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Loving Protector
En route to London for the Season, Calista Haywood and her family are saved from a highwayman by the dashing Brook Windebank. Later, when he valiantly steps in to prevent an unpleasant earl from claiming Calista as his wife, she fears that Brook is only being chivalrous and will never love her as she loves him. When there is a threat to Brook’s life, she is forced to pit her wits against his mercurial father, The Duke of Midchester.
264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 24, 2013
2 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Sally Quilford
53 books29 followersSally Quilford has had stories published in most of the major women’s magazines, and had seven pocket novels (to date) published My Weekly Pocket Novels. They have subsequently been sold to Ulverscroft Publishings Linford Romance Library, for large print publication. She has also won and been placed in many competitions. As well as running a popular competition calendar (linked to her column in Writers’ Forum magazine) Sally has judged writing competitions.
Sally is a monthly columnist with Writers Forum magazine and has also had articles published in The New Writer. Sally lives in Derbyshire with her husband and four westies. When the weather is nice enough she writes in her shed, hence her own ‘publisher’ on her Kindle ebook being labelled ‘Tales From the Shed’. Her proudest moment so far, not counting the birth of her children and the day she married, was when the King of Twitter, Stephen Fry linked to her (old) blog from his Twitter page, describing her as ‘pleasantly sane’.
Sally is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association. She is also available for workshops (mainly on writing romance and short fiction for women’s magazines).
Sally has had novellas, stories and articles published in the following publications:
Novels/Novellas
My Weekly Pocket Novels
The Secret of Helena’s Bay
My True Companion
Bella’s Vineyard
A Collector of Hearts
Imitation of Love
Sunlit Secrets
Mistletoe and Mystery
The People’s Friend Pocket Novels
Our Day Will Come (tbp 9th August 2012)
Easy Read/Bridges and Knight
Bonfire Memories (Oct 2012)
Linford Romance Library (Large Print)
The Secret of Helena’s Bay (in libraries now)
Bella’s Vineyard (in libraries now)
A Collector of Hearts (in libraries now)
My True Companion (in libraries now)
An Imitation of Love (in libraries now)
Sunlit Secrets (in libraries now)
Mistletoe Mystery (due 1.12.2012)
Our Day Will Come (due in 2013)
Siren Publishing
Command Performance – as Sally Quilford (January 2012)
Let Me Be Your Hero (The Peak of Love 1) – as Elise Hart (April 2012)
The Future Mrs. Winter – as Sally Quilford (May 2012)
A New Flame (The Peak of Love 2) – as Elise Hart (August 2012)
A Christmas Moon – as Sally Quilford (December 2012)
Articles
Writers Forum – as monthly columnist
The New Writer
The First Line
Writing Magazine
Stories
Magazines
Take A Break Fiction Feast
My Weekly
The Weekly News
Best
That’s Life Fast Fiction (Australia)
Allas (Sweden)
Dark Tales
Dark Horizons (British Fantasy Society’s publication)
Anthologies
Sexy Shorts for Lovers (Accent Press)
Sexy Shorts for the Beach (Accent Press)
The Creature in the Rose (BeWrite.net)
Several Xcite anthologies (under different pseudonym and as Sally Quilford)
Diamonds and Pearls (Accent Press)
Tears and Laughter and Happy Ever After (Blot Publishing)
Scream (Bridge House)
Going Places (Bridge House)
The Dogstar and other Science Fiction Stories (Leaf Books)
The Someday Supplement (Leaf Books)
La Fenetre (2 issues)
Sally is a monthly columnist with Writers Forum magazine and has also had articles published in The New Writer. Sally lives in Derbyshire with her husband and four westies. When the weather is nice enough she writes in her shed, hence her own ‘publisher’ on her Kindle ebook being labelled ‘Tales From the Shed’. Her proudest moment so far, not counting the birth of her children and the day she married, was when the King of Twitter, Stephen Fry linked to her (old) blog from his Twitter page, describing her as ‘pleasantly sane’.
Sally is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association. She is also available for workshops (mainly on writing romance and short fiction for women’s magazines).
