Monday, July 14, 2014

Laurie Alice Eakes ~ A Lady's Honor


It's my pleasure to welcome Laurie Alice Eackes back to Ink Dots. 

“Eakes has a charming way of making her novels come to life without being over the top,” writes Romantic times of  bestselling, award-winning author Laurie Alice Eakes. Since she lay in bed as a child telling herself stories, she has fulfilled her dream of becoming a published author, with a degree in English and French from Asbury University and a master’s degree in writing fiction from Seton Hill University contributing to her career path. Now she has nearly two dozen books in print and more under contract.

After enough moves in the past five years to make U-Haul’s stock rise, she now lives in Houston, Texas with her husband, Himalayan and Exotic felines, and golden retriever and black lab canines. If the carpet is relatively free of animal fur, then she is either frustrated with the current manuscript, or brainstorming another, the only two times she genuinely enjoys housekeeping.

She loves to interact on social media, so do, please follow her at https://facebook.com/authorlauriealiceeakes or on Twitter @LaurieAaEkes

A  Lady’s Honor ~ On the cliffs of 19th-century Cornwall, a spirited, impetuous young woman is torn between the honor of her family and the longing of her heart.
England, 1811
A tarnished reputation. A distant home. A forced engagement to a dangerous man. When Elizabeth Trelawny flees London, she has more than one reason to run. And when her carriage, pursued by her would-be fiancé, is caught in a storm, she quickly accepts the help of a dark stranger. Anything to get back to Cornwall.
But Rowan Curnow is not exactly a stranger. He’s not quite a gentleman either. Class disparity once kept him from courting Elizabeth . . . even if it didn’t keep him from kissing her.
The couple elude their pursuers and reach Bastion Point, Elizabeth’s future inheritance and the one place she calls home. But in the very act of spiriting her to safety, Rowan has jeopardized Elizabeth’s inheritance—if her grandfather ever learns she spent the night, however innocently, in the company of a man.
When smugglers unite the pair in a reckless, flirtatious alliance—an alliance that both challenges the social norms Elizabeth has been raised to revere and rattles Rowan’s fledgling faith in God, Elizabeth must choose between the obedience of a child and the desires of a woman: cling to the safety of her home or follow the man she loves.

Laurie Alice Says...

If I could explore anywhere in the world tomorrow, it would be... the Scottish Highlands. I feel this urge to walk those ancient hills. The call of my ancestors? Or maybe the Welsh hills, the other side of my ancestry. No place too remote or uncivilized for me. 

The best thing I did today is... Hmm. Make dinner from scratch (I don’t know if you all use this term for something not made from a package, but the raw ingredients) for my long-suffering husband. Oh yes, we use the term from scratch. I've just popped an apple crumble in the oven for afternoon tea. I hope my kids enjoy it. :)

A secret pleasure of mine is... If I told, it wouldn’t be a secret, now is it?  In truth, I don’t know if I have secrets like that.

I wish I could relive the day when I... Met my husband. I had flown across the country--the direction that makes days longer--and had taken some medication, so I was pretty loopy and exhausted... Ah, well, he married me anyway.

When I was a child I dreamed I would... Be an author. Seriously. That was my ambition from at least fifth grade—around age 10.

I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but... I am terribly shy. I can be in a crowded room and, if no one talks to me first, go all evening without speaking to anyone. I’m not unfriendly; I just find starting conversations difficult.

Thanks for joining us this week, Laurie Alice. I'm looking forward to chatting with you some more at the RWA conference in San Antonio, next week. 
I'll come find you if you're too shy to find me. :)

*****

To celebrate the release of Laurie Alice's A Lady's Honor, we have a fun giveaway this week. Your choice of one book from her list of e-books. To be in the running tell us what you like to make from scratch for your table. Something sweet like I've done today, or something savoury? 

Good luck in the draw and happy reading,