Are you a reader? Take this quiz and find out just how much of a reader you are!

1.  Did you love books even before you learned to read?

2.  When you stop along the road to see a touted view or historical spot, do you read the signage first?

3.  Does everyone you are with wonder how you know all the history of the site and it was because you stopped to read the sign and they didn’t?

4.  Does every billboard along the way catch your eye and you just have to read it? (Unless, of course, you are too busy reading a book to see the billboards!)

5.  Do you read cereal boxes in the morning because you just finished a book and haven’t started another one yet?

6.  Are you a chain reader? That is, do you start another book almost before you close the page on the last one?

7.  Are you a multi-reader? Do you read several books at once?

8.  Are you a book stasher? Do you have books all over the house that you are currently reading and if you can’t find one, there’s always another nearby?

9.  Do you wonder what people do with their time when they claim they “really don’t read much?”

10. Do you have a TBR (To Be Read) pile that you will never get through in your lifetime but still keep adding to it?

11.  Do you find the smell of new books intoxicating?

12.  Do you have, or want, an e-reader so you can read in bed in the dark so you don’t wake up your spouse? And so you can read in the car after dark while someone else drives?

If you answered yes to:

1-3 questions, you enjoy reading, but you have a life.

4-6  You are a serious reader.

7-9  You are a hard-core reader

10-12  You are addicted. But do NOT get help! You are in good company!

Can you think of a question I should have included?

And if you answered “yes” to even one of these, I hope you choose to read The Admirer, a short story set in Regency England, which will be released on May 23, 2014 from Breathless Press.

Here’s the blurb, excerpt, and buy links:

Blurb:

All she wanted was a little adventure before settling into a forced, loveless marriage. How could she have known just how far that adventure would take her?

All Marcia wanted was a little adventure followed by a bright and everlasting love. So now that she is being forced into an arranged marriage to an arrogant duke, who could blame her for choosing the lure of a secret admirer who sends her thoughtful gifts, cryptic notes, and gives her thrilling kisses in a dark garden? But is he asking too much when he offers a trip to Gretna Green? Or is it worth the risk to avoid a loveless marriage?

Excerpt:

That evening at a ball, Marcia stepped out on a balcony for a breath of air. It was dark and quiet overlooking the gardens. She had just turned to go back in when a pair of hands grasped her by the upper arms and pulled her back against a broad and unyielding chest. A cheek pressed against her hair. Before she could protest, he was speaking.

“Did you like the flowers I sent you?”

My admirer! Could it be the duke, after all? No, he told my parents he is too busy for any of the many affairs we are attending except the two he mentioned. And a duke would not go unnoticed, even in this crush. 

“Yes, they were lovely.”

She tried to turn, to see his face, but his grip prevented her.

“I have watched you these past weeks and longed to declare myself, to beg for one crumb of the attention you scatter so benevolently amongst these love-bitten swains who gather about you. But I did not want to be one more in the pack. Do you know what it does to my senses to at last hold you so closely? I am mad for you.”

His lips nuzzled at her neck, and she sighed. Suddenly, he turned her, and his lips found hers. It was not a chaste kiss. It was not a polite kiss. It was wild and hungry, and excited a hunger within her. His kiss sent thrilling ripples all the way down to her toes.

Abruptly, he was gone. By the time she came to her senses and turned, he was already fading away into the dark depths of the garden, the full folds of his cloak swirling behind him.

To buy at Breathless Press: Click Here

The Admirer will also be available on Amazon, Smashwords, and All Romance Ebooks.

Author bio:

Michele Stegman is a multi-published author with a lifelong love of history. She lives with her husband, Ron, in an 1840’s log cabin full of antiques. She spins, weaves, makes her own soap, and dabbles in art. Her daughter calls the place Pioneer Village!

Her love of history shines through in her historical romances.

Michele can be reached at Steman14@yahoo.com, at her website, www.MicheleStegman.com, or at www.Facebook.com/MicheleStegmanAuthor.