Title: Lady Chandler’s Sister: Book 3 of the Twins’ Trilogy
Author: Regina Jeffers
Genre: Regency Romance; Historical Fiction; Romantic Suspense
Book Blurb:
Sir Alexander Chandler knows his place in the world. As the head of one of the divisions of the Home Office, he has his hand on the nation’s pulse. However, a carriage accident on a deserted Scottish road six months earlier has Sir Alexander questioning his every choice. He has no memory of what happened before he woke up in an Edinburgh hospital, and the unknown frightens him more than any enemy he ever met on a field of battle. One thing is for certain: He knows he did not marry Miss Alana Pottinger’s sister in an “over the anvil” type of ceremony in Scotland.
Miss Alana Pottinger has come to London, with Sir Alexander’s son in tow, to claim the life the baronet promised the boy when he married Sorcha, some eighteen months prior. She understands his responsibilities to King and Crown, but this particular fiery, Scottish miss refuses to permit Sir Alexander to deny his duty to his son. Nothing will keep her from securing the child’s future as heir to the baronetcy and restoring Sir Alexander’s memory of the love he shared with Sorcha: Nothing, that is, except the beginning of the Rockite Rebellion in Ireland and the kidnapping of said child for nefarious reasons.
2019 International Book Award Finalist in Historical Romance
Excerpt:
Ye swore an oath!”
“We’ll use what arms there be!”
“Plant the Tree of Liberty in our hearths!”
Then everything below went still as the sound of guns and stone shot striking the side of the barn filled the night air. A buzz of hushed voices warned several below to move away from the doors.
“Be we surrounded?”
“I mean to fight me way out.”
“Have ye a gun?”
“Are we to be sheep to a slaughter house?”
It was time for Alexander’s appearance. He did not think Sorcha’s plan would work, but, nevertheless, he rose up where all could view him. “No. No, yer not!” he shouted with as much authority as he could muster, while attempting to copy an Irish accent, especially the hard “r’s.”
Below, everyone froze in place. At least a half dozen men turned guns upon him.
He purposely kept his hands away from his body, indicating he was not armed.
“And who be you?” one of the men eyeing Alexander through the sights of his gun demanded.
“The real Captain Rock.”
A roar of murmured objections, filled with curses and laughter followed, but Alexander remained in the shadows, keeping his features hidden from those below. Despite the cynicism he encountered, he willed his body to stand strong and unyielding, using a certain amount of intimidation to his favor.
“The real Captain Rock be among us?” came the response.
“That I be,” he said solemnly.
“Then ye be a ghost. The first Captain Rock be chased into the wilderness. Be he dead?”
“Kint say. Perhaps,” Alexander responded. A hitch of excitement filled him. “But Captain Rock not be the man below, for I’ve been Captain Rock for three generations.” He could view a number of people look off to the left, where he assumed Kavanaugh stood.
“Impossible!”
“Not to those in Donegal,” he protested. “They still speak of Captain Rock.”
“The pirate?” another asked. “I knows of him!”
“Thirty,” Remmington whispered.
Alexander made a point not to look toward his friend. Instead, he announced to the group below. “Only the real Captain Rock can protect ye from those without.”
“How be that?” came the challenge.
“By commanding when and if the English attack.” He raised his right hand.“Five,” Remmington hissed.
“As such.” Alexander snapped his fingers.
Outside, another barrage peppered the side of the barn. Thankfully, he had given Thorson enough time to reload an abandoned cannon with gunpowder and stone shot to provide the appearance of British military officers shooting at the barn. The ruse was a weak one, but it served its purpose when, less than a minute later, Devon Thorson burst through the back door of the barn to shout, “Those stationed at Dublin Castle be in the aria. They’ve carptured those who attacked Kavanaugh’s estate this evening. Before they’ve garthered in force you need to be away! Now!” With that, Thorson turned and rushed off into the night. Alexander had made arrangements for the man to escort Sorcha, Maude, and Greer to England if something extraordinary occurred during this ruse.
“Rem, ready the shot,” he hissed from the corner of his mouth when he noted movement on the raised platform. His friend laid out on the loft’s floor and leveled a long gun in anticipation.
Before Alexander could blink a second time, chaos broke below. A loud thump against the side of the barn set everyone in motion at once. Men shoved their way to the door Thorson had purposely left open, trampling over those who did not move fast enough. It was then that Kavanaugh broke for the door, and Remmington fired, hitting the wall an inch from Kavanaugh’s nose.Again, those remaining in the barn froze. Alexander smiled. “The man who means to impersonate me stays or I will again turn the British soldiers upon you all.” A shuffling of feet indicated many distanced themselves from Kavanaugh. It was then he spotted Bradley edging his way toward the door.
“Mr. Bradley stays also,” he commanded.
“What if we refuse?” The same man who had earlier accused Alexander of being a ghost spoke for those around him.
Alexander grinned. “Obviously, as my hands are still in the air, I am not alone. Despite the most I’ve done is snap my fingers, I still wield great power. I assure you if my men wished you dead, you’d be kissing St. Peter at this very moment.My companion didn’t miss killing yer pretend Captain Rock. The shot was purposeful. Next time, the bullet’ll be placed between the good captain’s eyes.” He paused for dramatic effect. “Doest ye stay and die or choose to fight another day?”
A man close to the door shoved Bradley toward the barn’s center, and Alexander leaned back to keep his features in shadow. “A third man recently traveled with Bradley, another Irishman, but younger, perhaps twenty,” he said in exact tones.
A shuffling of feet sent another staggering toward where Bradley waited, a glower rested upon his former secretary’s face.
“Thank you, gentlemen. I’ll take it from here. Blessings to ye all.”He remained in place while the others quickly filed out the door, closing it behind them. Alexander waited until he heard a second thump against the side of the barn before he motioned Malvern to descend the ladder. Once the marquess held a gun on the three remaining in the barn, Alexander followed. He glanced upward to indicate where to look. “Time for the show, Remmington,” he called once he had taken aim on their prisoners.
He noted that Kavanaugh blanched pale at the mention of the earl’s name.
Instead of climbing down the ladder, Remmington stood to his full height and grinned down upon them before jumping to the dirt floor. Landing agilely on his feet, the earl leveled the long gun upon the baron. “You did not think to evade me again, did you?”
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Why is your featured book a must-read?
Read this book for the romance—for the twists and turns you will not see coming—and for a historic perspective of the early struggles between England and Ireland, beginning with the Rockite Rebellion.
Giveaway:
Enter to win an e-book bundle of all 17 books featured in the Booklovers' Pot 'O Gold Event:
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Runs March 13 – 17, 2020.
Winner will be drawn on March 23, 2020.
Author Biography:
Regina Jeffers, an award-winning author of historical cozy mysteries, Austenesque sequels and retellings, as well as Regency era romances, has worn many hats over her lifetime: daughter, student, military brat, wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, tax preparer, journalist, choreographer, Broadway dancer, theatre director, history buff, grant writer, media literacy consultant, and author. Living outside of Charlotte, NC, Jeffers writes novels that take the ordinary and adds a bit of mayhem, while mastering tension in her own life with a bit of gardening and the exuberance of her “grand joys.”
Social Media Links:
Every Woman Dreams: https://reginajeffers.wordpress.com
Website: http://www.rjeffers.com
Austen Authors: http://austenauthors.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reginajeffers
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Regina-Jeffers/e/B008G0UI0I/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1479079637&sr=8-1Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/jeffers0306/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darcy4ever/
You Tube Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzgjdUigkkU