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Do You Believe in Magic?

June 28, 2026 by in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as , , , , ,

Apologies if the post title triggers a Loving Spoonful earworm!

The Magic of Books

It’s Midsummer and I’ve been thinking a lot about magical stories.

Paranormal, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Romantasy, not to mention all the Star Wars-type stories. Have you read any? Do you have a preference?

My daughter is currently working her way through Rebecca Yarros’ Romantasy series. With a busy mom’s schedule, it’s been a slow go snatching time to read those lo-o-ng books.

Being an anglophile and writer of Regency-set romance, I like a familiar fantasy world, like Regency-era England, albeit populated with magical creatures and occurrences.

His Majesty’s Dragon, by Naomi Novik, is a speculative fiction story with talking dragons who fight for their respective armies in the Napoleonic wars. Not a romance, but fascinating and well-done. Another book I loved is Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett. The story world is not Regency England, but there is a romance angle and there are lots of magical beings.

Among my Regency romance writer friends, Barbara Monajem has some beautiful stories with ghosts and paranormal creatures; Meara Platt has a Regency Dragon Shifter series; and Jude Knight has just launched Unexpected Magic, the first book in an alternative Regency world Romantasy series.

Magic in the Works

Precognition has played a role in my Macbeth series, but this fall I’ll be releasing my first actual ghost story, The Duke, the Diamond, and the Ghastly Ghoul, appearing in Moonlight Madness, a Bluestocking Belles Collection. I’ll tell you more about that in my September post here.

There’s more magic coming from the authors of the Bluestocking Belles. We’ve launched a multi-author series called Forevers in Fenwick, a stand-alone romance arriving each month (except for the months when we release a collection of stories). All of the stories take place in the fictional town of Fenwick on Sea, which was the setting for the Storm & Shelter collection from the Belles. And there’s magic, or at least a rumor of it: a fae blessing upon the well water leads to finding one’s true love.

The talented Elizabeth Donne starts off the series with The Legend Begins.

After this year’s Moonlight Madness collection, the Belles have more stories coming in June 2027, all set in a magical part of England, the Lake District. I’ll tell you more about that later in the year.

Dragons or Fairies?

What’s your preference? Do you have a recommendation? Tell me about it in the comments!

Until next Quarter Day, happy reading, and enjoy the rest of the summer!

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Adventures in AI

December 28, 2025 by in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as , , , , ,

Happy holidays, and Happy New Year! I’m back for another Quarter Days post.

A Controversial Subject

First things first: I know that the use of AI is a controversial topic among authors and other creators. I’m not one of the folks who use it to plot, write, edit, or create book covers or audiobooks.

For one thing, the slick, smarmy AI generated prose from scammers that arrives in my inbox is a deterrent–easily identified as machine-made. Here’s one message from November 17th regarding my recent release, Her Impeccable Scoundrel:

As we enter the most uplifting time of the year, I hope this season brings you joy, renewed inspiration, and continued success as you craft elegant, emotionally rich historical romances that captivate devoted readers. After reviewing Her Impeccable Scoundrel, [emphasis mine] I was struck by its refined tension, nuanced character development, and the deeply human struggle between duty, trust, and long-buried emotion. Blythe’s fight to reclaim her reputation and protect her inheritance combined with Graeme’s complex return, carrying both guilt and longing creates an irresistible Regency narrative filled with redemption, vulnerability, and slow-burning romance. It is exactly the kind of elegant, emotionally resonant story our seasonal campaign aims to highlight.

(Note that there is a seasonal campaign coming up, for which payment by author will likely be required.)

Release day for Her Impeccable Scoundrel was November 18th. Hmm, how did the AI bot read it before sending this message?

No doubt you authors reading here have received messages like this from book clubs, famous authors, marketers and unsolicited reviewers. If you haven’t heard of this new scam, Writer Beware has several posts on the topic.

This Quarter’s New Releases

It’s been a busy few months with new releases, two fun projects with the Bluestocking Belles, plus a full length novel in the Wicked Widows League multi-author series.

Love’s Perilous Road, a Bluestocking Belles Collection with Friends

Release Day, October 31, 2025

Travel, houseparties, smugglers, spies, a ghost–and a mysterious highwayman. Who is the infamous Captain Moonlight? And how many lives will he change–for good or for ill?

It’s the autumn of 1817 and Sir Peter Somerville and his lady are hosting a house party at their estate near Brighton, while a pesky highwayman plagues the surrounding byways.

Includes my novella, Sir Westcott Steals a Heart.

Purchase link: https://books2read.com/u/mqx0W6

Her Impeccable Scoundrel

Release Day, November 18, 2025

A widowed countess emerges from her year of mourning battling the dark legacy of her husband and dreading the arrival of the straitlaced scoundrel whose interference years earlier led to her unhappy marriage, a young man who was once her friend: her late husband’s heir.

