April showers bring May flowers … and they also bring the release of the second book in the Montana Romance series!

So without further ado, I give you Fool for Love.

Eric Quinlan was born a cowboy and a rancher and intends to die a cowboy and a rancher. But when his ranch is in danger of failing, he travels to the wilds of London looking for a business deal to save it. What he finds there are stuffed shirts, odd manners, and a damsel in distress.

Amelia Elphick’s life is over. She may have been born a lady, but when she finds herself jilted by a lover who leaves her pregnant and refuses to marry her, she seems destined for a life on the streets. When her employer’s rough but handsome houseguest, Eric, offers to rescue her from ruin, she has no choice but to say yes, even if it means moving halfway around the world.

But Amelia finds herself saying yes to more than a ticket west. What starts with a harmless lie tangles Amelia and Eric in a web of desire and deceit that exposes passions and turns their worlds upside-down. Eric believes Amelia holds the key to saving his beloved ranch and giving him the family he always wanted, but can he save her from the demons of her past without losing himself in the process?

People do foolish things when they’re in love….

The eBook of Fool for Love will be available on April 20th, with the print version to come shortly thereafter. But to get you started, here’s a taste…

Fool for Love: Chapter One

The ballroom of Mr. Reginald Hamilton’s townhouse was awash in bright, swirling colors. The lamps were all lit, bathing the room in a warm, sparkling glow. Musicians played a lively waltz. The scents of candles, perfume, and bodies was rich as half of London society danced their cares away. But above it all, the room buzzed with the sound of lords and ladies chattering and gossiping.

Amelia Elphick wedged her way through it all, heart pounding terror in her throat, one hand clutching the not-so subtle curve of her stomach. Her simple cotton skirt and blouse marked her as an interloper even as she struggled to keep her head high.

“Who is that?” she caught one of the fine ladies murmuring.

“Dear Lord, that’s Sir Robert deLaurent’s daughter!” a second woman gasped.

Amelia blanched, pushing on through the crush. It was too late to turn back.

“Look at the state of her!” the first woman said.

“I heard she’s the governess here now,” the second woman informed her with a haughty sniff.

“That’s not what I meant,” the first replied. “Look at the state of her.”

Amelia dropped her trembling hand from her belly. She was well aware that she was past the point where her sins would be able to go unnoticed. But this was her last chance. Nick was at this ball.

She spotted him several yards away, deep in conversation with her employer, Mr. Hamilton. Nicholas Hayworth stood tall and handsome, the aristocratic lines of his face sharp in the lamplight. The rich blue of his eyes and black of his hair drew the attention of every woman in the room, just as it had drawn her in. She knew that face so well, knew every contour of his nimble body. Even now, with shame threatening like a thundercloud, she wanted to embrace that body, to melt into him and have him tell her everything would be alright.
A man cut into her path as she surged towards Nick, causing her to trip over her feet and his. She flailed for balance and knocked a glass out of one of a fine guest’s hands. The man caught her, but the sound of shattering glass and a lady shrieking broke through the hum of gossip. All eyes snapped to her.

“Watch it there, Miss Amelia.”

Amelia raised wary eyes to the man who had both tripped and caught her. Her heart sank. Of all the Hamilton’s guests, she had bumbled into Mr. Quinlan, the American that had been staying in the house for the last few months. The hush that had followed her spill burst into a full roar of whispers.

“You alright?” Mr. Quinlan asked again as he brushed imaginary dirty off of her skirt.

All Amelia could manage was a tight nod. “I’m fine, thank you.”

It was a lie. She swallowed and turned her eyes to Nick. He had seen her stumble. Everyone had seen her stumble. Nick stared at her, his head tilted with aloof grace. She had to do this now, before it was too late. She rushed through the gap that had formed in the crowd as all eyes bored into her.

“Nick,” she kept her voice low as she reached him, “Nick I must speak with you. It is a matter of utmost urgency.”

She reached out to him. Nick backed away. His eyes darted through the crowd that now watched him as much as her.

“I have nothing to say to you, Miss Elphick,” he hissed, face growing red.

“Please, Nick!” Amelia entreated. “You know … you know what it’s come to.” She smoothed her hand over the bump of her belly, outlining it for all to see.

Nick sniffed and backed further away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

To his side, Reginald Hamilton’s back stiffened. His eyes went round with shock and disgust. “Miss Elphick!” he exclaimed in a whisper. “What is the meaning of this?”

A flash of boldness stiffened Amelia’s back and her resolve. “Ask Mr. Hayworth,” she said. “It is his doing.”

