Today I am so pleased to welcome Joanna Chambers to Joyfully Jay. Joanna has come to share an exclusive excerpt from her latest release, Gentleman Wolf (which we reviewed here and really enjoyed). She has also brought along…. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

Excerpt

Without pausing to knock, Lindsay swept into Nicol’s office, closing the door firmly on the clerk’s startled face before turning and leaning back against wood.

The fair head of the man sitting at the desk in the middle of the room snapped up at his entrance.

“For Christ’s sake, Hugh. I told you I—”

And then he broke off, his scowl transforming to an expression of astonishment. For one glorious moment, Nicol’s grey-blue gaze travelled over Lindsay with what looked very like stunned admiration—Lindsay had to wonder if the man even recognised him without the curls and rouge—but a moment later his scowl was firmly back in place and his words made it clear he knew exactly who Lindsay was.

“Mr. Somerville? How the devil did you get in here?”

“And good day to you too,”Lindsay drawled, levering himself away from the door and strolling forward till he stood in front of Nicol’s desk. Nicol had been poring over a sizeable plan, two corners of which were being held down by matching brass paperweights, and a third by a book. The fourth corner curled up towards the centre of the desk. Lindsay lifted one of the brass paperweights and examined it. The corner of the drawing he released was adjacent to the other free corner, resulting in fully half the drawing rolling in towards the centre of the desk. Nicol cursed and shot out an arm to catch the paper, smoothing it back down across the expanse of polished wood. He scowled at Lindsay even harder.

“Would you kindly put that down?” he gritted out.

Lindsay ignored him, examining the paperweight idly. It was a two-headed bird of prey, its sharp claws curled around the blade of a sword. Lindsay recognised the symbol. “Are you a freemason?” he asked, holding it up in inquiry.

“What? No. That was my uncle’s,” Nicol replied distractedly, before repeating crossly, “How did you get in here?”

“Your clerk let me in,”Lindsay replied. “Though you mustn’t blame him. He’s barely out of leading strings.”

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the paperweight to Nicol, who snatched it out of the air and set it down on his desk with a bang.

Lindsay offered a mischievous smile and added in a confiding tone, “I’m afraid I rather bullied my way past him.”

Nicol’s scowl only deepened. Such an angry fellow, Lindsay thought. If only he’d unfurrow those fair brows and let the tightness in his jaw relax. And perhaps eat a little more—his face, though startlingly handsome, was a little too angular.

“You won’t scold him for it, will you?” Lindsay asked silkily, fingertips just resting on the edge of Nicol’s desk. He was watching Nicol carefully, conscious of his body’s reaction to the man even as he did so. His heart was already racing in response to Nicol’s heady scent, desire spiking in him. He could see that he was not alone in his reaction. Nicol was not indifferent to him. His grey-blue eyes darkened as Lindsay drew closer and his scent sharpened. Lindsay might not know for certain what the change of scent meant, but he was willing to wager the man felt some level of attraction. Though whether Nicol was the sort of man to give into that attraction or to fight it remained to be seen.

Nicol dropped his gaze to his desk, busying himself with rolling up the plan he’d been poring over. “Hugh won’t get a scolding,” he said. “However, I can see he needs a lesson in how to deal with forceful characters.”

Lindsay laughed at that, making Nicol glance at him suspiciously, as though he thought Lindsay might be laughing at him.

Blurb

An elegant werewolf in Edinburgh…

1788. When Lindsay Somerville, the most elegant werewolf in Paris, learns that the man who held him in abject captivity for decades is on his way to France, intent on recapturing him, he knows he must leave the Continent for his own safety. Lindsay cannot take the risk of being recaptured—he may have been free for a century but he can still feel the ghost of his old chains under his fine clothes.

… on a mission…

While he’s in Edinburgh, Lindsay has been tasked with acquiring the “Naismith Papers”, the writings of a long-dead witchfinder. It should be a straightforward mission—all Lindsay has to do is charm an elderly book collector, Hector Cruikshank. But Cruikshank may not be all he seems, and there are others who want the papers.

… meets his match

As if that were not enough, while tracking down the Naismith Papers, Lindsay meets stubborn architect Drew Nicol. Although the attraction between them is intense, Nicol seems frustratingly determined to resist Lindsay’s advances. Somehow though, Lindsay can’t seem to accept Nicol’s rejection. Is he just moonstruck, or is Nicol bonded to him in ways he doesn’t yet understand?

Note: this is the first book of a duology – the story continues and will complete in the second book, Master Wolf.

Bio

Joanna Chambers always wanted to write. She spent over 20 years staring at blank sheets of paper and despairing of ever writing a single word. In between staring at blank sheets of paper, she studied law, met her husband and had two children. Whilst nursing her first child, she rediscovered her love of romance and found her muse. Joanna lives in Scotland with her family and finds time to write by eschewing sleep and popular culture.

Giveaway

Joanna has brought along a great tourwide giveaway. Just follow the Rafflecopter below to enter. 

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