Amanda McCabe's Blog

 Happy Thanksgiving week, everyone!!  I just turned in final revisions on the next book, and am getting ready to make pies for tomorrow.  I hope you're having a lovely autumn!  In the meantime, here are a few distractions...

5 ways to support a small business during the holidays (from Everyday Parisian, which is a wonderful site!)

What wine goes with your holiday meals

The best Thanksgiving cocktails

A royal wedding on November 20, 1947

 

Happy almost-Thanksgiving, everyone!  If you're already in the holiday spirit (I had my first peppermint mocha today!), check out Regency Gaming Hell Christmas, volume 1, which is free this week.  (Volume 4 is out December 3).  I loved working on this project with Kathy L Wheeler, my writing bestie, and I love it when holiday novella time rolls around...

What I'm reading right now: Hong Kong Widow (so spooky)

What I'm watching: Wicked part one, getting ready for my tickets to Wicked: For Good on the 22nd!

And here's some fun reading for the weekend...

A Frida Kahlo self-portrait is going up for auction

How the production team of "Hamnet" built a Globe replica in record time

The death of Princess Charlotte of Wales on November 6, 1817

Upcoming exhibit I'd like to see!  "Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style"

Jonathan Bailey is the sexiest man alive (this tracks)

The gold heart necklace of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon

Actress Prunella Scales (aka Sybil Fawlty) has died

A history of Guy Fawkes Day (remember, remember, the fifth of November!)

 

To celebrate the release of Book 3 in the "Matchmakers of Bath" series (How to Court Your Wife, available now!), I'm giving away the first two books in the series plus a cute Jane Austen bookmark!  Just email me at amccabe7551 AT yahoo.com, sign up for my newsletter here (if you're already subscribed, you're entered!), follow me on BookBub, or comment on my FB or Instagram feeds...

 

How to Court Your Wife is out in the world today!!!  This is the third of the "Matchmakers in Bath" trilogy, and I really loved writing it since Sandrine is a modiste, famous for designing "lucky" wedding gowns.  Since I looove fashion, it was hard to stop researching and start writing.  More historical research info in an upcoming post...

They married for convenience, now they have a second chance to fall in love! Enjoy the final installment of the Matchmakers of Bath series.

Falling for her husband

…all over again!

When Sandrine was forced to give up her dressmaking dreams to wed Alain, Comte d’Alency, she never expected to fall for her convenient husband at first sight! Only, her hopes were dashed after their wedding night, when she discovered Alain loved another, so she fled…

Years later, Alain encounters his wife again! Now a successful modiste, Sandrine no longer needs him. To make amends and reclaim his runaway wife, he’s determined to give her the courtship they never had. But Alain’s not the only one with a past to reconcile—Sandrine’s also been keeping a little secret…

From Harlequin Historical: Your romantic escape to the past.

Matchmakers of Bath

Book 1: The Earl's Cinderella Countess
Book 2: Their Convenient Christmas Betrothal
Book 3: How to Court Your Wife

 From the Highclere Castle gin website!  (because it sounds yummy!  Let me know if you try it.  And I have bought bottles of the gin before, it's excellent...)

Pumpkin Pie Sour

2 oz Highclere Castle Barrel Aged Gin

1 bsp. Pumpkin Puree

3/4 oz Lemon Juice

1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup

Egg White

2 dashes Vanilla Bitters

Pumpkin Spice

Star Anise Garnish

Directions:  Add the puree to cocktail shaker. Then add the gin, lemon juice, cinnamon syrup, egg white and bitters. Shake with ice for ten seconds and strain into a cocktail coupe.  Add some pumpkin spice to the top and garnish.

How to make the cinnamon syrup

1 cup of water

1 cup of white or raw granulated sugar

4 cinnamon sticks

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:  In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to a boil and stir in the sugar until dissolved.  Reduce the heat and add the cinnamon sticks. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and keep covered. Allow the syrup to cool for at least 1 hour.  Remove the cinnamon sticks and stir in the vanilla extract. 

 How to Court Your Wife is out on October 23!!!  I'm so excited to see this final installment of "The Matchmakers of Bath" in the world.  (Though the heroine is a modiste, and not one of the matchmakers!  It was so much fun researching the fashion of the era...)  In the meantime, the nights are getting longer and chillier here, time to snuggle in and read (or watch British murder mysteries).  Both are favorites at this time of year...

