Me in my wedding dress and why I want a corset

Yesterday I posted in a blog at lovermaoncepassion about the fabulous competition to win a Couture Corset my publisher Total-E-Bound is sponsoring.

All you have to do to be in the draw is buy one of the four novellas from the Bodices and Boudoirs collection, of which my novella, The Cavalier, is one. (See details here.)


The Cavalier is a poignant tale of blighted love - and renewed hope - set during the English Civil War in 1648. Normally I write Regencies but I couldn't resist the opportunity to write about a time in history when the conflict was so raw. Brother could be fighting brother or, in this case, a Puritan woman is faced with her lost love - who turns out to be second-in-command of the King's Men currently besieging her castle.

Eight years before, Elizabeth had married the brutal Puritan, Silas Drummond, against her will. Nevertheless, she's been a dutiful and obedient wife.

Then Charles Trethveyan marches into her life offering her a bargain that will save her hated husband's life.

A bargain she can't resist until she learns it's based on a lie.

Not knowing that Charles is acting to save her life, Elizabeth succumbs to her husband's demands that she make the ultimate sacrifice - for the sake of honour.

Death is imminent unless the truth can be revealed in time.

Fortunately I married under a lot less duress than poor Elizabeth and got my Happy Ever After without the angst she suffered. I've posted a picture at of me at www.loveromancepassion.com running through fields of purple Salvation Jane in the middle of the Clare Valley wearing the 1961 French-designed wedding gown my mum wore, and which I was able to squeeze into 30 years later. However, since I'm thinking of wearing the dress to a Fancy Dress you can see why I'd be contemplating a corset.

Read a Steamy Historical and Win a Couture Corset

Read a steamy historical and be in the draw to win US$155 towards a Couture Corset.

More competition details at  Love, Romance, Passion where I’m blogging on corset envy.

Win a Couture Corset

I've always wanted to own a beautifully-made lace-up corset. There are some fantastic ones at www.whatkatiedid.com in the UK.

For a limited time my publisher, Total-E-Bound is sponsoring a competition in which those who buy a copy of one of the four novellas in the Bodices & Boudoirs collection - which includes my sensual and dramatic story of lost love returning, The Cavalier - goes in the draw to win 100 pounds towards a beautiful corset.

So what are you waiting for? Click on the link and check out the four stories - all very different, very heartfelt, sensual and dramatic.

Pre-order for The Cavalier

In a change of policy, my publisher, Total-E-Bound has introduced big discounts for pre-orders - so it's a good time to check out, not just my English Civil War romantic novella, The Cavalier, but some of the other great stories on the site.

I've been very happy with TEB's attention to detail in creating a quality product, especially when it comes to copy edits. This is my third Beverley Oakley sensual historical romance and, like my other books, it's been copy edited five times.

I'm a freelance editor, myself, so I turn in a pretty clean product, but there are multiple editors who query everything from grammar points to whether a particular word used had entered the vocabulary of the day to whether the noise of cicadas or sparrows would be more appropriate to the setting. (This was queried in my very first paragraph.)

Here's the blurb and a bit about the novella in which:

A Puritan woman’s loyalties are tested when her husband is imprisoned by the Royalist lover she was forced to surrender through duty.

The Cavalier

by Beverley Oakley

Drummond Castle, home of staunch Puritan Silas Drummond and his beautiful wife, Elizabeth, has been besieged by Royalist forces. In a bargain to spare her husband’s life Lady Elizabeth has agreed to spend the night with the commander of the hated King’s Men.

Second-in-command, Charles Trethveyan, has other ideas. He’s planned this moment since Elizabeth chose to marry Silas eight years before.

When Elizabeth discovers that her former Cavalier lover has taken the place of his superior, she must decide whether Charles is motivated by love or revenge.

Either way, her response will have devastating consequences.

I usually write Regency Romances – either traditional under my Beverley Eikli name, or sensual or erotic under my pseudonym, Beverley Oakley. However this gritty, sometimes brutal story had been begging to be written for a long time. I love historical author Pamela Belle’s work. Her brilliant English Civil War Wintercombe series has resonated over decades with me.

I’ve also devoured everything I can find to do with seventeenth century diarist Samuel Pepys and his life. I feel comfortable with the time period. Honour and loyalty are two of my favourite themes and integral to a romance set against civil conflict when families and friends could be fighting on opposing sides. This short novella begins on the eve of battle and ends twenty-four hours later with the occupation of Drummond Castle. In the interim a lot of lives are lost or irrevocably altered but at least someone gets their happy ending. Writing it made me feel that the pen really is mightier than the sword.

You can read more by visiting my website or you can get the book here.