The Duke’s Desire & the Ladies’ Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction

Sometimes characters don’t follow the author’s plans.

The Hellion’s Heart, book four of The Ladies’ Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction series of Regency romances by Claire Delacroix

The romance between the Duke of Haynesdale and Esmeralda Ballantyne was planned to be a sub-plot that carried through the entire series of The Ladies’ Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction. By book four (The Hellion’s Heart) it’s become clear to me that these two need their own book and so they’ll get it.

Some of the scenes in their book will appear in earlier books in the series. They may be shorter or told from another point-of-view. This book will include more (new) scenes and more detail about these two. It will be published as book seven in the series so that there are no spoilers in the other books of the series—you’ll know they’re together by the end of book six, but The Duke’s Desire will fill in all the gaps.

Publication is planned for a year out because there will be two more books in the series first:

The Hellion’s Heart will be published in July

• Book five will release in October 2024

• Book six will release in January 2025

The Duke's Desire, book seven in The Ladies' Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction Regency romance series by Claire Delacroix

The Duke’s Desire, book seven, will be an April 2025 release.

• Book eight will be Sylvie’s story with publication planned for August 2025.

• The series will wrap up with a Christmas novella in November 2025.

The pre-order for each book will be created when the book itself is completed, so keep an eye out for those. I really like this plan. Once I get ahead of things a bit, I’ll see about sliding some other stories into my schedule, too.

I’ll show off some of the new covers in my next Knights & Rogues newsletter, including The Duke’s Desire. That goes out June 5 so there’s still time to sign up.

Sign up for my Knights & Rogues medieval romance newsletter.

Read Chaper One of The Hellion’s Heart!

Yesterday – just a bit too late to add it to my post about pre-orders – I posted the first chapter of Helena and Joshua’s story here on the site. You can read it on the landing page for The Hellion’s Heart.

The Hellion’s Heart, book four of The Ladies’ Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction series of Regency romances by Claire Delacroix

Helena Emerson yearns for romance and adventure, and dreams of wedding a duke for love. She knows she would never be able to endure a marriage with the serious Viscount of Addersley, no matter how handsome he might be. Consumed with logic and good sense, the man might as well be a statue. He does not even dance! She declines his offer, much to the outrage of her family, determined to wed happily or not at all.

But Joshua Hargood, Seventh Viscount of Addersley, is not the man Helena assumes him to be. He put aside his rakehell ways a decade before, blaming himself for the accident that claimed his intended. He has, however, never been able to resist a dare if the reward was worthy, and the challenge of undermining Helena’s assumptions is tempting beyond all. He takes a disguise, planning to be a rogue only for the lady he desires to wed, convinced that this is the merit of his scandalous past. Helena is captivated by her mysterious suitor and soon pierces his disguise, only to learn that the viscount lost his betrothed years before—is his heart even available to claim?

No sooner is Joshua convinced of success in his suit than his notorious brother, believed dead at Waterloo, returns to demand his due. Joshua knows that his embittered brother will only be satisfied when Addersley itself is destroyed, along with Joshua’s own happiness and prospects. Is he doomed to watch past tragedy repeat itself, or can Joshua save both his legacy and his beloved Helena?

Helena’s story is coming in July 22, 2024!

Pre-Order The Hellion’s Heart!

Helena and Joshua’s story is almost done, so I’ve set up the pre-order at the portals. I loved writing this story and I hope you enjoy it, too!

The Hellion’s Heart, book four of The Ladies’ Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction series of Regency romances by Claire Delacroix

Helena Emerson yearns for romance and adventure, and dreams of wedding a duke for love. She knows she would never be able to endure a marriage with the serious Viscount of Addersley, no matter how handsome he might be. Consumed with logic and good sense, the man might as well be a statue. He does not even dance! She declines his offer, much to the outrage of her family, determined to wed happily or not at all.

But Joshua Hargood, Seventh Viscount of Addersley, is not the man Helena assumes him to be. He put aside his rakehell ways a decade before, blaming himself for the accident that claimed his intended. He has, however, never been able to resist a dare if the reward was worthy, and the challenge of undermining Helena’s assumptions is tempting beyond all. He takes a disguise, planning to be a rogue only for the lady he desires to wed, convinced that this is the merit of his scandalous past. Helena is captivated by her mysterious suitor and soon pierces his disguise, only to learn that the viscount lost his betrothed years before—is his heart even available to claim?

