Review Tour & Giveaway for A Gentleman And A Rogue by Stephanie Burkhart

Welcome to my stop on the Review Tour, presented by Goddess Fish Promotions, for A Gentleman and A Rogue by Stephanie Burkhart.  Please leave a comment or question for Stephanie to let her know you stopped by.  You can enter her tour wide giveaway, for a $25 Amazon GC, by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.  You must leave a comment to enter the giveaway.  You can also follow the rest of Stephanie’s tour here, the more stops you visit, the better your odds of winning.  

A Gentleman and A Rogue

By Stephanie Burkhart

The Windsor Diaries, Book 2

Publisher: Desert Breeze Publishing, Inc.

Release Date: November 10, 2012

Genre: Victorian/Time Travel

Length: 226 Pages

ISBN: 978-1-61252-815-1

ASIN: B00A5CF24C

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BUY LINKS:  DESERT BREEZE | KINDLE | BARNES& NOBLE | ARe

About the book: 

Lady Keira Russell is destined to bring compressed natural gas to Britain. Her inner courage and mental toughness rarely falter – except when Prince Edmund Windsor is involved.

Edmund of Wales is from the future. His last jaunt through history muffed up the time line. Now, he's here to set it straight and win Keira's heart.

For Keira, if it isn't one obstacle, it's another. Queen Victoria has sponsored a competition to find a cleaner fuel source than coal. Keira's father is trying to build a windmill and the Ridgecrofts are working with gasoline. Then there's Edmund, whose sensual kisses and heated stares distract her down to her bones.

Keira has a choice: trust Edmund's notorious mischief-making or put her faith in Queen Victoria to make the right decision, but if Keira makes the wrong choice, the future of Great Britain will be changed forever.

EXCERPT

Rex appeared in the doorway, stoic as ever, with a tray of food. He placed the tray on a nearby table. "The Windsors are here to see you."

Keira jumped to her feet. Her heart accelerated in her chest. Alice and Edmund! Heaven help her. She needed to shore up her willpower when it came to Edmund. Setting her shoulders, she followed Rex down the hall to the vestibule located just off the main entrance.

Alice stood in a simple blue muslin dress and fussed with her reticule. She always did her best to dress for comfort. Edmund wore a brown vest over a white shirt and pressed trousers. His frock coat hung over his arm.

"Keira!" Alice rushed forward and wrapped her into a warm embrace. Keira returned Alice's strong hug with one of her own, realizing she'd missed Alice more than she thought she would.

Edmund cleared his throat.

Keira glanced up. "Hello, Ed."

His eyes smoldered with desire. "Keira."

Oh, his red, pouty lips were like chocolate -- tempting her to take another bite. She looked at Rex. "Can you bring appetizers and coffee to my study?"

He arched an eyebrow. "Coffee, My Lady?"

"Yes, coffee."

A little snort escaped his lips, but he departed.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

  

Stephanie Burkhart is a 911 dispatcher for LAPD.  She was born and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire.  She served 11 years in the US Army and currently calls Castaic, California her home. 

Stephanie was married in Denmark in 1991 and has two young sons. She adores chocolate and is addicted to coffee.  She writes paranormal, contemporary, and steampunk romance and has two children's books published with 4RV Publishing.

FIND ME ON THE WEB AT:

WEBSITE:

http://www.stephanieburkhart.com

TWITTER:

http://twitter.com/StephBurkhart

FACEBOOK:

https://www.facebook.com/StephanieBurkhartAuthor

GOOD READS:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4031660.Stephanie_Burkhart

YOU TUBE CHANNEL:

http://www.youtube.com/user/botrina?feature=mhee

PINTEREST:

http://pinterest.com/sgburkhart/

A genre bending novel, A Gentleman and a Rogue by Stephanie Burkhart combines the best of time travel, steampunk and historical romance in one story.  Beginning right after the events of the first book in The Windsor Diaries series, Victorian Scoundrel, Ms. Burkhart sends her established characters on another time traveling adventure from 2011 to 1855 during the height of Queen Victoria’s reign.  Only this time it’s to correct an error they made in the past which would have a lasting effect on England’s future.

Ms. Burkhart’s characters are interesting, colorful and already well developed at the start of this story.  This can be a problematic issue for some readers, especially readers like me, but for some reason I felt as if I knew these characters and was able to follow the story line as it developed (perhaps I read the previous book and never wrote a review for it).  Providing great detail in regards to the contest the characters find themselves involved in, Queen Victoria’s search for fuel sources and technology for the future, Ms. Burkhart provides the reader with information on the invention of a natural gas compressor, early windmill machines and the development of steam driven machinery.  It’s very clear she did her research.

Ms. Burkhart also gives her story emotional depth and angst by having several of the characters fall in love.  There are actually three love stories which develop as the story takes place.  Because I don’t want to give spoilers, I will say that all of the love stories have a fundamental problem – in order for their romances to succeed, someone will either have to stay in the past (thereby changing the future?) or go forward in time (again possibly changing the future).   Ms. Burkhart does a good job developing the romances though and I felt they really contributed to the story.  She also does a good job developing the villain of the story, a person from the future who travels to the past for purposes of his own.

Will the Windsor family be able to fix their mistake in the past?  Will any of the romances survive past the end of Queen Victoria’s contest? You’ll have to read A Gentleman and A Rogue to find out.  I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more of Ms. Burkhart’s work.

My Rating:  4 out of 5 Crowns

*FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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