The Hellion’s Heart, my new Regency romance coming out next week, is Helena and Joshua’s story. I really enjoyed Helena when she appeared in The Widow’s Wager, and knew immediately that she needed her own book.

Once I started to write The Hellion’s Heart, though, I wondered how to provide her with a happy ending. I knew that Helena would readily follow her heart into trouble, which was why Joshua makes such an excellent protector. He spent a year running wild in London with his younger brother, and while he is a reformed rake, his experience means that he knows just how to satisfy Helena’s craving for adventure. He is immediately attracted to Helena but disapproving of her interest in adventure – and her desire to encounter a highwayman. Little does he realize that he will have the opportunity to present himself as a mysterious rider, or that he will take it.

Here’s a sneak peek at the scene when Helena meets her mysterious champion. It’s also the beginning of Helena and Joshua changing for each other. Helena begins to see the potential price of her impulsiveness, while Joshua takes a chance for the first time in years. The way the hero and heroine provoke growth in each other is my favorite part of writing romance. I hope you enjoy this snippet of this scene. (In the book, it ends with their first kiss.)

I’ve also made a new meme of the tropes in this book and it’s below.

An excerpt from The Hellion’s Heart by Claire Delacroix
Copyright 2024 Deborah A. Cooke

Helena jumped in surprise, lost her grip and slipped.

She landed in the puddle with a splash, her foot twisted painfully beneath her hip. She immediately tried to get up but collapsed again at the fiery explosion of pain in her ankle.

She considered various words she had overhead in London, but decided they were unladylike and thus unsuitable for a potential duchess.

“Curses,” she said instead, then managed to ease onto dry ground at least.

Her ankle was already beginning to swell. Her slipper was muddy, her stockings laddered, and her dress mired. She was seated on the ground, out of view of anyone who might approach the folly, unable to walk, and was keenly aware that no one knew her location. The clouds seemed to be gathering overhead with greater vigor, but she could not be much more wet than she already was.

It was a most unsatisfactory predicament.

Helena pulled herself to the path in the hope that at least she might be seen—if anyone ventured this way. It did not appear to be a strong possibility. The forest now seemed full of shadows and desolate beyond all. She had a moment of fear that she might never be found, not until she had wasted away to a pile of bones, then shook her head.

Nonsense. She had found this predicament and she would solve it.

Somehow.

There was a broken stick not ten feet away, undoubtedly debris from the forest. If she could reach it, she could use it as a cane and perhaps hobble to the edge of the forest. Chances were better of being discovered there. Helena grit her teeth and began to crawl toward the stick, dragging her injured foot. Never mind her slippers, her dress would be ruined as well, but any sacrifice was better than perishing alone.

She was halfway to the stick when she heard galloping hoofbeats. Could it be that someone sought her?

No, it could not be, and no one would look for her in this place. A galloping horse had to be on the road to Addersley Manor. At such a pace, the rider would soon be elsewhere, and she had best make the most of opportunity.

Helena took a deep breath and screamed with all her might, just as the first fat raindrops began to fall.

* * *

“Help me!”

Joshua reined in the stallion at the unexpected sound of a woman’s cry, certain his ears had deceived him. Then she screamed again. He turned the horse, wondering at the lady’s distress. He was near his mother’s folly which no one visited any more.

Where else might the imperiled woman be? Who would walk in the forest alone? The villagers all said the folly was haunted, though he had never believed as much. He could be as skeptical as he chose, but the woman’s cry made the hair rise on the back of his neck.

“Help me!” she entreated again, and he thought her voice was familiar.

Could it be Miss Emerson?

Why would she be walking alone, much less be visiting the folly?

That question nigh convinced him that it had to be Miss Emerson, for no one else of his acquaintance in the region would embark on such a venture.

The rain began to fall in heavy drops as he guided the horse along the forest path and Joshua was glad then of his heavy cloak. The weather was turning foul quickly and he drew his hood higher. He broke free of the forest to find Miss Emerson sprawled in the clearing in evident distress. Without a thought, he leapt from the saddle and strode toward her side.

“Oh!” she said, her tone so rapturous that he could make no sense of it. “There is a highwayman in Nottinghamshire!” And she smiled at him, an expression so dazzling that Joshua could only stare.

Indeed, his heart skipped a beat and words abandoned him. He had thought her a beauty before, but this smile was beyond brilliant and more heartfelt than any she had shown him thus far.

Joshua suddenly realized she did not know who he was. He wore his old cloak and rode Gerald’s horse. She could not see his features because of the hood. Even if she saw his waistcoat or took heed of his boots, she would recognize neither.

He could pretend to be the man she wished to meet, for just a moment, only to encourage that radiant smile.

He dared not speak, lest his identity be revealed.

He bowed low to her, ensuring that the hood shadowed his face, and offered his hand to her.

She shook her head, flushing prettily. “I fell, sir,” she admitted. “And my ankle will not bear my weight. Your arrival is both timely and welcome.” She pushed back her bonnet, which drooped low in the rain, and regarded him with undisguised admiration.

I love how these two provoke change in each other so that they can have a happy ending together. Don’t miss Joshua and Helena’s story, coming next week!

Helena Emerson yearns for romance and adventure, and dreams of wedding a duke for love. She knows she would never be able to endure a marriage with the serious Viscount of Addersley, no matter how handsome he might be. Consumed with logic and good sense, the man might as well be a statue. He does not even dance! She declines his offer, much to the outrage of her family, determined to wed happily or not at all.

But Joshua Hargood, Seventh Viscount of Addersley, is not the man Helena assumes him to be. He put aside his rakehell ways a decade before, blaming himself for the accident that claimed his intended. He has, however, never been able to resist a dare if the reward was worthy, and the challenge of undermining Helena’s assumptions is tempting beyond all. He takes a disguise, planning to be a rogue only for the lady he desires to wed, convinced that this is the merit of his scandalous past. Helena is captivated by her mysterious suitor and soon pierces his disguise, only to learn that the viscount lost his betrothed years before—is his heart even available to claim?

No sooner is Joshua convinced of success in his suit than his notorious brother, believed dead at Waterloo, returns to demand his due. Joshua knows that his embittered brother will only be satisfied when Addersley itself is destroyed, along with Joshua’s own happiness and prospects. Is he doomed to watch past tragedy repeat itself, or can Joshua save both his legacy and his beloved Helena?

Available July 22 in eBook and Paperback!

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