Since it’s almost Christmas, I wanted to share a holiday scene with you. This is from the second in my Sons of the Revolution series. Armand begins the book unable or unwilling to speak and unable to tolerate human touch. He has been imprisoned for 12 years and has forgotten what it means to be human. Felicity gently coaxes him back to life.

from The Making of a Gentleman

And now that he was at home at The Gardens, he really didn’t care about The Rules anymore. It was snowing outside, which wouldn’t normally deter him from his daily walk, but Felicity had cajoled him into sitting in the drawing room. She had a fire blazing in the hearth and his Christmas present—a black mongrel puppy—was dozing on the floor at his feet. She was at the pianoforte, playing a slow, dreamy song. He loved listening to her play. And now she could play for him anytime. All the time.

The clock chimed three times, and her hands stilled. He frowned. “It’s already three?” she said. “They’ll be here any moment, and I’m not finished with the wrapping.”

No one would care. He had told her this before, but it hadn’t seemed to make any difference. She wanted Christmas to be perfect.

“Do you hear that?” Now she was up and racing to one of the windows. “Those are the horses’ bells. Yes! They’re here! Come on.”

He would have preferred to sit where he was, but she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the door. Before their butler could do his duty, she had it open and was out in the snow, welcoming Julien, Sarah, and his mother. There were words and hugs and kisses, which Armand tolerated because he could see how happy it made Felicity to have family around her. She told him she wanted a large family, and when he realized what that entailed, he was happy to oblige her.

Sarah was noticeably with child now, and he wondered how Felicity would look, her belly round with his son or daughter.

A few moments later, they were all inside, and Felicity had the housekeeper pass out warm cider and chocolate. Julien insisted Sarah lie down in her room, and his mother went to settle her in. When it was just the three of them and the dog, Felicity sat at the pianoforte again, playing quietly, and Julien stood at the large hearth. Armand went to Felicity, put his hand on her shoulder.

Felicity covered it with her own. “I can’t think of anything better than having your whole family together again.”

“Neither can I—”

“Julien, I am not going to lie down all afternoon. I’m not tired.” Sarah’s voice floated in the hallway, and Julien scowled.

“That woman refuses to rest. I didn’t even want her coming all this way in the carriage. It jostles her. I’ll be right back.” A moment later, Armand could hear the couple arguing, Julien firm and Sarah just as stubborn.

Felicity stood. “Perhaps next Christmas your brother Bastien will be here, as well.”

He put his arm around her, drew her close. She sighed contentedly, and together they stared into the crackling fire in the hearth. At one time fire had represented destruction, his life in ashes. Now, with Felicity beside him, he welcomed the warmth. He looked at his wife bathed in the soft glow of the firelight. With a smile, she kissed him. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you.” And he finally knew all that the word meant.

Although we’re reposting some of our favorite blogs this month, I realized that I simply had to share some new things with you. From decades of being the parent of school-aged kids, August meant one thing — freedom was close at hand. . . er. . . the little darlings would be going back to school soon. Target and Staples clearly understand the situation and the feelings of millions of parents (and kids) and have done their best each year to remind us of the joy of the season…! LOL.

First, let me share the gold standard against which everything else is judged:

From Staples —

Still the classic, but the new ones from Target are putting on a strong show:

English teacher:

Science teacher:

Music teacher

(a repeat performance by last year’s music teacher — who could forget “denim….denim….denim, Shaun White hoodies and denim….”?

So, as the summer winds down and fall looms ever closer on the horizon, I wanted to ask you — how was your summer? Did it meet your expectations? Anything you’re looking forward to in the fall? Post a comment and let me know and I’ll pick a couple of people to receive a copy of on of my digital short stories/novellas. As a bonus, if you can tell me the titles/artists of the original songs used in the commercials above, post them and I’ll award a collection of all my digital shorts – A Night for Her Pleasure, Kidnapping the Laird, What The Duchess Wants, and this month’s new release – Taming the Highland Rogue to 3 people with the correct answers!

Terri returns to her favorite place and time – the medieval Highlands of Scotland – as she begins a new series of stories about the next generation of the MacLerie Clan. THE HIGHLANDER’S STOLEN TOUCH is a September release and is available now at Harlequin or can be pre-ordered everywhere else for its August 27 paperback release. 

Visit Terri’s website for links and info about this and all her books!

ORIGINALLY POSTED: August 11, 2010

When I first read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, it was way back when the second book had only been in stores a few months and most of the world hadn’t yet been bitten by the HP bug. It took a few chapters, but when we got to Diagon Alley I knew I’d stumbled upon something special. I remember feeling like I witnessed history in the making, feeling assured that once the books caught on, we’d have another Narnia Chronicles on our hands. The most vivid emotion though was that this book was the first time I’d read something as an adult that made me feel like books used to when I was a kid. I realize that is a terrible sentence, but hopefully you know what I mean. In short, I was mesmerized.

