivoting beam in ‘Dr Dodd’s Library’. In 1969 an exploring chid could actually go into it. It’s in this priest hole that Kate and Nell hide Giles in By the Sword.

I should add that while just about every old house in Worcestershire claims to have sheltered Charles II after the Battle of Worcester, there is no evidence he ever set foot in Harvington Hall—an oversight of history that I corrected in By the Sword.

Of course Seven Ways is not an exact replica of Harvington Hall, but it’s similar enough to be recognisable. These days it is well loved and, although not a National Trust property, it has an active group looking after it, so if you happen to find yourself passing through the village of Chaddesley Corbett on your way to Kidderminster… do drop in. It is worth a visit!

From award-winning author Alison Stuart comes a stirring historical trilogy about soldiers, spies, and the strong women that love them.

Return Home: Stranger in a Familiar Land

Posted on February 22, 2016 by escapepublishingblog

This week’s romance trope is Return Home. Kicking things off is Alison Stuart, who asks: Can you ever really go home?

A stench of animal and human waste and decomposing vegetable matter rose from the Thames and exuded in waves from the dark, narrow streets that led down to the dock. Standing at the rail of the ship, his hands gripping the weathered wood so hard that the knuckles showed white, Daniel breathed in the fetid London air as if it were the finest perfume he had ever smelled.

He had come home.

From Exile’s Return, by Alison Stuart

My husband maintains that in any given fictional story there are only two plots—‘stranger comes to town’ or ‘stranger goes on a journey’. The ‘return home’ trope is a subset of ‘stranger comes to town’, only in this case the stranger returns to a familiar world but finds they no longer fit in either because they have changed or their familiar world is no longer familiar.

It is a trope as old as literature itself. Think of Homer’s Odyssey—Odysseus returning to Ithaca after an absence of 20 years to find his home invaded by strangers, a son he no longer recognises and a wife who is on the point of giving him up for dead. Only his old, blind dog recognises him. In real life it is a common experience of soldiers returning after war, and you will see the trope used time and again in modern films such as Apocalypse Now or the Hurt Locker. Away from the military, think of My Fair Lady when Eliza decides to leave Henry Higgins and return to her old life.

odyssey-homer

I did not begin writing Exile’s Return with the conscious thought that the story muddling around in my head conformed to any sort of trope—that’s not how I write. Only as I signed it off did it occur to me that it is a classic ‘return home’ story.

The reader first meets the hero of Exile’s Return in the first book of the series, By the Sword. Daniel Lovell is eighteen. He is young, angry, and, like any young man, perceives his much older brother, Kit, as having had all the fun. The English Civil War should have ended with the death of Charles I in 1649 but in 1651 his son makes one last bid to regain the throne and this is Daniel’s chance for honour and glory and to avenge the death of his father on the battlefield of Worcester. Despite Kit’s injunction against Daniel following him, the boy disobeys him.

‘This may be my last chance,’ the boy said eagerly.

‘Your last chance for what?’ Giles asked. ‘Getting yourself killed?’

‘Everyone else has had their chance. I’ve always missed out on the fun. I was too young,’ the boy said in a petulant tone as if he had been denied an outing…

‘We’ll fight for the King and for glory and honour,’ he continued, oblivious to the cynical silence of his audience.

Jonathan considered the boy for a moment, seeing himself in the youthful idealism, but wanting desperately to prevent the futile loss of another life.

‘Daniel, war has nothing to do with glory and honour,’ he said and leaned forward, fixing the boy with a hard gaze. ‘Have you ever smelt the stench of death? Have you ever seen a man with his guts hanging out and still living or a man with his face shot away? Have you watched a friend die of gangrene?’

The inevitable happens, the King’s forces are defeated and Daniel finds himself alone, wounded and a prisoner. He doesn’t know if his brother is alive or dead or what his fate will be.

Exile’s Return opens in the last months of 1659. Oliver Cromwell is dead and there is a glimmering of hope of a restoration of the monarchy.

No longer the callow youth who dreamed of glory and honour, Daniel Lovell steps off a boat onto English soil for the first time in eight years. Scarred physically and emotionally, all his frustration has been channelled into one cause—to kill the man he believes responsible for the woes of the Lovell family.

He has been told his beloved brother Kit is dead. He doesn’t know if his mother and sister are still alive or living in the ruins of the old family home. Nothing is as it should be. He is quite literally a stranger in a familiar land. The only thing grounding him is his quest for revenge.

This is where the trope can take you in two different directions…either the stranger must come to terms with the changes in his world or he must move on.

As to how Daniel makes sense of this now unfamiliar world, where nothing is quite as it should be, and reconciles himself to his past, is not for me to say…I am afraid you have to read the book to find that out!