What I'm watching: the new "Lynley" series (Leo Suter, yum)

What I'm reading: Days of Light by Megan Hunter (beautifully written, I am reading slowly to absorb every paragraph!), and Stephen Greenblatt's Dark Renaissance, his new bio of Christopher Marlowe

And your fun links for the week:

The most beautiful haunted houses in the world

An article about Lapdog Rescue (we got our two little rescues, Pippa and Kate, from them! They do wonderful work)

On October 17, 1793, Marie Antoinette was executed

The British Museum's appeal to save the "Tudor heart" pendant

October 14 was Ada Lovelace Day

Some of the most stunning period costumes seen on film

The French have...croissant-scented stamps!  Brilliant!

A lovely royal wedding

 

Happy weekend, everyone!  I hope it's autumn where you are, it's finally getting cool here, and the colors are ahhhhmazing, especially up in the mountains.  I hope to get out there tomorrow, after wrapping up revisions on the WIP.  In the meantime, here's a few things to read...

How close did we come to losing Beowulf forever?

A witch's tips for the best Halloween party ever

150 years of Liberty of London

Auction of the jewels of the Dowager Countess of Airlie (complete with gorgeous tiara!)

In other auction news, the gorgeous Faberge Winter Egg...

Jilly Cooper's Cotswolds abode

Eugene Levy's interview with Prince William (complete with Orla, the scene stealing spaniel!)

Lots of "Wicked" merch

Medieval monks and their luxe skincare

We lost Hyacinth!  The death of the wonderful Dame Patricia Routledge

A Regency flat in Bath where I would love to live

 Welcome to fall!!  I am loving the cooler nights and vivid colors, even though it's that weird in-between spot for clothes (sweaters are too heavy, summer frocks are too light...)  I am diving into revisions for the next book, a Gilded Age romance set in gorgeous Newport, and settling in for some reading.  I'd love some fall-ish recs, if you have any.  And here are a few distractions for you...

An artist recycles Royal Ballet shoes into jewelry

Why we're still reading Jane Austen on her 250th birthday

Also, September 24, 1995 saw the premier of our favorite Pride & Prejudice on BBC!  (how has it been so long??)

The Brooklyn artist who created thousands of porcelain miniature for the V&A's Marie Antoinette exhibit (these are amazing)

The 100 greatest British novels, according to the BBC (I have no quarrel with #1, it's one of my very favorite books)

How women's pockets became so controversial

 

Well, this has been a week that feels like a (long) year.  I am getting ready to dive into some farmers market shopping and reading this weekend before tackling book revisions that just landed on my desk.  And here's a few distraction...  (also, don't forget to talk like a pirate today!  My book High Seas Stowaway, if you want some historical seafaring hijinks is .99)

The V&A opens their "Marie Antoinette Style" exhibit (and I am sobbing not to be there!)

An art conservator restores a portrait of Isabella de Medici

Where is The Great British Bakeoff Filmed?

It was Agatha Christie's Birthday on September 15!  I think I'll do a re-read in her honor (some favorites--Death on the Nile, The Hollow, 5 Little Pigs)

The most beautiful garden you can visit in every state

The jewels of the new Downton Abbey movie (I saw it last weekend!  So fun to see old friends again, and you go, Lady Edith)

Inside the rooms where 20 famous books were written

Portrait of Shakespeare's possible lover found

 I just got a new box of books for my next Harlequin release, How to Court Your Wife!!!  It's the 3rd in the Matchmakers of Bath series, and I love it because the heroine, Sandrine, is a modiste.  You know how I love clothes!!!  Her business is booming--now she just has to deal with her much-too attractive estranged husband.  It's releasing on October 23, but I have a few copies to send out for review.  Let me know if you're interested!

In other book news, Secretary to the Socialite is gaining some lovely reviews!  As it's the "book of my heart," this is making me feel quite chuffed and smiley.  

And, as we hover on the brink of autumn (bring on Halloween and apple spice!) here are a few things to read:

Happy birthday, Elizabeth I!  (September 7, 1533)

And the death of her stepmother Queen Katherine Parr (September 5, 1548)

And this week the Duchess of Kent died, aged 92 (a true lady and talented musician, one of the last of the old-school royals, she led a fascinating and sad life)

The (almost) wildness of Elizabeth Bennet

A new "Age of Innocence" adaptation is on its way!  I love Edith Wharton, and it's been 30 years since the perfection of the Scorsese movie, but this description of being a "modern young version for a new generation" does not sound---reassuring....

The stately settings of "Downton Abbey"  (last movie is out next week, woo-hoo!)