End of Summer Bash: Party with Laura Frantz!

If you love historical romance that is deep and wonderfully written, Laura Frantz is the author to know! She is so sweet and encouraging as a person - not to mention her amazing books! You can read my reviews of Courting Morrow Little and The Colonel's Lady  HERE and HERE. My review of Love's Reckoning will be posted tomorrow, along with this week's winners!

Today we're talking about Love's Reckoning! Read all the way through to learn how you can enter the giveaway!

Amber: Welcome, Laura! What’s one summer-themed song you would love to hear at an “end-of-summer” party?

Laura: Oh, that’s gotta be the Beach Boys. =) How about "California Dreaming"?

    Amber: That sounds great to me! (As I'm putting this post together, I keep playing the song over and over again, LOL!) Gotta love the Beach Boys!

If the heroine of Love's Reckoning was planning an “end-of-summer” party, what might it look like?

Laura: Since Eden spends so much time in the garden, she’d bring a big pitcher of lavender lemonade and a plateful of shortbread, her Scottish hero’s favorite treat. Since he’s also a blacksmith, they would have to play horseshoes! And, given Silas Ballantyne plays a mean fiddle, there would be plenty of music and dancing! Eden is quite adept at dancing though she gets precious little of it what with all the turmoil in her household. But when she goes to the ball at the neighboring estate of Hope Rising…oh my!

Amber: Shortbread and fiddle-playing? May I be invited to that party?? =)

Now for the hero of Love's Reckoning… What would he look forward to most about autumn? 

Laura: Autumn in Scotland – that’s tattie-picking time (potatoes for you =)), cooler nights, gorgeous fall foliage, bonfires… Silas Ballantyne’s favorite season in his native land is autumn.

Amber: Ooh, autumn in Scotland sounds delightful! 

Could you please share a little more about Love's Reckoning? We’d love a brief snippet if you’d care to share one! 

Laura:

~ Excerpt from Love's Reckoning ~

Shifting in his chair by the window, he breathed in the scent of hot cider and cinnamon, strong and sweet. It threaded through the winter parlor, the very essence of autumn. For a moment he was cast back to the unending orchards of Blair Castle with their gnarled, low-hanging branches bursting with aldermans and lemon queens and lass o’Bowries. A far cry from the American varieties Liege touted. Still, he’d made note of those apples in his journal, for his and Eden’s orchard years hence. Newtown pippins and Roxbury russets and winesaps, to name but a few. 

“Would you care for some cider, Silas?” 

Mrs. Lee was at his elbow with a steaming mug. He took it, murmuring his thanks, aware of the scrape of Liege’s cane across the plank floor as he made his way down the hall to bed. ’Twas only eight. Elspeth sat sewing across from Eden by the hearth. The bairns were asleep. 

Eden was looking at him, sewing forgotten in her lap, a spark of hope in her expression, as if daring to think they might be left alone. He set his book aside and glanced at Mrs. Lee. Quietly, as if adhering to some prearranged plan, she withdrew out the same door Elspeth had passed through minutes before and shut it softly behind her. 

For a moment neither he nor Eden moved and then he tugged the curtain closed, eyes returning to the door before resting on her. He ached to touch her, to breathe in her soft scent unhindered. No bairns. No overbearing father. No volatile sister. In mere days they would be left alone to experience the mystery . . . and they shall be one flesh. As he thought it, his heart seemed about to burst its banks. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a scrap of paper on which he’d penned a particular Scripture—a promise to carry them through the dwindling days. 

I will betroth thee unto me forever. 

“Silas . . .” Eden stood across the room, the candlelight calling out all the unforgettable details he loved—the clear depths of her blue eyes, the irrepressible warmth of her expression, every fire-threaded strand of her hair. 

He left his chair and went to her, tucked the paper in her palm, and was rewarded with her soft smile. When his hands cupped her shoulders, he nearly shuddered from his need of her. “Soon I’ll not have to bid you good night.” His lips grazed the soft curve of her ear as he bent his head, half-forgetting to listen, to be alert. “You’ll be by my side . . . forever.” 

“Forever,” she whispered, “is hardly long enough.” 

~ End of Excerpt ~ 

Amber: Oh, Laura, what a romantic autumn scene! (And might I add that the cover of the book is just gorgeous? Perfect for fall!) Thank you for visiting with us today! 

Readers, Laura is giving away a copy of Love's Reckoning today! To enter the drawing, leave a comment for Laura, including your name and e-mail address. All "End of Summer Bash" winners will be announced on Saturday, September 8th (tomorrow!).

Tomorrow the winners will be announced, and the blog will be dressed in her autumn best for the new season. See you then, and don't forget to enter any and all giveaways ASAP!

(Music video found on YouTube.)