Top Menu

We’re having a white Christmas/Hanukkah, but I hope wherever you are is toasty and full of treats, friends, and family.

Hot of the virtual presses: Charity and the Preacher, my Christmas story set in 1891, Virtue, Arizona Territory.  Here’s the teaser:

Secrets run deep in the town of Virtue, Arizona Territory.  And Charity Bucknell, second eldest of the Bucknell sisters, has her own horrible secret as well. Instead of risking shame and the torment of being shunned, Charity throws herself into charitable causes, most of which are based in the town’s church. Although no one on the outside can see her secret burden, she knows it’s there, and knowing it, she believes it makes her unmarriageable and beyond redemption.

Pastor Paul Cambridge is given the ministry of Virtue and takes his responsibilities and calling seriously. When he meets his church assistant, Charity, he is instantly taken with her. However, he has secrets of his own. Secrets keeping him from telling the truth about himself, even to the woman he loves.

Charity resists Paul’s attention, though she’d like nothing more than to accept the handsome preacher’s proposal. Every kiss and touch they share brings them closer together, though their inner fears keep them apart. Can Charity and Paul risk telling each other the secrets that shame and control them, or will they admit the truth and build a life together based on honesty and respect?

Note: This book contains the spanking of adult women and one erotic encounter. If these things offend you, please do not buy this book.

There’s an excerpt here. But I’ll share another one with this post.


With sudden realization, Charity knew she’d be happy to take another spanking—a dozen even—if it led to this wonderful feeling like a thousand butterflies in her middle. Without thinking about it, she put her hands on his face while they kissed. She could feel smoothness where he’d recently shaved, warm skin beneath her fingertips, and the solid handsomeness of the planes of his face. Can this go on forever?

Eventually, he broke the kiss, though he continued to cradle the back of her head. “Are you all right?” he asked, his voice soft and low.

All she could do was nod. Her mind felt dreamy, her middle full of delicious pleasure. She pulled her hands away from Paul’s face and put them on his shoulders.

“Ready to go home?”

“Will you be walking with me?”

“Yes.”

“I’m ready.”

He handed her hat to her. “Put this on and we shall proceed.”

She did as told. He took her by the hand and they walked around the post office on the corner of Calamine and Main and onto the big thoroughfare, at which point they proceeded east toward the Bucknells’ home. As they made it to Main Street, he dropped her hand. Apparently, he didn’t want anyone to know what shenanigans they’d been up to. It was all right with Charity, she wasn’t sure she wanted anyone to know either. Keeping it secret meant she could break it off without repercussions in the future. For surely she would. Things with her hadn’t changed. She was still tarnished, still unworthy of a man’s love.

They walked in silence, while Charity breathed deeply of the morning air, the fragrance of pine trees mellowing her mind. Birds chirped and called. Didn’t they realize she’d kissed the preacher? Didn’t they know what she knew, that she nearly brimmed with warm feelings and might explode at any moment? Where was their reverence for those minutes, for she surely was in awe.


Charity and the Preacher is available on Amazon and Blushing Books (soon, everywhere else).

Amazon

Blushing Books (for all formats)

Please allow me to share my Christmas wishes with you through this book. I guarantee kisses under the mistletoe, and some surprises along the way.

Happy holidays, and happy reading!

Trish

 

 

Close