Spotlight feature of Jade Lee’s One Rogue at a Time + a giveaway

Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome Jade Lee to the blog today to help her celebrate here newest release  ONE ROGUE AT A TIME.

USA Today bestselling author Jade Lee has been crafting love stories since she first picked up a set of paper dolls. Ballgowns and rakish lords caught her attention early (thank you Georgette Heyer), and her fascination with the Regency began. An author of more than 40 romance novels and winner of dozens of reader awards, she brings laughter into the sexy nights of England’s elite. Quirky characters and sexy banter are her hallmarks. Find out more at her website www.JadeLeeAuthor.com, or check out her wild contemporary half at www.KathyLyons.com.

A Word From Jade Lee: Our heroine Bluebell (nickname) wants to go to London to meet her father for the first time. Bram Hallowsby needs a horse so he can escape this blasted northern province. And now the bartering begins…

Learn more about Jade and her books here:  Website| Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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Now let us take a look at ONE ROGUE AT A TIME ( Rakes and Rogues, #2)

Pubdate: December 1^st, 2015

Amazon | Apple | BAM | B&N | Chapters | Indiebound

USA Today bestselling author Jade Lee continues her saucy, vibrant Rakes and Rogues Regency romance series with a high-society outsider who may have met his match…

A brown-eyed bastard with nothing to lose

As the illegitimate son of a duke, Bramwell Wesley Hallowsby grew up tough, on the fringes of society, learning to hide his hurt and cynicism with charm and Town polish. He’s carved out a place for himself as a mercenary, serving as bodyguard and general strong arm for the peerage. Bram has nothing to lose… and he’s exactly what Maybelle “Bluebell” Ballenger needs.

Meets his match in a blue-eyed beauty with everything to hide

Maybelle needs a mentor to teach her to speak and act like a lady, so she can claim the place in society she was denied. As they team up to take on the ton, Bram knows she’s hiding something even from him. Despite the deception he sees behind those sparkling blue eyes, Bram wants to believe that Maybelle’s love is no lie. But it seems fate has served him up his just desserts in the likes of this determined damsel.

Excerpt: 

“That’s a sorry looking nag.”

She knew he was baiting her. Knew that her own estimation put Mina in such a sad category as well. But she felt the wound nonetheless.

“She’s a truer horse than you’ll ever know. Mina and I’ve been friends since she was a foal. She may not look so fine as your London-bred prancers, but she’ll get you where you need to go, be satisfied with the grasses at her feet, and be ready to move in the morning.”

“Nursed by your very own hand…” he said, his eyebrows raised as he called her bluff.

“Not nursed. She came to us much older, though I played with her as a child.”

“Of course you did—”

“And I feed her my right fine carrots. By hand.” Then just to prove the point, she clucked her tongue, and Mina trotted over, mouth eager for the carrot she pulled out of her pocket.

“The carriage needs two horses—”

“You can switch the hitch for one.”

He grimaced, and she knew she had him. He was thinking of the expense and the bother. But if he’d a mind to leave the carriage behind, he’d have given up by now. Which meant he was here for at least a few days while the thing got repaired.

“You should add a coat of paint, you know,” she said as if she’d just thought of it. “It will sell better that way.”

“And what would you know about selling carriages?” he grumbled.

“Not a thing,” she lied. After all, selling was selling. It was all about finding out what people really wanted and giving it to them, even if it was simple compliments and attention.

Which brought her thoughts to him. What exactly did he want? Coin, obviously, but that was the only thing. With his looks, he wasn’t in need of attention. So what did he want that she could sell him? Did he want to feel important?

She turned so that she looked more fully at him, but her profile was still in his view. Her mother said her figure was her best asset, along with her smile. And so she left it on display as spoke.

“May I ask your advice, sir?”

His brows went up in surprise and wariness entered his body. “Of course.”

She flashed her dimple, but kept her expression anxious. It wasn’t hard to do. She was worried. “Lady Linsel said she couldn’t understand me. That I speak—”

“Clarissa makes sure to insult the prettiest woman in the room.”

“Oh sir! Surely she couldn’t mean—”

“I’ll think about the horse, Miss Bluebell,” he interrupted as he took a step back. Clearly, he did not appreciate false modesty. “Good day.” He gave her a shallow bow.

No! She couldn’t lose him now. They hadn’t reached a bargain yet. “But sir, please tell me! Please…” She swallowed. He’d put on his hat. “Teach me.”

He frowned at her. “What?”

“I want t’ speak like a proper lady.”

His head tilted as he studied her. “It’s not how you speak, it’s what you say.”

“No, sir, that’s not true,” she shot back. “I am always respectful, always sweet.”

“All the best courtesans are.”

She blinked, shocked to her core. Had he just called her a whore? An expensive one, but still a woman who spread her legs for money. And said in such a matter-of-fact way that she was shocked. As if it were a foregone conclusion of little import. It was that last that truly bothered her. Most men who insulted her looked for a reaction. He had said it as calmly as if he named a carrot or a tree. And in that moment of frozen surprise, she lost the upper hand.

“You know,” he said as he touched her chin, slowly closing her mouth, “there was a time I would have been completely fooled by you, taken in like all the other peasants in your life. But I am not, Miss Bluebell.” He stepped closer to her, letting his height dwarf her into insignificance. “You are a woman who gets everything she wants. A grasping tart in the most beautiful package I have ever seen.”

Never had anyone complimented and insulted her in the same sentence. And so she reacted purely from the place of a wounded animal.

She punched him square in the jaw, following with another to his gut.