Blurb: For
an ex-duchess, obeying orders proves difficult. But Melanie has little choice.
Scarred and cheated out of her widow's entitlement, she accepts a post as
housekeeper in remote Gavington House where widowed Lord Jarrow rears his young
daughter. He has secrets, and Mel's curiosity will not let her rest until she
has discovered what it is that occupies both him and his friend Mangerton. Soon
she is embroiled in lying to the Excise men…and dealing with gunshot wounds in
the night.
"Ms. Black consistently writes outside the mold, the
formula, or the whatever-it-is of historical romance. Her style, to include the
sometimes wry, sometimes quotidian, and almost always refreshing take on her
characters and the period she portrays, is a breath of fresh air. Additionally,
the two main characters are ones you might want to spend time with outside the
confines of a Kindle, and the minor characters are equally well-drawn, beyond
the trite and true.
There's a lot of junk out there, folks, so spend
your time and money wisely. This is a book I can recommend without reservation,
and I don't usually like historical romances." From Margaret Chrisawn's review
Excerpt:
Chapter One
Melanie Grey pulled down the veil attached to her
hat and glanced cautiously through the window as the horses slowed and turned
into the inn yard. The door of the grey stone building stood open and a grey
cat, tail curled neatly around its front paws, sat on the windowsill. Oak trees
flourished behind the inn, their leafy branches bowing low over the heavy slate
roof. Smoke from the squat chimney coiled and drifted into the still air.
It was a far cry from the grand hostelries of
southern England she had frequented in the past. So much quieter here; no sign
of frantic stable-boys and grooms hurrying to change the horses before the next
coach arrived. Faded paint curled from the ancient sign of a blackbird above
the inn doorway.
She heard voices. Angry voices. Frowning, she leaned
closer to the coach window. In the dusty space between an abandoned wheelbarrow
and the stable door, a tall youth argued with a child. Something the child said
made him raise his hand and he slapped the boy, who staggered under the blow.
Melanie gasped, one hand rising to her mouth. The
child, no more than eight or nine, did not cower away; instead, crimson with
rage, he recovered his balance and kicked out with a hob-nailed boot that
connected with the youth’s shin bone. Dancing out of reach, he yelled something
that made the older lad snarl and lunge toward him.
Cold with horror, knowing she ought to intervene,
Melanie grabbed the leather strap, released the window and their rough voices
poured into the coach.
‘Come ’ere, you little guttersnipe!’
‘Not bloody likely!’ The child skipped nimbly out of
reach.
‘Stop! Stop at once!’ Because she was afraid, her
voice carried no conviction. The young man ignored her, but the boy saw her and
offered a swift, gap-toothed grin as he backed rapidly away from danger. He
collided with the gentleman leading his horse around the front of Melanie’s
coach.
‘Ouf! Steady, lad!’ The man gripped the child’s
shoulder to keep him upright. ‘What’s amiss here?’ His expression hardened as
the bully, fists clenched, advanced on them both and he pushed the boy behind
him.
Melanie, weak with relief, shuffled back into her
seat. The boy was saved. She need do nothing. Once she would have been out
there in the dust of the inn yard, standing toe-to-toe with the bully and
caring not a jot for his regard. Her accident had scarred more than her face,
she thought ruefully.
‘What’s going on here?’
‘That’s my uncle Bert,’ the boy’s voice cried.
‘He’s your uncle, you say?’ The gentleman’s cultured,
mellow voice sounded faintly amused. Or was it disbelief she could hear in his
warm tone? ‘Then he should protect you rather than beat you.’
Edging forward, Melanie risked another glance at the
scene outside. The grooms, who should have been changing the horses, loitered
in a group by the stable door, grinning.
The child glared at his relative and stuck out his
tongue.
The youth, his face ugly with temper, took a step
towards the boy. ‘That lyin’ young varmint needs a lesson in doing as he’s
told! Come ’ere, Toby Redman, before ah lose me temper and clatter yer ’ead
against t’wall.’
Melanie shuddered.
Dark Whisky Road is available on Amazon Kindle: Here
