Head over to this fabulous blog spot to find out what inspired the award-winning Victorian saga, WORKHOUSE WAIF!
https://ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.com/2021/08/wednesday-wanderings-to-woollen-mills.html
If you don’t know the book, here’s the story-
How can Bella Hart escape the hell of the Victorian workhouse?
Fleeing the abuse that she suffered there, the lonely outcast hopes her new life in a factory town can provide the esteem and affection she craves. Torn between the worlds of masters and workers, Bella falls for the enigmatic Jack, but their relationship shatters when his true identity is revealed. In a desperate bid to revive her love, Jack unearths Bella’s past, with tragic consequences.
After a devastating fire, a secret emerges that seals Bella’s fate, and that of everyone and everything she holds dear.
Fans of Catherine Cookson and Victorian historical romances will love this book.
And if you want to find out what readers thought of the book, there’s a fabulous review on the Discovering Diamonds website.
You can get a copy of the book here.
A FREE full-length series starter! But it won’t be free for long…
Fancy a FREE series starter? Then grab your copy of gripping historical romance, LORD OF DECEPTION, HERE. It’s your gateway into my ground-breaking TRYSTS AND TREACHERY series, set in the dazzling Tudor era.
Here’s the story-
He thinks she’s a traitor to her queen. She thinks he’s just a gardener.
Despised by the cousin with whom she’s forced to live, the lonely but determined Alys craves escape. The most dangerous thing she could do is fall in love. Especially when the man who tempts her is Kit Ludlow, an exiled nobleman in disguise. Becoming involved in his secret mission proves more perilous than Alys could possibly have imagined.
Kit has been banished from Queen Elizabeth’s court, and the last thing he wants is to entangle Alys in his web of treachery and deception. It would also be folly to fall in love with her when he can’t be sure where her loyalties lie.
After helping Kit foil a plot against the queen, Alys’ life is at risk from her cousin’s nefarious schemes. Estranged from Kit, she’s forced to make a desperate decision. Should she protect her family, or follow the demands of her heart?
This is what readers are saying about LORD OF DECEPTION–
“Amazing!”
“A real page turner!”
“A fast-paced Elizabethan romance that keeps the reader enthralled from the beginning to the entertaining conclusion…”
So, don’t miss out, and get your copy TODAY!
Great reviews for a new release!
LORD OF THE MANOR, my intriguing historical romance set in Tudor England, is released TODAY. There are some terrific reviews coming through. I really like the one by Morgan & Many Books, of which the following is an extract-
“…I will definitely read more from Keysian as I like her character development, prose, and evident research tack and I feel like I can trust her to write some good pre-19th century HR.”
Candy Briggs liked the book too- “I highly recommend this wonderful novel.”
You can still get LORD OF THE MANOR at the discount price of just $0.99. You can grab your copy here- mybook.to/lordofthemanor
Here’s a bit more about the story-
To her, he represents authority and power. To him, she spells sedition and danger.
Orphaned at birth, Cecily Neville owes more than her name to the former hospitallers of Temple Roding. She was still a child when the reformation wrenched her home and adopted family from her and now, like the few surviving monks, she lives in fear that her past could take a deadly toll. Her closest friend is her precious peregrine falcon, Charlemagne. Her greatest enemy is Allan Smythe, the new owner of Temple Roding.
Grieving over the loss of both wife and child, Smythe throws his heart and soul into reviving the old hospitaller commandery that he’s bought in partnership with his brother-in-law, Kennett Clark. He can’t risk being distracted by the mysterious but tempting Cecily and her murdering bird. However, when Smythe is forced to save her from his brother-in-law’s lecherous clutches, the unscrupulous Kennett vows to destroy them both.
On a knife-edge, Smythe can’t afford to relax the rents owed by Cecily and her fellow villagers. If he doesn’t demolish her former home for profit, he risks losing everything to Kennett. But when necessity forces him to employ Cecily, there’s more at stake than his future and his battered heart. Something lies hidden in the depths of the hospitaller commandery that could solve all of Smythe’s problems… or threaten his life.
It all depends on whether he, or the very determined Cecily, finds it first.
A Knights Templar site in Essex
Back in 1990, my partner got as job a site archaeologist at Cressing Temple, in Essex. No- it wasn’t a temple. It was a site gifted to the Knights Templar by Queen Matilda, wife of King Stephen, where lay brothers and employees of the military order could raise crops to finance the Crusades.
Living there for seven years as we did was an amazing experience and I really hope to find time to write more about some of the things that happened, such as the time the cat got walled up, the time the carppet almost caught fire, the moment the car rolled through the fence, and the occasion when the TV crew came and wrecked the archaeology, but I got to be on the telly!
Some other time, mayhap. For now, I would like to signal Cressing Temple, my temporary home, as the inspiration for LORD OF THE MANOR, my Tudor era story that is published TODAY! More about that anon. For now, here is a picture of the place, and a link where you can find out more about the history and archaeology of this fascinating site.
An invite and some competitions
If you live in the US, there is a contest you can enter if you attend my Facebook takeover in the Dragonblade Readers’ Group on Tuesday 13th April. I’ll be available to chat, tell you a little about my latest book, LORD OF THE MANOR, and entertain you (hopefully) with one of my quirky quizzes. Here’s the address for the Facebook takeover- https://www.facebook.com/groups/274839866984258
I’ll be live at 13.00 PDT, which is 21.00 BST. See you there!