Sally has had novellas, stories and articles published in the following publications:
Novels/Novellas
My Weekly Pocket Novels
The Secret of Helena’s Bay
My True Companion
Bella’s Vineyard
A Collector of Hearts
Imitation of Love
Sunlit Secrets
Mistletoe and Mystery
The People’s Friend Pocket Novels
Our Day Will Come (tbp 9th August 2012)
Easy Read/Bridges and Knight
Bonfire Memories (Oct 2012)
Linford Romance Library (Large Print)
The Secret of Helena’s Bay (in libraries now)
Bella’s Vineyard (in libraries now)
A Collector of Hearts (in libraries now)
My True Companion (in libraries now)
An Imitation of Love (in libraries now)
Sunlit Secrets (in libraries now)
Mistletoe Mystery (due 1.12.2012)
Our Day Will Come (due in 2013)
Siren Publishing
Command Performance – as Sally Quilford (January 2012)
Let Me Be Your Hero (The Peak of Love 1) – as Elise Hart (April 2012)
The Future Mrs. Winter – as Sally Quilford (May 2012)
A New Flame (The Peak of Love 2) – as Elise Hart (August 2012)
A Christmas Moon – as Sally Quilford (December 2012)
Articles
Writers Forum – as monthly columnist
The New Writer
The First Line
Writing Magazine
Stories
Magazines
Take A Break Fiction Feast
My Weekly
The Weekly News
Best
That’s Life Fast Fiction (Australia)
Allas (Sweden)
Dark Tales
Dark Horizons (British Fantasy Society’s publication)
Anthologies
Sexy Shorts for Lovers (Accent Press)
Sexy Shorts for the Beach (Accent Press)
The Creature in the Rose (BeWrite.net)
Several Xcite anthologies (under different pseudonym and as Sally Quilford)
Diamonds and Pearls (Accent Press)
Tears and Laughter and Happy Ever After (Blot Publishing)
Scream (Bridge House)
Going Places (Bridge House)
The Dogstar and other Science Fiction Stories (Leaf Books)
The Someday Supplement (Leaf Books)
La Fenetre (2 issues)
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 2, 2013
Well. This just isn't at all good.
I was immediately on my guard when I read a mistake in the first chapter; the stepmother of the heroine first curtsies to two gentlemen, but later "bows". No. Not only is it inconsistent, it's wrong. But I trudged on. Sometimes people make mistakes, but the story still turns out fairly enjoyable.
This one could have been enjoyable, despite its many typos and inconsistencies. And it probably would have been good...had not the heroine, Calista, been the dumbest thing to ever walk upright. I know the author deliberately made Calista obtuse. I know this because two peripheral characters flat out tell her so toward the end of the book. But that didn't make reading her persistent idiocy any easier to bear. Nearly every other page from about the halfway point on features Calista's astoundingly moronic assumptions and ridiculous insecurities. She's a self-deprecating Mary Sue, and she's highly annoying.
"Oh, he's only doing this to be nice." "Oh, he doesn't really care about me." "He'll never care about me as I do him." "I can't tell him I love him because I know he doesn't feel the same, and that would just make him feel beholden to me."
And on.
And on.
And on. Seemingly without end.
The best part, however, was how Duncan repeatedly insulted and excluded Blanche, Calista's bitchface stepsister, but still, Calista insists that Duncan must be in love with...wait for it...Blanche! And he's only paying any attention to poor Calista to make Blanche jealous!
It was just too much. I understand making your characters insecure and unsure, I understand wanting them to come to realize they care about each other through trial and error, but seriously, half the book? I could have taken it and probably would have liked the book had it had an actual plot, not just Calista bemoaning her horrible fate at having snared a nice, handsome, rich guy. Oh, wait, there was something about a nefarious plot, as well. And Duncan's estranged father. All that is wrapped up rather quickly, however. The only thing that's dwelt on is Calista's horse shit. I can handle a lot if the characters are sympathetic and compelling. Sadly, this book doesn't have those.
I was immediately on my guard when I read a mistake in the first chapter; the stepmother of the heroine first curtsies to two gentlemen, but later "bows". No. Not only is it inconsistent, it's wrong. But I trudged on. Sometimes people make mistakes, but the story still turns out fairly enjoyable.
