JUST READ A GREAT BOOK AND WANTED TO TELL YOU ABOUT IT.

Wanted to share. I finished a book on Monday night. Ric likes us to read the new books, as well as the new submissions. I also read other romance books from other publishers; I think it gives me a more balanced view of where the market is and where BVS is heading. I do like to read our books because they are great reads, but I need to know what I am talking about.

This book came out for pre-release sale Monday, Perilous Love by Jan Selbourne. It will be at a promotional price of $2.99, until the release date 29th March.

I loved reading this book; it had a bit of everything, action, adventure. I loved the characters, the hero and heroine were captivating, and the villains were wonderfully bad. The sex scenes were highly charged and erotic at times, and they were soft and tender at the right moments. The story rocked. I’ve included the Prologue and Chapter One, so you can see what I mean. Enjoy!

Prologue

April, 1914

The beautiful woman with tawny eyes recoiled as he knew she would. Cupping her face with his hands he kissed her softly on her lips.

“This will be your most important assignment, my darling, and your last. You have my word and I will honor it.”

She pushed his hands away, her face clouding with anger and hurt. “You gave your word before the last assignment. You promised me we would live together in Bavaria, and I have done all you have asked.” She shuddered as tears filled her eyes. “It was vile, vile. I told you I would not endure such treatment again.”

“After you brilliantly extracted all I needed to know, that brutal ox was removed from this earth. Now, my dearest, this is extremely important, for, have no doubt, Europe will be at war. We have achieved so much, my darling, but without you I cannot continue to provide the vital information our great nation needs.” His eyes caressed her as he stroked her cheek. “There are two men, and I assure you both are thorough gentlemen and they will be most generous. Your exceptional skills will encourage both men to happily engage in conversations about themselves.”

Her mouth set in a stubborn line. “No. I want to live with you in Bavaria.”

His stomach churned with irritation and tension. It was imperative she agreed. He reached under his desk and held up a slim folder.

“These are the deeds to the home I have purchased. They are yours when you return.” With his other hand he placed a thick leather pouch on the desk. “Here is the information on the gentlemen and my instructions, as well as enough money to purchase whatever you need to enchant them. I shall, of course, transfer more funds when you begin sending your reports.”

“We will go to Bavaria when I return?”

“I will be waiting for you, my darling.”

He almost sagged with relief when her hand reached out and picked up the pouch. Their eyes met and his loins stirred with desire for the only woman he’d known whose body constantly craved sex while her mind stayed focused. He fumbled with the buttons of his trousers.

“Show me again what you do to enchant your gentlemen.”

She kissed him tenderly and he closed his eyes. This would be for her pleasure, rather than some onerous task performed for her country. She loved him, and her magnificent body belonged only to him.

Her mouth and hands knew exactly what to do to please him for, after all, he’d taught her everything. She fondled him, feeling his erection thicken in her hands. Smiling seductively, she shrugged her loose-fitting silk robe to the floor, and stood naked before the man she worshipped with all her being. Pushing him onto the sofa, she straddled him, igniting the passion in his middle-aged body as she knew no one else could. As she rose and fell on his erection she felt him hungrily grip her breasts and she knew his climax was close. She urged him on, feeling her own orgasm begin as he rasped her name over and over. She shuddered as the euphoria consumed her, gripping his shoulders tightly. Not wanting to let him go, she lay on top of his spent body whispering, “Oh God, my darling, I love you; you know I’ll do anything you ask of me, my darling.”

Chapter One

July, 1914

The soft glow from the lamp barely touched the thick drapes and elegant furniture, the ticking clock the only sound as another hour passed. On edge all evening, Gabrielle Bryce’s nerves were stretched to snapping point when she sensed rather than heard the door open. Almost crying with relief she held out her arms as he pushed his night clothes to the floor, then he was in her bed, holding her and inside her. Their climaxes were silent and urgent until, gasping, they fell back onto the pillows. She felt his fingers caress her as he told her he adored her, wanted her, and to hell with their spouses.

Thirty minutes later she felt him move and gripped his hand. “Please, not yet.” He kissed her, pulled on his clothes and opened the door. Casting a furtive glance along the darkened hallway, he hurried back to his room in the guest wing.

Gabrielle Bryce closed her eyes. She’d been in knots all evening worrying he wouldn’t come to her. She’d invited six guests to her country home for her friend and neighbor Jane’s birthday. Inviting Brian meant inviting his overbearing wife, now sleeping in the guest bedchamber next to his.

Tomorrow her guests would enjoy a leisurely morning, tennis in the afternoon, then drinks and dinner. The following day they would take their leave and return to their homes. Her hands moved down to where Brian had been, savoring his lingering maleness. God, she couldn’t wait for next week. It had been Brian’s idea for her to travel to London two days ahead of her children and their governess, and meet under assumed names at a private, discreet hotel. They’d have two glorious days to make luxurious love instead of the hurried, furtive trysts in each other’s homes when their spouses were absent. Then she and her children would depart for their obligatory trip to Brussels to visit the Belgian relatives. Each year she swore it would be the last, and this year she would make sure it was the last. She hated those visits with a passion. Turning her face into the pillow where Brian had been, she drifted into sleep.

