I am excited to welcome author Carrie Lofty, who will be releasing her new WW2 romance, His Very Own Girl, on Tuesday.
The second exciting, romantic addition to the Christie family series!
Esteemed astronomer Alex Christie, the eldest and most steadfast of the Christie siblings, has never possessed his late father’s ruthless business drive. But to protect his frail infant son from his cruel father-in-law’s bid for custody, the young widower must undertake Sir William Christie’s posthumous million-dollar challenge: to make a Glasgow cotton mill profitable. At sea in an industrial world of sabotage and union agitation, Alex meets Polly Gowan, daughter of a famed union leader, who hopes to seize a mysterious saboteur without involving the police.
Because a sympathetic mill master would aid her cause, Polly becomes Alex’s guide to urban Scotland. From soccer games to pub brawls, Alex sees another side of life, and feels free for the first time to reveal the man–vital and strong–behind his intellectual exterior. Polly is utterly seduced. Their ambitions, however, remains at odds: Alex vows to earn the mill bonus to save his child, while Polly fights for the needs of her people. Is there strength enough in their sparkling passion to bind them together in their quests–and in a lasting love that conquers all?
Make sure you stick around to the end. We’ll be giving away an ecopy of His Very Own Girl.
_____________________________________________
You Want Me To Eat What??
My World War II historical romance, His Very Own Girl, is really romantic. Super awesome, toe-curling, sweet and sexy, happily ever after romantic.
Just don’t ask what those brave boys in blue ate.
The standard K ration was developed by the U.S. Army in 1941 as a non-perishable means of supplying soldiers with three daily meals. The initial menu consisted of hard biscuits, sausage, chocolate, hard candy, and a vitamin. The menu was dubbed “better than nothing” by initial test subjects. A new menu was commissioned to include more variety.
Breakfast: a canned entree such as chopped ham and eggs or veal loaf; hard biscuits; dried fruit bar or cereal bar; water purification tablets; a 4-pack of cigarettes; chewing gum; instant coffee; sugar.
Don’cha just love that they included cigarettes for each meal? Gotta love the 1940s.
Lunch: a canned entree such as processed ham and cheese; hard biscuits; malted milk tablets or caramels; sugar; salt; 4-pack of cigarettes; book of matches; chewing gum; powdered beverage packet.
This sounds like diet food! Mmmmm…. Not.
Dinner: canned meat such as chicken paté or pork luncheon meat; carrot and apple; hard biscuits; two-ounce D ration emergency chocolate bar; commercial sweet chocolate bar; packet of toilet paper tissues; 4-pack of cigarettes; chewing gum; bouillon soup cube or powder packet.
I don’t know about you, but I could use an emergency chocolate bar on a daily basis.
The complete daily intake of calories totaled between 2,800 and 3,000. However, the needs of men in combat well exceeded that total, especially in very hot climates. Malnutrition became a factor for those in besieged European areas where K rations were eaten for months at a time. Men in Burma lost in excess of 35 pounds during their campaigns and became less resistant to tropical diseases.
Allied civilians were subject to rationing coupon books. Even if meat was available at a market, a family couldn’t buy more than their allotted amount, even if they had the money. This necessitated some very creative recipes. Companies such as Kraft advertised that their cream cheese, for example, only required two ration coupons—it was a selling point.
Now we’re back to the topic of chocolate bars, because…why not? It’s better than canned chicken paté. In this excerpt, American paratrooper Joe Weber is enjoying a contended post-nookie conversation with his best girl, Lulu Davies, a British civilian pilot:
Joe lit a cigarette and leaned back against the wrought iron headboard. Although the mattress was a narrow thing, he wasn’t complaining. Lulu stretched along his body like a second skin. He exhaled the smoke toward the ceiling, his eyes drifting over the cramped room where she’d lived for more than two years. It was littered with all manner of female garments and personal effects, plus stacks of tinned goods, from herring to peaches, and a huge pile of miniature Cadbury’s chocolate bars.
“Hoarding food?” he asked.
Lulu was playing with the hair trailing down toward his navel. Her own hair, so long and thick, trailed down the side of her face and bare shoulder, making her seem younger. “I always take a tin of food with me in my overnight bag,” she said. “No telling what accommodations an airfield will have if I get caught out and have to spend the night.”
“And the chocolate? Sweet tooth?”
“We’re allocated one bar daily. Less expensive than a full lunch ration, I suppose. Sometimes I’m too busy to eat them.”
That she worked so hard as to forget to eat a single chocolate bar niggled in his brain. Again he felt a camaraderie of purpose that he’d never expected to feel with a woman.
