Hello everyone,
I'm delighted to introduce my fellow Ellora's Cave author Susana Ellis who is going all out to celebrate the release of her sweet and touching novella A Twelfth Night Tale!
She also has some wonderful prizes - but first, here is she's here to tell us about Twelfth Night Cake or "King Cake", another wonderful tradition associated with Christmas we may not have heard about.
Twelfth Night Cake or “King Cake”
The “King Cake” is a tradition associated with Epiphany (the day associated with the arrival of the Three Kings and the presentation of their gifts to the Christ Child). The “King Cake” is a popular part of pre-Lenten celebrations throughout the Christian world, including the United States, specifically, New Orleans and Mardi Gras, where it is called galette des rois (cake of kings).
In England, the traditional time to serve the King Cake is on Twelfth Night, the evening of January 5th. The cake is baked with trinkets in the batter—typically a bean and a pea—and the person who is served the portion with the bean gets to be the “king” of the evening, and the one who finds the pea is the “queen.” The two fortunate “monarchs”—whether they be adults, children or servants—are granted the power to rule over the other guests for the remainder of the evening.
In medieval times, Twelfth Night (See December 17th post) was associated with the end of the winter festival that started with All Hallow’s Eve (Halloween). The person who found the bean was deemed “Lord of the Misrule,” and everyone’s social status was turned upside-down, i.e., peasants became lords, lords became peasants. The festival dates back to pre-Christian days, from Celtic and Roman traditions.
In A Twelfth Night Tale, the mischievous Louisa Barlow offers to bake the “Twelfth Night Cake” so that she can manipulate the recipients of the pea and the bean. Her pesky younger sister Lila calls her on it, but perhaps this time Louisa’s motives are more noble than it first appears.
A random commenter on this post will win a Twelfth Night Tale Christmas charm bracelet.
King Cake Recipes
Besides the Grand Prize—a Giant Treasure Box—she is giving away a Twelfth Night Tale Christmas charm bracelet (silver-plated) for one random commenter on each of the twelve stops of the tour. Click here for the Rafflecopter for the Giant Treasure Box!
A Twelfth Night Tale Giant Treasure Box*
· lovely gift box
· A Twelfth Night Tale Christmas charm bracelet (silver-plated)
· Father Christmas figurine
· Three Wise Men figurine
· Thomas Kinkade photo collage
· Treasuring Theresa mug
· Treasuring Theresa necklace
· Treasuring Theresa keychain
· two Christmas ornaments from Scotland (Mary Queen of Scots and fleur-de-lys)
· two decks of Ellora's Cave playing cards
· two perfumed soaps from Scotland
· fizzing bath salts from Scotland
· Celtic pen from Scotland
· “jeweled” soap
· nail clipper keychain from London
· stuffed toy bear
*In lieu of the treasure box, a winner from outside the U.S. will receive a gift card from the book retailer of their choice.
About A Twelfth Night Tale
A wounded soldier and the girl next door find peace and love amidst a backdrop of rural Christmas traditions.
Without dowries and the opportunity to meet eligible gentlemen, the five Barlow sisters stand little chance of making advantageous marriages. But when the eldest attracts the attention of a wealthy viscount, suddenly it seems as though Fate is smiling upon them.
Lucy knows that she owes it to her younger sisters to encourage Lord Bexley's attentions, since marriage to a peer will secure their futures as well as hers. The man of her dreams has always looked like Andrew Livingston, her best friend's brother. But he's always treated her like a child, and, in any case, is betrothed to another. Perhaps the time has come to put away childhood dreams and accept reality…and Lord Bexley.
Andrew has returned from the Peninsula with more emotional scars to deal with than just the lame arm. Surprisingly, it's his sister's friend “Little Lucy” who shows him the way out of his melancholy. He can't help noticing that Lucy's grown up into a lovely young woman, but with an eligible viscount courting her, he'll need a little Christmas magic to win her for himself.
Available
Excerpt
All Rights Reserved, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.
A Blush® Regency romance from Ellora’s Cave
Chapter One
The Barlow Home
near Charlbury, Oxfordshire
23 December 1813
“It’s so kind of you to call, Lord Bexley. The flowers you sent are simply lovely, are they not, Lucy?”
Unable to miss the warning tone in her mother’s voice, Lucy sat up straight in her chair and smiled sweetly at their caller.
“Oh yes indeed. They are undoubtedly the most beautiful I’ve ever received, my lord.”
Of course, she did not mention that they were the first flowers she’d ever been sent by a gentleman. And considering that there were few opportunities to meet eligible gentlemen in the quiet little neck of the woods where the Barlows resided, the arrangement was quite likely to remain the only floral tribute to come her way.
Her caller beamed with pleasure. “They were the best I could find at the florist, but of course they cannot hold a candle to your beauty and sweetness, Miss Barlow.”