***

At one pm the following day, Adrian Bryce nodded to the doorman of Number Two, Whitehall Court, Westminster and walked briskly towards the waiting car. While not handsome in the classical sense, his immaculate attire, bearing and manner was one of wealth, authority and confidence. He was a man who gives orders, never receives them. His dark eyes set in an angular face barely concealed his anger and worry. He knew, along with everyone else with a brain, that war was looming in Europe. Since the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, rumors and intrigue and political double-talk had been flying through Britain and the Continent. Now, because of his family connections in Europe, he’d been ordered to accompany his wife and children on their annual visit to her stifling Belgian relatives who’d never emerged from the Victorian era. It did not matter to the men at Whitehall Court that he and his plain, boring wife of eight years, the mother of his plain, boring children, had lived separate lives for five years. His wife was related to aristocratic families both here and in Europe, and had been introduced to him at a diplomatic reception and, as both were expected to marry well, he thought it a good match at the time. However, their honeymoon proved they had nothing in common except for them to do their duty and produce children. For the last five years they’d rarely spent time together, except for the annual Christmas rituals and the children’s birthdays. He preferred his townhouse in London, she and the children lived at their country home in Kent.

As the car turned in the direction of the small, elegant lodgings in Bruton Street, his mind and body were anticipating what would be waiting for him. Beautiful, voluptuous, passionate, pleasing Maryanne. Christ, he was becoming hard thinking about her. He couldn’t wait to push his head between her magnificent breasts and soak in her body. He’d enjoyed the charms of several women, but never before had he experienced anything like the heat and passion that Maryanne gave. She was expensive, but she was worth every penny he spent on her.

Stepping out of the car, he told the driver not to wait, opened the ornate door and strode up the thickly carpeted staircase and into the beautifully furnished rooms.

“Adrian, my darling.” She put out her hands to him. “You have kept me waiting, you dreadful man.” The beautiful, auburn-haired woman pouted playfully then smiled, highlighting her high cheekbones and tawny eyes. Her husky accent inflamed his lust even more and he pulled her to him. She mouthed “wait”, dropped her loose robe to the floor, and then her warm breath was against his ear.

“Darling, I cannot wait a minute longer.”

Taking his hand, she led him to the adjoining bedroom. Neither wanted foreplay; both desperately wanted release and it came quickly. Collapsing on the pillows, they smiled at each other.

“Why do you keep me waiting?” She tickled his chest. “Your note tells me one time and you arrive at another. Is there another woman you prefer to me?”

“I wouldn’t have the strength,” he chuckled. “I was delayed at a rather important meeting. I’m now obliged to travel to Brussels, my sweet. Will you miss me?”

“Brussels? Why must you go away?” She stroked his cheek. “I will be alone and so hot thinking of you.”

“Family duty. I must accompany my wife to visit her relatives.” He wanted to tell her more. She was intelligent and her conversation refreshingly different from the polished, elegant, brittle women of his class. But he couldn’t; the real reason was classified. He shrugged. “Some of my investments in Belgium and France need my personal attention.”

His fingers ran over her breasts and onto her stomach.

“You have so many investments. You will be away from me forever,” she sulked.

“I know what I’ll be thinking of while I’m away. Tell me where you were born.

France or Belgium?” His fingers went lower.

“On the border; I do not have happy memories. I have told you all this; my Papa was German. He lost all his money and disappeared. My mother struggled to feed and clothe us. Not one of his horrible family cared about us. I hated them all,” she pushed his fingers into her moist folds. “Why are you accompanying your wife? You never accompany her anywhere. Don’t you love me anymore?”

He watched her eyes glaze with pleasure as his fingers pushed deeper into her wetness, stroking and urging. His lips touched her nipples and he felt her hips grinding against him. Then she cried out and clutched at him as her body shuddered with its shattering climax.

“Mon Dieu, Je vous adore,” she whispered, and moved down his body to his painfully swollen organ. Her lips enclosed him, her tongue drove him up and up and he was lost.

God Almighty, she gave as good as she got every time. Slowly opening his eyes, he ran his fingers through her auburn hair, “Not love you? Christ, I can’t get enough of you.”

“Darling, let me get up so we may drink some wine.”

He lay back on the huge pillows and watched her naked body move to the bottle and crystal glasses waiting on the dressing table. She was beautiful.

“Who is so important you must visit in Brussels all of a sudden?” She pouted crossly, and handed a glass to him.

“The Comte de Meyvier, the patriarch of Gabrielle’s Belgian family. She spent a lot of her childhood in Belgium I can’t stand him and I’ve avoided most family occasions for years, but I’m afraid I must go this time,” he savored the wine on his tongue and gestured for her to refill his glass. “He has a lot of influence in banking and commerce.”

***

An hour later, he looked at his watch and at Maryanne. “I must leave, my sweet.”

Tears glistened in her eyes. “Will you think of me?”

“Think of you? I won’t think of anything else. I’ll send you a telegram to inform you when I’m due to return.” He pushed a little packet into her hands. “Don’t even think of looking at another man.”

Adrian walked back towards his club with a small smile on his face. Maryanne had been his mistress for three months and he was besotted with her. She instinctively knew what he wanted as soon as he walked in her door, whether it be passionate sex or to talk over a bottle of wine. His mind drifted back three months to that overcrowded reception for German and French industrialists. He’d turned and bumped into her standing behind him. She’d smiled at his profuse apologies and said she’d forgive him if he fetched her a glass of champagne. The next morning, he sent her a note with a posy of flowers, asking permission to call on her. A week later she was installed in the small but comfortable townhouse. Many times since then she’d asked him if he loved her and he always assured her he did. But he didn’t. He couldn’t remember loving any woman. Obsessed with lust over her, yes, but actually in love? No. And he would never fall into that trap. His satisfied smile disappeared. The meeting today had worried him intensely. Like it or not, he must travel to Brussels immediately.

***

Maryanne waited until she heard the front door close before opening the packet. A diamond and pearl necklace twinkled up at her. She kissed it lightly, murmuring in German how beautiful it was, then sat down and pulled the perfumed notepaper and pen towards her.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I will be having a chat with the author, Jan soon.

I’d love to hear your comments here on the blog, the BVS Facebook page, or my Facebook page. We have a twitter page too and we are always happy to follow people that follow us.