Called back to England to take up his late cousin’s title, diplomat Graeme Blatchfield is eager to see his cousin’s widow and learn for himself whether the rumors about the woman he once held a childish infatuation for are true. Forced by matters of the estate to spend time together, he soon discovers the vulnerable and lonely woman underneath the society mask. Can he get her to forgive him—and more?

Buy Link: https://books2read.com/HerImpeccableScoundrel

Merry Belles, a Bluestocking Belles Collection with Friends

Release Day December 20, 2025

Just in time for the holidays, seven charming stories of romance from award-winning and best-selling authors:

  • A murder brings a lady and her lost love together, just close enough to heal old wounds. 
  • A young lady must foil a friend’s betrayal to have her Yuletide wish for love come true.
  • A widowed lord’s new housekeeper tames his rowdy boys and pierces his lonely heart.
  • A lady determined to find her wayward young son finds herself stranded with the persistent earl trying to woo her out of widowhood.
  • Will restoring a family manor together help two people acknowledge a secret attraction and claim a future together?
  • A soldier’s wife is determined to find her missing husband, even if she must walk the length and breadth of England with her children in a wheelbarrow.
  • Home from the wars, a soldier is shocked to learn that his fiancée plans to wed someone else. Can he reach her in time to prevent the nuptials? 

Includes my novella, Lady Loughton’s Last Wager

Buy link: https://books2read.com/u/mvRGPj

Hope your holidays are going well! Wishing you many blessings for the New Year, and I’ll see you at my next Quarter Day post.

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Love’s Perilous Road: A Review

November 15, 2025 by in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Book Reviews tagged as , , , , ,

Love’s Perilous Road

A Bluestocking Belles Collection with Friends

Ebook ISBN 978-1-965509-03-6
Print     ISBN 978-1-965509-04-3
ASIN     B0DZPKDMXV

Publisher: Bluestocking Belles

October 31, 2025

Regency Romance

I’ve been a fan of the Bluestocking Belles’ anthologies for years, probably since Alina K. Field first joined them. I’ve been a fan of Alina K. Field since she first published Rosalyn’s Ring and it won the 2014 Book Buyer’s Best contest. (It absolutely lived up to its reputation.)

So I was pleased to read and review Love’s Perilous Road, a collection of ten Regency Romances all centered around the mysterious highwayman, Captain Moonlight. All the characters have an encounter with the man, and there are brief journal entries from The Casebook of the Principal Office Robert Pierce who is planning Captain Moonlight’s capture—even if he leaves his ill-gotten gains in the chicken coops of young widows with children to feed.

As with all Bluestocking Belles Collections that I have read, all the stories are well written and very entertaining, which is not always the case with anthologies. I appreciate the care the authors take with their stories, adding in the clues to Captain Moonlight’s true identity.

Having said that, I still had my favorites: Charred Hope by Caroline Warfield in which an honorable man returns a miniature and finds a future.  Sir Westcott Steals a Heart by Alina K. Field: Sybil Dunsford disguised herself as a boy to protect her brothers but, of course, Sir Westcott Twisden follows her, and hijinks ensue and they get locked in barn overnight. A Duke in Peril by Meara Platt: Lady Florence Swann rescues a wounded soldier from the side of the road near her home. But he’s more than just a soldier.

I’m looking forward to the Bluestocking Belles next collection.

Buy Buttons

More Books by Alina K. Field

CHRISTMAS KISSES

Buy now!
CHRISTMAS KISSES

STORM & SHELTER

Buy now!
STORM & SHELTER
FATED HEARTS: A Love After All Retelling of the Scottish Play
MISTLETOE & MAYHEM: A REGENCY HOLIDAY ROMANCE ANTHOLOGY

THE COUNTERFEIT LADY

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THE COUNTERFEIT LADY

A LEAP INTO LOVE

Buy now!
A LEAP INTO LOVE
WINTER WISHES: A REGENCY HOLIDAY ROMANCE ANTHOLOGY

HAUNTING MISS FENWICK

Buy now!
HAUNTING MISS FENWICK

MARRYING MR. GIBSON

Buy now!
MARRYING MR. GIBSON

ROSALYN’S RING

Buy now!
ROSALYN’S RING

LILIANA’S LETTER

Buy now!
LILIANA’S LETTER

THE MARQUESS AND THE MIDWIFE

Buy now!
THE MARQUESS AND THE MIDWIFE

ADVENGING THE EARL’S LADY

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ADVENGING THE EARL’S LADY

THE GHOST OF DEPFORD HALL

Buy now!
THE GHOST OF DEPFORD HALL

ROMANCING THE PAGES

Buy now!
ROMANCING THE PAGES

THE VISCOUNT’S SEDUCTION

Buy now!
THE VISCOUNT’S SEDUCTION
MERRY BELLES: A Bluestocking Collection with Friends
LOVE’S PERILOUS ROAD

THE ROGUE’S LAST SCANDAL

Buy now!
THE ROGUE’S LAST SCANDAL
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Stand and Deliver!

