Bad Kitty by Debra Glass - Available August 5, 2009 from Ellora's Cave

Katrina’s breath caught when the big door swung open and a maid skittered out, rubbing her backside with both hands. Katrina felt her eyes widen as the maid gave her a red-faced look and then disappeared down the hall.

Heavens. What had she gotten herself into?

She had dressed like a boy to spy on various men of the ton to get fodder for her articles. She had eavesdropped on ladies while recording their conversations in her notebook. But she had never gone this far before.

Never.

The fiend himself appeared in the doorway. His sun-burnished cheeks were flushed and one corner of his full lips twisted up in a smug smile.

Oh God, what did he just do to that woman?

Katrina’s heart pounded.

“Miss…Hartley, is it?” he asked, his eyes narrowing almost imperceptibly as he took in her appearance. His smile faded.

Katrina cleared her throat. Her gaze clashed with his before she reminded herself she was supposed to behave like a maid. Standing, she kept her chin and eyes down as she dropped into a curtsey.

Bram flattened himself against the door to admit her but not so much that Katrina could not pass by him without her arm brushing his broad chest. Common sense screamed at her to turn and run from this place as quickly as her feet would carry her but she tamped her terror down.

Once this initial meeting was over, she could go about her business of collecting information for her story. She could save other women from the humiliations this man foisted on ladies like the unfortunate duchess and that poor maid who had left this room like a whipped pup.

A shiver tore through Katrina when she heard the door close behind her. Heart fluttering, she felt like a fox pursued by bloodthirsty hounds as the fiend stalked up behind her.

His hands cupped her shoulders and Katrina jolted at the unexpected touch. Heat from his palms radiated through her black cotton sleeves, mingling with the furious burning of the blood in her veins as it raced from the back of her neck to her cheeks.

She tensed.

“What is your given name?” he asked, his mouth only inches from her ear.

“K-Kitty,” she stammered, using the nickname her father had called her before his death.

“Well, Kitty,” he purred. “You are aware why women sign on in my service, are you not?”

She swallowed. Hard. “Yes.” Really, she had only a naïve inkling.

“Good. Then there will be no mistaking my commands,” he said and gave her shoulders a little squeeze before he released her and moved behind his desk.

With grace that seemed impossible for a man his size, he sat in his chair and appraised her.
Kitty kept her eyes lowered. She didn’t dare look at him.

After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke. “You don’t seem like the women who usually come to me. Are you certain you are in the right place?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Then what am I to call you?” She made the mistake of lifting her shocked gaze to his.A half-smile played on his lips. “You may call me…Master.”

Click here for more information about Debra's books.

Bad Kitty by Debra Glass - Coming August 5 From Ellora's Cave's Legends Line

Bram Barclay is the scandal of London society, sought out by ladies of the ton who enjoy his brand of pleasurable punishments. That’s why he cannot comprehend why innocent Lady Katrina Hartford has disguised herself as Kitty Hartley, taking a position as a maid at his estate. When he attempts to ferret out her secret, he finds her a willing servant, indeed.

No one knows scathing social columnist Alistair Allenby is Kitty’s nom de plume—or that she’s writing an article to expose Bram. But as she submits to his torturous toys, it’s Kitty who is exposed, indulging her unspoken desires to find true freedom, power…and love.

Reader Advisory: While not a true depiction of a BDSM lifestyle, Bad Kitty contains its share of tantalizing taboos. And spankings. Lots and lots of spankings.

Soiled Doves - Prostitution During the American Civil War by Debra Glass

Prostitution has been called the oldest profession. In societies where women had little rights and were often not allowed to own property, selling sex was a woman’s only option when she was forced to support herself.

The American Civil War era was no exception, especially in the Confederacy. In the south, Confederate money quickly became worthless. The treasury printed money without enough gold to back it up to purchase supplies for the Confederate Army.

Civilians suffered because they had little or no money with which to buy food and clothing for their families and servants. In addition, the south was occupied by Union forces which confiscated livestock, valuables, garden produce, and cured meat.

With empty bank accounts and larders and the men away, either fighting, maimed and disabled, or killed, (the Confederate Army lost one out of four soldiers) many women were left with few options.

One of those options was prostitution.

Women quickly discovered that men on leave were bored and enduring long separations from home and family. The women learned they could command money in exchange for the feminine comfort for which these men longed.

Prostitution was legal in the nineteenth century and while there were several houses of ill‑repute, most prostitutes were camp followers and nurses.

The most infamous houses in the Confederacy were in Nashville’s Smokey Row which encompassed eight city blocks. An 1860 census listed 207 women who identified their profession as prostitute. Twenty of these women were widowed.

While these women openly identified themselves as prostitutes, there were many who practiced the illicit trade from their homes. It was the desperation of women such as these that inspired my historical romance novel, Bought and Paid For.

In Bought and Paid For, widowed Carrie Hatcher, finds herself unable to support herself or her servants so she contemplates the unthinkable—selling her services for money. When she is forced to board wounded Colonel Wesley McEwen, Carrie resolves to make him her first client.
But Carrie gets more than she bargained for when she agrees to comply with Wesley’s every illicit request for one week. Throughout long, sultry nights, Wesley tutors Carrie in every position, every skill, of her illicit new trade. From dark taboos to pleasurable punishments, Carrie becomes his willing pupil.

Passions inflamed, the couple becomes more scandalously intimate but Carrie realizes she wants to give him far more than just her body. The colonel, however, may be too haunted by his past to risk accepting more than he’s bought and paid for.

Praise for Bought and Paid For:
“I have only one word after reading Bought and Paid For: fantastic! This is easily the best book I've read so far this year. Full of beautiful historical detail, this is a book to savor. A Recommended Read!” — Fallen Angel Reviews

Click HERE to read an excerpt of Bought and Paid For by Debra Glass.