Cheryl Holt - Always Series

CHERYL HOLT introduces her new “Always” series with three stirring novels of passion, drama, and love forevermore…

I’m delighted to announce my new ALWAYS trilogy.  The three novels will be released together on August 1^st, so they’ll be available in a few days.  The titles are ALWAYS, ALWAYS YOURS, and ALWAYS MINE.

For several years now, I’ve been writing linked series, where there is a common thread that runs through all three novels and that resolves at the end of the third book. They’re family dramas with plenty of passion and emotional upheaval.  This time, there are two common threads.  The first is that the hero and his two little sisters were separated when they were young children, and they grow up, having forgotten they had siblings.  When the hero (in Book 1) finally remembers his long-lost sisters, he resolves to find them and bring them home.

There is a second thread that connects the three heroes through the three novels.  They are all famous African explorers who are British celebrities, renowned for their courage and daring-do.  As the story starts, they’ve suffered a terrible tragedy in Africa that tore their team apart.  They’re all grieving and quarreling, and they have to find a way to restart their lives and become best friends again.

The two links wind through the three books, and they resolve at the end of Book 3.  They create a fun character arc that drives the stories to the thrilling conclusion.

The three books will be released together on August 1^st, and they’ll be available as an e-book or a print book.  I hope you’ll mark your calendars and help me count down the days!  My Always trilogy—coming August 1^st!

Cheryl is also doing a giveaway for 10 lucky readers! Here is her Giveaway Link

CHERYL HOLT is a New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon "Top100" bestselling author who has published over fifty novels. Her books have been released to wide acclaim, and she has won or been nominated for many national awards. She is considered to be one of the masters of the romance genre. For many years, she was hailed as "The Queen of Erotic Romance", and she's also revered as "The International Queen of Villains." She is particularly proud to have been named "Best Storyteller of the Year" by the trade magazine Romantic Times BOOK Reviews. She lives and writes in Hollywood, California, and she loves to hear from fans. Visit her website at www.cherylholt.com.

CHAPTER ONE

Selby estate, rural England, twenty-four years later…

Nell Drummond walked down the pretty lane toward the main road.  It was a beautiful July afternoon, the sky so blue, the trees so green.  Up ahead, she could see the sign that indicated the estate entrance, the simple word SELBY carved in the wood to announce the esteemed location.

She was carrying ribbons and a basket of flowers, and she placed the basket at her feet and surveyed the surrounding posts and fence that she intended to decorate.  Back at the manor, the house was hectic, with the servants in a lather because guests were about to begin arriving and the final wedding preparations were still being completed.

In two weeks, her dearest friend, Susan Middleton, was marrying Selby cousin, Percy Blake.  Nell, Susan, and Susan’s mother, Florence, had already traveled to the country to participate in the celebrations that would lead up to the ostentatious event.  Susan’s busy father, Albert, wouldn’t appear until the day of the ceremony, feeling no need to be present during the escalating mayhem.

Nell had to admit he’d been wise to delay.  Now that she’d discovered how chaotic it would be, she wished she could have stayed in London until the very last minute too.

Though she would never confess it aloud, Florence always put people on edge, and she was being her typical annoying self, irking everyone with her pompous posturing.  With her usual lack of awareness, didn’t notice she was creating enemies right and left. 

The groom’s mother, Edwina Blake, was especially aggravated.

The two women had arranged the nuptials, so ultimately, they’d be related by marriage, but as the years rolled by, Nell couldn’t imagine how they would ever socialize.  They had naught in common, and Edwina’s dislike of Florence was potent and evident. 

The Blakes had been aristocrats for three centuries, and they were considered a premier family in the kingdom.  The Selby title, currently held by the groom’s cousin—the famous explorer and conspicuously absent Nathan Blake—was one of the oldest and most exalted in the land.  Edwina Blake—as a member of the lofty group—viewed herself as being very grand, very important, and she was.

The Middletons were obscenely wealthy due to Albert being a successful brewer.  Florence ceaselessly, but erroneously believed their money could buy them a position in High Society, but it never could.  They were too ordinary, their antecedents too low.

Despite how hard Florence tried, she couldn’t purchase the spot she thought they should occupy.  She’d hoped to use their fortune to snag a noble husband for Susan, but she’d had to settle for a nobleman’s cousin instead.

The groom, Percy Blake—as a grandson of the prior Lord Selby—had very blue blood, but an empty purse, and Susan’s dowry would fill it to overflowing.  It was the reason his mother, Edwina, had sought the match.  Once the vows were spoken, Percy would become very rich.

Yet the mothers—Florence and Edwina—were like an explosion waiting to happen.  How would they all survive the next two weeks without a huge fight breaking out?  If Percy and Susan could reach the altar without their mothers calling the whole thing off, it would be a miracle.

Nell was a pleasant person, and she couldn’t abide discord or bickering, but her years of living with the Middletons had honed her skills as a peacemaker.