A September Kindle deal for readers in Australia

UK/AUS/NZ eBook edition of A Duke in Shining Armor

Most of the deals I report are for U.S. and Canada only, so I’m delighted to announce a Kindle deal for Australia.

The first of the Difficult Dukes Series, A Duke in Shining Armor, is on sale for AUD 1.49 for the entire month of September. My Difficult Dukes find themselves dealing with even more Difficult Women, much to their enlightenment (and other things). In this one, the Duke of Ripley tries to return a a runaway bride to her bridegroom. If you haven’t started the series yet, or want to make a gift of the first volume, now is an excellent time!

Happy New Year!

Woman sitting on sickle moon, with Happy New Year text

Image (public domain) by George Wolfe Plank for Vanity Fair magazine, November 1917 or October 1913 (depending on the source), with my slight interference.

2025 saw the release of the third Difficult Dukes book. After much whining and beating-head-against-wall, I turned My Inconvenient Duke into an actual book. It went out into the world, was greeted with kindness and affection, and I—and all those who have to deal with me—celebrated.

This year I’ll be working on what looks like a spinoff. There will undoubtedly be more whining and beating-head-against-wall, because that’s the way I roll these days, it seems. Maybe that’s the way I always rolled. Who can remember?

It was a rocky year in many ways, private and public, but there were certainly some major bright spots, like the month in London, which resulted in so many discoveries and rediscoveries that I’ll continue to share them with you for at least the first half of 2026.

My talented assistant Jessica and I have set up my YouTube Channel, which will finally get some material in the coming weeks. This, I believe, will make it easier for you to watch the short videos. Squarespace is a good space for blogs/newsletters like this, but the process can get tedious and clumsy when one is uploading numerous videos, brief though mine are. Much simpler to offer a link, and let you view the things at a size of your own choosing.

You can also expect some reports from warmer climes as my husband and I make our annual escape to parts south. We’ll be trying a new location, and I’m looking forward to exploring and finding some history, nerdy or otherwise, to share with you. And/or botanical wonders. And/or other wonders.

On the nerdy history front, historical novel author Susan Holloway Scott & I (aka Two Nerdy History Girls) will once again join our host, Meena Jain, Library Director, Ashland Public Library,* for conversation about the way people lived in the past. Unlike those secondary school history courses you may remember not so fondly, our chats don’t focus on politics and wars, but on daily living: what people wore, what they ate, how they traveled, how they managed hygiene, what their environments were like—that sort of thing. If you’d like to join us, please set aside 7-8PM on Monday 5 January for our gathering on Zoom. (Details here.) And don’t hesitate to bring questions. We won’t know all the answers, but we’ll do our best, then we’ll do some digging afterward for better information—because of, you know, the historical nerdiness of us. You can expect an official invitation/update in the coming days.

In other words, there’s plenty to look forward to.

So let’s say a cheerful Bye-Bye to 2025, and look forward with hope for a brighter, gentler, and more peaceful 2026. Thank you for spending time with me and my books. I’ll continue to try to make it worth your while.

*Ashland, Massachusetts

An eBook Deal & a New Italian Edition

Yesterday brought some nice holiday surprises. One came to my doorstep (in a downpour) and one to my email via Bookperk.

First off, we have a limited time only eBook deal on My Inconvenient Duke. From now until 2 January, it’s on sale for $1.99 in the U.S. and Canada. Since publishers don’t always let me know when deals are coming up, and it’s impractical to haunt the various bookstores daily to find out, sometimes my news does not come as far in advance as I’d like. But there’s time! If you haven’t yet read the third Difficult Dukes book, here’s a chance to do so and save a few bucks. Or maybe you’ve a friend who might enjoy Blackwood and Lady Alice’s story.

The second item was Il Duca Libertino, the Italian edition of A Duke in Shining Armor. The copies were a little damp, having landed on the stairs instead of the porch, but they survived near drowning. (It was quite a storm.) And they would be readable if only I could. But the Italian I learned in repeated lessons has for the most part either evaporated on gone into deep hiding in my brain. Also, the vocabulary I did learn was limited to beginner level. Italian is not easy for an American, believe me, especially one of very mature years. All those articles and pronouns. But it’s so beautiful that I find myself opening pages and trying to comprehend. And no, I don’t comprehend much, except insofar as I wrote the book and know how it goes. But I think we can all appreciate the cover design. It’s always interesting to see the way other countries do it—how they dress the characters, what scenes they choose, the poses, etc.