The Secret Kiss of Darkness (30 page)
Read The Secret Kiss of Darkness Online
Authors: Christina Courtenay
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Contemporary, #Regency, #Historical Romance, #Romance, #eighteenth century, #Historical, #Time Travel, #Fiction
Christina Courtenay lives in Herefordshire and is married with two children. Although born in England she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden. In her teens, the family moved to Japan where she had the opportunity to travel extensively in the Far East.
Christina is chair of the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
The Secret Kiss of Darkness
is her seventh novel published by Choc Lit. In 2011, Christina’s first novel
Trade Winds
was shortlisted for The Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Award for Best Historical Fiction. Her second novel,
The Scarlet Kimono
, won the Big Red Reads Best Historical Fiction Award. In 2012,
Highland Storms
won the Best Historical Romantic Novel of the year award.
The Silent Touch of Shadows
, Christina’s fourth novel, won the award for Best Historical Read at the Festival of Romance.
The Gilded Fan
, Christina’s fifth novel and the sequel to
The Scarlet Kimono
, was shortlisted for the same award in 2013. In addition, Christina is also the author of the Young Adult novel,
New England Rocks
, and a number of Regency e-novellas, which can be found online.
From Christina Courtenay
Trade Winds
Short-listed for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Pure Passion Award for Best Historical Fiction 2011
Marriage of convenience – or a love for life?
It’s 1732 in Gothenburg, Sweden, and strong-willed Jess van Sandt knows only too well that it’s a man’s world. She believes she’s being swindled out of her inheritance by her stepfather – and she’s determined to stop it.
When help appears in the unlikely form of handsome Scotsman Killian Kinross, himself disinherited by his grandfather, Jess finds herself both intrigued and infuriated by him. In an attempt to recover her fortune, she proposes a marriage of convenience. Then Killian is offered the chance of a lifetime with the Swedish East India Company’s Expedition and he’s determined that nothing will stand in his way, not even his new bride.
He sets sail on a daring voyage to the Far East, believing he’s put his feelings and past behind him. But the journey doesn’t quite work out as he expects …
Prequel to Highland Storms.
Visit
www.choc-lit.com
for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store (
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trade-Winds-ebook/dp/B00457XELG
)
Highland Storms
Christina Courtenay
Winner of the 2012 Best Historical Romantic Novel of the year
Who can you trust?
Betrayed by his brother and his childhood love, Brice Kinross needs a fresh start. So he welcomes the opportunity to leave Sweden for the Scottish Highlands to take over the family estate.
But there’s trouble afoot at Rosyth in 1754 and Brice finds himself unwelcome. The estate’s in ruin and money is disappearing. He discovers an ally in Marsaili Buchanan, the beautiful redheaded housekeeper, but can he trust her?
Marsaili is determined to build a good life. She works hard at being a housekeeper and harder still at avoiding men who want to take advantage of her. But she’s irresistibly drawn to the new clan chief, even though he’s made it plain he doesn’t want to be shackled to anyone.
And the young laird has more than romance on his mind. His investigations are stirring up an enemy. Someone who will stop at nothing to get what he wants – including Marsaili – even if that means destroying Brice’s life forever …
Sequel to Trade Winds.
Visit
www.choc-lit.com
for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store (
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Highland-Storms-ebook/dp/B00629ZK0I
)
The Scarlet Kimono
Christina Courtenay
Winner of the 2011 Big Red Read’s Best Historical Fiction Award
Abducted by a Samurai warlord in 17th-century Japan – what happens when fear turns to love?
England, 1611, and young Hannah Marston envies her brother’s adventurous life. But when she stows away on his merchant ship, her powers of endurance are stretched to their limit. Then they reach Japan and all her suffering seems worthwhile – until she is abducted by Taro Kumashiro’s warriors.
In the far north of the country, warlord Kumashiro is waiting to see the girl who he has been warned about by a seer. When at last they meet, it’s a clash of cultures and wills, but they’re also fighting an instant attraction to each other.
With her brother desperate to find her and the jealous Lady Reiko equally desperate to kill her, Hannah faces the greatest adventure of her life. And Kumashiro has to choose between love and honour …
Prequel to The Gilded Fan
Visit
www.choc-lit.com
for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store (
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Scarlet-Kimono-ebook/dp/B004Q9TCXC
)
The Gilded Fan
Christina Courtenay
How do you start a new life, leaving behind all you love?
It’s 1641, and when Midori Kumashiro, the orphaned daughter of a warlord, is told she has to leave Japan or die, she has no choice but to flee to England. Midori is trained in the arts of war, but is that enough to help her survive a journey, with a lecherous crew and an attractive captain she doesn’t trust?
Having come to Nagasaki to trade, the last thing Captain Nico Noordholt wants is a female passenger, especially a beautiful one. How can he protect her from his crew when he can’t keep his own eyes off her?
During their journey, Nico and Midori form a tentative bond, but they both have secrets that can change everything. When they arrive in England, a civil war is brewing, and only by standing together can they hope to survive …
Sequel to The Scarlet Kimono.
Visit
www.choc-lit.com
for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store (
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gilded-Fan-Choc-Lit-ebook/dp/B00AN9NX1G
)