Nick blanched, glance shooting wildly around to the eavesdropping guests. “How dare you!”

“No, Nick, how dare you!” Her attempt at bravado withered as the horror of the situation spilled over her. “I have your child growing inside of me and you know it. You have known it all along, yet you turn your back on me.”

“Miss Elphick,” Mr. Hamilton was red with rage, “Have I have entrusted the care of my precious little girls to a harlot?”
Before Amelia could summon a defense, Nick muttered, “Like mother, like daughter.”

The pitch of whispered gossip around her spun with such fevered intensity that Amelia thought she might swoon. Ripples of shock spread through the room as London’s finest stood on tip-toes to see the tragic farce unfold.

Amelia forced herself to meet Nick’s eyes with what was left of her pride. “I loved you. We were to be married … before.”

“Yes, well that clearly isn’t the case now.” The sneer that bit at Nick’s beautiful face was too much to bear. Every promise he had made her shattered.

“My family is not what it once was,” she made one last attempt to stave off ruin, “but you and I have been friends for too long to break over such things. I thought … I thought you still cared for me.”

“I care for certain parts of you,” Nick replied, his eyes flickering down.

“Mr. Hayworth,” Mr. Hamilton warned, “my house has seen enough scandal for one night. Pray do not make it double.”

“Forgive me, sir.” Nick bowed low to his host. “It was not my wish to disrupt your magnificent gathering. That, I believe, was the lady’s intent.” His eyes pierced Amelia with such malevolence that her heart withered.

“I have no wish to make our private emergencies public,” Amelia countered.

“Our emergencies?” Nick balked. “I think not.”

Amelia’s chest constricted in panic. “You must help me, Nick,” she implored in barely more than a whisper. “You must-”

“There is nothing I must do,” he clipped his reply. “You have ruined yourself, now face the consequences.”

Amelia gulped, tears now stinging her eyes as the weight of her sins piled down on her. She stole a desperate glance around the room. Men and women who had smiled and welcomed her at her coming-out just three short years ago now turned up her noses at her as if she was diseased, all because she couldn’t control her instincts.

Her cheeks burned scarlet in humiliation. With one last deep breath she laid her life at Nick’s feet.

“So you have no intention of fulfilling your responsibility towards….” She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t even think that Nick’s child was inside of her. “After all we-”

“Enough, Miss Elphick!” Mr. Hamilton snapped. “Go to your room! We will discuss this in the morning.”

Amelia snapped back, blinking rapidly. She had heard that tone of voice, seen the same sharp glower from Mr. Hamilton when one of his daughters had disobeyed. She took another step back, lowering her head. It was no use resisting. Her great gamble had been a failure. Her life was over.

She turned to flee, but where she had hoped to find a quick escape, she was met by a wall of faces. Women and men of refinement and breeding, their jewels as bright as the scorn in their eyes, stared at her as though she was a guttersnipe loose amongst her betters. The turned up lips, the pointed glares at the bulge of her stomach, the whispering behind hands and fans struck Amelia like a blow.

It took all of her effort to put one foot in front of the other. Her whole body shook as she walked through the crowded ballroom. The musicians had stopped playing, the dancers had stopped dancing. Her heart had stopped beating. She couldn’t lift her head or raise her eyes to meet any of them. With all the awkward humiliation of her fall, she shuffled towards the door.

“Of course you’d expect that from Sophia deLaurent’s daughter,” someone murmured to her left.

“She always did give herself airs,” another voice chased her, “but ones true nature always shows through the gloss, doesn’t it.”

“Such a pity,” a male voice chuckled to her right. “I wonder how much she’ll charge once she’s taken her place on the market.”

Amelia burst into a sob, clapping a hand to her mouth. It was over. She didn’t care who she crashed into or whose toes she stepped on as she fled the room at a run.

She passed Mr. Quinlan, who was red with fury. It was no more than she deserved. She was furious with herself for the folly that had cast her out of the life she’d tried to resurrect for herself. But there was no hiding from the truth of who one really was at heart.

Haven’t read the first book in the Montana Romance series, Our Little Secrets? Well what are you waiting for? Pick up a copy of the novel InD’Tale Magazine gave 4.5 stars (and 5 steamy kettles) and a crowned heart in their March issue and called “A totally unique and refreshing bit of fun!”

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0087KI4T4

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0087KI4T4

Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/167282

B&N – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/our-little-secrets-merry-farmer/1111649170?ean=2940033267514