Today, we have the lovely Ellie Thomas back on the blog to talk about her story, One Summer Night, which is released today 🥳 Welcome, Ellie!
Thank you so much, lovely Ofelia, for having me as your guest again today. I’m Ellie Thomas, I write MM Historical romance, and today I’m going to be chatting about One Summer Night, my August release for JMS Books’ Day or Night story submission call.
I seem to be going through a Regency phase in my stories currently! I have managed to sneak in Elizabethan, Restoration and 20th-century stories during the first part of the year, but for the second half, most of the rest are lurking around the late 18th/early 19th century.
There is a reason why this era is so popular amongst readers and writers as it seems to lend itself perfectly to romance stories. The resorts and leisure activities available (at least for the rich!) are fertile ground for the spark of a love affair or continuing assignations between lovers.
One such London venue, Vauxhall Gardens on the South Bank of the River Thames, was hugely popular as a place for summer outdoor entertainment for all walks of life, and it remains a favourite setting in stories. For example, the wonderful Georgette Heyer has at least one heroine who finds herself out of her depth at a slightly too racy Vauxhall masquerade ball!
I’ve been itching to write about Vauxhall Gardens, and because of the London setting, this seemed the perfect story where I could add a romantic scene in the gardens on a balmy summer’s evening.
My characters, Martin and Will following a passionate first encounter are at odds with one another and arrange to meet at Vauxhall where they can talk privately. After meeting outside the busy Rotunda after a concert, it felt so natural to have them walk through the Pillared Saloon, avoiding the busy Supper Rooms. That way, they could wander deeper into the gardens in the dusk, strolling along the lamp-lit paths. There they begin to open up to one another and reach the beginnings of a mutual understanding.
One Summer Night
In 1801, Martin Dunne spends his days as a hardworking clerk at the War Office in London’s Whitehall. One summer evening, after a drink in a Fleet Street tavern, he has an unexpected passionate encounter with a seducer who haunts his dreams.
But when they accidentally meet at a society function, the alluring stranger not only turns out to be the son of one of Martin’s superiors but also betrothed to a trusting young lady.
Martin’s hopes are dashed as he imagines the Hon. William Grant is a cynical rake of the worst kind. But has he misunderstood the situation? And might he allow Will to explain and give their fleeting connection a chance to develop into a fully-fledged romance?
Extract:
Feeling hot and tired by the end of the working day, Martin trudged home along Whitehall. Not having the luxury of a valet, once washed and shaved, he struggled into his evening clothes and combed down his thick dark hair. Then he practiced a smile in the spotted mirror, softening his serious expression, before setting forth on foot along the busy Strand towards Charing Cross. As he walked past his fellow citizens, the sticky evening made him uncomfortable in his constrictive evening clothes. At least it’s not raining, he thought, and he wouldn’t disgrace his superiors by arriving at a prestigious destination looking like a drowned rat.
Once at the palatial and newly renovated mansion, where no expense or extravagance had been spared, there was the usual endless queue on the stairs before the formality of announcements and resultant herding of guests into an already crowded reception room. Martin made small talk with some vaguely familiar faces from Whitehall who wouldn’t normally have deigned to notice him. He was anticipating when he might be able to escape when Sir Hervey was before him, smiling in gracious condescension.
“Enjoying yourself, Dunne?” He asked, and Martin replied with suitably muted enthusiasm.
“Met many people as yet?” The great man inquired, and as Martin demurred and started to say that he had been conversing with mutual acquaintances, his host turned to call someone forwards.
Martin felt a dull sense of obligation as Sir Hervey introduced a young lady in her early twenties, fragile and sweetly pretty in a simple white gown, the fashion for narrow skirts flattering her petite form.
“Miss Imogen Ashley,” Sir Hervey intoned, as the young lady curtseyed, her eyes demurely downcast, “affianced to my son. I don’t think you’ve met my youngest, William, have you?”
Without waiting for an answer, he moved to one side to tap a young man on the shoulder. Martin’s first thought was that he was almost as fair and delicate as his intended, and then, as those all-too-familiar eyes met his, he realised with a jolt that this perfectly turned out pink of the ton, furnished with a dauntingly influential father and a winsome bride to be was the seductive stranger from the alleyway who filled his tumultuous dreams.
During the blur of introductions, that sultry gaze, so full of unspoken desire the night before, was blank, betraying no emotion after a flash of alarmed recognition. In such a crush, since neither of them reacted, no one noticed the sudden tension between them. Despite this, Miss Imogen moved a little closer to her betrothed, taking his arm as if sensitive to a change in his mood.
For the remainder of the reception, Martin could not have said who he spoke to or what he said, and as soon as he was able, he slipped away from the party unnoticed. On his way home, when he stopped off at a tavern for a tot of rum, all he could see in his mind’s eye was the shock in those speedwell-blue orbs.
Book links:
JMS Books :: Amazon :: Books2Read
Bio:
Ellie Thomas lives by the sea. She comes from a teaching background and goes for long seaside walks where she daydreams about history. She is a voracious reader especially about anything historical. She mainly writes historical gay romance.
Ellie also writes historical erotic romance as L. E. Thomas.
Website: https://elliethomasromance.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliethomasauthor/
Twitter: @e_thomas_author
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19835510.Ellie_Thomas
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