I quickly devoured the book, then the second, then waited impatiently for the third (which totally blew me away) and about this time word started spreading and the world was about to catch HP fever. It was the first time I remember ever dreaming about characters from a book and it happened more than once. The characters, the world was so real to me that when I was intrenched in one of the books I was completely surrounded. I remember catching myself before telling a friend that the next time I went to England I wanted to make a special trip to Hogwarts.

This last month, that silly fantasy of mine came true. Or as true as it can within our Muggle world. While in Orlando for the RWA conference, me and Emily and my mom made a side trip to Universal Studios to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We got up super early, we hired a car to take us to the park and we walked the long way to the entrance of the park. But we’d been smart and we’d pre-purchased our tickets so we were able to just walk right in. We made a beeline to the HP area (mostly we followed the crowd because that’s where everyone else was going too!)

And then we rounded a corner and there it was, across the way, but Hogwarts rose up from a hill just like I’d seen in my mind so many times. I’ll admit it, I got a little misty and giddy and started snapping pictures. We kept our trek through the park, passing by some really cool looking other areas, but we were on a mission.

Suddenly we were there, right up to Hogwarts door. There’s a ride in the castle, but I had read enough stuff on-line before hand to know that my motion sickness would probably cause trouble, so mom and I headed into the tour line where we were able to just walk through the castle while Emily went on to the ride. (she’ll have to tell you about it when she returns from her family vacation) Inside the castle we saw the hall of portraits where some of the pictures moved and talked. Then we saw Dumbledore’s office and the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and the entryway to the Gryffindor common room with the Fat Lady’s picture. It really was totally magical and my only complaint was that I wanted it to be longer. I wanted to see the Great Hall with the floating candles and I wanted to see the actual common room and the floating staircases.

But never fear once we were out of the castle (dumped conveniently into Filch’s Emporium, a gift shop where I purchased my own copy of the Maurader’s Map) we walked strait into Hogsmeade. Now technically this was a mixture of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, but it was just fantastic. We bought wands and we had butterbeer (so tasty!) and we saw the Hogwart’s Express (another misty moment for me!) and we bought chocolate frogs in Honeydukes and went into the Owl Post. And I have to take a moment to personally thank all of the English families that were there that day, their lovely British accents really added to the experience for me. Then in the bathroom (which they called “public conveniences”) you could hear Moaning Myrtle whine and cry.

All in all, it was, well for lack of a better word, magical. I loved every minute despite the fact that it was like 1000 degrees outside. I can’t wait to go back again someday with The Professor.

So how about you, what fictionalized world would you like to see come to life? If you could step into any book you’ve ever read, which one would it be? One lucky commenter will win a collection of books I brought back from the conference.

This month we’re posting our best blogs from years past. Here’s one I found with a research emphasis from the 2007 publication of Blackthorne’s Bride. I don’t write nearly enough of these!

Blackthorne's Bride--Rita Finalist for Best Historical Romance 2008

If you’ve read a few historical novels, you’re probably familiar with Gretna Green. I’ve married two of my fictional couples there, and I had so much fun researching this romantic spot.

In 1752 the English Parliament passed the Hardwicke Marriage Act, which prevented the rampant practice of clandestine marriages. These marriages were being used by unscrupulous men looking to marry an heiress and secure their fortunes. As you can imagine, the parents of these heiresses were more than slightly displeased, even more so when incidents of men being clandestinely married to three or four women came to light. Lord Chancellor Hardwicke proposed a bill to end the worst abuses of the clandestine marriages. The Hardwicke Marriage Act, as it came to be called, made elopement all but impossible in England.

Brazilian Cover for Blackthorne's Bride

So what’s a couple who lacks parental support to do?

Elope, of course! And the nearest spot was Gretna Green.

Of course a couple didn’t have to elope to Gretna Green. Boats waited at Southampton to take runaway couples to the island of Guernsey, where the clandestine marriages were legal. But Scotland was easier to access, and therefore more popular.

There are many romantic stories of prospective brides and grooms running away to Gretna Green, the bride’s father in hot pursuit. In fact, Gretna Green has built quite a reputation as a destination wedding spot off these legends.

The primary legend was that the first stop eloping couples made was the local blacksmith’s shop to be wed over the anvil by the local blacksmith—men called anvil priests. There’s probably not much truth to the legends about blacksmiths and anvils, but there were several men who made their fame and fortune marrying England’s desperate lovers. Robert Elliott was one. Some scholars speculate that Elliott married over 3000 couples.

Joseph Paisley was another anvil priest, and he was not your typical “priest.” He’d been a smuggler before he got into the marriage business, and he had a bit of a drinking problem.

Joseph Paisley

Blackthorne’s Bride, my latest novel, incorporates a story about Joseph Paisley and mixed up marriages. Take one drunk anvil priest, a father with a pistol banging on the door to the blacksmith’s shop, and two couples in a hurry, and you get…well, let’s just say that I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed taking this real-life tale and weaving it into fiction.

Read more about Blackthorne’s Bride or any of my more recent releases on my website.