Hello and welcome to “At First Sight Saturday.” Today’s I feature a first sight scen from my novella Wait for Me one of the stories in Storm & Shelter A Bluestocking Belles with Friends Collection. I introduce you to hero Captain Brandon Gilroy and heroine, Esmeralda Crobbin. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of the excerpt and my two characters.

Excerpt: A nameless stream flooded the marshy terrain to her left. At least she imagined it was a stream when not overflowing its banks with water and all manner of detritus. She’d been lucky thus far to have dodged most of the missiles the torrent tossed in her path. Her foot hit another hidden obstacle, and she pitched forward. She dropped her bag, and threw her hands out before her, praying as she went down that she could keep her face above the muck else she might suffocate before she could clean the stuff away.

She landed with the expected splat but unexpectedly not in the mud. Whatever she’d tripped over had broken her fall and kept her breathing. The object was large, seemed to be covered in cloth, and as she pushed up into a seated position, she discovered it was rather lumpy. It also groaned. A very human sounding groan.

Good lord. I’ve landed on a man. Aware of where she sat, she scrambled off, to lean over him, her knees sinking into the muck. She bent closer and peered through the soggy light, feeling with her hands to locate his head and check for injuries. She found only a shallow bump on the back of his crown. Thank heaven he lay on his back. The rain had kept his face clear of sludge, and beneath her palms his chest rose and fell. He was alive for now. But how long had he been here, and what caused him to be lying in the mud?

On that thought, his eyes opened. They were blue, though she couldn’t see the exact color in the rainy dawn. They might have been gray.

The rain resumed, and he blinked rapidly. She fished in a pocket for her handkerchief. Damp as it was, it would clear his vision. With the kerchief, she swiped water from his eyes and face. She bent to place the cloth in her pocket, and when she lifted her head, his glare struck her. A very familiar glare. A glare that had haunted her for the past three years. Now I know fate is laughing at me. Before her lay the one man who hated her most in the world.

About Wait for Me: Esmeralda Crobbin, aka the pirate Irish Red, and Captain, Lord Brandon Gilroy were enemies by nature who first met during a battle at sea. But fate trumps nature when a fierce storm creates a chance encounter and forced proximity. Brandon learns the pirate is a woman of serious honor and responsibility. Esmeralda discovers the captain is more than a uniform stuffed with rules and regulations. Both love the sea with boundless passion, but can they love each other? You may find Wait for Me in the Bluestocking Belles collection Storm & Shelter.

About Storm & Shelter: When a storm blows off the North Sea and slams into the village of Fenwick on Sea, the villagers prepare for the inevitable: shipwreck, flood, land slips, and stranded travelers. The Queen’s Barque Inn quickly fills with the injured, the devious, and the lonely—lords, ladies, and simple folk; spies, pirates, and smugglers all trapped together. Intrigue crackles through the village, and passion lights up the hotel. One storm, eight authors, eight heartwarming novellas.

Storm & Shelter is available for pre-order at a reduced price until release day, April 13, 2021 when the price goes up.

About Rue Allyn: Award winning author, Rue Allyn, learned story telling at her grandfather’s knee. (Well it was really more like on his knee—I was two.) She’s been weaving her own tales ever since. She has worked as an instructor, mother, sailor, clerk, sales associate, and painter, along with a variety of other types of employment. She has lived and traveled in places all over the globe from Keflavik Iceland (I did not care much for the long nights of winter.) and Fairbanks Alaska to Panama City and the streets of London England to a large number of places in between. Now that her two sons have left the nest, Rue and her husband of more than four decades (Try living with the same person for more than forty years—that’s a true adventure.) have retired and moved south.  When not writing, enjoying the nearby beach or working jigsaw puzzles, Rue travels the world and surfs the internet in search of background material and inspiration for her next heart melting romance. She loves to hear from readers, and you may contact her at Rue@RueAllyn.com.  She can’t wait to hear from you.

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