GHOSTS OF NEW ENGLAND: SKULLERY BAY ~ Book 4: JILLY'S DILEMMA by Author Nancy Fraser

 

Welcome back to Notes From a Romantic's Heart. Today we're featuring the fourth and final book in the Ghosts of New England: Skullery Bay anthology.

About Book #4

Jilly’s Dilemma (Present Day)

Best Selling & Award-Winning Author Nancy Fraser

She’s the new owner of Fairwinds, a flaky artist who talks to ghosts. Repeatedly.

He’s the staid, young professor there to document Fairwinds' history.

Their love will make you believe in the legend.

When Jillian Barclay inherits the family estate of Fairwinds from her father, it comes with the provision that she must live there for a minimum of three years before she can sell the property. Jilly grew up at Fairwinds, so she’s more than aware of the strange occurrences, the presence of the ghosts of Captain John Jacob Wilder and Lillian Wilder—the infamous 18th century pirate and his beloved wife. As a matter of fact, Jilly talks to them on a regular basis.

A renowned sculptor, Jilly reluctantly relocates her studio to Fairwinds and sets out to honor her father’s wishes. There’s a second provision in her father’s will that has her more concerned than having to put up with the home’s extremely active spirits.

Nicholas Martin, PhD is about to become Jilly’s other problem. An associate professor of history, Nicholas has been granted five days’ access to Fairwinds to study the home’s history as part of research project for Harvard University’s history museum.

Expecting a stodgy old professor, when Jilly meets the professor, she’s wishing he was there to model for her rather than study her home. Younger, and far sexier, than she’d pictured, she’s immediately drawn to the handsome professor.

Nicholas has spent the previous three weeks studying five other homes on the list of historical New England homes, all of which were inhabited by octogenarian, cat-loving spinsters. He has no reason to believe Fairwinds will be any different. The young woman with the wild red curls and penchant for talking to spirits is the last thing he expected, and the one thing his usually buttoned-up personality needs. Desperately.

Will opposites truly attract? Or is it just the unusual effects of the ghostly carnal encounters that drives them into one another’s arms? And when they can no longer resist their desires, will they be able to find a working compromise to his professional career and her legal commitments?

Enjoy an Exclusive Excerpt

Jillian sank back in the brocade-covered chair and drew her cup of tea to her lips, hopefully hiding her amusement behind the rising steam. Professor Nicholas—but not Nick—Martin’s bright blue gaze flared appreciatively when she’d offered to tell him everything there was to know about Fairwinds.

“Would you mind if I recorded our conversation?”

“I suppose it would be okay.”

She waited while he took a worn notebook from his jacket pocket and clicked the top of his gold-plated ink pen. Sliding the tips of his fingers across the screen of his cell, he pulled up the voice recorder and hit the start button before laying the device on the table between them.

“Day one, Thursday, one-thirty.” Nodding in her direction, he asked, “How about we start from the beginning?”

Drawing a deep breath, she told him, “That would be 1737, when Captain John Jacob Wilder won Fairwinds and the hand of his lady love, Lillian Grace Langdon, in a game of chance.”

“A game of chance?” he repeated, scribbling frantically in his notebook.

“Yes. There was no love lost between Captain Jake and Everett Langdon, a wealthy merchant and Lily’s father. As a matter of fact, Jake and his twin brother Aiden often set sail on Jake’s ship, The Phantom, with the express intention of raiding one of Mister Langdon’s many vessels.”

“Fascinating,” he mumbled, adding to his notes.

“Jake and Aiden perished on the ship during a violent storm. Aiden left behind a wife, Primrose Gimbly Wilder, and a young daughter named Pearl. No more than a few months after the shipwreck, Lily died of a broken heart.”

He made another note and then raised his head to meet her gaze. “In the bits and pieces of history I’ve read, former residents and employees have said Fairwinds is haunted by the ghosts of Captain Wilder and his wife. As the owner of Fairwinds, how do you deal with these fanciful tales?”

Go ahead, tell him. He won’t believe you anyway. Nobody ever does until they witness it for themselves.