No sooner is Joshua convinced of success in his suit than his notorious brother, believed dead at Waterloo, returns to demand his due. Joshua knows that his embittered brother will only be satisfied when Addersley itself is destroyed, along with Joshua’s own happiness and prospects. Is he doomed to watch past tragedy repeat itself, or can Joshua save both his legacy and his beloved Helena?

Helena’s story is coming in July 22, 2024!

The Wolf & the Witch in Spanish

The Wolf & the Witch, book one of my Blood Brothers series of medieval romances, is now available in a Spanish edition!

The Wolf & the Witch Spanish edition

Privado de su legítima herencia, Maximilian de Vries traza un plan para vengarse de su padre y asegurar su propio futuro. Se alía con sus dos hermanastros, invade la histórica y misteriosa Kilderrick y se apodera del torreón que antaño le fue prometido. Una mujer, bruja según los rumores, es la única lo suficientemente audaz como para enfrentarse a él, pero Maximilian sabe cómo resolverlo: la convertirá en su esposa, con o sin su permiso, y sellará su reivindicación.

Sin embargo, a este poderoso guerrero todavía le queda enfrentarse a la inteligencia de Alys Armstrong, una doncella con sed de venganza y una furia que podría superar a la de él. Alys no tiene la intención de capitular ante el orgulloso y poderoso rebelde que le arrebató todo (por más seductoras que resulten ser sus caricias). Además, ella no comparte la obligación que tiene él de pelear de manera justa.

Enemigos acérrimos desde el primer momento, el matrimonio de Maximilian y Alys es una guerra de voluntades. Cuando se encienda la chispa de la pasión, ¿serán capaces de resistirse a la tentación? Y cuando el mismísimo Kilderrick corra peligro, ¿unirán fuerzas para salvar los terrenos que ambos aprecian… y el inesperado amor que valoran por encima de todo lo demás?

Blood Brothers Hard Cover Special Editions

A bit belatedly, I realized that I hadn’t shown you the hard cover special editions of the Blood Brothers books. We’ll fix that today. 🙂

New hardcover edition of The Wolf & the Witch by Claire Delacroix, with dust jacket and illustration on case laminate

These editions have the new illustrations by Dar Albert. I showed off the trade paperbacks with their duplex covers (which have the illustrations on the inside of the cover) in this post. For the hard cover, there’s a dust jacket with the type and the illustration appears on the case laminate, like this digital mock-up to the right. Both have a matte finish that feels really luxe to me.

Let’s look at the actual books now that I have a few on my shelf. Here are the four books with their dust jackets:

Blood Brothers series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix - special hardcover editions

Here are the fronts of the case laminates:

Blood Brothers series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix - special hardcover editions

And the backs of the case laminates:

Blood Brothers series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix - special hardcover editions

These special edition interiors include some different typographic elements, but also include the Blood Brothers map and family trees. The family tree for Jean Le Beau is in all four books, then each book has a family tree for the hero and for the heroine. Those elements are included in all of the special editions – ebook, trade paperback and hardcover.

Blood Brothers series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix - special hardcover editions with family trees

The Blood Brothers map is included in these editions, too, and we split it so details wouldn’t vanish into the gutter.

Blood Brothers series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix - special hardcover editions with map

Finally, there’s a list of acknowledgements in these editions to thank all the Kickstarter backers who helped bring these editions to life. There are more on the other side of the page.

Blood Brothers series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix - special hardcover editions with acknowledgements

You can pre-order signed copies of the print books in my online store – that will be for the first fulfillment after the Kickstarter campaign, and I’ll place that order in June. I’ll include the Blood Brothers bookmarks with these orders, too.

The spiral notebooks that are left are also available in the store now. They won’t be restocked, so once they’re gone, that’s that. You’ll find them in New Arrivals there, as well as the discounted sample copies of The Hunter & the Heiress that I ordered in advance of the campaign. Those two sample books have the illustration on the cover, but don’t have the map or family trees inside.