You can also enter this Rafflecopter contest for a $25 Gift Card and paperbacks- https://gleam.io/B17A5/lord-of-the-manor-giveaway
I am also giving away signed paperback copies of the first four books in the Tudor era TRYSTS AND TREACHERY collection to some lucky UK winners. To be entered into the draw, you will need to either retweet the following pinned post on Twitter https://twitter.com/EKeysian/status/1380172481445646337 or this share this Facebook post https://www.facebook.com/LizKeysian/posts/4216710898348328. Or even do both! I’ll add your name to the draw and let you know at the end of the week if you’re a winner.
Don’t miss out!
I have something nice to share. One of those smashing Rafflecopter giveaways… a $25 Gift Card and paperbacks for U.S. readers- take a look 😁
And don’t worry if you’re in the U.K. I’ll be doing my own paperback giveaway for U.K. readers to celebrate this release. Here’s the link https://gleam.io/B17A5/lord-of-the-manor-giveaway
It’s been great fun writing these Tudor era romances! Find out what the final one has to offer.
The last book in the Trysts and Treachery series is now up for pre-order, at the advance discount price of just $0.99. It’s set in the time of King Edward VI and is called LORD OF THE MANOR. Read on for more about the story.
To her, he represents authority and power. To him, she spells sedition and danger.
Orphaned at birth, Cecily Neville owes more than her name to the former hospitallers of Temple Roding. She was still a child when the reformation wrenched her home and adopted family from her and now, like the few surviving monks, she lives in fear that her past could take a deadly toll. Her closest friend is her precious peregrine falcon, Charlemagne. Her greatest enemy is Allan Smythe, the new owner of Temple Roding.
Grieving over the loss of both wife and child, Smythe throws his heart and soul into reviving the old hospitaller commandery that he’s bought in partnership with his brother-in-law, Kennett Clark. He can’t risk being distracted by the mysterious but tempting Cecily and her murdering bird. However, when Smythe is forced to save her from his brother-in-law’s lecherous clutches, the unscrupulous Kennett vows to destroy them both.
On a knife-edge, Smythe can’t afford to relax the rents owed by Cecily and her fellow villagers. If he doesn’t demolish her former home for profit, he risks losing everything to Kennett. But when necessity forces him to employ Cecily, there’s more at stake than his future and his battered heart. Something lies hidden in the depths of the hospitaller commandery that could solve all of Smythe’s problems… or threaten his life.
It all depends on whether he, or the very determined Cecily, finds it first.
You can get your copy here http://mybook.to/lordofthemanor and remember, if you buy it before April 13th, you can get it at a discount!
Huzzah! A new book and some new covers!
The 4th book in my Marry in Haste novella collection will be out soon. I decided to treat myself to some new covers, which I created using the Bookbrush platform (I LOVE doing graphics on Bookbrush!) Here is the cover for NEVER TEMPT A WIDOW.
And here’s the story-
The Duke of Wolfingham’s scapegrace daughter Seraphina is convinced her lover tried to kill her. Alone, penniless, and desperate, there’s nothing she can do to save the life of her beloved baby daughter, Adelina. Sir Rowland Cavendish offers an escape from her grief, but how can Seraphina ever trust a man again?
Rowland has just lost his wife, and his baby boy needs feeding. The beautiful young widow from the village would make the perfect wetnurse, but the conditions she sets in exchange for her compliance are not at all what he expects.
Seraphina refuses to share her secrets with Rowland, but her past returns to haunt her, threatening her new-found security. Her future hangs on a knife-edge as the game turns deadly, and a web of kidnapping, blackmail, and lies is uncovered.
She loves Rowland deeply, but if she doesn’t leave him, he may lose what he values above all else. His baby son.
The book comes out on May 18th, but you can pre-order your copy HERE.
Maybe I’m a REAL writer after all…
I’ve always felt a bit ambivalent about my writing. Is it any good? Is it terrible? Do only a few select and special people really “get” Elizabeth Keysian? Bearing this in mind, it came as a very welcome surprise that my Victorian historical novel, WORKHOUSE WAIF, received a Silver Medal in the Author Shout Reader Ready Awards. Woohoo! To celebrate, I’ll be putting the book back into Kindle Unlimited, so people can read it for FREE, and I’ll be running a discount for a limited time very soon.
Here’s a bit about WORKHOUSE WAIF.
How can Bella Hart escape the hell of the Victorian workhouse?
Fleeing the abuse that she suffered there, the lonely outcast hopes her new life in a factory town can provide the esteem and affection she craves. Torn between the worlds of masters and workers, Bella falls for the enigmatic Jack, but their relationship shatters when his true identity is revealed. In a desperate bid to revive her love, Jack unearths Bella’s past, with tragic consequences.
After a devastating fire, a secret emerges that seals Bella’s fate, and that of everyone and everything she holds dear.
Fans of Catherine Cookson and Victorian historical romances will love this book.
Author interviews are always revealing!
If you fancy a deeper insight into my writing quirks and eccentric habits, you could do worse than have a look at the fun Interview I did with fellow author Pam Lecky! 😜 Thanks so much for doing this, Pam ❤️
