I’m excited to share with everyone the first book in my new series, Ladies Alpine Society, with Dragonblade Publishing: In Knots Over You. It’s currently available only on Amazon, and is in Kindle Unlimited. You can order print copies there as well.

How is Ladies Alpine Society different from your other series?

My first series, When the Blood Is Up, is about women’s boxing during the Regency era. It explored a damaged found family, engaging in a popular sport that keeps the women on the fringes of Society, even as it was an entree into polite society for the men. In one of my author’s notes, I note the real-history of a prizefighter-turned-politician, and the forgotten history of boxing pioneer Elizabeth Wilkinson Stokes.

This series, The Ladies Alpine Society, is about women’s mountaineering during the Victorian era. It explores the close friendships of four women as they embark on a death-defying adventure to be the first women up the Matterhorn. This mirrors the real-life women mountaineers like Lucy Walker and Meta Brevoort and other women who pioneered alpine summits in full-length woolen skirts while being excluded from the men-only mountaineering clubs that provided both information support and financial support to climbers.

In When the Blood is Up, the characters enter the stage already damaged, with blood families being absent, unreliable, or cruel. Therefore, the found family amongst the characters is fierce and needed. In the Ladies Alpine Society, all of the women have supportive families, as they could not engage in such a strange and expensive sport otherwise. The families are supportive in their own ways, of course, and approval is still contingent on conventional societal approval. They must work hard to balance their dreams and expectations of others. The women fighters in When the Blood Is Up are far past caring about social niceties.

Unlike my first series, the Ladies Alpine Society is a true series that has a story arc that goes in order. When the Blood Is Up takes place sequentially in time, but each book is a standalone experience. Also, the Ladies Alpine Society books are 10,000 words shorter. I know it might not feel like it, but the books in When the Blood Is Up all land around the 95,000 word mark, whereas the Ladies Alpine Society books fall at just below 80,000.

How are your series the same?

Prizefighting during the Regency was THE sport. It was the interest of everyone and anyone. But it was also prior to established, firm rules (those wouldn’t come until 1880). So it was still very much an unscripted kind of sport. Anything could happen. Similarly, the Golden Age of Mountaineering was dawning in the 1860s and 1870s. Equipment was being made for individuals, upon their specifications. Tourism in the Alps was ramping up, and exploration of far off mountains became an obsession for many wealthy individuals, as travel became easier and faster. Yet, there were still uncharted peaks, and misinformation everywhere.

Friendship is what drives both these series. Without the firm support of their comrades, none of these women could do what they do. Women are not pitted against each other, but rather support each other’s successes whole-heartedly. Instead, each character is pitted against themselves, ranging from requiring self-forgiveness to being able to endure whatever is necessary to reach greater heights.

When the Blood Is Up takes place during the Regency Era, which is 1811-1820. The Ladies Alpine Society takes place during the Victorian era, which is approximately 1830-1900.

Both series are steamy. What does this mean? You can check my blog that covers an Intro to Historical Romance, but I’ll be kind and tell you here, too. Steamy means that there are graphic love scenes on the page. These are integral to the plot and serve to move the characterizations further.

The Ladies Alpine Society: In Knots Over You

When both are in need, who rescues who?

Eleanor Piper’s best friend is a one-eyed former ship’s captain who taught her every knot he ever knew. Now at a marriageable age, her parents want an aristocratic marriage for her, now that Piper Shipping Co. has been recognized as an economic power. As she escapes to the ladies lounge during her first ball, she encounters the beautiful and ambitious Miss Ophelia Bridewell with a fashion mishap that requires a decorative knot to fix. As soon as Eleanor helps, Ophelia sweeps Eleanor into the Ladies Alpine Society. Not knowing what the club is about, and having had no friends her own age, Eleanor is pleased and intimidated. And then she meets Ophelia’s brother, the unspeakably handsome Tristan. Oh, did Ophelia mention that they were climbing the tallest mountain in the UK? The fog-riddled, treacherous Ben Nevis?

Tristan Bridewell is the spare, not the heir. The third child and the second son, he is free to do whatever he likes. If he could figure out what that was, all would be well. Blessed with good looks, an even temperament, and a robust constitution makes him happy to help his younger sister’s singular focus on mountain climbing. Ever since the Matterhorn was summited the previous year, his sister Ophelia can think of nothing else. Will Tristan help her? Absolutely. Will he be a part of the Ladies Alpine Society?

When he meets the new member, Eleanor Piper, he suddenly has a difficult time concentrating. And when they climb Ben Nevis, in Scotland, the harsh conditions and rotten snow force him to the brink of control, in more ways than one.

The Ladies Alpine Society

• Book 1 – In Knots Over You
• Book 2 – In the Money With You
• Book 3 – Into the Breach With You
• Book 4 – Into the Sky With You

If you want to keep up with these releases, follow me on social media, or on Amazon Central.