It’s time for another guest blog post about the creation of The Haunting of Castle Keyvnor collection. Today, my guest is Elizabeth Essex, whose story is included in Vexed.
Don’t miss the other posts in our “behind the scenes” series:
Ava Stone
Claire Delacroix
and more to come!
It all began with an email from Deb Marlowe, whom I like to think of as my personal Fairy Godmother in Romancelandia—she has been a trusted mentor from the very beginning of my writing career. I even named the hero of my debut novel, The Pursuit of Pleasure, Marlowe in her honor!
“Would you like to be part of a collection of Regency novellas set along the coast of Cornwall?” she asked. “They would all be set in and around a haunted castle—”
I didn’t even hear the rest. My mind was already off and running along the fog-shrouded coast and windy clifftop paths, looking for strong-jawed seafarers and shifty-eyed smugglers, thinking up all sorts of nefarious and adventurous goings-on.
Oh, yes, please!
The Haunting of Castle Keyvnor is unlike anything I’d ever done, with twelve inter-related, but entirely different spooky stories. I’d never written a ghost story before, but Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea feels more like a homecoming than anything new, because I was able to write what I love best—tales of the sea, with heroic sea captains and the irrepressible young women who love them.
In Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea that irrepressible, shyly adventurous young woman is Nessa Teague, the vicar’s forgotten middle daughter. She has pined for Captain Lord Harry Beck and worshiped him from afar for twelve long years. But when he comes back to Bocka Morrow with his family for the reading of his uncle’s will, Nessa decides that there is nothing—absolutely nothing—she won’t do to make him her one and only true love. Even if it means resorting to forbidden magic!
Elizabeth Essex is the award-winning author of critically acclaimed historical romance. Her three Brides Series (Dartmouth Brides, Reckless Brides and her new Highland Brides) have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award and Seal of Excellence Award, and RWA’s prestigious RITA Award. The Reckless Brides Series has also made Top-Ten lists from Romantic Times, The Romance Reviews and Affaire de Coeur Magazine, and Desert Isle Keeper status at All About Romance. Her fifth book, A BREATH OF SCANDAL, was awarded Best Historical in the Reader’s Crown 2013.
When not rereading Jane Austen, mucking about in her garden, or simply messing about with boats, Elizabeth can be always be found with her laptop, making up stories about heroes and heroines who live far more exciting lives than she. It wasn’t always so. Long before she ever set pen to paper, Elizabeth graduated from Hollins College with a BA in Classics and Art History, and then earned her MA in Nautical Archaeology from Texas A&M University. While she loved the life of an underwater archaeologist, she has found her true calling writing lush, lyrical historical romance full of passion, daring and adventure.
Elizabeth lives in Texas with her husband, the Indispensable Mr. Essex, and her active and exuberant family in an old house filled to the brim with books.
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Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea by Elizabeth Essex
Nessa Teague has never believed in the magic that swirls around her village like a fine Cornish mist. She’s never had need of it. Until the day Lord Harry Beck returns to Bocka Morrow and Nessa realizes there is nothing, including the blackest of magic, she won’t do to have him for her own.
Vexed goes on sale September 20. Pre-order your copy at these online portals:
Deborah Cooke & Her Books 