“Very carefully, and with a smile,” she chose instead.

Meet the Author

NANCY FRASER—Jumping Across Romance Genres with Gleeful Abandon—is an Amazon Top 100 and Award-Winning author who can’t seem to decide which romance genre suits her best. So, she writes them all.

When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five wonderful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.

 

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Bookbub

Amazon Author Page ~ Goodreads ~ YouTube ~ Newsletter

 

The entire Ghosts of New England: Skullery Bay anthology is on sale for

99 cents at your Favorite Retailer.

~ ~ ~

Thank you so much for spending this week with the authors of Ghosts of New England: Skullery Bay. We've enjoyed having you. Please come back next week for more authors, books, and even a few giveaways!

Nancy

GHOSTS OF NEW ENGLAND: SKULLERY BAY ~ Book 3: THE BOOTLEGGER'S DAUGHTER by Author Nancy Fraser

 

Welcome back to Notes From a Romantic's Heart. Today we're featuring the third book in the Ghosts of New England: Skullery Bay anthology.

About Book #3

The Bootlegger’s Daughter (1924)

Best Selling & Award Winning Author, Nancy Fraser

She’s the daughter of one of the FBI’s most wanted criminals.

He’s her bodyguard, and not at all what he seems.

Their love will return dignity to the legend.

Mallory McGuire is the daughter of one of New England’s most notorious criminals. She’s also the legal owner of Fairwinds, the estate left to her by her late mother after Helene McGuire’s fall from the cliffs overlooking Skullery Bay.

The many underground tunnels and hidden passages in the stately Fairwinds hide even more secrets than it does illegal activity. Then there’s also the unusual noises, the strange occurrences within the house itself, that set everyone on edge.

Harry Carter is a disgraced ex-Pinkerton detective, on the lam from his former employer for embezzlement. Now working for Malcolm McGuire, he’s charged with being Mallory’s bodyguard to protect her from her father’s many enemies. Harry’s as hard-edged as they come, and not the least bit pleased with his latest assignment from the boss.

As straight-forward as his unwanted protection assignment should be, things get complicated when he learns the truth about Mallory. She’s definitely not what he thought—who he thought—she was. Now that he knows, protecting her has taken on a whole new meaning. And along with his increased protection has come an awareness, a desire that he does his best to deny.

When his desire becomes their desire, will things heat up to the point of no return? And when she discovers he’s hiding secrets even bigger than her own, will she be able to forgive him and accept the possibility of a happily-ever-after?

Enjoy an Exclusive Excerpt

Mallory McGuire sat in the huge leather chair in Mr. Miller’s austere office, dwarfed by not only the oversized furniture but by the gaggle of men surrounding her—the solicitor, her father, his two largest bodyguards, and a younger man she believed to be Mr. Miller’s son-in-law and law partner, Joshua Blake.

She didn’t want to be here, yet the attorney for her late mother’s estate had insisted.

Mallory’s heart ached from missing her beloved mother, dead barely more than a month in a freakish accident, a fall from the icy cliffs at Fairwinds.

Gossip had swirled around the accident and she’d had a difficult time containing her grief, much less handling the horrible thought that her mother had become the most recent victim of the Fairwinds’ curse.

As much as her mother loved her ancestral home, Mallory knew the stories couldn’t be true. The supposed ghosts of past ancestors wouldn’t have taken someone so gentle and kind as her mama to an untimely death.

Miller took his seat behind the desk and motioned for the others to sit as well. “Let’s get this meeting started.” Nodding in her direction, he added, “Miss Mallory, I know you did not want to attend this reading, but it was one of your mother’s last wishes that you be here. As her lawyer for nearly thirty years, I was obligated to honor her request.”

Mallory shifted in her seat, pressed the flat of her hand over her plain black jumper and, with trembling fingers, pushed errant strands of her curly red hair behind her ear. “I’m fine, sir, and most grateful for your adherence to my mother’s request.”

The solicitor gave a nod of his head and began, “We are here today to unseal and review the Last Will and Testament of Helene Elizabeth Bradford McGuire. In the matter of her bank accounts, as outlined in Appendix A...”

