All Things Returned Blog Tour

I'm taking the latest installment of  Anton and Lenora on tour!The lovely Krista Ames at Bridging the Gap has extended the tour, so there'll be lots of opportunities to join me at some of the stops along the way for fun and prizes.

April 14-25

 14  Melissa Keir 

 15  A Passion for Romance

 16  Fiction Witches  

 17  Mary's Cup of Tea  

 18  Harlie's Books  

 18  Roast and Toast party

 19  Gemini Girls
 20  Brooke Blogs 

 21  Romancing the Pen Today
 21  Margo Bond Collins  

 22  Room with Books 

 23  Reviews by Crystal
 24  London Scribbles
 25  Fall into Reading Reviews 

Another Peek at All Things Returned.

Here's another brief excerpt from All Things Returned the third part of the Anton and Lenora historical series

On that last night before his sailing, as we lay together, Anton kissed the place above my navel and moved his lips to the valley between my breasts. “You are my whole heart.” His voice was as tender as his kisses. “I would sooner die than let harm come to you.”

I ran my hands through his dark hair, made unruly by our lovemaking, and he came to me with such care, whispering his love into my ear. And then passion got the better of us and the urgency of love overtook us like a wave.

I awoke in the darkness to find the sheets on Anton’s side of our bed cool. I called his name, softly at first then more stridently when I got no answer. Getting no answer still, I pulled on my  dressing gown and went to the window. There, I spied him at the back gate of our garden.

Moonlight shone upon him, and had I not known him to be flesh and blood I would have counted him as an apparition, standing there staring out at the sea.

I went to him, the grass wet and cool against the soles of my bare feet. In a moment, he knew my presence though I had not uttered a word. He held out his hand to me and together we stood watching the moon reflect on the silent water below us.

You can find out more about the novella here

And you can buy a copy here

On a side note, the second part of this series, To the Wind, has been nominated for a RONE as best historical novella. Reader participation counts! And you can vote HERE

#SneakPeekSunday--All Things Returned releases tomorrow

It's nearly here! Tomorrow is the day All Things Returned, part three of the Anton and Lenora historical series, comes out to meet the world.
I hope you'll enjoy it and it's companions, Sweet Lenora and To the Wind.

Meantime, here's a sneak preview of the beginning of the story--

Anton pulled off his cravat for the second time. “Foolish speck of clothing—like to choke the life out of a man.”

He fumbled with it until I took the scrap of silk and tied it around his neck, sealing my action with a kiss. “You should try wearing a corset.”

“I think we should pull off all of these confounded garments and run about like babes in Eden,” he said, nuzzling my neck.

I dearly would have liked to take his suggestion. “We have to attend. For our own sakes and for Edward’s.”

For a more extensive peak, please Click Here

There's more on All Things Returned Here

And more on Anton and Lenora Here

#BookTrailer: All Things Returned

All Things Returned, part three of the Anton and Lenora series, comes out on April 7.
Here's the brand new trailer for the book--

Anton and Lenora Boudreaux have settled into an idyllic cottage overlooking San Francisco Bay. They’ve left trouble behind them and found happily ever after—family, friends, and a business that has every expectation of being successful. Until the Willow sails into port.

The captain of Willow, Jacob Lowell, is privy to secrets that threaten Lenora’s reputation and Anton’s life. When Anton sails to Seattle on a business enterprise, Jacob tries to blackmail Lenora, threatening to expose all he knows and forcing her to make decisions that will test her love of Anton and her life with him.

Cover Reveal! All Things Returned

Cover artist Petra Kay has done it again. I'm still sighing happily with this, the cover for All Things Returned, the third part of Anton and Lenora, which is coming out on April 7. The cover sums up the relationship of Anton and Lenora, and the clipper ships are perfect.

All Things Returned

San Francisco

Anton and Lenora Boudreaux have settled into an idyllic cottage overlooking San Francisco Bay. They’ve left trouble behind them and found happily ever after—family, friends, and a business that has every expectation of being successful. Until the Willow sails into port.

The captain of Willow, Jacob Lowell, is privy to secrets that threaten Lenora’s reputation and Anton’s life. When Anton sails to Seattle on a business enterprise, Jacob tries to blackmail Lenora, threatening to expose all he knows and forcing her to make decisions that will test her love of Anton and her life with him.

All Things Returned is the third book in the Anton and Lenora historical novella series. 

Five Stars for Sweet Lenora!

