Greetings, Dear Reader!

Well, it's a flowery world here in Pennsylania as spring has finally decided to come along at last. I hope all the moms had a wonderful Mother's Day, and please accept a round of applause for doing the most important job in the world. xo. 

So onto the news. This month I have two new items out to tell you about. One is the mass market paperback release of the ROYAL BRIDESMAIDS anthology that I did with Stephanie Laurens and Loretta Chase, two WONDERFUL historical romance greats who I'm sure are very familiar authors to most of you out there!  

My 15k-word story in Royal Bridesmaids is called THE IMPOSTER BRIDE: To secure peace for her country, Lady Minerva must ensure its royal princess is wed to handsome Prince Tor of Rydalburg. But when the bride bolts, Minerva decides on a daring deception and bridesmaid becomes - bride!

I had so much fun making up two imaginary kingdoms for the setting - sort of like I did with my Ascension books! They have long been at war, but a royal wedding is expected to bring peace between their lands. Except everything goes awry when the intended bride gets cold feet. Someone must step in to take her place!
 Click here to read the opening of The Imposter Bride.

Item number two that's new this month is the amazing audiobook for THE LOST HEIR. It is 11 hours long and just so much fun to listen to. Our narrator, Jamie du Pont MacKenzie, is a man of many talents--and many voices! He really made the story come alive. I think if you've  got a family roadtrip coming up, this would be a great way to help the driving  time speed past with a tale that all ages can  enjoy. You can hear a sample on the audioplayer on my homepage. (www.gaelenfoley.com) 

Other than that, I'm just writing away, as usual, getting pretty close to done with the final Inferno Club book (#7, Nick's book, no title yet - coming out next summer). 

A SMALL WORD OF REASSURANCE TO MY ROMANCE FANS...

Someone asked me recently if I intended to abandon historical romance for the middle grade writing and I want to assure my readers the answer is certainly not! I love writing Regency historicals, and intend to continue doing so for a very long time! I've got MANY more stories left to tell in this sub-genre. I hope you'll keep reading them!

...AND A REQUEST!

And that reminds me. I must ask for my readers' help on the Happily Ever After Corner! I am finding it, strangely, harder than I thought to imagine what life is like for the Knight family couples after they've ridden off into the sunset. If you have some suggestions for what they might/could/should be doing, by all means, chime in, please! 

I have no doubt that for some of you, the stories are probably more recent in YOUR memory than they are mine, since I've been absorbed in the INFERNO CLUB  since 2008. I haven't looked at the Knight books in years. So if a Knight book is fresh to you, give a shout out to let me know what you think should be included in their HEA Corner entry. I'd appreciate it because I'm really kinda stumped!

ALLRIGHTY THEN,

In closing, a reminder, as all good Regency fans know, May is the month in which The Season begins in London. In fact, the Royal Ascot is only a couple of weeks away, so I trust you all have got your HATS.  See the vids below. ;)

Until next time!

xo,
Gaelen 

Hello, Friends! Hope you're keeping warm as we enter the homestretch of wintertime. March means St. Patrick's Day and, around here, a big family celebration for my Foley and Kennedy clans. While we're in the final stretch of wintertime, as well, I've been meaning to pass along this great recipe for a while now, everyone who tries it loves it. Perfect comfort food for this time of year, and it makes your whole house smell heavenly while it's cooking.

1. In a medium to large saucepan (that has a lid), melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and the salt and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring often. When they start to brown, add the minced garlic and sautee for another minute. 

2. Add the beef. Stir to coat well with the onion mixture. Cook for 5 minutes or until the outside of the meat loses its pink color. Add the bay leaf.

3. In a small bowl, mix the remaining ingredients. Stir this mixture into the saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to LOW. Cover and simmer _without stirring_ for about 2 1/2 hours, or until meat is very tender when tested with a fork.

4. Ladel the stew into a shallow serving bowl and serve over a bed of egg noodles or rice, or with a side of crusty bread. (Depending on how thick it turns out, it makes a great sloppy joe style sandwich for leftovers!) 

On a personal note, I had the joy of becoming an auntie again in January to a new niece, baby Teagan. In May, I hosted a Mother's Day brunch for my mom and the new mom in the family, my youngest sister. Mom returned the hospitality at Thanksgiving, and wow, she hasn't lost her touch even though she doesn't have much occasion to cook for a crowd anymore. Go, Mom! Nearing Christmas, I was excited to visit a historical property, Wright House from 1812, that I didn't even know was tucked away in the next town over from where I live. The farm had been there since the mid 1700's - the current house was from (Regency era!) 1812. It was all decorated for Christmas and they had a holiday event serving food from the Colonial Days. 

Note the falling-asleep choirboy at 47 seconds. Must be a Midnight service Christmas Eve - past his bedtime! Very cute.

This is a 2010 performance by the Westminster Abbey Choir - so enjoy a taste of a traditional English Christmas.