Book Blurb & Info
After a year of recovery from her ill-fated romance with Theo (see Moria’s Time), and thinking about her future, Adelle returns to London, still intent on marrying a duke … with a carefully thought out plan.
First, she needs a companion to help her, and hires Lady Deanna. Together, they take London’s social elite by storm with the dramatic introduction of Adelle’s alter ego, ‘Lady Mysterious’. At first it seems Lord Grenfell, and then Lord Hastings, may take the bait, but then, being ‘Lady Mysterious’ proves to be too dangerous. Realizing the price she’d pay if caught and exposed, she abandons her plan.
Instead, she enlists the aid of her Uncle Sinjin, the Duke of Devonwood, to open doors for her. At Lord Pearson’s ball, the host shuns her, but his son, Walter, finds the American farmer’s daughter entrancing.
Theo, conscripted into the Royal Navy and exiled to Australia, returns to London. Convinced the Grayson family caused his being inducted into the navy, and now a destitute and desperate deserter, he plans his revenge on the Duke of Devonwood and his brother, Adelle’s father.
After jumping ship in Istanbul, the formerly pompous youth, now transformed into a dangerous, hardened man, cons his way home, and stalks the family while learning to use a gun. Adding burglar and murderer to his resume, he realizes the error of his ways and flees. The family hopes he’s gone for good.
After a double wedding with Moria and Simon, Walter and Adelle, with the support of their families, devote their lives to children—their own, and many London orphans.
Along the way, Adelle learns about love: the love of her family, of Walter, and of many other people in her life. It changes her in ways she could never have imagined.
“… now there doth remain faith, hope, love – these three;
and the greatest of these is love.”
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Book Excerpt
Prologue
The first time she appeared was
during the Hargrove’s ball.
Like a dream, the specter floated from the shadows.
Conversation ceased. All eyes looked her way.
Her slim body emphasized the simple, yet elegant,
cloth-of-gold gown. The white silk cloak emanated a soft, subtle glow in the
flickering candlelight. Concealed under the cloak’s hood, and the veil that
shrouded her face, she teased the imagination with her sensuous movements.
Ladies’ fans labored furiously; the gentlemen smiled their
approval.
She floated slowly around the room, as if on air, with the
cloak drifting behind her.
Then, as suddenly as she’d appeared, she slipped into the
shadows and was gone.
Motionless, the Lords and Ladies stared at each other in
silent amazement.
Questions bubbled to the surface. Who was she? Where had
she come from? Where did she go?
Several men jumped into action, racing out into the night,
but soon returned. They’d found no trace of the mystical entity, ‘Lady Mysterious’.
***
In Chapter Nine, Adelle meets Lord Hastings
… I looked up at him, and again, he winked, his light blue
eyes, dancing in the candlelight.
“So, have you heard the gossip about ‘Lady Mysterious’?” My breath caught in my throat. He knew. Somehow,
he knew.
Deanna saw my distress and took over the conversation.
“Only what we’ve heard through the grapevine, or read in the papers. A woman shows
up at the balls, dressed scandalously, unannounced and uninvited, walks about the
room, then leaves, without a trace.”
“It’s not quite that simple,” Lord Hastings said. “‘Lady Mysterious’ arrives, and waits
until all eyes are on her.” He glanced at me, then continued. “Then, she
wanders about, taking care to not get too close, and, as you said, she leaves.
And, you’re right, even in light snow one evening, no trace of her was found
outside the ballroom. But, I must tell you, she’s quite lovely. Her gown is quite
scandalous, as you said, Lady Deanna, but many of the ladies have copied it, to
one degree or another. I’ve gotten close to her a couple of times. I almost had
her in my arms when she disappeared.”
I had to know. “Disappeared?”
“Hmm. She didn’t run or walk away, she … vanished. I
haven’t figured it out yet, but I know she’s not a figment of my imagination. Too
many other people have seen her, including Lord Grenfell who saw her disappear,
too. There have been many fine inventions in recent years, but we know of no
machine capable of doing such a thing.”
I relaxed a bit. He’d seen us disappear, but he didn’t understand
how it could happen. And, from his conversation, he didn’t know who ‘Lady Mysterious’ was, but was interested
in finding out because he thought she was lovely. And he had yet to see an inch
of her skin.
I must have had a puzzled look on my face because Lord
Hastings said, “What do you find so puzzling, my dear?”
Think fast. My mind raced to answer his question.
“Why would someone do this? She spent a considerable amount
of time on this, between the gown you mentioned, and her overall plan, if there
is one, but to what end?”
“Lord Grenfell and I have discussed this at length but can
come up with no reason to put on such an elaborate show. Perhaps you ladies can
assist us, give us a woman’s point of view. Why would a woman go to such
lengths for no apparent reason?”
I took a deep breath and glanced at Deanna. She was leaving
this question for me.
“I’m sure I don’t know, Lord Hastings. I’m afraid I don’t understand
how the mind of a common trollop works.”
He raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “A common trollop? What
makes you say that?”
“Well, she’s parading around in a scandalous gown, showing
up unescorted, and uninvited. No real lady would do such things, am I right?”
“Well, yes, that’s true, but what if she were, in fact, a
lady?”
“Then, we’ve come full circle to the ‘why’ again. Why would
any lady risk her reputation like this? There’s also her family’s reputation,
not to mention her husband’s, if she’s married.” Lessons learned.
