I moved out the publication date for The Bluestocking’s Bargain by a week this morning. It will now be published on October 29 instead of October 22. There are a number of details behind the scenes that weren’t coming together, so I added that week for breathing room. I’m hoping this means the print edition will be available on the same day as the ebook. It does mean that I won’t be awake half the night trying to figure out how to make everything come together on time.
If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy, please do. You won’t want to miss Patience and Arthur’s story!
Patience Carruthers is a bluestocking with no interest in marriage, much less the fleeting uncertainty of love. Her passion is for books, knowledge, and the improvement of the world. When she learns of Mrs. Oliver’s work, instructing ladies in intimate matters to better their marriages, she is resolved to see that volume published—and will even accept an agreement to wed a notorious rake to see that accomplished.
Thanks to his uncle’s reckless wager, Arthur Beckham has immediate need of a wife. Insisting he has an understanding with Miss Carruthers, a lady of good sense and practicality, may provide an escape the unfortunate match his uncle has tried to arrange–assuming the lady in question is agreeable. He proposes a marriage of convenience to Miss Carruthers, vowing he will do whatever she desires in exchange for one son.
Arthur does not anticipate the lady’s scheme to publish a book, much less his bride’s apparent need to verify every detail of the remarkable volume’s amorous advice. He does not anticipate that he will be seduced and enchanted by his new wife—much less that he will lose his heart completely. Can Arthur convince Patience of the merit of love and convince her to make their marriage more than an arrangement?
I’ll be creating pretty new hardcover editions of The Champions of St. Euphemia series of medieval romances in 2025. (Things are in the works now!) They’ll be available first at Kickstarter, with some fun swag, then subsequently will be exclusive to Kickstarter and my online store. One of the additions to the series will be a map, which I’m very excited about. (I love maps.)
You’ll also be able to order other special edition hardcovers from previous Kickstarter campaigns in this campaign – for The Bride Quest and for Blood Brothers.
I put up the pre-order for The Bluestocking’s Bargain in my online store, so you can buy your ebook directly from me. 🙂
When you buy a pre-order in the store, the store charges you immediately. Your ebook will be delivered on the on-sale date by BookFunnel. In this case, your ebook will be delivered on October 21.
Patience Carruthers is a bluestocking with no interest in marriage, much less the fleeting uncertainty of love. Her passion is for books, knowledge, and the improvement of the world. When she learns of Mrs. Oliver’s work, instructing ladies in intimate matters to better their marriages, she is resolved to see that volume published—and will even accept an agreement to wed a notorious rake to see that accomplished.
Thanks to his uncle’s reckless wager, Arthur Beckham has immediate need of a wife. Insisting he has an understanding with Miss Carruthers, a lady of good sense and practicality, may provide an escape the unfortunate match his uncle has tried to arrange–assuming the lady in question is agreeable. He proposes a marriage of convenience to Miss Carruthers, vowing he will do whatever she desires in exchange for one son.
Arthur does not anticipate the lady’s scheme to publish a book, much less his bride’s apparent need to verify every detail of the remarkable volume’s amorous advice. He does not anticipate that he will be seduced and enchanted by his new wife—much less that he will lose his heart completely. Can Arthur convince Patience of the merit of love and convince her to make their marriage more than an arrangement?
I’ve added an excerpt from The Bluestocking’s Bargain to the website. Just click through to the book’s product page to read Arthur and Patience’s first meet.
Patience Carruthers is a bluestocking with no interest in marriage, much less the fleeting uncertainty of love. Her passion is for books, knowledge, and the improvement of the world. When she learns of Mrs. Oliver’s work, instructing ladies in intimate matters to better their marriages, she is resolved to see that volume published—and will even accept an agreement to wed a notorious rake to see that accomplished.
Thanks to his uncle’s reckless wager, Arthur Beckham has immediate need of a wife. Insisting he has an understanding with Miss Carruthers, a lady of good sense and practicality, may provide an escape the unfortunate match his uncle has tried to arrange–assuming the lady in question is agreeable. He proposes a marriage of convenience to Miss Carruthers, vowing he will do whatever she desires in exchange for one son.
Arthur does not anticipate the lady’s scheme to publish a book, much less his bride’s apparent need to verify every detail of the remarkable volume’s amorous advice. He does not anticipate that he will be seduced and enchanted by his new wife—much less that he will lose his heart completely. Can Arthur convince Patience of the merit of love and convince her to make their marriage more than an arrangement?
As you probably have guessed, I’ve been working on a new medieval romance series and now I have a tentative schedule and release plan. It’ll be a trilogy of medieval Scottish fantasy romances, which will launch next year.
Each book will be available first via a Kickstarter campaign, in ebook and trade paperback. I plan for the KS campaign for book one to be next winter, maybe March or April, because I want to have the book written first. There will also be some campaign goodies, and you’ll be able to order the print editions from previous KS campaigns (for Blood Brothers and the Bride Quest), as well. The first book will be on pre-order at the retailers at that time, to deliver at least six months after the KS campaign ends. I’m thinking it will be a December release.
So, at KS, you’ll be able to get the book early, get your print copy signed and get campaign goodies exclusive to the campaign.
I’ll plan for the second book’s Kickstarter campaign to be later next year, possibly not with delivery of print books available for the holidays. (Things get very slow at the printers due to volume from October onward.) In that campaign, you’ll be able to get an early copy of book two in ebook or trade paperback, and also add book one if you missed it, and snag some campaign goodies for your hoard.
The Kickstarter campaign for the third book will be in 2026. I haven’t decided yet whether the hardcover editions of all three books will be part of that campaign or a separate campaign. I always want to read and love a book before I commit to having it in a collectible hardcover on my shelf, but your view may be different. We have time to work that out!
The Crusader’s Bride
In between, there may be a Kickstarter campaign for new print editions of The Champions of St. Euphemia series in trade paperback with duplex covers and in hard cover with a dust jacket. Like the Blood Brothers‘ Kickstarter editions, these will have the illustration of the couple on the inside of the trade paperback cover and on the case laminate of the hardcover. The outside of the trade paperback and the dust jacket on the hardcover will have the type.
These illustrations are already done as they’re on the current editions. I love them to pieces and want to celebrate them with the new editions. I’m also still on the hunt for someone to draw a map. The timing of that campaign depends upon my workload and how things go.
So, my tentative 2024 schedule looks like this:
October – The Bluestocking’s Bargain (Pre-order available now) March – Kickstarter for book one of the new series April – The Duke’s Desire June – Kickstarter for The Champions of St. Euphemia October – Kickstarter for book two of the new series December – publication date at the portals for book one of the new series
In 2026, book two of the new series will release at the portals, and there will be a Kickstarter for book three of the new series.
Clearly, there should be some additional hist-rom releases next summer and fall, but we’ll keep things a little loose as yet. Those Kickstarters can chew up a lot of time, but I’m hoping they get easier. I worked out my writing schedule and things were tight at the end of 2024. To keep The Duke’s Desire from sliding to May, I made it book #6 of that series and put the planned book 6 (which had been slated for January) on the back burner. I think we’re all more interested in the duke and Esmeralda’s story, so that one has to be finished up.
On the other side of my office, I have a new contemporary romance series launching in February. My current plan is for The Carpe Diem Café to have three releases next year: Just Trouble in February, book two probably in June and book three probably in October. I have a lot of writing on my schedule and I’m excited about all of these stories.
I’ll tell you more about the new medieval fantasy romance trilogy when the Kickstarter campaign is in preview and can be followed.
Claire Delacroix 