Lucy swallowed and forced herself to reply. “You embarrass me with your flattery, my lord.”
“Not at all,” he insisted. “You were quite the belle of the Christmas Ball last evening, Miss Barlow. I was much envied to be allowed the honor of two dances with you when so many gentlemen had to be turned away.”
The “Christmas Ball” was merely a small celebration at the local assembly rooms. Her mother had encouraged her to favor Lord Bexley, but in truth, Lucy herself had not found him objectionable. He was an accomplished dancer and quite distinguished-looking, in spite of the fact that he had at least twenty years over her.
At eighteen, she was of an age to be out in society, and Lord Bexley, a wealthy widower from Warwickshire, was undoubtedly the most eligible gentleman in the county. Recently out of mourning, he was seeking a new wife and a mother to his three children, and as Mrs. Barlow kept telling her, Lucy should be flattered that he seemed to be favoring her for the role.
Well, she was flattered. Wasn’t she? The number of young ladies far exceeded that of eligible gentlemen, and she didn’t wish to be left on the shelf. With her family in financial difficulties and four younger sisters to be married off, Lucy knew she owed it to them to marry well and do what she could to find her sisters suitable matches as well.
She was prepared to do her duty and make the best of it, but somehow, when she thought of marriage and children, it was not the kindly Lord Bexley who came to mind. It was the face of the strapping, dark-haired Adonis with laughing gray eyes who lived on an adjoining estate with his younger sister—her bosom friend Jane—who had teased her unmercifully from the time she learned to walk. She couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t been in love with Andrew Livingston—she’d even asked him to marry her at the age of five when he’d been twelve and about to leave for Eton. He’d laughed and quipped that it would be like marrying his sister, and she’d nursed a broken heart ever since.
She sighed as she frequently did when she thought of Andrew and his affianced wife, and her mother glared at her. Fortunately, Phillips wheeled in the tea cart and Mrs. Barlow’s attention was mercifully diverted.
“Please do the honors, Lucy. An excellent opportunity to practice your housewifely skills.”
Lucy flushed. Could her mother’s intentions be more obvious? But Lord Bexley did not seem to notice. He smiled kindly at her somewhat shaky inquiry as to his preferences, and thanked her graciously when she brought him his tea and a plate of cherry tarts.
“Quite charming,” he commented as he regarded her with obvious approval. It was unclear whether he was speaking to her or to her mother, and Lucy wasn’t sure how to respond.
Fortunately, there was a shriek followed by the sound of fierce arguing from the back rooms of the house. Lucy turned instinctively to the door, which was promptly thrust open and filled by the figure of her sister Lydia, who was breathing hard and wringing her hands in agitation.
“Do come, Lucy! Lila and Louisa are having one of their rows again, in the kitchen of all places. Lila broke one of Cook’s mixing bowls, and Cook swears she’ll leave if someone doesn’t stop them and you know you’re the only one who can, Lucy!” She flushed when she saw Lord Bexley and her mother’s angry face. “Oh…pardon me, I didn’t realize we had a guest.” She backed out into the hall, shooting Lucy a pleading look as she did so.
Relieved for an excuse to terminate the social call, Lucy muttered her excuses and scrambled out of the room. But not before she heard her mother’s mortified apology and Lord Bexley’s soothing reply that he found it quite agreeable to discover a young lady so accomplished in the maternal skills.
Goodness, he really was intent on courting her! She should be flattered. She was a sensible girl, and it was pointless to set her cap at Andrew Livingston, in any case. Lord Bexley would be an excellent match for her. His three daughters could not possibly be as troublesome as her two youngest sisters, after all.
She gritted her teeth and hurried to the kitchen, the ineffectual Lydia as usual trailing behind her. The second eldest Barlow daughter was as helpless as their mother at controlling the two youngest children. When Lucy married and left the house, as she would in time, her bookish middle sister Laura was going to have to take up the reins.
About the Author
A former teacher, Susana is finally living her dream of being a full-time writer. She loves all genres of romance, but historical—Regency in particular—is her favorite. There’s just something about dashing heroes and spunky heroines waltzing in ballrooms and driving through Hyde Park that appeals to her imagination.
In real life, Susana is a lifelong resident of northwest Ohio, although she has lived in Ecuador and studied in Spain, France and Mexico. More recently, she was able to travel around the UK and visit many of the places she’s read about for years, and it was awesome! She is a member of the Maumee Valley and Beau Monde chapters of Romance Writers of America.
Contacts
too 'bitchy and unsympathetic'. I then rewrote it so that it won the same RWA competition the following year. It was requested by Avon, but...alas, Fanny Brightwell, my heroine, was still too bitchy. After publishing three books in the interim, I revised the story to become a novella in which Fanny prevails, coming up trumps in a feisty, sensual but moralising piece with a real sting in the tail.
