Teatime and Books: The Road to Winterhill by Gloria Gay ~ Blog Tour & Teatime and Books Review

BOOK INFORMATION

TITLE – The Road To Winterhill
AUTHOR – Gloria Gay
GENRE – Regency Romance
PUBLICATION DATE – January 10, 2016
LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – 214 pages
PUBLISHER – Kindle Direct
COVER ARTIST – Killion Group

BOOK SYNOPSIS

In the silence of St. George’s Cathedral, the clergyman’s voice rang out unnaturally loud: “Do you, Richard Branston, Earl of Berrington, take this woman, Belinda Presleigh, of Hunsley Manor, as your lawful wedded wife, to love and honor until death do you part?”

The few wedding guests crowding around them waited for Berrington’s response which was long in coming. Belinda saw their smirks and heard their muffled laughter.

She felt the sting of tears in her eyes at the long pause and realized she could not undo what she had done. The awful deed had come to roost in her heart.

She wished he would say no. She’d rather be jilted than that awful hesitation in which everyone looked at each other, some with smirks of “I told you so.”

Finally, Lord Berrington’s voice rang out—loud, impatient and clear: “I do.”

BUY & TBR LINKS

AMAZON KINDLE US – AMAZON KINDLE CA – AMAZON KINDLE UK

AMAZON PAPERBACK – BARNES & NOBLES PAPERBACK – GOODREADS

EXCERPT

Belinda, who had been unable to close her eyes, had during the last few minutes, started to doze off. She froze as the door opened and Lord Berrington walked into the bedroom. Her hands, lying by her sides, shook.

The room shrank in size with his presence, a presence that overwhelmed Belinda with its maleness and authority.

In the dim candlelight she followed his progress as he tossed his coat over a chair and placing a bottle of wine and two wineglasses he had brought with him on a small table, proceeded to fill both glasses with wine. Then he walked over to the bed where Belinda lay, her body as straight and tense as a board, and sat on a chair by the bed. He handed her one of the wineglasses. His eyes raked over her as she began to tremble from head to toe.

"Drink this," Berrington ordered. "It will ease the tension in you. I don’t know what you’ve been told about this night, but it’s obvious you were terrorized by their words.

Forget what you’ve been told. This business is very much like learning to swim. The best thing to do is to plunge right into it. It won’t be as bad as you imagine, I assure you.

“Drink all your wine, now."

Belinda straightened up in the bed to a sitting position and with a shaking hand took the large heavy goblet. Then with trembling lips sipped it once and stopped, but without looking at him.

"All of it," he ordered. "If ever anyone needed a glass of wine to relax a little, it is you."

Teatime and Books Review

The Road to Winterhill

Gloria Gay

Reviewed on March 18, 2016

The Road to Winterhill by Gloria Gay is truly a 5 Star read, one that you will not be able to put down! I absolutely loved this story and felt drawn into it from the first paragraph. Our heroine of the story Belinda Presleigh is conned by her mother into a scheme involving Richard Branston, Earl of Berrington. Lord Berrington is drawn into the wine cellar by his mistress or so he thought, but instead and to his surprise he sees Belinda Presleigh. He goes back up the stairs and finds the door locked. Belinda at that moment knows her mother was behind this. She and Lord Berrington are stuck in the cellar throughout the night and to the Tons surprise are found the next morning. Lord Berrington, doing the honorable thing offers his hand to Belinda and she accepts. Belinda truly has been in love with Lord Berrington most all of her life but never let him know. She’s a very shy young woman and drowns herself in the written word and taking leisurely walks.

Her older sister was the beauty of the family and such high hopes were held that she’d become a great heiress. Her family was staying in London to prepare for her first season and the girl became very ill and shortly after died. Now all they had left was Belinda, who was not a striking beauty, rather plain and backward. However, she is their only hope to regain their position among the Ton and Society. So her mother focuses all her attentions on Belinda and when she learns of Belinda’s love for Lord Berrington, she creates a scheme that will assure the match must be made.

Lord Berrington and Belinda head from London to Winterhill, his country estate. Once at the estate, Belinda is greatly mistreated by Lord Berrington’s sister-in-law and his sister and the only friend Belinda has is her maid. It isn’t long before Lord Berrington heads back to London, leaving his new bride alone in the home to learn how to be the proper Countess and running Winterhill as promised by his sister-in-law. However, to his shock, his sister-in-law horribly mistreats Belinda and treats her as an outcast. While Lord Berrington is in London, he starts to realize the first stirrings of love for Belinda and he rushes home but a horror awaits his return. Will Belinda ever win Lord Berrington’s heart and love? Or will she be content to just live with the fact that she has loved him or will she be able to express that love?

Truly a wonderful story that will keep you awake all hours turning the pages! This story is filled with love, passion and a lot of suspense!

AUTHOR BIO

Author Gloria Gay’s love of painting and writing has always been entwined in her life. Her debut novel, First Season, earned a four-star review from Romantic Times Book Review. She recently published a new, expanded version of First Season under the title, LOVE IN A DANGEROUS SEASON.

Recently, Boroughs Publishing Group published her Regency historical romances, Scandal at Almack’s and Lovely Little Liar.

Gloria published a new edition of First Season under the title, LOVE IN A DANGEROUS SEASON, as well as ENCHANTED SUMMER, a Regency romance and A BRIDGE THROUGH TIME, a time travel romance.

Gloria and her husband Enrique, an architect, have three grown children and six grand-children and they are lucky to have them all living near them in San Diego, California.