Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard by Vanessa Kelly (Spotlight/Giveaway)

We have a wonderful excerpt from Vanessa Kelly's upcoming historical romance, SECRETS FOR SEDUCING A ROYAL BODYGUARD, for you today. Be sure to check it out below and then pre-order your copy today! 

Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard
by Vanessa Kelly
Genre: Regency-set historical romance
Tone: witty, sexy, emotional
Heat Level: hot
Elements/Tags: historical romance, royalty, Georgian era
Publisher: Kensington Zebra
Publishing Date: January 7, 2013
Series: The Renegade Royals, #1
Format: digital
Words: 432 pages
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IN MATTERS OF DESIRE, HE’S THE PERFECT TEACHER…

Accomplished spy Aden St. George prefers to stay away from the frivolous ton, especially after the way his mother was used by the Prince Regent. But his latest mission compels him to guard unconventional, vibrant Lady Vivien Shaw. Rescuing her from kidnappers was easy. Resisting her beauty is not. Duty demands he keep an eye on her—and naturally, his lips soon follow. For someone who views entanglements as a weakness, this is pure, delicious folly…

Though grateful for Aden’s help, Vivien has secrets she must keep hidden. Yet with her abductors still at large, she needs Aden’s protection almost as much as she craves his touch…

EXCERPT:

He rolled off the pallet, bringing her slight body with him as he rose.  She gave a little gasp and staggered, sinking against him.  Steadying her, he wrapped the velvet cloak tightly around her and lifted, settling her easily against his chest, a fragile package in his arms.  The fact that she’d tried to fight him and struggled so desperately to defend herself spoke of a reckless courage that filled him with dismay.  If she had struggled thus with her abductors, God only knows what they’d done to her.  They would have relished the sport of breaking her in unimaginably brutal ways.

Once more, a thirst for vengeance settled low in his gut.  His mind began to reshape itself into the cold, ruthless pattern that automatically formed whenever he planned a kill.  Emotions began to fall away.  He felt the man inside him—the creature of blood, bone, muscle, and morality—giving way to something akin to iron wheels and gears, defined by a single, deadly purpose that swept everything before it.

The girl stiffened in his arms.  She peered at him, caution pulling her features tight as if she’d sensed the change in him.  How the hell was that possible?

When she wriggled, clearly wanting down, he knew she had sensed it.  Swiftly, he refocused.  Vengeance would change nothing.  In this moment, the only thing that counted was saving Lady Vivien Shaw.

He tried a reassuring smile.  Her eyes widened and she shrank into herself, her expression screaming distrust.  Very well.  She’d have to trust him, or he just might be forced to tap her under the chin after all.  So far she’d surprised him with her lack of hysterics, but would that last much longer?

Her tongue swiped out to wet her full lips—a distraction he didn’t need—then she spoke in that croaking whisper.  “How will we—”

He shook his head in warning as they reached the door.  A fine tremor flowed through her limbs before she fell silent and still against him.

Shifting her in his arms, he moved, keeping the door between them and the open corridor.  He glanced down at the burly form of the guard crumpled against the wall.  Aden gave him a hard nudge with his boot.

“Is he dead?” Lady Vivien whispered.

He shook his head.  After what the guard had likely done to her, he’d assumed she’d want to see him dead.  Yet she seemed relieved more than anything.

As he moved down the corridor, she stretched up again to murmur in his ear, “I can walk.”  Her warm breath slid over his skin like a caress, her soft lips brushing his ear.  Aden had to repress an instinctive shiver of pleasure.

Scowling at his undisciplined reaction, he bit out a low reply.  “We’re almost out.”  He thought she rolled her eyes at him, but his mind rejected the absurd notion.

“I would nonetheless prefer to walk,” she hissed.

Apparently she had rolled her eyes at him.

Meet Author Vanessa Kelly:

Vanessa Kelly is an award-winning author who was named by Booklist, the review journal of the American Library Association, as one of the "New Stars of Historical Romance." Her sensual, Regency-set historical romances have been nominated for awards in a number of contests, and her second book, Sex and The Single Earl, won the prestigious Maggie Medallion for Best Historical Romance. Vanessa's next series, The Renegade Royals, is due to hit the shelves in November with an introductory novella, Lost in a Royal Kiss. Book One in the series, Secrets For Seducing a Royal Bodyguard, will release in January, 2014, and Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom will be out in April, 2014.

When not dreaming of plots for her next Regency historical novel, Vanessa also writes USA Today Bestselling contemporary romance with her husband under the pen name of V.K. Sykes.  She's also a member of Rock*It Reads, a group of bestselling traditional authors who are self-publishing, and of The Jaunty Quills.  

website:  http://www.vanessakellyauthor.com

blog: http://www.vanessakellyauthor.com/vanessa-blog/

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanessakellyauthor

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/VanessaKellyAut

goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2728107.Vanessa_Kelly

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/vanessakellyaut/

Jaunty Quills:  http://jauntyquills.com/

Giveaway Details:

One ARC of CONFESSIONS OF A ROYAL BRIDEGROOM, book two of The Renegade Royals series, and one copy of HIS MISTLETOE BRIDE per the total number of stops. (US/Ca only) Please see Terms & Conditions on the Rafflecopter widget.

Vanessa is also hosting a giveaway on her website for a reproduction of the original art for SECRETS FOR SEDUCING A ROYAL BODYGUARD, and original sketches of the heroines from LOST in a ROYAL KISS (#0.5) and SECRETS for SEDUCING a ROYAL BODYGUARD (#1). 

Link to contest on Vanessa’s website:  http://www.vanessakellyauthor.com/contest/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Additional Event:

Facebook Celebration: January 7th; 7:30pm - 9:30pm EST

https://www.facebook.com/events/619602208099582/