My Dark Duke Christmas: Guest Blog by Elyse Huntington
It is impossible not to be in a state of awe when one is at Cavendish House. The Palladian style residence is both imposing and immense, yet classically beautiful, a pleasure to gaze upon. Inside, servants are busy decorating the hall with holly and ivy, apples, oranges and ribbons. The butler leads me to a drawing room where the Duke and Duchess of Trent are waiting.
When I enter, my eyes are immediately drawn to the dark-haired couple seated on the cream-coloured chaise. You can’t help but look at them. They are both extremely striking, the duchess with black eyes that sparkle and the duke with an aura of danger about him. We exchange greetings and pleasantries and I take my seat on the chair that faces them.
“Thank you so much for allowing me to interview you again,” I say. “My last interview with you proved immensely popular with the readers, and with Christmas approaching, we thought that they would love to know what you and your family do during the festive season.”
“Our first Christmas together was rather quiet, wasn’t it, darling?” The duchess gazes fondly at her husband.
His Grace chuckles, and I am surprised at how the laughter transforms his forbidding countenance.
“Only Alethea would describe a Christmas with all the servants and as many tenants as we could possibly fit into the great hall, quiet.”
“Well, now that we have the children, it is far from quiet,” continues Her Grace. “Caroline and Adelaide love everything to do with Christmas. And even little Hannah, who is only four months old, seems to be able to sense the excitement in the air.”
“I think it is your excitement she senses,” teases the duke.
“As I was saying,” says the duchess, giving me a resigned look, which causes me to smile, “we will be having a big celebration this year. My parents will be joining us, much to His Grace’s dismay.” She laughs at his expression of chagrin. “Oh dear, I shouldn’t have said that, please, be so kind as to leave that out of the interview. My brother and his family, my sister, and James’ brother, Matthew will also be here.”
“How will you be celebrating Christmas?”
“Well, we will exchange gifts on St. Nicholas Day. The children will of course, be overly excited on the day and will be impossible,” she says with a shake of her head. “The Yule log will be chosen on Christmas Eve, and exciting event in itself, and on Christmas Day we will all go to church. After that we will return here for Christmas dinner. There will be a turkey and venison and pudding and cake and all sorts of festive food. Gifts will be given to the servants the next day, which is of course St. Stephen’s Day. As for Twelfth Night celebrations, well, I decided to leave that for His Grace to organise.”
“What will that involve, Your Grace?” I ask him.
“There will be games such as bob apple, snapdragon and steal the white loaf, as well as dancing and drinking and overeating. And my brother tells me he will be in charge of the characters at our Twelfth Night Revel, so God only knows how that would turn out,” he says dryly.
“Oh, I do hope I get Mrs. Candour,” utters the duchess, clapping her hands in delight.
“And how would that be different from your usual character, my dear?” The duke’s eyes twinkled.
“You are a wretch,” declares the duchess. “Just for that, I will tell Matthew you are to be Sir Tumbelly Clumsy, and you can trip about all night.”
The duke sighs. “One should never cross my wife.”
I laugh. “Thank you both so very much. I am certain the readers of the Rose Magazine will very much enjoy reading about your coming Christmas celebrations.”
About My Dark Duke
Since his notorious wife died in mysterious circumstances, rumours about James, the handsome Duke of Trent, have scandalized society. Now, he must marry again – but finding an eligible woman willing to overlook his past won’t be easy.
Defiantly single, Lady Alethea Sinclair has already turned down six offers of marriage. She prefers living on her own terms and refuses to answer to any man. Yet when Alethea meets the seductive and enigmatic Duke she finds herself strangely drawn to him.
Intrigued by Alethea’s defiance of society’s expectations, James is instantly taken with the willful beauty and soon they are enjoying a playful flirtation. And when circumstances force them into a comprising situation, he does the honourable thing and marries her.
But adjusting to the constraints of marriage doesn’t come easily to the rebellious Alethea and, despite their growing feelings for each other, the Duke’s troubled past keeps getting in the way. Can they learn to trust each other and give love a chance before it’s too late?
A steamy Georgian romance about desire, the importance of staying true to yourself and the power of the past to cast a shadow on the present.
Elyse Huntington
Elyse spent her childhood years in Borneo. She moved to Australia when she was a teenager and was an avid reader of romances. It was her love of historical romance that led her to write My Dark Duke, which finaled in the Romance Writers of Australia Emerald Award contest in 2014.
A lawyer by profession, Elyse is a self-confessed compulsive buyer of any books featuring dukes. She also loves reading stories featuring alpha billionaires – undoubtedly because they are the embodiment of modern-day dukes. Elyse spends her free time (and perhaps a little too much of her not-so-free time) fantasising about wickedly handsome heroes and the strong heroines who ultimately tame them.
Elyse loves to hear from her readers. You can contact her via:
Website: www.elysehuntington.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elysehuntingtonauthor
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Elyse-Huntington/e/B00X74RFHC/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1436176809&sr=1-1
There is a bonus epilogue for My Dark Duke at her website so please do visit. And if you sign up for her mailing list, you will have exclusive access to a free short story when it becomes available.
Buy links:
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/my-dark-duke
Also available on iBooks and Google Play.
fun blurb