Tina Gabrielle, an Amazon best-selling author, is an attorney and former mechanical engineer whose love of reading for pleasure helped her get through years of academia. She often picked up a romance and let her fantasies of knights in shining armor and lords and ladies carry her away. She is the author of adventurous Regency historical romances: A Spy Unmasked, At The Spy’s Pleasure, In The Barrister’s Bed, In The Barrister’s Chambers, Lady Of Scandal, and A Perfect Scandal from Entangled Publishing and Kensington Books. Tina’s books have been Barnes & Noble top picks, and her first book, Lady Of Scandal, was nominated as best first historical romance by Romantic Times Book Reviews. Tina loves to hear from readers. Please visit her website to join her newsletter and enter her free monthly contests and giveaways.
Top Five Items on Tina Gabrielle’s Bucket List
Thank you for featuring me! I’m Tina Gabrielle and I write adventurous historical romances. My upcoming release, The Duke Meets His Match, will be released on July 10, 2017. I had fun thinking of the top five things on my bucket list. Here’s what I came up with:
1. Drive Cross Country with the Family
When I was a teenager, my dad purchased a motor home, and we hit the road and drove cross country. We started in my home state of New Jersey and drove to California. We stopped at all the National Parks along the way and other great sights. It was an eye-opening trip, and I want to do it again with my husband and two young girls this time. I want to show them how vast and beautiful our country is with its oceans, deserts, flatlands, mountains, and everything else. They may learn it in school, but I believe you can’t really appreciate it until you see it for yourself and the best way to do this is to drive cross country.
2. Attend the Daytona 500
I’m a NASCAR fan and watch it on TV. I was a mechanical engineering college graduate, and I admire what it takes to build a car that can sustain a 500-mile-long race at that speed. Fascinating! I’d love to go to Daytona Beach, Florida and see a real race. “One of these days,” I tell myself.
3. Feed and Pet a Giraffe
This may be a strange one, but it’s on my list. I have two older sisters, and when I was young, one sister was obsessed with horses and the other thought pigs were cute. I loved giraffes and wanted to feed and pet one. I’ve gotten close. Here’s a picture of a giraffe I took at the Elmwood Park Zoo in Pennsylvania this year. I shot this with my iphone, and I didn’t even have to zoom in. I was this close! Still, I couldn’t feed or touch it.
4. Visit Armenia with the Kids
I’m a first generation American with Armenian roots. My husband is Irish American, and he can trace his roots back to the Mayflower. Our kids are a great combination of both ethnicities and raised with wonderful traditions. I want to take the family to Armenia and show them the rich culture of the country.
5. Skydive
I’m not afraid of heights and love rollercoasters. Still, jumping out of a perfectly operational airplane scares the heck out of me. That’s why I have to do it. What a thrill!
6. I know I only said five items, but I’m adding one more. I’d like to become a USA Today best-selling author. I always tell my kids that if you believe in something and work hard to achieve it, it will come true. I believe in that advice.
Thank you for reading. Please feel free to add an item from your bucket list. One lucky commenter will win an ebook of the first book in my Infamous Somerton’s series, An Artful Seduction.
The daughter of an infamous art forger, Chloe Somerton grew up poor. Desperate to aid her sisters, she’d picked a pocket…or two. Now circumstances have changed, and Chloe has a chance to marry a young, wealthy lord. Only his mentor—a dark, dangerous duke—stands in her way. The duke knows about her past, and she’ll do anything to keep him from telling.The moment Michael Keswick, the Duke of Cameron, sees Chloe Somerton, he recognizes her as a fraud. The stunning beauty with sapphire eyes and golden hair now appears to be a proper lady, but he knows better. What begins as a battle of wills soon escalates into a fierce attraction. In Chloe, Michael finds peace from the memories of war, but he refuses to marry…and she won’t settle for anything less.
Check out The Infamous Somertons series:
Chloe rapped softly on the door and waited. When there was no response, her fingers grazed the handle. She knew entering a man’s bedchamber was recklessly improper, but she thrust the thought aside. She’d seen the duke—Michael—last night. He’d clearly suffered from shock when the fireworks had exploded at the end of Madame Saqui’s performance at Vauxhall Gardens. She’d witnessed the flash of wild grief that had ripped through him…had glimpsed his pain and inner turmoil in the depths of his eyes. In his mind, he’d been transported back to the horrors of battle.
Without further hesitation, she pushed the door open. The room was dim and her eyes took a moment to adjust. A ray of sunlight that penetrated between the nearly closed curtains provided sufficient light to see. It was a purely masculine room with mahogany Chippendale furniture, a plush Oriental carpet, an escritoire in the corner, and a leather chair by the window. But it was the enormous fourposter that dominated the room—a bed large enough to fit a man well over six feet tall—that drew her eye.