Lord Hastings summed up the assumptions so far. “So, we’ve
pretty much agreed, then, that the lady in question isn’t a lady. We can also
rule out someone using this as a ploy to get inside the big houses of London to
see what they might steal since she’s only inside the ballroom, which is a
public room in most houses. Besides, if someone were looking to find things to
steal, getting themselves hired as house staff would give them better access
and opportunity.”
“You have given
this a lot of thought.” I was impressed.
“I have, ma’am, and will continue to do so. We don’t know when
or where she’ll turn up next, but I plan to be prepared.”
“For what?”
“I must know who she is. She reminds me of my late wife.
It’s quite maddening.”
“Lord Hastings, correct me if I’m wrong, but is not the
costume this ‘Lady Mysterious’ wears
covering every inch of her body?”
“That’s true, but there’s something about the way she walks
… the way she holds her head.”
Mixed emotions flowed through me. Of course, his wife
walked the way ‘Lady Mysterious’ walks.
It’s why I practiced the walk for days, so it looked like ‘Lady Mysterious’ was an aristocratic woman. But he wasn’t
interested in me. He was enthralled by my alter-ego, and only because she walks
like his dead wife. I wiped the beginnings of a smile off my face when I saw him
looking at me.
“You, my lady, are an enigma. I look at you, and see the
look on your face. I’m sure, at that moment, you know something about ‘Lady Mysterious’. But, the next time I
look at you, it’s clear you know nothing.” He shook his head.
Series Info
Janelle’s Time, Book 1/5, TIME SeriesAuthor: Dayna Leigh Cheser
Published: July 2012
Words / Pages: 98,600 / 231
Genre: Adult Historical Romance w/time travel
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Chapter: http://bit.ly/JT-Chapter
Publisher: All Things That Matter Press
Moria’s Time, Book 2/5, TIME Series
Author: Dayna Leigh Cheser
Published: August 2013
Words / Pages: 103,300 / 322
Genre: Adult Historical Romance w/time travel
Available at: Widely available at many locations,
including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo
Chapter: http://bit.ly/MT-Chapter
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Author: Dayna Leigh Cheser
Published: August 2013
Words / Pages: 103,300 / 322
Genre: Adult Historical Romance w/time travel
Available at: Widely available at many locations,
including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo
Chapter: http://bit.ly/MT-Chapter
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Adelle’s Time, Book 3/5, TIME Series
Author: Dayna Leigh Cheser
Published: May 2012
Words / Pages: 97,300 / 240
Genre: Historical Romance w/time travel
Available at: Widely available at many locations,
including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo
Chapter: http://bit.ly/AT-Chapter
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Dayna Leigh Cheser hails from a family of writers; her mother, a non-fiction writer, and her brothers, a newspaperman, and a copywriter.
In school, she often wrote short stories to entertain her classmates, and the occasional teacher who intercepted one. This influenced one English teacher to modify her cirriculum to include short story writing.
Term papers prepared Ms. Cheser for the rigors of being an author – the research and writing creativity necessary for a paper gave her a good basis for a writing career upon which to build. She’s found that researching historical facts and people to weave into her stories is an exciting and important part of the process.
While she has many passions, her first love has always been books, which evolved into writing. Much of her young life was spent in the town library, and her parents dispaired her being an under-the-covers-at-night-with-a-flashlight reader.
A casual writer since childhood, it wasn’t until 2002 that she was driven to finally write a book. On a ‘graveyard shift’ shift for eighteen months, she had the time to write for several hours every night. The result was her first book. Today, with three books published and two more in the series due out soon, she’s busy all the time.
Her life before her retirement didn’t allow the time required to be a professional writer. Since retiring, however, she’s loved the time she now has to write to her heart’s content.
Readers enjoy Ms. Cheser’s books because they are great stories, with by well-developed characters. Not a ‘formula writer’, when she writes, the story is free to progress as it will, then she works with it until it becomes a reality.
Author Links
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Writers_Cafe
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDaynaLeighCheser
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/DaynaLC
Author: Dayna Leigh Cheser
Published: May 2012
Words / Pages: 97,300 / 240
Genre: Historical Romance w/time travel
Available at: Widely available at many locations,
including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo
Chapter: http://bit.ly/AT-Chapter
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Author Info
In school, she often wrote short stories to entertain her classmates, and the occasional teacher who intercepted one. This influenced one English teacher to modify her cirriculum to include short story writing.
Term papers prepared Ms. Cheser for the rigors of being an author – the research and writing creativity necessary for a paper gave her a good basis for a writing career upon which to build. She’s found that researching historical facts and people to weave into her stories is an exciting and important part of the process.
While she has many passions, her first love has always been books, which evolved into writing. Much of her young life was spent in the town library, and her parents dispaired her being an under-the-covers-at-night-with-a-flashlight reader.
A casual writer since childhood, it wasn’t until 2002 that she was driven to finally write a book. On a ‘graveyard shift’ shift for eighteen months, she had the time to write for several hours every night. The result was her first book. Today, with three books published and two more in the series due out soon, she’s busy all the time.
Her life before her retirement didn’t allow the time required to be a professional writer. Since retiring, however, she’s loved the time she now has to write to her heart’s content.
Readers enjoy Ms. Cheser’s books because they are great stories, with by well-developed characters. Not a ‘formula writer’, when she writes, the story is free to progress as it will, then she works with it until it becomes a reality.
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Writers_Cafe
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDaynaLeighCheser
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/DaynaLC
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