Unusual Professions – Roustabout and Chambermaid

Let’s get historical with unusual professions! in Midnight Heat (Moonlight Romance, Book 2) My hero is a roustabout which means he loads and unloads steamboats and my heroine gets a job working on the steamboat as a chambermaid so they can be together. Neither jobs are glamorous. I prefer to write historical romances about the common people. Being an African American romance set in Missouri after the Civil War just living is a struggle. I like the added layer of tension … and being a romance you know there will be a happy ending.

Giveaway:
Comment and let me know about another unusual profession you have read about in a historical romance.

Blurb:

Living in St. Louis, Missouri is a nightmare for Allison. It is 1868, but for her slavery never ended. After enduring years of abuse, she reaches her breaking point. She sees a fiery death as her only escape. She did not expect to live through the night, but George came to her rescue and changed her plans. Now she has a chance to fulfill her dream of falling in love and having a normal relationship with a handsome black man. But will he accept her with her baggage and the dark secrets from her past?

At eighteen, George is ready to make his own way in the world. He leaves his brother’s farm and gets a job as a roustabout. Working on the Mississippi River gives him the freedom he craves. Going ashore one night he sees a shack along the waterfront on fire. He never expected to find a beautiful colored woman trapped inside. Protective instincts kicking in, he instantly wants to be her man and take care of her.

Will he be able to gain her trust and love or will the memories of Allison’s painful past burn their relationship to cinders before it has begun?

Excerpt:

George stood at the railing looking up at the stars, his mouth moving. Was he making a wish? She stood still, not wanting to interrupt him. She feasted upon his tall, muscular frame. His gray trousers fit him snuggly, showing off his tight ass.

George turned around and smiled. “I was wondering if you weren’t coming back down.”

“I had more ironing than I thought. I should have told you.” Why did she say that? He wasn’t her keeper.

“Just as long as you came back, it doesn’t bother me.”

His eyes quickly swept her frame. He had seen the pine green dress Mrs. Brown had given her many times, but he acted like this was the first.

“You are beautiful, Allison.”

She laughed. She looked like a freak with only half her eyebrows. “Thank you.”

He took her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing her skin chastely. His soft lips stirred her and made her ache for more.

“I saved a good spot for us,” he said, motioning for her to follow him.

A spot for us? He freely threw around the supposition they were together””which they weren’t. Still, she didn’t protest. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be closer to him, but she knew she didn’t want to push him away. They picked their way around the maze of barrels and crates, and poor and colored passengers to an area surrounded by cotton bales.

“Some privacy,” he said, a glint in his eye.

Why did they need privacy just to sleep? She gulped air. Or did he have something else in mind?

Buy Midnight Heat:

Liquid Silver Books: http://www.lsbooks.com/midnight-heat-p868.php

Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/meu7tug

Amazon.uk: http://tinyurl.com/leno4vv

ARe: http://tinyurl.com/llqjplf

Social Media Links:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/HaleyWhitehall

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LightonHistory

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5752677.Haley_Whitehall

Blog: http://haleywhitehall.com/blog/