Upcoming New Release: One Fine Duke by Lenora Bell

Title: One Fine Duke

Author: Lenora Bell

ISBN: 9780062692504

Price: $7.99

On-Sale Date: 7/23/19

USA Today bestselling author Lenora Bell returns with her third book in the sexy School for Dukes series.

Ready.

Raised in the countryside by her overprotective uncle, Miss Mina Penny’s dream of a triumphant London season is finally here. She determined her perfect match long ago: Rafe Bentley, the wickedest rake of them all. There’s only one very large, very unyielding obstacle: Rafe’s brother Drew, the reclusive Duke of Thorndon.

Aim.

This was supposed to be simple. Duke goes to London. Duke selects suitable bride. Love match? Not a chance. But when Drew meets Mina, she complicates everything. How can a lady armed with such beauty and brains fall for his irresponsible degenerate of a brother? Drew vows to save her from heartbreak and ruin, no matter the cost.

Desire!

But Mina is no damsel in distress. She’s daring, intuitive, passionate…and halfway to melting Drew’s cold heart. And although Mina thought she knew exactly what she wanted, one breathtakingly seductive kiss from Drew changes everything. Now Mina must decide between long-held dreams and dangerous new desires. Could her true destiny lie in the arms of a duke?

Amazon US     Amazon UK

“There he is, Wilhelmina,” Grizzy whispered, staring reverently across the crowded ballroom. “The Duke of Thorndon.”

Holy hell he’s handsome, thought Mina.

Jaw-dropping-on-the-floor handsome. Drool-on-your-lace-fichu handsome.

Distract her from her plan with his brother, handsome.

Her uncle had been right. Thorndon was a fine figure of a man. Objectively speaking, the finest she’d ever beheld.

Tall as a doorframe, with a face hewn from the same granite as the rugged Cornish coastline.

A face rendered seductive by contrasts: sharp cheekbones and curved, sensuous lips. Gleaming ebony hair brushed his collar. His eyes were a light, gold-tinged brown—the only warm thing about him.

He owned this ballroom. Literally. And he owned everyone in it by dint of his oversized presence and the cold, unsmiling arrogance scrawled across his face.

He didn’t even follow the dictates of fashion, preferring plain black attire to the white pantaloons and gaily-colored waistcoats of the other gentlemen.

Why should he follow the dictates of fashion? Everyone should follow him.

“When you’re introduced to Thorndon, pray speak as seldom as possible,” Grizzy whispered. “Attempt to appear biddable and do try to recall my decorum lessons. Remember, no one in London knows anything about you, thank the Lord.”

Mina had seen several polished, elegant young ladies staring at her, nudging each other and whispering. She was an outsider, a usurper, her proper place in the social hierarchy not yet established.

They needn’t worry. She had no designs upon their prize duke. And she was about as unpolished as a debutante could be—as rough as an un-sanded plank. If anyone touched her they might get splinters.

She longed to shed her country skin swiftly and emerge as the sophisticated social butterfly her mother had been. But she knew that it would take time, observation, and experimentation.

Her first flirtatious conversation, first kiss, first taste of brandy, first adventure…it was all ahead of her.

She couldn’t wait to taste it all.

Lenora Bell is a USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of historical romances. A teacher with an MFA in Creative Writing, Lenora has lived and worked on five continents. She currently lives in New Zealand with her carpenter husband and two tiger-striped rescue kitties. She loves hearing from readers! Sign up for her mailing list to hear about new books, sales, and giveaways.

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New Release Spotlight & Guest Post: The Kompromat Kill by Michael Jenkins

The Kompromat Kill by Michael Jenkins

The Kompromat Kill – Geo-Politick, Treachery, and Mystery

The novel draws together an array of themes that range from current day geo-politics, the corridors of power in Whitehall, right through to the gritty espionage scenes that take place in varying geographical locations around the globe immersing the reader in the mystery and treachery of deniable intelligence operations. It was huge fun to plot and write, but what exactly are those golden threads throughout the book?

Well, the golden thread was all about the rising tensions between the USA and Iran and the plications on the western world. The story fuses the geo-politick, espionage, and treachery taking place amongst the mysterious geographic locations and settings that the novel takes place in – it links the inner sanctums of British secret intelligence taking place in London, with the overseas ground operations that Sean (the main character) was undertaking with his team that he brought together. It was great fun to write. But it did require some careful thought on both the story arc and the reader experience. I wanted to be able to take the reader on a journey of how geo-politics of the day has consequences and impact on the main character. An interesting thread of the story for me was how far the Iranians might go to unleash their state sponsored terror arms across the globe, especially when backed into a corner by the US.

