Harlequin has reissued 16 of my backlist titles in
ebook. Today I'm speaking with Taylor
MacKenzie and Lord Donovan Sedgwick about THE SEDGWICK CURSE, a Harlequin
Intrigue mystery/romantic suspense originally released in print and currently
available in ebook.
Good morning and
thanks to both of you for joining us today.
I think my first question is for you, Lord Sedgwick.
Donovan: Please call me Donovan. (pauses) I still haven't been able to
completely reconcile being the owner of the title, especially considering the
circumstances that passed it on to me.
It's a title that's
been in your family for a long time, isn't it?
Along with the large estate located in the Cotswolds area of England?
Donovan: A very long time…for centuries to be exact,
starting in the late 1600s after the monarchy was restored to the throne with
Charles II. (brightens as he grasps
Taylor's hand) But on the other side, if
my family history hadn't taken a strange twist the way it did along the way I
never would have met this lovely lady and would have always felt as if
something very important was missing from my life.
So, Taylor…your family
history and Donovan's family history were somehow connected? You're from the United States and had never
been to England, is that correct?
Taylor: Yes, it's now been over a century ago that
the connection between our families resulted in the curse placed on the
Sedgwick family. In my correspondence
with Donovan's father, I lied about the purpose of my trip to England. The reality of it was to trace the origins of
the crime that had resulted in the brutal death of my great grandmother and
great grandfather who were tenant farmers on the Sedgwick estate. My grandmother was a baby at the time and was
whisked away to safety by some of the villagers and eventually arrived in
America by way of Canada.
Donovan…you didn't
have any idea who Taylor was when she showed up at your front door one night?
Donovan: (chuckles) I assumed my father had been
dealing with a man who wanted to research the annual festival we hold on the
estate grounds for a book he was writing on British country festivals. Our particular festival has been an annual
event for over 250 years.
And Taylor was that
'man'?
Donovan: She didn't fool me for a moment. I knew as soon as I opened the door that it
wasn't a man standing there! (turns
serious) But her timing was terrible. My
father had…uh, he had died a couple of months earlier. It was the night before her arrival that the
century old curse had seemed to come to fruition with the evil of the past
turned loose on the present, followed by a string of grisly murders…
(Donovan's voice trailed off and Taylor picked up the
conversation).
Taylor: I had never been as frightened in my life as
I was shortly after I arrived at the Sedgwick estate that night. I felt as if I was being stalked by some evil
presence. Sometimes it seemed so close
that I could literally reach out and actually touch it. Or worse yet, that it could touch me.
Was there someone…or
something…actually stalking you? Was any
of it real or merely the result of the centuries-old gothic atmosphere of the
older areas of the house?
Taylor: Oh, it was real…very real. And so was the resulting danger.
Donovan: There was much more going on than just a
malevolent presence playing havoc with everything and everyone. There was an entirely separate agenda
happening at the same time involving blackmail, deceit, and extortion. All-in-all, a very messy quagmire of
conflicting facts and feelings.
That sounds like quite
a tangled web. Obviously whatever
happened was finally put to rest for good and the two of you are now married
and still living on the estate. How did
all of that come about?
Donovan: (Taylor started to speak, but Donovan got the
words out first) For the answer to that one, you'll need—
Ah…I know what's
coming next. You're going to tell me I
have to read the book.
Donovan: Exactly!
THE SEDGWICK CURSE, a Harlequin Intrigue romantic suspense
by Shawna Delacorte is available in ebook at http://ebooks.eharlequin.com (do search
for author name Shawna Delacorte). Also
available from Amazon for Kindle and Barnes & Novel for Nook as well as
other online vendors. Additional
excerpts from THE SEDGWICK CURSE are available on my website along with
information about my other Harlequin ebook reissues. www.shawnadelacorte.com
Blurb:
THE CHILLING TRUTH
To learn the truth behind her great-grandmother's past—and
the curse that still surrounded both her family and the old woman's tiny
country village—Taylor MacKenzie made her way to England. But from the moment
she arrived at her ancestors' manor house, an eerie chill echoed the evil of
the past and a shadowy figure seemed to follow her every move.
Donovan Sedgwick, the new lord of the manor, had eyes that
pierced Taylor's soul and held her in an otherworldly thrall. But he seemed
ravaged by demons of his own—demons that only her kisses were able to calm.
Inside Front Cover
Excerpt:
She whirled around, her gaze staring into the darkness of
the garden. Someone was watching her, staring from the safety of some hidden
place. She gasped for air as if all the oxygen had been taken away from her.
"Who's there? Who…?" The words came out as a
whisper then they died in her mouth. Her heart pounded in her chest and the
sound roared in her ears. A wall of fear surrounded her. She forced her feet to
move, to carry her toward the house. Her plodding steps turned into a run as
she headed for the light at the kitchen door.
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