September 28, 2025 by in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as , , , , ,

I’m back with another Quarter Days post!

Smugglers, Ghosts, and Highwaymen

The Bluestocking Belles and Friends have put together a collection of interrelated stories set near Brighton, England in 1817, and what fun we had researching and developing these tales. From the Devil’s Dyke to Brighton, love and adventure are in the air.

When Principal Officer Robert Pierce, of the Bow Street Magistrate Court sets out on the Brighton road he encounters more than the notorious thief he’s hunting:

From the casebook of Robert Pierce

It seems that I am off to the seaside. Larcenous Lucy, as some of the wits here at
the Office have taken to calling her, is working the London to Brighton road.
I’ve been told to look into a highwayman problem while I am there. There’s
someone plaguing both the main highway and some of the lesser roads. The local
dignitaries have posted a reward, so that would be a nice bonus.
My colleagues have also been joking that smugglers and ghosts abound in the
region, and that I might collect some of those while I am there. I told them, I
shall leave the smugglers to the excise officers and ghosts to the duly authorized
ministers of the church.

Love’s Perilous Road, a Bluestocking Belles Collection with Friends

Travel, houseparties, smugglers, spies, a ghost–and a mysterious highwayman. Who is the infamous Captain Moonlight? And how many lives will he change–for good or for ill?

It’s the autumn of 1817 and Sir Peter Somerville and his lady are hosting a house party at their estate near Brighton, while a pesky highwayman plagues the surrounding byways.

Love’s Perilous Road features stories by Jude Knight, Sherry Ewing, Carolyn Warfield, Cerise Deland, Rue Allyn, Elizabeth Ellen Carter, Alina K. Field, and friends of the Bluestocking Belles Mary Lancaster, Meara Platt, and Barbara Monajem. 

My contribution to the collection is Sir Westcott Steals a Heart

Sir Westcott Twisden didn’t know he wanted to marry until the tallest lady he’d ever met crossed his path. Unfortunately, the lady in question shrugs off his overtures. Curious when a local smuggler shows up to visit her, Wes follows her into trouble.

Sybil Dunsford will do almost anything to protect her brothers and their home, even disguise herself as one of her brothers to fend off demands from the local smuggling boss who holds her mortgage. But when her night of shifting contraband goes awry, and Sir Westcott appears to rescue her, they’re locked in together. Will romance follow?

Release Day is October 31, 2025

Pre-order your copy here: https://books2read.com/u/mqx0W6

Happy Reading! I’ll be back on December 28th with another Quarter Days post!
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More Holiday Reading

December 28, 2023 by in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as , , ,

How is your Yuletide shaping up?

This autumn I managed two extraordinary (for me) writing accomplishments:

1. Some butt-in-the-chair speedy writing for a last-minute holiday collection of stories put together during a time when I was attending two different week-long writing events, and

2. Writing short (8000 words). Which of course, helped me meet the deadline. Ideas for developing secondary characters came to me later. When the rights revert to me in a few months, I just might work in some changes.

Christmastide Kisses

My story, Twelfth Night Treasure is set among some longer novellas. The tales in this collection put together by four of us Bluestocking Belles plus author friends Ruth A. Casie and Aileen Fish will help brighten your holidays:

  • A beleaguered uncle whose wards have run off every governess–what he needs is a wife, if only he can persuade the latest applicant
  • A country solicitor who becomes an earl and then finds a secret that changes everything
  • A very proper clergyman who battles very improper urges when he and a lady with a murky past find themselves snowbound
  • A viscount whose search to unearth generations-old family secrets kindles the fire of love for his lovely search partner
  • A former army captain who wonders if the best friend of his ex-fiancee is the woman he should have married
  • A vicar with a misspent youth and the duke’s daughter who brings out the best in him

Six gentlemen and the ladies with whom they discover the power of a Christmastide Kiss.

A Villainous Vicar Reforms

The hero of my story is a clergyman who happened to be something of a villain in the my 2022 Christmas story, Flowers for His Lady. He had a whole year to reform since he almost ruined his sister’s chance at happiness last year. I’ve done my best to redeem him. If you read the story, let me know if you think I succeeded!

Happy Rest of the Holidays!

Besides taking time for holiday reading, be sure to grab a kiss under the mistletoe if you can!

I’ll be back in March for another Quarter Days Post.

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