Mr. Miller passed a copy of the appendix to both her father and her. She gave it a cursory glance, as he continued to speak. His words ran together, something about money in foreign accounts, investments made by family as far back as the early 1800s. With each new revelation, her father’s demeanor changed—flowing from something akin to disbelief to outright glee. And then deflated just as quickly once the solicitor reviewed the myriad of stipulations surrounding the disposition of the accounts.

Had he truly not known the extent of her mother’s wealth? And, how would her father deal with receiving only a small portion of her money?

“As to the matter of Fairwinds, the family estate...”

Mallory raised her head, her attention focused solely on the solicitor’s next words.

“...the home, and all of its contents, as listed in Appendix B, is hereby bequeathed to Miss Mallory Lillian McGuire, to be held in trust for her until she reaches either her twenty-fifth birthday or enters into a marriage of her own choice, whichever shall come first.”

Meet the Author

NANCY FRASER—Jumping Across Romance Genres with Gleeful Abandon—is an Amazon Top 100 and Award-Winning author who can’t seem to decide which romance genre suits her best. So, she writes them all.

When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five wonderful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.

 

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Bookbub

Amazon Author Page ~ Goodreads ~ YouTube ~ Newsletter

 

The entire Ghosts of New England: Skullery Bay anthology is on sale for

99 cents at your Favorite Retailer.

~ ~ ~

Come back tomorrow and enjoy a sneak peek at the third book in the anthology, Jilly's Dilemma by Author Nancy Fraser.

Nancy

GHOSTS OF NEW ENGLAND: SKULLERY BAY ~ Book 2: CAST TO THE WIND AND WAVES by Author Kathryn Hills

Welcome back to Notes From a Romantic's Heart. Today we're featuring the second book in the Ghosts of New England: Skullery Bay anthology.

About Book #2

Cast to the Wind and Waves (1837)

Best Selling and Award-Winning Author Kathryn Hills

She’s the heiress determined to restore Fairwinds to its former glory.

He’s the solicitor working as a caretaker because of the deadly curse.

Their love will rebuild the legend.

A storm is coming to Fairwinds after lifetimes of emptiness. Can love survive the dark secrets revealed there?

A house of mystery and shadows awaits Lucy Ellison on the windswept coast of New England. Neglected and all but forgotten, Fairwinds is the centuries-old estate of her ancestors. Locals know the legend and stay away. Whispered stories of vengeful ghosts and pirate curses. Lucy never imagined she’d experience them firsthand, until her brother banishes her there following the death of their father. But the resident spirits are the least of her worries. Her brother’s schemes include marrying her off to a stranger. The question is why?

Nathaniel Bradford arrives at Fairwinds to discover the latest victim on the rocks below the sea cliffs. Unless Nate agrees to step into the dead man’s shoes, his mother will be the sole caretaker of the vast estate. His law firm in Boston can spare him for a few weeks, but how can he find a replacement for a man who supposedly left by way of a deadly curse? The unexpected arrival of the beautiful heiress, Lucy Ellison, complicates everything. She’s from the dubious family that continues to upend Nate’s life. Yet their mutual attraction is as swift and powerful as the waves surrounding them.

Deceptions, and dangers, adventure, and intrigue cast two lovers into the legend of Fairwinds. Can their bond weather the storm? Or will unknown forces tear them apart?

Enjoy an Exclusive Excerpt

Nathaniel walked silently through the dark halls of Fairwinds, heading for the library. The place his mother said Lucy waited for him.

Memories of her beauty the night before still unsettled him. Long hair undone and falling about her shoulders like a shiny brown curtain. Her naked form, barely visible beneath her nightgown. She’d been a silhouette of curves against the backdrop of the fire’s glow. The globes of her breasts, swaying as she adamantly plead her case that Fairwinds was haunted.

Aye, the house is haunted. But dare I speak the truth I’ve come to know?

Fear that Lucy Ellison would leave Fairwinds like all the rest, once she learned the extent of the hauntings, left a pit in Nate’s stomach. Whether he liked it or not, he was powerfully attracted to the new lady of the house.

