Dunham by Moriah Jovan

I’m delighted to have Moriah Jovan as my guest here today for a glimpse at her sweeping historical romance, Dunham, a novel that has been on my must-read list. I’ve had the pleasure of reading Dunham in serial form every Wednesday over the last year and when the book released in e-book and print on July 4th, I happily devoured the full tale. Elliott and Celia’s wild romance set against the sweeping historical background of pirates, privateers and the American revolution was a great story full of twists and turns, laughter and tears, that swept me into their world and kept me hooked into a massive reading marathon.

It’s 1780.

The Americans are losing their desperate fight for independence from the most powerful nation on Earth. Britain’s navy is crushing outposts up and down the eastern seaboard and the Americans’ pitiful navy consists mostly of small-vessel privateers on missions of profit.

“Captain Jack” Celia Bancroft is one of those privateers, whose list of debts of honor is a nautical mile long. Sailing for the Americans is the current project on her to-do list, and once she has finished all her tasks, she will then be free to sail on a tide of whimsy.

Commander Elliott Raxham, cashiered from His Majesty’s Royal Navy, is a newly made British earl who schemes for his own independence — from the title he never expected to inherit and the country that has betrayed him time and again.

They meet in a Caribbean tavern where he steals a kiss that starts a brawl she finishes. In retaliation, he steals her ship’s figurehead and, if that isn’t a grave enough insult, proceeds to chase her across the Atlantic to collect on the promise in her kiss.

With that, the romance is on, but the adventure is only beginning as Elliott and Celia face obstacle after obstacle in their own fight for independence — a new life together on the American frontier.

Excerpt:

“HO, DUNHAM! HOLLANDER!” she bellowed, her hands cupped around her mouth.

“HO, JACK!” Dunham called back. “Come aboard, girl! Make room, lads. ‘Ere comes me finest work.”

She made only a little stir as she worked her way through the writhing mass of male and female bodies. Whether she knew any particular individuals or not, most everyone here knew her by sight and legend—why she had it—and dare not offend her.

Except one.

It was not until she had made half her destination when she found herself pulled down into a hard, muscled lap and her mouth thoroughly kissed.

The man tasted of rum and cocoa.

Surprised, shocked, and so unexpectedly warmed as she looked into amused ice blue eyes, she ceased to think. She opened her mouth to let his tongue stroke hers, raised her hand to caress his rough, stubbled cheek. His body was big and strong, so she relaxed against him with a sigh, closed her eyes, tilted her head to get closer, kissed him for a long moment.

She whimpered when he palmed one of her arse cheeks, caressing and squeezing—

—then it occurred to her that, no matter how beautiful his eyes, no matter how well he kissed, no matter how sweet he tasted, no matter how famished she was, allowing just any sailor to accost her so . . . publicly . . . would set a dangerous precedent.

The point of her dagger just under his jaw convinced him to let her go.

He drew away from her carefully and Celia caught her breath. Never had she seen such a beautiful man in her life. Long silver-streaked blue-black hair, chiseled features, dark tan, good, white teeth—and those eyes!

“There are many ways you could have acquired my undivided attention for a night or six,” she remarked mildly after admiring his face and making no secret of it. “Mistaking me for a whore is not one of them.”

The adventure begins here –
http://moriahjovan.com/talesofdunham/dunham-00-prologue/

Bio: MORIAH JOVAN writes what her imaginary friends tell her to write. Thus far, they have shown up in the novels The Proviso, Stay, and Magdalene, published by B10 Mediaworx, and will, most likely, continue to order her around until she hits on the right drug and dosage. Fortunately, her husband is very understanding of all the other people in her life and her children have no need of their own imaginary friends since they know all of mommy’s. Moriah has a bachelor’s in creative writing and journalism from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and in 2011, she was a panelist at the Writer’s Digest conference and the Sunstone Symposium. She is a flagrant manufacturer and dealer of the meth known as “ebooks.”

You can find Moriah at:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoriahJovan

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Moriah-Jovan-Author/235459423239711

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2421046.Moriah_Jovan

You can find Dunham at:

Amazon print | Kindle
Barnes & Noble print | Nook
Smashwords ebook
Google Play ebook
Omnilit ebook
Kobo ebook