Welcome to the History Lovers Grand Tour & Scavenger Hunt!
—International—
As the name implies, we’re a group of readers and authors who love both history and romance, especially when they’re combined in a delightful story. If you feel the same, you’re welcome to join us on our Facebook Page and converse with us about historical romance fiction.
Below you’ll find authors of historical romances set in a wide variety of time periods. Perhaps by participating in our Grand Tour you’ll discover some new authors for your future reading pleasure. Hop around to your heart’s content, feel free to comment on the posts, hunt for answers to the authors’ questions, and perhaps you’ll be one of our 25 lucky prize winners (see contest details below)…although you’re already a winner if you find a new story to read, do you not agree?
Pleasures and Proprieties of a Country Picnic
The London Season is over. Most everyone has retired to the country for the summer. What did one do for a date in the English or Scottish countryside during the Regency Era?
Why, a picnic of course!
A picnic provided the enamored couple with the proper chaperonage but also permitted them a stolen moment or two. As long as the pair was in full view of the other picnickers, the love interests might take a stroll on the pretense of discussing nature, studying the fauna, or admiring the picturesque view. It was a perfect opportunity to whisper sweet nothings to each other too.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. A picnic was no small endeavor. A suitable location some distance from the manor house must be decided upon; perhaps a lovely moor or meadow, or a glistening lakeside. Suitability included trees for shade, a pleasant view, and a surface favorable for walking or playing lawn games.
Ladies were attired in light-colored muslin gowns with a gauze shawl or spencer jackets—just in case it became breezy—comfortable shoes, and the required bonnet. Oh, don’t forget gloves, a parasol, a fan, and reticule with a lacy handkerchief and perhaps even vial of smelling salts—you never know when a gentle-woman might have a fit of the vapors.
Gentlemen wore hunting jackets, pantaloons, knee-high boots (Wellington or Hessien) generally, and they too must have their hat, gloves, and frequently, a cane. It goes without saying they also wore a neckcloth and waistcoat, likely with a watch fob.
Ladies rode in a barouche or perhaps landau (both had a folding or collapsible hood) and gentlemen either accompanied the women in the equipages or chose to travel by horse. It wasn’t uncommon for the family’s pet dog to join the picnickers. Wagons transported servants, outdoor furniture, food, dishes, and other supplies that might be needed. Once at the picnic location, the servants took care of all preparations as well as the cleanup and repacking the wagons afterward.
Naturally, the menu was simple, but satisfying. Food was packed into wicker baskets and consisted of such basics as cold roast, eggs boiled or deviled, fruit sandwiches, crusty bread with butter and jam, seasonal fruits and nuts, cheeses, and boiled tongue. For dessert, seedcake, route cakes, shortbread, and a trifle were favored. As it was impractical to keep tea hot, other beverages such as lemonade, a sweet madeira wine, or a white wine claret were often served.
After dining, the amorous couple might skip stones, gather wildflowers, or even pick wild strawberries, if they grew in the area. Braves souls might venture to row about the lake in a skiff if one was available. Other entertainment included archery, a rousing game of Blind Man’s Bluff, or for the more sedate, a game of whist or loo. Quite moment spent sitting on large pieces of linen beneath towering shade trees were perfect for napping or reading aloud. Poems by Lord Byron or John Keats, or a novel by Jane Austen, even the La Belle Assemblée’s latest theater review might be shared.
So there you have it; picnicking, a most proper Regency group date.
The prize I am offering is a lovely rose gold plated deep blue Swarovski raindrop pendant and matching dangle earrings.
Don’t they look like something that would be worn on a Regency picnic?
For another chance to win follow this blog. The follow information is in the upper right sidebar. Like my Facebook page (upper right sidebar) for yet another chance. The link is on the right sidebar as well.
Here’s my question for the scavenger hunt: Where might a picnic take place?
Click on the History Lovers Grand Tour page to fill in the answer, and you may continue on from there. Enjoy!
Here’s a blurb about my new Regency release, Highlander’s Hope
Yvette Stapleton is wary of fortune hunting men and their false declarations of love. She’d rather become a spinster than imprisoned in the bonds of marriage. At first, she doesn’t recognize the dangerously handsome man who rescues her from assailants on London’s docks, but her reaction to Lord Sethwick’s kisses soon have her reconsidering her cynical views on matrimony.
Not a day has gone by that Ewan McTavish, Lord Sethwick and Laird of Craiglocky, hasn’t dreamed of the beauty he danced with two years ago; he’s determined to win her heart. On a mission to stop a War Office traitor, he unwittingly draws Yvette into deadly international intrigue. To protect her, he exploits Scottish Canon law to declare her his lawful wife—without benefit of a ceremony.
Yvette is furious upon discovering the irregular marriage is legally binding, though she never said, “I do.”
~Award winning Regency author Regina Jeffers
Excerpt from Highlander’s Hope
Yvette stepped back as Ewan pushed his way into the room, leaving the door ajar. His hair was damp, no doubt from bathing, and the stubble darkening his face earlier was gone. Feet bare, wearing only buckskin breeches and a shirt unbuttoned to the waist, he resembled a pirate—a dangerous, rakish, sinfully handsome pirate.
She sucked in her breath. He oughtn’t to be here, but he’d said he wanted to talk to her, and he had promised to behave.
A distraction, that’s what she needed.
She escaped to the lumpy bed where she’d flung her clothing before bathing. She folded, then packed the garments into her valise and set it on the floor beside her trunk. Bending to retrieve her towel, she peeked sideways at him from the corner of her eye. He hasn’t moved an inch. What’s he about?
Grabbing the towel, she glanced down and froze. The candles to her left bathed her in a stream of light. She could clearly see the outline of her legs. Her nightwear was almost translucent in the candlelight and gave him a shadowy view of—dear God—nearly everything.
No wonder he hadn’t moved, the lout.
Standing upright, she held the towel before her and faced him. “Enjoying the view, your lordship?” she snapped.
Ewan lounged against the doorframe, watching her. A slow smile tilted the corners of his mouth.
“Immeasurably.”
Collette would love to hear from you!
The links are on her website above.
History Lovers Grand Tour Authors
1. Each author will offer a prize for a contest, the specifics of which is set up entirely by her. The contest will be open to all participants, regardless of geographic location. For logistical purposes, authors may substitute a digital prize (gift card, etc.) of equal value for another prize that might prove difficult to mail to a distant location.
2. The Grand Prize for the Scavenger Hunt will be awarded to the participant with the most correct answers to the authors’ scavenger hunt questions. In case of a tie, the winner will be chosen randomly.
3. The winners will be posted on the History Lovers Grand Tour page page the following week.
• Click on the above links to each author’s blog. The blog tour entry can be identified by the graphic in the upper right corner of the post. If it is not the top post, look for the graphic in a prominent location on the sidebar, and click on it to find the blog tour entry.
• Read the blog post and the author’s short answer question at the end. Locate the answer to the question, then click on the link to the History Lovers Grand Tour page History Lovers Grand Tour page and type in the answer next to the author’s name. Be sure to fill in the your name and email address!
• You may go back to same page and read more of the author’s post (excerpt, etc.) or you may click on another author’s name on the answer sheet and repeat the process.
• When you are finished, check to make sure the spaces for your name and email address are filled in correctly, and submit your answer sheet to the tour coordinator. If you submit an incomplete answer sheet, you may come back later and make another submission with the remaining answers when you have more time.
• Any questions about the scavenger hunt should be directed to the tour coordinator.