Approaching the library door, he eased it open to peer inside. Lucy sat before the large, ornate fireplace in one of the old wing-back chairs. She wore a simple grey dress, her hair pinned up and tamed again. Reserved and distant. Somber in her loss. About her shoulders was his mother’s favorite, thick shawl to ward off the November chill. Pip slumbered in her lap alongside a discarded book.

“Penny for your thoughts,” he murmured upon entering.

Lucy startled, yet her gaze warmed when connecting with his.

“I’m sorry I frightened you.”

“You didn’t.” She gave him a weary smile. “I was but lost in my thoughts.”

“I see Pip is off duty tonight,” he teased.

“Yes, he hasn’t found a single thing to interest him in the house, proving my theory. Fairwinds has a ghost problem, not a rodent problem.

Nate sat beside her in a twin chair, and he held his cold hands out to the fire. “My mum said you’ve been in here for hours. And that you didn’t want dinner.”

“I’m not hungry.” She glanced around them. “I am, though, quite fond of this part of the house. I imagine it was most impressive when these carved, mahogany bookshelves were filled with volumes.”

“Like the library at my university. They had a sitting room with a fireplace, tucked away, so it was often empty. It was my favorite place to work.”

Lucy gave him an admiring smile, as she stroked the sleepy cat. Nate watched her graceful fingers, transfixed as they glided through Pip’s striped fur.

“Thank you for seeing Mistress Grimes safely to town.”

“She’s onboard a coach bound for Boston already,” he explained. “Didn’t waste a second looking back.”

“Did she say where she would go after Mystic Point? Would she stay in Boston, for example?” Lucy asked, sounding genuinely concerned for the woman, who was often cruel to her.

“She’s not one for sharing, especially with the hired help. Didn’t utter a word the entire way there. Except to threaten my life should I let anything happen to you.”

Meet the Author

KATHRYN HILLS—The rich history and many mysteries of New England are the perfect backdrop for many of Kathryn’s books. Winding roads lined by old stone walls, forgotten cemeteries, grand homes with shadowy pasts...all sparks for her imagination. Whether it’s a quaint seaside town or the vibrant city of Boston, it’s easy for this “hauntingly romantic” author to envision the past mingling with the present. No surprise, some of Kathryn’s favorite stories involve time travel. And ghosts! Sprinkle in some magic, and you’re off on a great adventure.

When not writing, this best-selling author is researching, gardening, or cooking up something special in her chaotic kitchen. She shares her colonial home in the north woods with those she loves most – her wonderful husband and daughter, and three crazy dogs.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Amazon Author Page ~ BookBub

 

The entire Ghosts of New England: Skullery Bay anthology is on sale for

99 cents at your Favorite Retailer.

~ ~ ~

Come back tomorrow and enjoy a sneak peek at the third book in the anthology, The Bootlegger's Daughter by Author Nancy Fraser.

Nancy

GHOSTS OF NEW ENGLAND: SKULLERY BAY ~ Book 1: WIDOW'S WALK by Author Lisa A. Olech

Welcome back to Notes From a Romantic's Heart. Today we're featuring the first book in the Ghosts of New England: Skullery Bay anthology.

About Book #1

Widow’s Walk (1737)

RITA nominee & Best Selling Author, Lisa A. Olech

He’s the infamous pirate, Captain John Jacob Wilder.

She’s the daughter of his fiercest enemy.

Their love is the beginning of the legend.

Captain John Jacob (Jake) Wilder wanted the estate known as Fairwinds at any price. Like any pirate worth his share, maybe he’d just steal it. He had grand plans to build his private pirate domain and hide his wealth and mysteries beneath the sprawling grounds of Fairwinds. But soon the magic of the grand house and a kiss of a beautiful woman had him planning a life, a home, and a passion-filled future with a treasure he never dreamed of having—a wife!

