The usual deal:  an excerpt from the book, a question, and a prize which will be drawn by the magic of random number generation, now until March 15, 2010. Please send your answer to ezpeasy [AT] yahoo.com with CONTEST in the subject line.

The prize

The winner receives this very nice Spa Bucket of Lavender Goodness from the Enterprising Kitchen, a Chicago-based nonprofit social enterprise that provides workforce development and support services to women who are working toward self-sufficiency and economic independence. Hours of bathtime fun are guaranteed with lavender-scented organic body oil, a pretty soy candle, a bar of natural soap, and a natural loofah.

An extra insight from the editorial process

First a word about the excerpt. It’s the first kiss scene from Improper Relations, where the heroine (who has drunk far too much) is in the garden at a ball with the hero (and how many times have you come across this particular scene?) When my editor saw this, she read my original copy

He bends his head and his mouth takes and holds my upper lip as a horse might take an apple from your palm—the first, and dreadful, analogy that pops into my mind.

and her comment was

This analogy of Shad resembling a horse eating an apple when he goes to kiss Charlotte is hilarious, but I’m not sure it presents our romantic lead in quite the right light. The reader needs to find him desperately attractive, and this very vivid but less than flattering image is quite difficult to shake.

The excerpt

“You’re drunk.” He smiles.

“Will you take advantage of me?”

“Good God, no!” He looks quite horrified. “What do you think I am?”

“But you’re the wicked cousin. I don’t think you’re up to snuff.”

“We’ll walk,” he says. “I can’t return you to your family in this sorry state.”

“I’m not sorry. May I finish the last of the bottle?”

“No.” He drains it himself and tosses it aside. “On your feet, Miss Hayden.”

I take his hand and lurch upright, bumping into him. Or rather, I bump and stay there.

“Miss Hayden,” he says. His voice is slow and deliberate.

“Lord Shadderly.” It’s like a dance, only this is one I seem to be quite good at.

I can’t remember what color his eyes are.

“I wish I had eyelashes like yours. Do you use lamp black on them?”

“Oh, for God’s sake.” Good heavens, he is kissing me. I am so surprised I stop breathing, even though I was the one who made an indecent suggestion a minute or so before. If I have had doubts about his status as wicked cousin, they fly away now, for his kiss is full of wickedness and sin.

I compare what he is doing to other kisses I have received, and come to the conclusion that this is how a kiss should be. And, yes, if you were wondering, I have been kissed before, but not like this. I have never been kissed by someone who knows exactly what he does, and who, I suspect, has put in a goodly amount of practice.

The question

What do you suspect nicely-bred young ladies of the Regency used as mascara?

Email your answer, with CONTEST in the subject line to
ezpeasy [AT] yahoo.com