This one could have been enjoyable, despite its many typos and inconsistencies. And it probably would have been good...had not the heroine, Calista, been the dumbest thing to ever walk upright. I know the author deliberately made Calista obtuse. I know this because two peripheral characters flat out tell her so toward the end of the book. But that didn't make reading her persistent idiocy any easier to bear. Nearly every other page from about the halfway point on features Calista's astoundingly moronic assumptions and ridiculous insecurities. She's a self-deprecating Mary Sue, and she's highly annoying.
"Oh, he's only doing this to be nice." "Oh, he doesn't really care about me." "He'll never care about me as I do him." "I can't tell him I love him because I know he doesn't feel the same, and that would just make him feel beholden to me."
And on.
And on.
And on. Seemingly without end.
The best part, however, was how Duncan repeatedly insulted and excluded Blanche, Calista's bitchface stepsister, but still, Calista insists that Duncan must be in love with...wait for it...Blanche! And he's only paying any attention to poor Calista to make Blanche jealous!
It was just too much. I understand making your characters insecure and unsure, I understand wanting them to come to realize they care about each other through trial and error, but seriously, half the book? I could have taken it and probably would have liked the book had it had an actual plot, not just Calista bemoaning her horrible fate at having snared a nice, handsome, rich guy. Oh, wait, there was something about a nefarious plot, as well. And Duncan's estranged father. All that is wrapped up rather quickly, however. The only thing that's dwelt on is Calista's horse shit. I can handle a lot if the characters are sympathetic and compelling. Sadly, this book doesn't have those.
August 7, 2015
Sally Quilford has done it again. With this new novel, she has transported me to another world. It's a world in which good people might go through hardships, but they win in the end, while the villains receive their just deserts. A world in which true love is always rewarded. A world in which romance is the only thing that really matters.
In short, Quilford has taken me on a pleasant trip away from the stark reality of real life. This time the setting is Regency London. The heroine is troubled by a spiteful step-sister and an unwelcome suitor, while the hero has problems of his own.
Somehow, all the strands come together in the end and I'm forced to return to the real world. Until another absorbing romance comes my way.
(The paperback version I read had very few typos.)
In short, Quilford has taken me on a pleasant trip away from the stark reality of real life. This time the setting is Regency London. The heroine is troubled by a spiteful step-sister and an unwelcome suitor, while the hero has problems of his own.
Somehow, all the strands come together in the end and I'm forced to return to the real world. Until another absorbing romance comes my way.
(The paperback version I read had very few typos.)
September 26, 2017
Beautiful fairytale!!!!
I absolutely love this book and although I own it, I will never tire from reading it! I can read this anytime I need a break from reality and still believe in true love. Calista is a strong heroine who doesn't know how beautiful she really is due to her selfish stepsister. Sally Quilford has written a beautiful story and I can't help but recommend this book if you love fairytale and a twist on Cinderella!!!
I absolutely love this book and although I own it, I will never tire from reading it! I can read this anytime I need a break from reality and still believe in true love. Calista is a strong heroine who doesn't know how beautiful she really is due to her selfish stepsister. Sally Quilford has written a beautiful story and I can't help but recommend this book if you love fairytale and a twist on Cinderella!!!
August 2, 2018
A Good Read
A good story with a few twist and turns to keep you wanting to read more. A nice lite easy read.
A good story with a few twist and turns to keep you wanting to read more. A nice lite easy read.
January 16, 2014
Sally Quilford has done her research well; this is not her usual genre of fiction, and while this Regency romance novella does not quite have the natural authenticity of (say) Georgette Heyer, it reads realistically, on the whole.. The characters are very nicely drawn, and the conversations believable.
My biggest problem with this book is that it’s too short. There were, I felt, sufficient subplots and themes to have made this a full-length novel; as it was, some plot threads are resolved too quickly, and in the later part of the book, when the heroine takes centre stage, her unpleasant stepsister almost vanishes from the scene - we only learn in passing what she has been doing.