The breath-taking conclusion to Alison Stuart’s English Civil War trilogy introduces a heroine with nothing left to lose and a hero with everything to gain…

To mark the end of the Guardians of the Crown series, you can enter a contest to win some Guardians of the Crown swag. To enter just click HERE.

Feed Your Reader: mid-February releases

Posted on February 15, 2016 by escapepublishingblog

Released February 15…

The breath-taking conclusion to Alison Stuart’s English Civil War trilogy introduces a heroine with nothing left to lose and a hero with everything to gain…

December Recipes – Chili Prawn Masala

Posted on December 10, 2015 by escapepublishingblog

by Alison Stuart

My family’s favourite ‘get together’ food are curry lunches with everyone contributing their favourite dish to the table. I lived the early part of my life in Kenya where there was a large Indian population and one of my earliest memories is the smell of spices in the Indian ‘bazaar’. In more recent years I lived for 3 years in Singapore where I expanded my repertoire of curry recipes through the teaching of a genial Indian lady, Kirti. This is one of Kirti’s recipes and now a firm family favourite.

While it is not exactly ‘seasonal’, I think it would do very nicely on a Christmas table. Apart from the essential ingredient being prawns, its tomato base gives it a gorgeous colour.

KIRTI’S CHILI PRAWN MASALA

(for 3-4 people – I always make double quantities)

Ingredients:

500g unshelled green prawns
2 large onions (cut lengthwise)
2 medium tomatoes (cut into wedges)
1 tsp of tomato paste
½ tsp ginger paste
½ tsp garlic paste
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
¾ tsp turmeric powder
½ to 1 tsp red chilli powder
¾ tsp garam masala powder
Salt to taste
lime or lemon juice to taste
1-2 tblsps coriander leaves (chopped)
3 tblsps vegetable oil

Method:

Deshell and clean prawns, leaving tails intact (I buy the frozen packets of green prawns and defrost them). Wash and pat dry. Marinate with salt and ¼ tsp of turmeric powder.
In a heavy based pan, fry the onions in oil until they change colour. Add the garlic and ginger paste, crushed garlic and the chilli powder.
Add in the salt, turmeric powder, tomatoes and tomato paste and fry well. You may cover the pan and cook on a low flame for 5 mins so that the tomatoes will get soft.
When the masala is aromatic and richly coloured, add in the prawns. Keep on stirring until the prawns are well coated with the onion and tomato mixture.
If mixture is too dry, add water. Stir and then allow the dish to simmer by covering and cooking on a low heat. Cook for around 10 minutes. DO NOT OVERCOOK THE PRAWNS.
Lastly stir in the garam masala powder and turn off flame. Sprinkle with lemon/lime juice and garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with rice or Indian bread.

The second in a tantalising trilogy from award-winning author Alison Stuart, about warriors, the wounds they carry and the women that help them heal.

Feed Your Readers: September New Releases!

Posted on September 8, 2015 by escapepublishingblog

A Cinderella story about mothers and movie stars, mud boots and Manolo Blahniks, and dreams that do come true.

The second in a tantalising trilogy from award-winning author Alison Stuart, about warriors, the wounds they carry and the women that help them heal.

Available Now!

An all-access pass to Sex, Love, and Rock ‘N Roll. Because what happens on tour doesn’t always stay on tour…
KM Golland kicks off Secret Confessions: Backstage with a story about a guy having a bad day, a girl who can help him out, and the naughty things two fans can get up to in an isolated stairwell.

Available 10 September

An all-access pass to Sex, Love, and Rock ‘N Roll. Because what happens on tour doesn’t always stay on tour…

Eden Summers explores just what one fan will do to get Backstage…

An Interview with an Anti-Hero…Kit Lovell from Alison’s Stuart THE KING’S MAN

Posted on September 4, 2015 by escapepublishingblog

You met him in By The Sword; you saw him fall at the Battle of Worcester. It is now 1654, three years since the fateful battle of Worcester. Let’s take a moment to have a chat with Kit Lovell, a friend of Jonathan Thornton’s, where he’s been for the last three years – and if he can ever forgive himself…

AS: It’s 1654, England has been under the rule of Oliver Cromwell for the last three years, and things are looking pretty grim for the supporters of the late Charles Stuart and his son, currently in exile in France. I have with me one of the King’s most loyal supporters, Christopher Lovell.

KL: Please call me Kit, everyone does.

AS: I believe things have been tough for your family since the defeat of the royalist cause, Kit?

