Lady Farquhar's Butterfly is now a new ebook

I love metamorphoses. I like to think we all, in some way, metamorphose into something resembling what we'd like the world to see.

I was once the closet writer, too shy to call myself a writer because I felt I was putting tickets on myself to imagine I could one day write like my idols.

But now I'm working on edits for my eighth book, The Maid of Milan, to be published in March 2014 by Choc Lit. My debut with them is my winning entry The Reluctant Bride which has just been released.

Originally published in hard cover several years ago, my second book, Lady Farquhar's Butterfly, is now an ebook. It's a Regency romance about an abused wife, now a widow, who metamorphoses into the woman she wants the world to see, only to have her newfound happiness and position threatened by the malignant forces of her husband's influence beyond the grave.

I've just now uploaded it as a pre-order and on November 4 - my 19th wedding anniversary - it will be officially released. I chose that date as it was one of such hope and expectation all those years ago; and happily all those expectations were met. Unlike poor Olivia, the lively Regency 'party girl' who married the 'bad boy' and lived to rue the day.

So if you like historical romantic suspense, why not check it out HERE - and order it during the next month when the pre-order price comes with a 33% discount. It's not only readers who benefit from a lower price; a book gains much greater visibility due to the amount of pre-orders it receives.

Here is the premise of Lady Farquhar's Butterfly:

Falsely branded an adulteress and stripped of her child by her vengeful late husband, Olivia is desperate to escape her grim past. But when her charade to reclaim her son results in a deep and unexpected love with her son's kind and charming guardian, Max, Olivia fears that blackmail, revenge and possibly murder will continue to stalk her.

And here are some reviews from Long And Short Reviews, Red Roses for Authors, and Books Monthly:

LAS Reviewer

Format:Hardcover

Originally posted at: [...]

Sweet with heat and hard to beat, Lady Farquhar's Butterfly gains momentum as it builds to a terrifying climax.

The imagery of a fiery-eyed stallion rearing over Olivia, who has fallen in the mud, and its reminding her of her cruel, now-dead husband gives a clue to what she suffered at his hands.

Olivia wants her two-and-half-year-old son back who is in the care of her late husband's cousin. She been lead to believe her soul is destined for hell because of her past actions; but she wants to raise her child, while she is on earth, and is willing to do whatever it takes to do so. An error in judgment when she was seventeen years old governs much of what she does. Even though she is a beautiful, attention-grabbing woman on the outside, she feels ugly and horrid on the inside.

Max Atherton sells his commission in the army and returns home to be the guardian for his cousin, Lucien's little boy and to run the estate until the child reaches his twenty-first birthday so he can take over his inheritance. Max has no idea of what a life-changing experience awaits him.

The Rev. Nathaniel Kirkmen, confessor for the now-dead Lucien and the consoler and advisor to Olivia, Lucien's widow, has woven and continues to weave a web of lies so tightly around Olivia with his pseudo-piety that she feels helpless to do anything other than what he says to do, until...

Beverly Eirki's concise, smooth, and subtle writing reveals characters and their motivations with a style that makes Lady Farquhar's Butterfly fascinating--a thoroughly enjoyable, page-turner of a tale.

So, if you think it's the sort of book that you might enjoy whiling away a few hours with, you can...

PRE-ORDER HERE

Thank you :)

My Author Copies Arrived at Last!!

Well, I'm not one for letting an opportunity to get all excited pass me by. And if receiving two beautiful big boxes of The Reluctant Bride isn't good reason to into a tail spin, I don't know what is:)

So with a great sounding of trumpets, here is a photo of my beautiful books with their exquisite, embossed covers.

The official release date is September 15 but if you want to enjoy heavy discounts and pre-order, Amazon has them at $10.32 (free shipping on orders over $25)

and

The Book Depository has them for $11.15 (that's Australian dollars) which includes worldwide delivery. 

The e-book, which comes out in a few weeks, is priced at $2.99.

So, just to remind you about what The Reluctant Bride is all about, and it's history, here's a quick potted run-down.

About 6 years ago the first three chapters won Romance Writers of Ausrtralia's Single Title competition. Then I got published with my first Regency Romance - Lady Sarah's Redemption. I wrote three books for Robert Hale (all hardcovers which are now available as ebooks) and then four more sensual historical romances which are available only as e-books and written under the pseudonym Beverley Oakley.

Last year, however, The Reluctant Bride won Choc Lit's Search for an Australian Star competition and it's been excitement all the way, what with the Romantic Times Booklovers conference, book talks and the promo trail.

Here's the blurb:

Emily Micklen has no option after the death of her loving fiance Jack but to marry the scarred, taciturn soldier who represents her only escape from destitution.

Major Angus McCartney is tormented by the reproachful, slate-grey eyes of two similar women: Jessamine, his dead mistress, and Emily, the unobtainable beauty who is now his reluctant bride.

Emily's loyalty to Jack's memory is matched only by Angus's desire to win his wife with honour and action.

As Napoleon cuts a swathe through Europe, Angus is sent to France on a mission of national security, forcing Emily to confront her traitorous half-French family.

Angus and Emily may find love, but will the secrets they uncover divide them forever?

You can read the first two chapters here

Now, on the same day I received my author copies I also received my cover art for my next Choc Lit release, The Maid of Milan, due for release March 2014.

'The Maid of Milan' is about a woman who has finally fallen in love with her gorgeous, patient husband of 5 years. Now her former passionate (poet) lover- from whose arms she was torn by her family - has returned from abroad, a celebrity due to the success of his book 'The Maid of Milan'. High society is as desperate to discover the identity of 'his muse' as my heroine is to protect her newfound love and her husband's political career. (It's just a little more difficult since her secret lover was her husband's best uni pal.)