Julia and Rayne’s Story is Here!
Diamond in the Rogue, the third book in my Lords of Chance series, has finally arrived! It’s a story that I’ve been waiting to tell since I first conceived of Julia while writing Scandal in Spades.
Although entirely fictional, Julia was inspired by a young woman I met who was full of fire and conviction but also 100 percent open to the world, eager to absorb new experiences and make any positive change she could. I’d never met anyone with that same combination of enthusiasm and openness. Julia is my homage to her incandescent spirit.
Diamond in the Rogue can be enjoyed as a stand alone, however fans of the series will note that the story picks up where the final chapter of Heart’s Desire ended. And then, when Julia jumps on the back of Rayne’s departing carriage disguised as a footman, Diamond in the Rogue turns into a road trip romance, carriage style, and becomes, in my opinion, my steamiest romance yet.
Here’s what fellow author Stacy Reid had to say:
I cannot express how much I enjoyed this book. Ms. LaCapra’s writing is compelling, vibrant, and infused with heart-jerking tender moments. I was hooked the instance I met Rayne. He is such a compelling guy, tortured by the way he had treated Julia in the past and hungry to atone while shying from the constant desire he had for her. Rayne had complex layers and beguiling depth to his character, and Julia was the same with her strengths, vulnerabilities, and the love she still possessed for our hero. I loved them, and each time they graced the pages together, I happily sighed. It was lovely watching them rediscover each other and the burning passion which had never left.
From the first page, Diamond in the Rogue will captivate you! It is sensual, lush, beautifully romantic, and I recommend it!
You can listen to a reading of Julia and Rayne’s first private encounter since Scandal in Spades, but, if you’d rather read, here’s the excerpt (with a few lines added):
“Everyone disappeared from the dining hall,” he said.
She tilted her head, listening. “Then why do I hear voices?”
“Oh, there’s plenty of people left in there. But Clarissa went upstairs, and Markham followed soon after. Moments later, Katherine and Bromton left as well.” He lifted a brow. “What is it about this place?”
She shrugged. “Weddings make some people amorous, I suppose.”
And you? He strolled into the room. Do weddings make you amorous? He wanted to know.
And he definitely did not want to know.
She hefted the bowl and made a show of ignoring him in favor of closely examining silver-rendered insects.
“Dragonflies are an interesting choice for a soup tureen, don’t you think?” he asked.
“You are mistaken.” She set down the bowl. “They’re clearly damselflies.”
“Are they?” He leaned over her shoulder to get a closer look. “But a damselfly’s wings are closed when at rest.”
“Who says they’re at rest? They could be fluttering about, as flies are wont to do.” She shifted, slowly lifting her gaze. “Besides, if they were dragonflies, their front and back wings would have different shapes.”
“I see, now.” He reached from behind her and ran a finger over a veined wing. “Damselflies, indeed. They have more delicate bodies.”
“Deceptively delicate. Remember…damsels can be predators”—her short, puffed P puckered her lips—“too.”
Such a mouth she had. And such a face. Even a gifted artist would despair, trying to capture her changeling spirit in pigment. “Do you have an interest in entomology?”
“I’ve always been drawn to insects.” She folded her arms. “As you should know.”
Anger, he understood. Hers bore down on him—a deliberately placed heel. She would crush him if she could. Which made him want to respond in unspeakable—possibly even illegal—ways…all of them erotic.
The taste of rancid shame pooled beneath his tongue. He must apologize and get out. Fast.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said.
“I’ve been avoiding you?” Her lids narrowed to slits. “You put oceans between us.”
“One,” he replied softly. “One ocean.” One soot-watered, lightning-capped ocean, churning, at this moment, beneath his ribs.
“One ocean”—she swallowed—“was more than enough.”
Had it been?
In an instant, time and distance withered to nothing. The fruits of his sweat, pain, and self-recrimination? Gone.
Her pull stretched and deepened his inner mayhem. He wanted to pin her down, let her claw him all she wished, so long as she whimpered please when he pressed his lips against the vulnerable column of her throat.
Thank you for for celebrating my new release with me! And if you wish to share your thoughts on this or any of my books, I can be found:
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Diamond in the Rogue
In an act of revenge, Lord Rayne kissed Lady Julia and was sent packing to America. But now he’s back to settle his affairs and give away his sister in marriage, until he meets up with the alluring yet innocent Lady Julia again. He doesn’t regret their first kiss, but he was never good enough for her.
Lady Julia had two years to forget the moody and mercurial Earl of Rayne. But one look, and she knows they’re meant to be together. Be damned with his and her brother’s objections, she’ll just jump on the back of Rayne’s departing carriage and compromise them both thoroughly.
Only, Julia never expected her forbidding Lord to be so good at resisting temptation…
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