Title: The Dangers of Loving a Rogue
Author: Jeri Black
Genre: Historical Romance
Book Blurb:
If not for deplorable timing, Celia Breckenridge might have avoided a pirate attack. She’s grateful for her rescuer, truly, however the stubborn man is sailing in the wrong direction! Most alarming still? The silver-eyed rogue is devilishly attractive and Celia must keep reminding herself she’s betrothed to another.
Jackson Beaumont had a plan: sail to the Caribbean; find a hidden cache of emeralds; return to society a wealthy man. Alas, he arrives in Charles Town with marauding pirates, a disgruntled heiress, and a hurricane at his heels. Rescuing the lady from pirates posed little challenge - allowing her to return to her betrothed is proving far more difficult.
But Jack won’t return to England without his fortune, and when it comes to another man’s bride, he’s not above a little plundering himself.
Excerpt:
She tried to search his eyes, but he looked towards the bed. Two swords, a pistol, and a musket lay atop the embroidered coverlet.
Celia picked up a rapier, lighter and thinner than the cutlass lying alongside it. She swished it through the air experimentally. Jack batted the blade away when she pointed it at him. “I know how to use a sword. The crew on the Roundabout taught me when I sailed to Bermuda.”
His brow wrinkled. “Why?”
“I was bored.”
He fought an obvious eye roll as he scratched his back against the bedpost. “Skill takes years to master and common sailors are notoriously inept with a blade.”
The man’s arrogance rankled. She straightened her spine and assumed an en guard stance. “I learned enough to best my instructor in a mock duel.”
Up winged a mocking brow. “Rather refines my point, does it not?”
Oh, what she wouldn’t give for a rope and a razor right now. She’d tie him to a chair and shave that infuriating brow off. “I was quite good,” she insisted. “A quick learner.” She brandished the rapier before her, advancing and retreating in measured half steps. Once she had the rhythm of it, she increased her pace to three steps up, three steps back, swishing the blade in small figure eights with each advance. Odd, but the thing grew heavier. Her arm beginning to tell.
Jack regarded her display of swordsmanship dubiously. “I remain unconvinced.”
“I am simply out of practice. Allow me a few moments and you shall see how easily I could—” Her feet caught and tangled in the rug, tripping her in the midst of a lunge. The momentum shot her forward and the blade straight into Jack.
A rending tear followed.
She landed hard on her knees, the rapier embedded in the mattress, her hand still wrapped around the hilt.
Eyes wide, face frozen, Jack stared. He might well have stopped breathing.
Celia scrambled to her feet, ignoring the pain in her abused knees.
“Jack! Dear Lord, I’ve stabbed you!” She groped at his waist and felt along his side where the sword had passed through. Although his shirt had a neat hole sliced through it, she failed to find any blood. “Where are you hurt?”
Frantic, she searched his face. ’Twas as if he’d turned to stone. He failed to even blink.
Panicked now, she spread the hole in his shirt wide and stuck her face in to peer inside—and discovered smooth, taut, perfect skin. Confused, she tugged his shirt from his breeches to have a better look.
He snapped out of his stupor and shackled her wrists. “Damn and blast, woman! This is the fifth shirt you’ve ruined. What, by all that is holy, do you have against my shirts?”
Relief nearly caused her to faint. If he could yell at her, he could not be hurt too badly. She yanked her hands free. “Do shut up about the shirts, Jack. Did I wound you or not?”
“Aye,” he answered pithily. “You wounded my shirt.”
She crossed her arms and tapped her foot in agitation. “I should apologize for my clumsiness, but clearly you do not deserve it.”
“Oh?” He held the garment out and pointed to the hole. “I suppose you find it perfectly acceptable to stab a man’s clothes.”
Miffed, she pulled the rapier out of the mattress and gingerly laid it back on the bed. “A pity I missed your thick hide.”
He tugged his shirt over his head and tossed it to her as he crossed to his wardrobe.
“There. That should give you something to do while you await my presence this evening. See if you can wield a needle and thread without killing it.”
She caught the shirt and her breath along with it at the sight of his naked torso. At how those huge muscles bunched and relaxed with fluid grace.
Monstrously unfair. To be pummeled witless with lust over such a beast. He turned with a fresh shirt in his hands, and she gasped. God help her. She had to clutch the bedpost to keep from throwing herself at him.
Jack’s head shot up. His intense gray gaze focused on her.
Taking a deep breath, she offered up her best glare, hoping the heat in her cheeks would be construed as anger. “What I shall do while awaiting your august presence is rip this,” she shook the discarded shirt at him, “into shreds.”
He sighed heavily and donned his shirt and waistcoat. “I fear I must reassess your competency with a sword. ’Tis likely you’d run a man or two through in your clumsiness. A rather crude technique but if it accomplishes the goal, well then…” He shrugged.
Celia stuck her nose in the air and stomped out of the room.
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What makes your featured book a must-read?
Our feisty heroine and swashbuckling hero survive an action-packed adventure of pirate attacks, hurricanes, a treasure hunt, and the lady’s intended. And when our hero larks off and leaves his love behind? Well then, our heroine must resort to drastic measures to bring her man up to scratch.
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $15 Amazon gift card:
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Runs June 6 – June 12, 2023.
Winner will be drawn on June 13, 2023.
Author Biography:
A love of history and happily-ever-afters lured Jeri Black from reading historical romances to writing her own. She earned a B.A. in Finance after working several years as a bartender. Spending countless nights with a variety of humanity has given her a unique perspective on the attitudes and exploits between the opposite sexes. Her lively, witty characters are a result. Jeri writes historical and contemporary romance and is a 2017 Golden Heart Finalist. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her husband and forty-year-old box turtle rescue named Klide—who likes strawberries, chasing bunny rabbits, and chewing on her shoes.
Social Media Links:
FaceBook: authorjeriblack
Instagram: jeriblackauthor
Twitter: @jeri_black