The primary antagonist, Nadege, was a great character to build and put into action. She is driven by revenge, and a loyalty to her mother country – trained from a young age to be an assassin and spy. Her story arc is a journey I thoroughly enjoyed writing – a conflicted woman, a capable spy, but continually under the spell of her middle eastern master who has groomed her to inflict a terrorist incident of mammoth proportions and a magnitude way beyond her normal life of bedding and recruiting western politicians, diplomats and scientists.

So, as the story takes its journey, we have two intelligence officers about to collide and clash. Sean is tasked to recruit Nadege, a mission that fills him with dread and fear, never mind him thinking that his handler, Jack, has lost the plot giving him such a mission that Sean feels will surely fail. Sean is dispatched with some style by Jack to Asia Minor to recruit Nadege and the fireworks begin. Sean always feels wary that he is being used as a pawn for bigger things, and he never quite knows what Jack’s deeper motives are – all he knows is that he is expendable as a deniable operator, and he knows that one day, British Intelligence will throw him to the wolves with out a care. His relationship with Jack is always great to write, and there is a deep respect between them, although Jack never quite knows if Sean will tow the line or go off piste, creating never ending nervous anxiety for him – can he keep control of the bigger mission with the maverick nature of Sean?

The story arc begins as one of current day reflection – reflection for the reader on the history of Iran seeking to achieve one of its most potent strategic aims – building a nuclear bomb and becoming a nuclear state. The here and now is brought into sharp focus when the US pull out of the nuclear deal they had agreed with Iran, and so begins the Iranian backlash as they mobilise their sleeper agents and begin a series of assassinations and establish bomb making factories across Europe. Sean doesn’t know it, but he holds the key to gathering intelligence on being able to take these cells down – and Jack puts his head on the block and his career, to achieve just that.

Sean’s forays to achieve his mission take us across Asia Minor, Istanbul, Armenia, France, Suffolk and London. Sean is a man with a love of history and art – and he revels being amongst the wildernesses, mountainscapes, vistas, and people of Asia Minor. But he is now carrying his traumas at their peak. It’s during the mission that he hears news of a dark episode from his past and one that causes him great consternation – and a new mission to kill based on betrayal and revenge. Thus, both he and Nadege are driven by similar motivations and that provides a trajectory for a huge crescendo with the fall out playing a pivotal part of the story.

Of course, the story wouldn’t be the thriller it is, without the conflicts Sean faces. They are bad enough in their own right as he needs to succeed on the mission to deny the evil intent of a number of antagonists, plus he needs to earn the right to take his life back again and rid the price on his head from the Russian intelligence services. To add fuel to fire, the nod of the story back to the cold war, provides an anxiety for Sean that he needs to neuter and put to bed. He needs the odd drink to help him on his way…..

Sean’s route to success and contentment is blocked by many disturbing and hidden facets that he didn’t know were in play. It seems an almost impossible mission. And just as you thought it couldn’t be any worse, along comes a standoff that needs Sean to make the right decision.

Just as all seems lost, Sean senses an opportunity…….

They were preparing for decades – now it’s time to take them down.

When a British Diplomat is kidnapped in the heart of London, followed by a brutal double-assassination in Chelsea, MI5 braces for the threat of deep sleeper cells coming alive.

Hiding overseas with a price on his head, Sean Richardson is tasked to lead a deniable operation to hunt down and recruit an international model and spy. Moving across Asia Minor and Europe, Sean embarks on a dangerous journey tracking an Iranian spy ring who hold the keys to a set of consequences the British Intelligence Services would rather not entertain.

As Sean investigates deeper, he uncovers dark secrets from his past and a complex web of espionage spun from the hand of a global master spy. As he inches closer to the truth, the rules of the game change – and the nerve-wracking fate of many lives sits in his hands…….……..

Tense, absorbing, and insightful, The Kompromat Kill is a gripping thriller leaving
you breathless at the pace of intrigue, cleverly unravelled in a dramatic finale.

Amazon UK      Amazon US 

I started climbing at 13, survived being lost in Snowdonia at 14, nearly drowned at 15, and then joined the Army at 16. Risk and adventure was built into my DNA and I feel very fortunate to have served the majority of my working career as an intelligence officer within Defence Intelligence, and as an explosive ordnance disposal officer and military surveyor within the Corps of Royal Engineers.

I was privileged to serve for twenty-eight years in the British Army as a soldier and officer, rising through the ranks to complete my service as a major. I served across the globe on numerous military operations as well as extensive travel and adventure on many major mountaineering and exploration expeditions that I led or was involved in.

I was awarded the Geographic Medal by the Royal Geographical Society for mountain exploration in 2003 and served on the screening committee of the Mount Everest Foundation charity for many years. It was humbling after so many years of service when I was awarded the MBE for services to counter-terrorism in 2007.

The Failsafe Query is my debut novel, with The Kompromat Kill, my second.  

https://twitter.com/FailsafeQuery

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Giveaway to Win 5 copies of The Kompromat Kill (Open INT)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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