Awww. In wartime, lovers found a way to bond over just about anything!
______________________
Meet Carrie Lofty!
Carrie Lofty holds a Masters degree in history, which she puts to good use as a historical romance writer and lecturer on the craft of writing. Active within the Romance Writers of America, she also weight trains and soaks up movie trivia like a sponge. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband and two daughters.
Co-writing as Ellen Connor, Carrie’s RITA™ nominated Nightfall, from the “Dark Age Dawning” trilogy, won RT’s Reviewers’ Choice Best Futuristic Romance of 2011. And as Katie Porter, Carrie and her long-time friend and critique partner, Lorelie Brown, write contemporary erotic romance. Their “Vegas Top Guns” series debuted in July with Double Down.
Contact Info
Website: website
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads
Want to purchase Carrie’s novels?
His Very Own Girl at Amazon
Christies
- Flawless at Amazon | Book Depository
- Starlight at Amazon | Book Depository
- A Little More Scandal at Amazon
Scoundrel
- What A Scoundrel Wants at Amazon | Book Depository
- Scoundrel’s Kiss at Amazon | Book Depository
Seduction
Dark Age Dawning (writing as Ellen Connor with Ann Aguirre)
- Nightfall at Amazon | Book Depository
- Midnight at Amazon | Book Depository
- Daybreak at Amazon | Book Depository
Vegas Top Guns (writing as Katie Porter with Lorelie Brown)
Lead and Follow at Amazon (writing as Katie Porter with Lorelie Brown)
Came Upon a Midnight Clear at Amazon (writing as Katie Porter with Lorelie Brown)
_____________________________________________
Contest Time!
Thank you Carrie for taking the time to stop by Literary Escapism!
Carrie is giving away an ecopy of His Very Own Girl.. To enter, all you have to do is answer this one question: What’s the worst thing you’ve ever had to eat out of necessity? Remember, you must answer the question in order to be entered.
Even though I’m not giving the additional entries any more, you can still help support the author by sharing their article, and this contest, on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere you can. After all, the more people who are aware of this fabulous author ensures we get more fabulous stories.
The winner must post a review of the novel someplace. Whether it is on their own blog, Amazon, GoodReads, LibraryThing or wherever, it doesn’t matter. Just help get the word out.
The contest will stay open until September 15th at which time I’ll determine the winner with help from the snazzy new plug-in I have.
Thanks for a fun post and congrats to Carrie on the new release! I really can’t remember eating anything b/c I had too. I’m willing to try anything at least once.
It wasn’t really out of necessity, but I was on a job in the Philippines once and was out to dinner with the local management. We got into a discussion of regional foods and I was challenged to eat Balut, which is a local delicacy – fertilized boiled duck embryo. I didn’t want to be rude or culturally insensitive, so I choked down a bite. I’m a picky eater in general, so that was probably the worst food experience of my life, even worse than eating oysters LOL.
This book sounds great! WWII is definitely an unusual period for a romance, so I’m looking forward to checking it out.
I used to work with a Chinese woman who made me an authentic Chinese dish. It contained pieces of octopus tentacles. It wasn’t that they tasted bad – it was just like trying to chew pieces of rubber.
The worst thing I had to eat was in Japan. They were tiny little dried whole fish, with their beady little dried eyes staring at me. It was explained to me that they’re a snack, like eating popcorn. Ugh.
2nd worst was clotted pigs blood, and I had a difficult time choosing which of these to make #1 versus #2!
Hi everyone! Thanks for stopping by. A friend of mine was in Alaska staying with Inuit people waaaay up north. He was offered a meal that made him want to barf, so he politely left the residence. Outside he met a few people who asked why he looked so green. He said, there’s whale blubber for dinner. The people were so excited that they ran indoors–for them it was a surprise treat! Turns out it was a kind of dumpling that he wasn’t even brave enough to try. The people he told about the blubber were disappointed *g*
Hope you enjoy HIS VERY OWN GIRL!
I love your books, Carrie, and can’t wait to read this one!
The worst thing I ever ate was in Japan. The food was spongy and wet, like a water-soaked piece Angel’s food cake, though it was no cake but some sort of veggie. I can’t even say what it tasted like because the second it touched my tongue, I spit it right back out. The texture was so gross.
The worst thing I’ve ever had to eat out of necessity are the nasty vegetables my mother made me eat before I could get up from the table. Her squash made me gag, and more ended up in my napkin than in my stomach, but I finally got to leave the table. :D