Donna Hatch, author of
the best-selling “Rogue Hearts Series,” is a hopeless romantic and adventurer
at heart, the force that drove her to write and publish seventeen historical
romance titles, to date. She is a multi-award winner, a sought-after workshop
presenter, and juggles multiple volunteer positions as well as her six
children. Also a music lover, she sings and plays the harp, and she loves to
ballroom dance. She and her family recently transplanted from her native
Arizona to the Pacific Northwest where she and her husband of over twenty years
are living proof that there really is a happily ever after.
Connect with the Author here:
"From the publisher
of the USA TODAY bestselling & #1 Amazon bestselling Timeless Romance
Anthology series in Clean & Wholesome Romance, comes the Timeless Romance
Singles line.
THE MATCHMAKING GAME: A
brand new historical romance novella from bestselling author Donna Hatch.
Excerpt :
With a
gesture at a basket tied to the saddle, she said, “I had Cook pack plenty of
those seedcakes Nurse Murray likes so well, as well as lemon tarts for you.”
She made a face. “I’ll be sure to grab one before you devour them all and leave
me with nothing but crumbs.”
He
laughed softly. “Would I do that?”
Her
impish grin filled him with sunshine. “It was your habit.”
With a
flippant shrug, he teased, “It was for your own good. I didn’t want you to get
too fat.”
She
made a gesture to her waistline. “Do I look like I need someone to monitor my
eating habits?”
He made
a perusal of her, letting his gaze travel from her face downward, slowly, but
forgot he was supposed to be teasing her. Instead, he took a really good look.
Fourteen-year-old Rowena had been as curvy as a blade of grass.
Twenty-three-year old Rowena, with her figure accentuated by her fitted riding
habit—so much more flattering than the normal, high-waisted gowns of the day’s
fashions—had the graceful, generous curves of a Greek statue of Aphrodite. A
new tightness formed inside his chest.
Rowena
looked at him as if she’d never seen him before. Surprise, and something almost
smug, deepened the gray of her eyes. She put a hand on a hip. “Like what you
see, Captain?”
He
tugged at a suddenly strangling cravat and cleared his throat. “Forgive me.
You’ve changed.”
“How
kind of you to notice,” she said dryly. “Give your major a leg up?”
With a
smile at her reference to the honorary rank he’d given her, Evan dismounted. He
laced his fingers together so she could mount her horse. A pert smile came his
way before she placed her left foot in his cupped hands. She put one hand on
his shoulder to steady herself as he boosted her up. Her soft body brushed his
arm and chest. Her scent, something soft and feminine he could not name,
tingled his senses. Mere inches away, her smooth cheek and moist lips taunted
him. His chest squeezed, and his knees wobbled. Awareness of her, of the
desirable woman she had become, rendered him immobile. She glanced at him, one
brow raised, and a half smile curving those luscious lips. A burning energy
formed in the middle of his stomach and shot outward like sunbursts.
She
parted those lips and spoke. “Am I too heavy for a big, strong man like you?”
“Er,
no. Of course not.” He cleared his throat again and boosted her up with a bit
too much force.
Despite
his aggressive boost, she placed her right leg over the leg rest of the
sidesaddle and found her balance. She settled the long, heavy skirts of her
riding habit around her, while he helped position her left foot in the stirrup.
With
the reins in one hand and her riding crop in the other, she eyed him with an
expectant lift to her brows. “Shall we?”
He
shook his head, stopped staring, and mounted OtoƱo. It must be all Winnie’s
talk about courting Rowena that had him so rattled. He couldn’t entertain such
an idea. He’d made a vow to Joseph and all but promised himself to Cynthia.
Besides, as an additional benefit, Cynthia’s dowry could restore the family
fortune without having to sell off some of its most precious assets and break
up generations of holdings. His path was already paved. Honor and duty dictated
his next move.
Download
your copy of the complete Sweet Regency Romance novella, The Matchmaking Game,
exclusively on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/ebook/dp/B01MUC3MAZ
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