Lillian Grace Langdon lived in the shadowed edges of her family, surrounded by memories of a charmed life that had tarnished and faded in the sea air after her mother died. Meeting the dashing Captain Wilder had been like stepping back into the sunshine. The fact that he was a rogue and a pirate despised by her father only added a rebellious heat of that light. Together they grew to deeply love one another as well as the treasured estate, and soon returned Fairwinds back into the magical place it once was. Full of love, happiness, and a brilliant future.


But the winds of fate shifted like the tide, and one stormy night Jake and Lily were cast apart and blown from each other’s arms forever. Anguish and sadness filled the halls of Fairwinds and threatened to return the estate to an empty shell. But Lily and Jake proved their love was stronger than death, their souls immortal, and their story became the breath and heartbeat of the grand estate. They became the legend of Fairwinds. It was their haven. Their heaven. Their port in every storm. A fierce blow might have ultimately taken their lives, but it took those same wild winds to unlock the secrets and open the door to their impassioned reunions for eternity.

Read an Exclusive Excerpt

“I haven’t seen you for two days. I’m guessing your plan isn’t going as well as you’d hoped.” Aiden hurried to keep pace.

“You’d be wrong. Did you arrange things for week’s end?” Rumor had it that Langdon was planning on playing cards with some of his closest friends at the Grantham estate. It was a weekly event, and Jake wanted in. He climbed the ladder to the poop deck as the ship came alive beneath him.

“Aye. You’ve a seat at the table.” Aiden took over for the helmsman. “You paid handsomely for it, too.”

The wind whipped at Jake’s hair. The night’s chill nipped at his cheeks. “I don’t care about the cost.”

“Of course not; you’ll fleece the lot for that twice over.”

Jake picked up his glass and scanned the darkening horizon. “I’ll take more than their coin.”

Aiden set the wheel and tied it off. “Are we still talking about Fairwinds, or the daughter?”

“She has a name.” Jake clipped. He had sighed that very name into her hair when they parted earlier today. Her eyes warm in the late afternoon sun with her sweet lips kissed pink, the sight of her had claimed him.

“Right, Lillian?”

“Lily,” corrected Jake.

“And me with a Rose. Are we adding to the Wilder garden?”

“We’re adding to the Wilder dynasty. Fairwinds is perfect for what I envision. More perfect than I’d hoped.” Jake picked up his glass and scanned the horizon.

“And the girl?” his brother asked behind him.

Jake lowered the glass. “She’s no girl.” Far from it. She had surprised and delighted him yesterday as she gave him the tour of Fairwinds. It was clear how much she loved the estate. Her devotion had triggered a protectiveness in him. Not only for Fairwinds, but for her as well.

The kiss in the ballroom had lit the fuse, but it was the kiss under the rose arbor that had capsized him. What started as a teasing, had flared into something he couldn’t have predicted. And then she had kissed him back.

Meet the Author

LISA A. OLECH—loves art, pirates and a cranky curmudgeon she affectionately calls the Wizard of O. Currently the author of eight Romance titles in both the contemporary and historical genres, she uses witty dialog with a side order of sexy to bring to life multi-faceted, adventurous, smoldering characters you’ll not soon forget.

A 2018 RITA Award nominee for her book, Within A Captain’s Soul, the final book in her Captains of the Scarlet Night series, Lisa’s won a variety of writing contests and achieved the ranks of Amazon Best Seller with her debut book in 2014.

Living on the shores of On Golden Pond, Lisa shares a drafty, old Victorian house with a wizard and two schizophrenic cats she brought into the house in an attempt to fill her empty nest and keep her from talking to herself in a British accent. As an author, artist, Justice of the Peace, and aspiring beekeeper, Lisa finds true inspiration in the beauty and love that surround her. And, she takes full credit for three homes on her quiet New England street now proudly flying the Jolly Roger from their flagpoles.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest

Amazon Author Page ~ Goodreads

The entire Ghosts of New England: Skullery Bay anthology is on sale for

99 cents at your Favorite Retailer.

~ ~ ~

Come back tomorrow and enjoy a sneak peek at the second book in the anthology, Cast to the Wind and Waves by Author Kathryn Hills.

Nancy