Sweet Lenora has received a five star rating from Reader's Favorite!

"With love at first sight, forbidden love, adventures on the ocean and in distant lands, unexpected events, characters that are unforgettable, the reader will enjoy a riveting story. The love story is one that piques the interest of most novel readers. Most readers can only fantasize about this kind of relationship and are thus drawn to it. Ute Carbone has skillfully captured readers' hearts, souls and minds through her emotional story telling."
Read the entire review HERE

Lenora Brewer’s family owns the largest shipyard in Salem Massachusetts and Lenora, as her father’s only living child, is given free rein to learn the business. When Lenora’s father is killed in a carriage accident, her relatives arrange a marriage to a wealthy investor who is rumored to have beaten his first wife to death.

            Lenora devises a scheme to stowaway on The Sweet Lenora, a ship named for her.  

The last thing Anton Boudreaux needs is a naïve young woman stowing away on his ship. The dark and daring captain has secrets of his own to protect.

            When Sweet Lenora encounters a dangerous storm off the coast of Brazil, Lenora and Anton find in each other the courage and tenacity to brave the elements. As their love for one another grows it becomes a force to be reckoned with—and it will be sorely tested.

Buy a copy of Sweet Lenora at :

Amazon

Champagne Books

BookStrand

ARe

RONE nominees

The RONE awards are given by InDTale magazine each year for stories that are Indie or small-press published. This year, I'm honored to have two of my books nominated

Afterglow was nominated for best contemporary

India Othmar isn’t having a great year. Her husband of thirty-one years has left her for their son’s ex-girlfriend. Her grown children have moved home. Her best friend Eva seems determined to set her up with every oddball in their small Massachusetts town. And her most significant relationship these days is with Cherry Garcia.

But India is more resilient than she thinks. And though it will take a broken arm, a lawn littered with engine parts, some creative uses for shoes, and a scandalous love affair of her own, she learns, much to her surprise, that her life hasn’t ended with her marriage.

The book can be purchased at:

Champagne Books

Amazon: 

ARE: 

To the Wind was nominated for best historical novella

The Journey Continues

In this sequel to Sweet Lenora, Anton and Lenora sail away from trouble in Rio de Janeiro only to encounter new problems. With only half a crew and a first mate that is hated and feared, they venture to San Francisco plagued by threats, mutiny,and illness. As they arrive at their destination, the ghosts of the past come back to haunt them and may prove to be the greatest menace of all. At each turn, the love they have forged is tested. Will it prevail?   

The book can be purchased at:

Amazon

Champagne Books

Kobo

#Write-a-thin check in

It's week two of the month long write a thin at the Women's Fiction Writers association. The concept is to chose one goal for the month. Mine was to finish a first draft of novella #4 of the Anton and Lenora series, or at least a good portion of the novella.
It was slow going this week. I'm taking Anton and Novella to China this time around and I had to do a bit more research on Shanghai in 1854.
Word wise--I'm up around 6k and we're just about ready for the Willow to weigh anchor.

Here's a bit (unedited) of what I've written--

“Aye, you should. Yet as you have just now admitted, he is not up to the task. You have put yourself and our child in some danger.”

            She turned serious then, her anger and mine both melted with the merriment, and she put her hands to my face and ran her fingers over my brow. “I have faith, Anton. In you and in myself. We have been through a good deal. We have prevailed. And I love you all the more for our trials.”

            I took her into my arms. “It does not due to tempt fate, mon amie.”

            She put her lips to mine. “Faith,” she said before kissing me softly.

             “To lose you would be to lose my life. I could not bear it, Lenora. I could not.”

            “I know, love.” She kissed my brow and ran her lips over my cheek, until my mouth caught hers again.

            Faith, hers and mine, would have to sustain us.

#Write-A-Thin First Week Update

Last week, I blogged about joining in the Women Fiction Writer's Association Write-A-Thin, a month long write-and-edit- a- thon where each writer sets a single goal. My goal is to finish a draft of Willow, the fourth novella of the Anton and Lenora series. A lofty goal, and if I get a good chunk of it done I'll be content.
In the interest of keeping myself on track, I plan on posting weekly updates of my Write-A-Thin progress.
I've had a pretty good week. It's been cold and I'm still eating Christmas Cookies--which is great for a sugar high! I've got lots else to do, playing catch-up after the holidays, so I'm pleased to have 4,000 words  on Willow. At novella length, I'm aiming for 20-30 K when it's finished. The content will determine the length.
In Willow, Anton and Lenora sail to Shanghai. Here's a snippet of what I've written this week--Still new and uncut, from the opening scene of Willow:

One look at Lenora’s countenance on that bright lit morn let me know I had made the right decision. We stood in the garden of our little cottage and though we were far from the goings on at the square, Lenora’s skin was pale as milk and I wondered if the ordeal—both the memory of what had happened and what was about to transpire-- made her ill.

