Tags
Avon Books, cait side, Excerpt, Giveaway, Historical Romance, How to Best a Marquess, Raven Club Series, Tina Gabrielle
About the Book
Lady Ellie Swift learned at an early age that men were more trouble than they’re worth. Now she’s all grown up and is the toast of society. Only she has secret ambitions to run her brother’s infamous gambling establishment – The Raven Club. Everything is progressing as planned until the man who broke her heart, Hugh Vere, the Marquess of Deveril, wants to take over the club. Dark, dominant, and strikingly handsome, Hugh’s reputation for sin precedes him, and suddenly, her dreams and her heart are in jeopardy.
As rakish as Hugh appears, he has a sharp mind for business. No one stands in the way of what he wants, not even the fiery-haired beauty from his past. From the moment he sees her again sparks fly, but he knows better than to fall for the lady. According to Ellie, the battle lines have been drawn and Hugh doesn’t stand a chance. But the nearly combustible chemistry between them is hard to ignore, and soon the club is not the only prize he wants…
Chapter One
April 1825
The Raven Club
An Undisclosed Location in London
Grunts echoed off the paneled walls.
The sickening sounds of flesh hitting flesh.
Ellie Swift’s breath stalled in her throat. From the look of things, the boxing match would soon be over. In the center of the large room was a square ring roped off with stakes anchored to the hardwood floor at each corner. In the ring, the two opponents circled each other, rocking back and forth with nimble footwork. Both men were bare-chested and bare-fisted. One fighter was huge, a towering hulk of a man – a well-known pugilist aptly called Bear. The other’s back was to her, smooth muscle and bronzed skin glistening beneath the blazing candlelight of the chandeliers. He was tall, just over six feet, but standing in the same ring with Bear seemed to diminish his size.
The crowd cheered, and one could feel the vibrant energy among the gathered spectators as wagers were swiftly made and money exchanged hands. As far as Ellie could discern, most of the wagers were in favor of Bear.
“Who is he?” Ellie strained to see the mysterious fighter’s face from her vantage in the crowd. Her fingers itched to remove her feathered mask to get a better look. But her mask shielded her identity. All the women who attended the Raven Club wore them, especially the wives of wealthy aristocrats who frequented the casino or had a preference for the boxing matches in the back room adjoining the gaming floor. She was drawn to the fights even though her brother, the owner of the club, did not always approve.
She watched, enthralled, as sweat glistened on their brows and backs and ran into the band of their trousers. She’d observed matches before and had seen men’s naked chests. She’d roamed the gambling floor and seen her fair share of the pugilists in the boxing room. At twenty-three, she was five years past her first Season, and she’d heard many whispers that she was on her way to becoming a spinster. The whispers hadn’t bothered her. She’d much rather spend time in her brother’s club than at a ball. Still, despite attending more matches than any young lady should have, she found herself studying the unknown fighter.
“He’s a blue blood,” a man with a gold front tooth, standing to her right, said.
Nobility? Ellie shifted, but she still couldn’t make out his face through the throng of people. Something was familiar about the way he moved – powerful, purposeful…elegant, but she couldn’t place him. He had dark hair and broad shoulders. Not uncommon.
“A marquess who likes adventure. Bad that he chose Bear to challenge,” a bearded man to her left said.
Bad indeed.
Yet, as she watched, the man’s footwork was as swift as his fists. He ducked and wove and avoided blows that would surely have felled any man if Bear’s fists had made contact.
The nagging in the back of her mind continued. What was it about him?
Determined to find out, Ellie wove through the crowd to get closer to the ring. Just as she reached the front, a gasp and shout arose among the crowd. Bear’s uppercut connected with his opponent’s chin. The dark-haired man’s head whipped back, and he staggered, then stumbled forward to catch himself on the ropes.
For a heart-stopping moment, he was inches from her face.
Recognition jolted through her.
Along with a deep-seated dread and a maddening pounding of her heart. The vibrant green of his eyes, the divot in his chin, the full lips, and –
“A kiss from a lovely lady for luck,” he said, breathing heavily.
Before she could blink, those perfect lips pressed against hers. Hot. Swift. Over in seconds, he turned to face his opponent.
Ellie, on the other hand, was not as quick to recover.
Oh my God.
It was the devil returned.
Her only consolation was that he didn’t recognize her with her mask.
She turned and fled into the refuge of the casino.
If you plan to purchase this book, we would be grateful if you used our links. This helps us maintain the blog and costs you nothing! Thank you for your support!
The Wickedcoolflight Crew
Tour Wide Giveaway
To celebrate the release of HOW TO BEST A MARQUESS by Tina Gabrielle, we’re giving away a $25 Amazon gift card to one lucky winner!
GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS: Open internationally. One winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of Entangled Publishing. Giveaway ends 6/14/2019 @ 11:59pm EST.
About Tina Gabrielle
TINA GABRIELLE, an Amazon best-selling author, is an attorney and former mechanical engineer whose love of reading for pleasure helped her get through years of academia. She’s the author of adventurous Regency romances In The Barrister’s Bed, In The Barrister’s Chambers, Lady Of Scandal, and A Perfect Scandal from Kensington Books. “A Spy Unmasked” is the first book in her new Regency romance series, “In The Crown’s Secret Service,” from Entangled Publishing. “At The Spy’s Pleasure” will be available in May 2015. Tina’s books have been Barnes & Noble top picks, and her first book, Lady Of Scandal, was nominated as best first historical by RomanticTimes Book Reviews.
Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads|Amazon
This promotion is brought to you by Pure Textuality PR.
Thank you for hosting me and featuring “How to Best a Marquess!”
My pleasure!