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Saturday, October 19, 2013

Saturday Sampler - A Very Scandalous Holiday Anthology by Nancy Fraser




Blurb:
Entangled Publishing presents…A Very Scandalous Holiday Anthology. Four very spirited vignettes of holidays past. 

Erin’s Gift by Nancy Fraser - Chicago 1924
Erin O’Mara has been on her own for the past two years. As much as she’d love to embrace the wild 1920’s lifestyle like her two well-heeled best friends, she’s a victim of circumstance. Her dream of becoming a concert violinist all but over, she now works at a shop girl, waiting on the swells from Hyde Park.
When her friends coax her into a trip to a local Speakeasy, Erin finds herself in jail and in the hands of her best friend’s lawyer brother, Seth. Attraction is instantaneous for them both.
Widower, Seth Harrison, has no intention of falling in love again but will he be able to resist the sweetness of his son’s nanny, Erin O’Mara—his sister’s best friend?

Excerpt:

“Well, well, well, what have we here?” The desk sergeant stared down over the huge wooden barrier, his thick Irish brogue filled with amusement. “Miss Harrison, Mr. Packard.” Glancing in Erin’s direction, he added, “Don’t tell me these two have roped another of their Hyde Park friends into skirting the law?” He shook his head and rubbed a meaty hand across his whiskers. “What’s your name, girlie?”

“Erin. Erin O’Mara.”

“Saints be, they’ve drawn a fine Irish lass such as yourself into their sordid business.” The officer turned his attention to Abby.

“I suppose you’ll be wanting to call that shyster brother of yours, now won’t you?”

Abby nodded. “Yes, Officer O’Malley, if you wouldn’t mind.”

O’Malley motioned toward the single phone on the table opposite the desk. “You can give him a call, but you’re going into the tank with the rest of lawbreakers until he gets here. No more special treatment just ‘cause your father’s a councilman. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Abby said. She started toward the desk and then turned back to ask, “Did Mrs. O’Malley have that baby yet, Sergeant?”

“Not yet,” the man acknowledged, shaking his head. “You’d think after ten, they’d just walk out on their own.”

The “tank” as Officer O’Malley had called it was made up of three jail cells, side by side. Women were housed in the first, the middle one sat empty, and the men were placed in the third. The young officer in charge of escorting them to their cells opened the door and motioned them forward. “Miss Abby,” the man said, “I’m surprised to see you back so soon.”

Abby laid her hand against the officer’s smooth cheek. “Oh, Tommy, you know I couldn’t possibly go more than a week or two without seeing your handsome face.”

The cell door had barely shut behind them when two women of questionable virtue began whistling and making wild moaning noises. The older of the two laughed heartily, her amusement ending in a rough-edged cough. “Oh, Tommy,” she whimpered, “I missed you so much.”

“Leave it alone, Kitty,” Officer Tommy warned. “And don’t you be trying to steal anything from these two young ladies.”

The woman called Kitty shook her head. “Don’t want nothing from these swells, Tommy-boy, ‘cept maybe a ciggy if they’ve got one.”

“Not us,” Erin said, shaking her head. “We don’t smoke.”

“Well, la-de-da, aren’t you a couple a good girlies.”



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Bio:

Like most authors, Nancy Fraser began writing at an early age, usually on the walls and with crayons or, heaven forbid, permanent markers. Her love of writing often made her the English teacher’s pet, which, of course, resulted in a whole lot of teasing. Still, it was worth it.

In addition to being part of this wonderful anthology, Nancy also has a co-authored historical romance, The Lawman’s Agreement, coming out on November 11, as well as a contemporary novella, Having Santa’s Baby, releasing in December. The fourth novella in her Golden Decade of Rock and Roll vintage historical series, April Love, will be released worldwide in February.

When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five beautiful grandchildren and enjoys traveling and reading. She invites you to visit her website (www.nancyfraser.ca) or follow her on Twitter (@nfraserauthor). Or, more importantly, just enjoy what she writes.

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