“You should not trouble yourself so.” I took her by the hand and hoped she could feel the sincerity of my words.

“I wish there were some other way to bring him to justice.” She looked out over the bay. The view had always brought solace to my heart and I hoped it would do the same for her. She was a daughter of the sea, the daughter of a ship builder. We held a love of the sea in common, Lenora and I.

“We will sail away soon.” I kissed her fingers and she put an arm around my waist. “We will put this misfortune behind us.”

Saturday#Snippets To the Wind

The To the Wind blog tour finished up yesterday, but I wanted to give everyone one more look. Will they burn the Sweet Lenora? Anton worries they will.

My head and my heart had been filled with Lenora, yet I knew well how the disease had ravaged the crew. They were a rough lot, true, but no one deserved to die at the hands of such devilment as the yellow jack. “I know how bad things were aboard.” I cast my eyes to the door behind which Lenora slept.

“Then you must be aware such disease can linger. You suspect Rio, so you told me yourself, as the origin of your misery. Look how far you have carried the miasma. The ship is contaminated.”

“If it can but be saved. I’ve heard they use carbolic and lime. I would scrub down every inch of her if she could be spared burning. She is new, it is her maiden voyage, and we’ve yet to take her to the Orient. She would have broken the record from New England to SanFrancisco if not for foul weather off the Brazil coast. How I wish we’d never stopped in Rio port, yet we had no choice. We came from that port with but half a crew and still made ’Frisco in two months time. Two months, sir. It is a testament to the ship’s fine build and to her value.”

“There will be other ships,” was all Mather had to answer to my plea.

“Nay,” I said. “Her maker has died. There may never be another like her.” With that, I took my leave and went back into the room where my Lenora slept.

Click below for more on-

To the Wind

The Anton and Lenora Series

Saturday #Snippets To the Wind

The To the Wind Blog Tour starts on Monday. To the Wind is part two of the Anton and Lenora series. It's a historical novella, set on a clipper ship in 1852. Anton Boudreaux, the ship's captain, tells the story. Here's the opening.

 The world is a wicked place, full of lies and deceit. A man must stand strong against the force of evil, lest he perish. So I thought before Lenora came into my life. She was an angel, appearing in a moment’s time upon the deck of Sweet Lenora, the ship named for her. The ship I commanded. She seemed so fragile a creature I knew I must protect her from the world. And protect her I vowed to do for all my days on this earth. I had locked my heart away in a box of iron, but Lenora broke the seal and set my poor heart free. 

We had gone through much in our brief days together, Lenora and I. As we ran from the trouble that pursued us from Rio port, my heart flew against the wind and I believed again in love. I had my Lenora beside me and where, but a few hours before, I dwelt in the shadow of a hangman’s noose, I was free now to gaze into her green-as-emerald eyes and run my fingers through her long, red-gold hair.

Yet even as Sweet Lenora heeled into the current, trouble had not departed us in its entirety. We left a dead man in our wake. We sailed with but half a crew, a motley lot of rag-tag ruffians assembled  from the few willing to sail on with me. 

Those among them I trusted could be counted on a single hand. Rupert, my cook, was one. A New Orleans man I had known since I was a child, he had served on the Carmen Anne, where I had been first mate. Maurice, the cabin boy, was another. He was but a child of ten, on his first voyage and the son of a good friend to my mother. I promised her to keep him in my care. And there was my heart, Lenora, to whom I entrusted my very life.

To the Wind is the second novella in the Anton and Lenora Series. 
Learn more about the series here 
You can purchase the novella at 
CBG
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

To the Wind Blog Tour

 

The sails are unfurling! To the Wind is going on tour.

Anton and Lenora will be visiting these blogs:

December 23

It’s All About the Romance

December 24

Blue Rose Romance

Rose Caceres

December 26

Dawn’s Reading Nook

December 30

Harlie’s Books

January 2

Book Reviews by Xunaira J.

January 3

3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too!