The duke lay in the bed, sprawled on his back in a restless sleep. Heart pounding, Chloe tiptoed close and then stopped breathing at the sight of his bare chest. Unable to stop herself, she stared. Ropes of muscle defined his broad shoulders, biceps, and sculpted chest. His skin was bronzed, and she wondered how he exposed himself to the sun. Her knees grew weak as an image of him riding shirtless arose in her mind. A sprinkling of hair trailed down his flat stomach and disappeared beneath the bedclothes that covered the lower half of his body. One long, muscular leg was uncovered where he’d kicked the linens aside. The raw power of his body nearly stole her breath. With a start, she realized that he slept naked and hadn’t bothered with a nightshirt. Had he sent his valet scurrying out of the room last night?
She’d never seen a man’s naked chest before, but she knew without a doubt, that no one else of her acquaintance could ever compare.
Certainly not Henry.
Michael had the body of a soldier. He appeared strong and muscled from hours of disciplined training. He was no dandy or coxcomb or spoiled aristocrat who’d never known physical labor. Her fingers trembled with the need to touch his flesh, to run her fingers down his chest.
Deep lines slashed between his dark brows, and he tossed on the bed. “Gavin…no…no. Look out!”
Chloe’s eyes flew to his face, and a heavy feeling settled low in her stomach at his distress. He was clearly in the throes of a nightmare. Whatever feelings she had for him, desire and anger, her heart ached to see him in pain. She reached out to touch his arm and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Your Grace.”
He moved so fast she didn’t have a second to breathe. Her wrist was caught in a powerful grip and she was pulled down and across his chest. He rolled, taking her with him and pinning her beneath him. Engulfed by his weight, she couldn’t move an inch.
Her heart slammed against her chest. She was aware of every rigid angle, every powerful muscle, and his hardness pressing between her thighs made her inhale sharply at the contact. His dark visage was fierce and unyielding as he hovered above her, and she experienced a trepidation of fear.
He’d reacted instinctively, like an experienced soldier who’d been threatened.
“Your Grace!” She gasped. “It’s Chloe.”
He blinked and focused on her face inches from his. “Chloe?”
“Yes…yes. It’s me.”
His merciless hold on her arms eased. “Why are you here?”
“I…I was worried about you after last night.”
His mouth was set in a grim line, his gaze narrowed and determined. “Christ. I could have killed you. Crushed you as easily as a twig. How the hell did you get into my bedchamber?”
“Your butler and housekeeper told me you were still abed.”
One dark eyebrow shot upward. “I’m surprised either permitted you to enter here.”
“They didn’t. I let myself up here.”
“Why does that not surprise me?”
His voice lowered to an intimate whisper and she became even more aware of his hardness pressed against the apex of her thighs. The coverlet had fallen aside so that a thin sheet and her own clothing were the only barriers between them.
Sweet Lord. His manhood seemed so…large. She should have been more afraid—any proper female would have been—but Chloe had never been proper, had she? Instead her initial fear ebbed as she lay soft and pliant beneath him. The physical contact stoked a gently burning fire, and she was powerless to stop the wicked thoughts that came to mind. She was wildly curious by nature, and the hushed whispers of the servants and her own married sisters when they thought she wasn’t listening had always fascinated her.
She couldn’t stop wondering: what would it be like to know the duke intimately. Would he be gentle or demanding or both?
Their gazes locked, and a corner of his lips turned up in a wicked smile as if he sensed what she was thinking. His pupils expanded, black and gold flecks in his eyes. “I suppose I should be grateful for your impetuous nature which led you here. At last, I have you right where I want you.”
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This story sounds fun and I loved the excerpt! On my bucket list is to drive Route 66 from Chicago, stopping to see different sites along the way and ending up in Albuquerque, NM to see the balloon festival. I've always wanted a Mustang Convertible and my hopes are to get one and drive with my hubby for a few weeks. This won't happen until after my girls are all done with college though.....only a few more years! ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Sue! Driving Route 66 to see a balloon festival sounds like fun. Years ago, I had a boyfriend who owned a Mustang. It wasn't a convertible, but it was great. Your trip sounds like a blast. Hope you do go after the kids are done college!
DeleteThanks! :)
DeleteOne item on my bucket list... to visit Ireland
ReplyDeleteHi Colleen! Ireland would be wonderful. My husband is Irish and we've never been. I have to add that to our bucket list. Thanks for sharing!
DeleteI don't have anything on it right now. I've done a lot of traveling and other activities.
ReplyDeleteAnne