Iiiiiiiit's To Have and to Hold's release day!

Author

Copperplate Books
November 30, 2024

Terri

Hi friends! It’s the day we’ve all been looking forward to—To Have and to Hold’s release day! And by all, I suppose I mostly mean me, but I am thrilled to finally have this book in the world.

More than perhaps any of my other books, this story has been especially close to my heart. It’s my first time writing about a marriage in distress, and one of the core themes of the story is how when we commit to another person, love becomes a choice. It’s an idea I’ve thought about a lot in regards to my own marriage, and in Percy—more than any of my other characters—I put elements of my husband’s constancy and kindness and respect.

So, to have early readers come back to tell me how special Percy is to them, and how much this honest, raw, and often painful depiction of love and marriage was, touched me so very deeply. I’m so grateful to have been able to write this story, and I’m even more grateful to have readers who resonated with it.

I love all my book babies, and all for different reasons, but when we think of romantic fantasies, I think we don’t always picture an older, greying man, with lines around his eyes and softness on his belly. But to me, the greatest fantasy of all is to have someone love as deeply, as selflessly, and as relentlessly as Percy. He is truly my perfect man. Writing him in their story was a privilege.

If you haven’t preordered or read already, I hope this little snippet will encourage you to give it a go!

Twenty years separated them, and she had once thought it an impediment, but now she admired the wisdom it gave him. The patience. She’d never appreciated what a gift his love was, no matter how foolishly bestowed. A man of her own age, a man ten years his junior, might have given up on her already.

But here he was, standing in this sparsely decorated room, cleaning himself with a washcloth. With a sigh, he abandoned his nightshirt entirely, tossing it to the side of the room and returning to her naked. This was—surely it couldn’t be the first time she’d seen him without his clothes, but she’d never appreciated it before. The strong lines of his shoulders, the way his curling, dark chest hair greyed the same as his hair. The softness around his waist that she’d felt under his nightshirt but had never truly seen until now; when they’d married, she suspected that he’d been made up a little differently. Four years had taken their toll on his body, but as he approached her, she reached out her hands.

He watched her gravely as she rested her palm against his heart, its beat a little elevated, and rested the other on the rounded curve of his stomach. Underneath, his length lay limp and spent under a still-dark thatch of hair. Though, as she watched, it appeared to thicken slightly.

His laugh was rough as he took her chin and tilted it to him. “No more time for that tonight, love.”

Love. The word cut through her, hitting those same chords as before, the echoes speaking its own melody. And she knew. She knew.

“I think I do,” she blurted, her hands still on his body, her eyes on his. “I think I do love you, Percy. I just didn’t know until this moment.”

Stay tuned for an extended epilogue, which will find its way into your inboxes sometime in December (when I’ve written it). These past few weeks have been hectic in both my professional and private life, but you’ll be glad to know I have plans for my next few books, and in January, I’ll be starting my first Dragonblade book. Very exciting stuff!

Ta-ta for now. Today we have a wedding (not, obviously, mine), and tomorrow we’re getting our Christmas tree and trying to get ourselves sorted for the holidays. Lots to do!

Until next month!

Terri x

Kiera

Hi everyone, 

Kiera here. What an autumn it’s been! Whether you’ve been affected by snow, floods, wind or just endless gloomy days, I hope you get the chance to settle by a cosy fire with a good book. 

Naturally, I’ve been doing neither of these things, and instead spent the half term holiday taking to the treetops with a six-year old . . .yikes!

Despite such shenanigans, I’ve been beavering away at book three which is coming along quite nicely. Here’s a small snippet—unedited—for a little peak at what Celandine is up to.

“Celandine.”

The way her name sounded on his lips sent a lightning bolt through her. She stood, rooted, her toes sinking into the wet sand. 

“No strings, no entanglement, just the opportunity to secure the future you want.”

She spun. “And what about you? What would you get out of it?”

Brevin gazed above her head at some distant object. “A little harmless distraction while I sort out my affairs.”

She snorted. 

His eyes met hers, brimming with laughter. “Clever girl! But on this occasion I mean my financial affairs. Come, Lady Celandine, what do you say? Do we have a deal? I get to spend time with a beautiful woman while I remain in the country, and you gain invaluable insight into snaring a husband!”

Torn between wanting to rebuff his presumptuousness and a giddy desire to throw caution to the breeze, she dithered. And almost dissolved in shock when he lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers. The touch was warm, firm and deeply erotic. Her eyes widened and heat flared in her core. 

That’s it for now, 

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy Terri’s latest release—I know I can’t wait!

To those evenings by the fire . . .

Kiera