KL: They certainly have, Alison. My father and I took the royalist side in the wars of 1642-1648. Father died in the defence of our home and I went into exile. Most of the estate has been sold off and my step mother and my sister live in the ruins of the family home. I send them what money I can make off gambling and …other means, whenever I can, but I’m afraid I’ve not been very much help to my family.

AS: What became of your brother, Daniel, who followed you to the Battle of Worcester?

KL: I don’t wish to talk about Daniel. He was lost at the battle of Worcester in September 1651. Stupid young fool thought he would follow in my footsteps. Not particularly worthy footsteps to follow in! My step mother blames me of course…

AS: So what have you been up to since the battle of Worcester?
KL: Oh, I spent an uncomfortable few months as a prisoner but managed to escape. Since then I’ve drifted between Paris and London, trying to make whatever money I can to keep body and soul together and a decent pair of boots on my feet.

AS: I hear you have something of a reputation with the ladies?
KL: Now don’t believe everything you hear, Alison. It’s true I have managed to land a wealthy widow as a mistress who keeps me in the manner to which I am accustomed and obligingly gives me the time I need for my other occupation.

AS: Which is?
KL: Cards and, oh yes, planning the overthrow of Cromwell’s regime and the restoration of the King.

AS: Any success?
KL: Well, I’m very good at cards but every plot to overthrow Cromwell is foiled by that master of spies, John Thurloe. Cromwell picked a wily man as his Secretary of State. Trouble is it’s hard to know who’s in Thurloe’s pay and who can be trusted these days! Even the most loyal of the King’s men may have good cause to turn coat. Let’s talk about women…that’s my favourite subject…

AS: You told us about your mistress, do you have any other women in your life?
KL: I take it you are referring to that infuriating music teacher, Thamsine Granville? I rue the day I ever saved her life!

AS: What happened?
KL: The stupid girl had just lobbed a piece of rock at the Cromwell’s coach. If she’d been caught…well I shudder to think what would have become of her.

AS: Why would she have done such a thing?
KL: Thamsine is like me, the flotsam of war. Her family also paid a price for supporting the King. In her case she found herself thrown out of her home and living off the streets of London. If I hadn’t saved her that day she would have been forced into prostitution just to keep herself alive. Now I’m stuck with her.

AS: What do you mean?
KL: Look, my life is… complicated. I’ve got a job to do and she’s a distraction I don’t need. I’ve got the girl some work at an inn, what more does she want?

AS: You, perhaps?
KL: I don’t want romantic attachments, Alison. Anyone who gets involved with me is just going to get hurt. I use people for my own ends and she may find she’s no different.

AS: What do you mean you “use people”?
KL: Is that the time? I really must get going. My friends are meeting at the Ship Inn and I’m expected. Perhaps I will see you there?

Read Kit and Thamsine’s story in The King’s Man by Alison Stuart. Available now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo and all good ebook stores (Click HERE for a complete listing)

To celebrate the release of The King’s Man, Alison is running a Rafflecopter contest with the prize of a Kindle e-reader.

To enter click this link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0d923dde5/?

The second in a tantalising trilogy from award-winning author Alison Stuart, about warriors, the wounds they carry and the women that help them heal.

London 1654: Kit Lovell is one of the King’s men, a disillusioned Royalist who passes his time cheating at cards, living off his wealthy and attractive mistress and plotting the death of Oliver Cromwell.

Far from the bored, benevolent rescuer that he seems, Kit plunges Thamsine into his world of espionage and betrayal – a world that has no room for falling in love.

Torn between Thamsine and loyalty to his master and King, Kit’s carefully constructed web of lies begins to unravel. He must make one last desperate gamble – the cost of which might be his life.

Try one of Escape’s Rising Stars of Romance – for Free!

Posted on August 26, 2015 by escapepublishingblog

Apple iBooks Australia is promoting the Rising Stars of Romance for the next two weeks, and many Escape Authors are featured. The best part? You can get the first book in one of their series for free!

Most of these titles are also free on Amazon AU. So check them out!

House on Burra Burra Lane – Jennie Jones

Just ten days after her fresh start in the isolated Snowy Mountains, Samantha Walker trips over a three hundred pound pig and lands in the arms of Dr. Ethan Granger — and the firing line for gossip. It was hardly a ‘date’ but sparks of the sensual kind are difficult to smother in a community of only 87 people. Now there’s a bet running on how long she’ll stay and what she’ll get up to while she’s in town.

Ethan has his own issues — Sammy’s presence in his childhood home brings with it painful recollections of family scandals and a bad boy youth. When the gossip around them heightens, his life is suddenly a deck of cards spread on the table for all to see. Then Sammy’s past catches up with her… and it looks like all bets are off.