The Sweetest Ruin by Amy George - Except and Giveaway

Today I'm happy to be welcoming Amy George back to the blog. Amy's last book, Second Impressions was a 'what if' of Pride & Prejudice, changing the original course of events and seeing the results a few years down the line. Her latest book, The Sweetest Ruin, has a very different setting, being in another country and a couple of hundred years later! I'll share the blurb with you and then we'll hand over to Amy for an excerpt from the book.

Blurb - The Sweetest Ruin

When William Darcy suffers a sudden health crisis, he immediately realizes two things: his sister will continue to nag him about his nonexistent social life, and he won’t stand for it. How can he possibly escape Georgiana’s good intentions or the watchful gaze of Aunt Catherine, his assigned babysitter? Cue a midnight getaway to the tackiest place he can think of. Lounge singers, booze, and women of loose moral fiber—Las Vegas, here he comes!

Elizabeth Bennet lives a quiet life as a UNLV student and a popular cocktail waitress in one of the nicer casinos in town. Though content to see her best friend, Thad, in a blissfully happy relationship, she has no desire to complicate her own life with what will undoubtedly result in a broken heart. Then she serves a drink to a devastatingly handsome Englishman, and all bets, as they say, are off.

This is a modern what-if of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. It is intended for an adult audience.

Except with Introduction from Amy George

Hello, Ceri! It’s a real pleasure to be here at Babblings of a Bookworm to share this excerpt from my new release, The Sweetest Ruin. This story is a departure from my last book, Second Impressions, which was set in Regency England and picked up several years after the events in canon.  The Sweetest Ruin is a JAFF modernization set in Las Vegas, Nevada and yet it still has front and center the couple we love so dearly, Darcy and Elizabeth. Here’s an excerpt from the very start of their relationship. I hope your readers are willing to take a gamble on my newest story!

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The good thing about being a server in the high-roller rooms, private areas where the richest of the rich played their games of chance and skill, was that you didn’t have disgusting drunks pawing you like they did down in the slots. The disadvantage was that most of the time the rich men didn’t paw, they assumed. Over the years, Elizabeth had a few incidents with wealthy men who wouldn’t take no for an answer, but they had been few and far between. Most of them usually ignored her after she firmly rebuffed them, but some just couldn’t leave well enough alone.

Like the large guy who was currently blocking her way.

“Come on, sweetness. You ought to let me buy you a drink. If I like you well enough, I could take you away from all this,” crooned the heavyset man with the comb-over and onion breath. He ran a finger down Elizabeth’s arm.

Glancing around for security guards Scott or Rob and not seeing either of them, Elizabeth frowned. What good was security if they were never around? She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. It had been a while since she’d had to tell off a patron.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Dooley, but it’s against hotel policy for me to accept gifts from patrons. You understand, right?”

“Quit your job, honey. You’re too good for a joint like this.”

Elizabeth bit her lip. Her job paid well, and she didn’t have to wear a skimpy outfit like those poor women who worked the slots area. Anyway, it wasn’t as though she planned on being a cocktail waitress for the rest of her life.

“Mr. Dooley, please let me by. I think Mr. Phelps is ready for another gin and tonic.” Elizabeth craned her neck, pretending to look at Hugo Phelps, her favorite patron. He was kind and tipped well, and he reminded her of her grandfather.

“Oh, Phelps can wait for his damn drink. I won’t let you go until you say you’ll have a drink with me.”

She sighed heavily then felt a hand on the small of her back. Looking to her right, her eyes met a broad expanse of chest encased in a dapper navy blue suit.

Gazing upward, she saw a devastatingly handsome gentleman with waves of dark brown hair that made her fingers itch to discover whether it was as soft as it looked. His eyes were the rich, sweet color of caramel. His nose was ever so slightly crooked, which made her think he’d taken a punch, but she couldn’t imagine a situation when anybody would think that shattering his perfect face was justified.

He smiled gently at her, his perfect teeth surrounded by lips Elizabeth imagined kissing their way down her body. His hand fell to his side, and she was shocked at the wave of disappointment that crashed over her.

What was it she had said about embers? Because, all of a sudden, she was on fire.

“Miss, would you mind showing me to Bill Lucas’s regular table? I can’t seem to find him.”

His refined British accent caressed her ears, and she nearly sighed aloud. Instead, she smiled at the man and nodded.

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Ooh, this is promising!

About the Author

Amy George is a middle-aged woman who got rid of her old lady/grown up and has since purchased an unreasonably small car. She refuses to listen to its radio at a reasonable volume, especially when the Beastie Boys or the Violent Femmes are playing. She lives in a small town in the Midwest where the bookstore and yarn shop are neighbors and most food is fried. Her household consists of a dog, a man, a hermit, and stubborn soap scum.

She has been writing since she was a child and ran the Hyacinth Gardens, a popular but defunct JAFF site.

Fun fact: My birthday is January 30th so this is like a big birthday party.

(Hope you had a good birthday Amy!)

You can find Amy on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads Author Page, and also on her page on the Meryton Press Website.

Buy links

The book is out now and is available in both ebook and paperback.

• Amazon US • Amazon UK • Add to your Goodreads Shelf •

Giveaway Time!

Meryton Press are giving away 8 ebooks of The Sweetest Ruin. This giveaway is open to international entrants. To enter, use the Rafflecopter.

Readers may enter the drawing by tweeting once each day and by commenting daily on a blog post or review that has a giveaway attached to this tour. Entrants must provide the name of the blog where they commented.

Each winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter and the giveaway is international. Each entrant is eligible to win one eBook.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour Stops

January 29  Austenesque Reviews; Guest Post, Giveaway

January 30  My Jane Austen Book Club; Excerpt Post, Giveaway

January 31  Of Pens and Pages; Guest Post, Giveaway

February 1  More Agreeably Engaged; Guest Post, Giveaway

February 2  Babblings of a Bookworm; Excerpt Post, Giveaway

February 3  My Vices and Weaknesses; Book Review, Giveaway

February 4  My Love for Jane Austen; Character Interview, Giveaway

February 5  Diary of an Eccentric; Guest Post, Excerpt, Giveaway

February 6  Margie’s Must Reads; Book Review, Giveaway

February 7  From Pemberley to Milton; Excerpt Post

February 8  Savvy Verse and Wit; Book Review, Giveaway

February 9  Just Jane 1813; Guest Post, Giveaway

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