I also found the heroine a bit irritating after a while; she gets it into her head that the hero does not love her, despite every effort on his behalf to show that he does. So she spends a lot of time introspecting about how unhappy she is.
Still - overall I thought it a pleasant read, and look forward to more in this genre by this author. Three and a half stars would be fairer.
My biggest problem with this book is that it’s too short. There were, I felt, sufficient subplots and themes to have made this a full-length novel; as it was, some plot threads are resolved too quickly, and in the later part of the book, when the heroine takes centre stage, her unpleasant stepsister almost vanishes from the scene - we only learn in passing what she has been doing.
I also found the heroine a bit irritating after a while; she gets it into her head that the hero does not love her, despite every effort on his behalf to show that he does. So she spends a lot of time introspecting about how unhappy she is.
Still - overall I thought it a pleasant read, and look forward to more in this genre by this author. Three and a half stars would be fairer.
August 20, 2014
This was a nice quick read. I found the heroine Calista a little TOO reserved for my taste. Talk about someone with SEVERSE insecurity and self-esteem issues. Gee wiz…it was starting to sound not just annoying but pathetic. I don’t like when the heroine is too awkward and insecure that she can’t even stand up for herself. Then all of a sudden she finds her backbone and turns her wrath upon a Duke…her husband father…so now it just doesn’t really seem right…it seems completely out of character for her so you can’t truly believe the change within in. I did like the mystery that came out of the blue…but it was interesting. The only other thing I can say is that Blanche is such a Bit** that I can’t even believe that a young lady would be allowed to disrespect not only her mother but also nobility the way she did. She needed a good slap across the face and banished to the nunnery for life with no season balls and no husband.
April 2, 2015
Calista, her step-mother Evelyn, and step-sister Blanche are traveling from their home in the country to London. Calista and Blanche are going to come out for their first season. A highwayman holds up their coach and they are rescued by the dashing Colonel Brook Windebank and his friend Mr. Benedict. Blanche sets her cap for the Colonel. Evelyn and Mr. Benedict are old friends who haven’t seen each other for many years. Calista and her family stay in London with a family friend who turns out to be the Colonels Aunt. Colonel Windebank is immediately taken by Calista’s grace, beauty, and kindness. When an old Earl sets his cap for Calista, Brook Windebank must come to her rescue. The characters are likable and there are some fun twists and turns. I would have given it four stars but the young ladies are prone to whine and it got old after a while.
January 21, 2014
This was a very sweet regency romance. Could have benefited from a bit more editing, some typos/mistakes but not bad enough to spoil the story. I must admit I did find the heroine, Calista, came across a bit too insecure/self-deprecating - a bit of doubt was obviously necessary for the story but by the end you were kind of wanting to shake her! It was nice to finally see her grow a bit of backbone at the end though and stand up for herself. I also found the step-sister a little too one-dimensional - I found her pure nastiness all the time a little over-the-top/unbelievable at times, would have been nice to see a little bit of depth there.
Overall though, was an enjoyable short read and will look out for more.
Overall though, was an enjoyable short read and will look out for more.
September 2, 2016
I thought the story was sweet. It was an entertaining book--just what I look for when I'm wanting to "escape" for a few minutes or even hour or two. My biggest complaint are the many typographical errors--some were inconsistencies in the story, but most were just mistyped words. (I purchased as an e-book.) I would be interested to read another book by this author.
January 8, 2014
Ok, so 4 stars is generous, but I don't want to discourage everyone from reading it. It was sweet. The editing was terrible--as in, I don't think anyone edited it. At all. (I read the Kindle version.) But the story was good, and if you're looking for entertainment in the form of a Regency romance, it will do the trick.
August 18, 2014
A little bit of poison. A little bit of mystery. A little bit of confusion. And of course it had a little bit of love. It all started with a highway man to set off a chain of events. Something good can come from something bad regardless of the bumpy road along the way. Worth reading and well written.
February 2, 2014
A shallow bit of fluff.
$.99 on Amazon for Kindle.
$.99 on Amazon for Kindle.
February 12, 2014
short and sweet.
March 21, 2014
Silly book for teenagers to love!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews