The Suspect's Daughter
(Rogue Hearts, #4)
by Donna Hatch
Adult Historical Romance
Paperback & ebook, 298 pagesby Donna Hatch
Adult Historical Romance
December 15th 2015 by Mirror Lake Press
Determined to help her father with his political career, Jocelyn sets aside dreams of love. When she meets the handsome and mysterious Grant Amesbury, her dreams of true love reawaken. But his secrets put her family in peril.
Grant goes undercover to capture conspirators avowed to murder the prime minister, but his only suspect is the father of a courageous lady who is growing increasingly hard to ignore. He can’t allow Jocelyn to distract him from the case, nor will he taint her with his war-darkened soul. She seems to see past the barriers surrounding his heart, which makes her all the more dangerous to his vow of remaining forever alone.
Jocelyn will do anything to clear her father’s name, even if that means working with Grant. Time is running out. The future of England hangs in the balance...and so does their love.
Please welcome Donna Hatch to Colorimetry:
CARRIAGES:
People in Regency England walked a great deal but when having to go distances or locations that made walking undesirable, they depended upon horseback or carriage to get around. Many of them traveled extensively from their country homes to London for the Season. Roads were terrible, and weather and highwaymen often made travel uncomfortable as well as dangerous. To accommodate the Regency gentry or nobility, the styles, paint design, and features of carriages were as varied as today’s automobiles. Image, status, and money, as well as personal taste, were all factors in choosing a carriage. Nobility had their family coat of arms painted on the side of their family coach. A reader may come across a number of different names for carriages, and unless one is willing to do some research, these names may mean nothing.
So, to help you, here are some of the more commonly used carriages:
Barouche: a very expensive and large, four passenger carriage pulled by four horses. Its folding hood could be raised but it only covered two of the passengers. This was viewed as a status symbol to own because it was easy to be seen while traveling and showing off one's finery.
Curricle : a small, two-wheeled vehicle designed for no more than two passengers and pulled by two horses. Like a convertible it had a hood that could be raised in poor weather or folded down. It was lightweight and very fast, often used in racing, but tipped over easily, so it was also dangerous.
Family coach (pictured): a closed carriage that comfortably seated four passengers and was driven by a driver who sat up front, way up high. It had windows, curtains, lanterns and usually storage compartments for refreshments. They also normally featured small desks for writing the many extensive letters Regency people were so mad about sending and receiving.Hackney: like the modern day taxi cab, these could be carriages of any kind, but typically those that were closed, and driven by the cab driver called a jarvey. As far as I know, they were only used in London. One could hail them from the street, or go to a hackney stand where the jarveys hung out until they found a passenger.
Landau: an open carriage with two folding hoods that could be raised or lowered. It was the carriage to use when one wanted to see and be seen. It, too, had a driver up front and was pulled by four horses.
Phaeton: (High flyer phaeton carriage, 1816) a smaller two-seater used by owners who drove themselves. It had a roof, but the front and sides were open, although some pictures show it as having a folding hood. The front two wheels were smaller than the back wheels. Often the seat was very high, in which case it was referred to as the high-perch phaeton. It was considered stylish.Post Chaise: a small carriage which could be pulled by two or four horses. Often painted yellow, it could be hired out by someone who wished to travel privately and not with a group of strangers such as a stage coach or mail coach. Generally it only had room for one seat, which seated two, but it also had an outside, rear facing seat for servants and a platform in front for luggage. The driver, called a postillion, rode on the backs of the horses instead of on a bench on the post chaise.
There were also stage coaches and mail coaches, which were public transportation for the person who didn’t mind (or were forced by the size of their purse) to travel with other passengers. They followed select routes and stopped at inns for food and for changing out the team of horses. The mail coach was the cheapest way to travel, and the most uncomfortable because it’s primary function is to carry mail rather than passengers. Sometimes, passengers were obliged to ride on top and there are stories of that proving a fatal way to travel.
Donna Hatch is the author of the best-selling “Rogue Hearts Series,” and a winner of writing awards such as The Golden Quill and the International Digital Award. A hopeless romantic and adventurer at heart, she discovered her writing passion at the tender age of 8 and has been listening to those voices ever since. She has become a sought-after workshop presenter, and also juggles freelance editing, multiple volunteer positions, and most of all, her six children (seven, counting her husband). A native of Arizona who recently transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, she and her husband of over twenty five years are living proof that there really is a happily ever after.
Tour Schedule
12/8: Launch - Intro to the Book
12/14: Bookworm Nation & Singing Librarian Books
12/15: Release-Day Grand Finale
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$10 Amazon eGift Card
2 ebooks of A Winter's Knight
2 ebooks of Mistletoe Magic
Open internationally
Ends December 19th
a Rafflecopter giveaway
