For the Love of Libraries by Stefanie Sloane

While I’m sure it’s far from the truth, something in me just assumes that everyone has fond memories of their childhood library. All I need do is close my eyes and think of my hometown’s one room library and memories start to swim in my mind. The smell of dust and well-worn books fills my nostrils. My palms tingle in response to the soft texture of the braided rug where I sat on the floor in the children’s section, one hand flattened against it, while the other held an open book. The quiet yet quit serious librarian’s shushes that punctuated the silence every now and again tickling my ears.

To a child, it was a magical place. And honestly, to this adult, it still is. Maybe that’s why I’ve made the love of books and libraries so integral to my newest novel, The Saint Who Stole My Heart. Dashiell Matthews, Viscount Carrington, is a man in possession of a vast and widely envied collection of rare books. Miss Elena Barnes would like very much to relieve the charming lord of his library, return to her Dorset home, and never be heard from again.

High jinx ensue, naturally, and Dash and Elena find themselves with much more on their minds than books. But lest we forget, it is the love of a library that brings the two together—and, I can assure you without spoiling the story, that love is not forgotten even after the last page is turned.

And now, for your reading pleasure, here is an exclusive excerpt from The Saint Who Stole My Heart. It is in fact the very first time that Elena claps eyes on Dash’s collection. As for Dash? It is of the upmost importance that he convinces the woman he is nothing more than an annoying dimwit so that she might leave as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he can’t seem to focus on anything more than the woman herself. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~   *   ~~~~~~~~~~

“‘Oh!’ Miss Barnes exclaimed in a hushed tone, her excited intake of breath pulling Dash from his thoughts.

She rushed toward the end of the aisle, skidding to a halt in front of a glass case situated against the wall.

Dash couldn’t help himself. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and he followed.

‘Giacomo Paolini’s Abecedary,’ Miss Barnes whispered, as though speaking a sacred prayer within the walls of a grand cathedral.

Dash moved closer to the case, studying the book. Its presence was wholly surprising. His father must have acquired the volume shortly before his death.

‘Have you read it, Miss Barnes?’ he asked, breathing in her delicate floral scent as he did so. He couldn’t readily identify the flower.

‘Hardly,’ she replied, leaning closer to the case, her brow nearly skimming the glass. ‘This volume— the only one still in existence, mind you— was lost for years.

Your father was incredibly fortunate to find it, my lord.’

‘Mmh,’ he replied, distracted. Rose? No, the scent was more complex than that. Lavender? He discreetly breathed deeper, dragging in more of her elusive scent, suddenly desperate to know.

Bergamot.

‘Ha,’ he declared.

Miss Barnes jumped. ‘I beg your pardon, my lord?’ she asked, looking at him as though he were mad.

Really. I’m not the one gushing over an old book.

Dash fought the urge to say the sentence out loud and instead, straightened his crisp cravat. ‘Funny that, wouldn’t you agree? My father found a book that so many could not,’ he replied, looking at the volume with what he hoped was childlike glee. ‘Were there many people looking for it?’

‘Oh, yes,’ her voice brimmed with enthusiasm. ‘The late Lord Carrington was not the man who actually found the volume, of course. But we can all be thankful he had the foresight to provide such an admirable and efficient home for it. Look here,’ she gestured at the case. ‘See how it is perfectly situated away from the sunlight . . .’

Dash hardly heard a word she said. He couldn’t pull his gaze away from the fascinating quality of her skin and the flush of color from her cheeks, down the curve of her throat, to the neckline of her dress.

‘And the case? Why isn’t it stacked with the rest of the books?’ he wondered aloud.

He knew exactly why, of course. Direct sunlight would compromise the already fragile pages. But he wanted to watch her hands as she talked, gesturing and pointing this way and that, as expressive as the excited cadence of her speech and tone.

Dash wondered why he was noticing her hands. They were, after all, only hands. She possessed a pair just as nearly every other human being on the planet did.

What was he doing? He wasn’t supposed to be interested in Miss Barnes. He just needed her to pack up the books and go back to Dorset, as soon as possible.

‘Fascinating stuff,’ he interrupted her careful explanation, needing to be anywhere but next to Miss Barnes. ‘But I’m afraid I must be off. I’ll leave you to your books.’

She smiled at him shyly. ‘Of course, my lord. This must all be terribly boring to you,’ she replied, curtsying.

Dash bowed and turned to go.

‘Thank you, my lord,’ she added. ‘You’ve no idea what these books mean to me— and my father, of course.’

Dash paused, but did not turn around, fearful that she’d draw him back. ‘Oh, don’t thank me, Miss Barnes. It’s all my father’s doing.’

It was the truth, after all. Though Dash was having a hard time being thankful to his father for anything at the moment.

‘I look forward to seeing you at dinner, my lord.’

The woman could not bear to relinquish the last word.’Yes, Miss,’ he replied.

‘Excellent.’

Christ Almighty”

~~~~~~~~~~   *   ~~~~~~~~~~

Melanie here! And now for the giveaway! You ready?! Ms. Stefanie Sloane will be giving away all four of the Regency Rogues books to one winner! How cool is that?! All you need to do is tell us about ANY library that left a lasting impression on you, and if there are any pics of them, feel free to include the link so we all can enjoy it.

‘The Saint Who Stole My Heart’ by Stefanie Sloane

STORY: Dashiell Matthews, Viscount Carrington, remembers little of Miss Elena Barnes beyond her slight build, mousey character, and bookish ways. Her unavoidable presence at Carrington House would be inconvenient, true, but a woman could hardly prove enough of a distraction to interfere with what was the most important case of Dash’s life—ferreting out the monster who’d murdered a dear friend’s mother many year before.
Dash would, of course, live to regret such an assumption.

As for Elena, a trip to London to retrieve a priceless book is troublesome, though not nearly as much as the feelings the viscount inspires in her. His touch elicits feelings from Elena that she’d only ever read about. Her skin tingles. Lord Hardwicke is as handsome as she remembered—actually, more so as he’d grown into his frame in a rather attractive manner—and as dim as a ha’penny tallow. Or is he? The more time Elena spends with the man, the greater her suspicions grow regarding his intellect and just what he might be up to as they’re thrown together in the search for an individual known only as the Rook.

Can true love save the day? Find out in the exciting and enthralling fourth installment of the Regency Rogues.

REVIEW: The story opens up in 1768 with our hero Dash Matthews, his friends Nicholas and Langdon Bourne, and Sophia Southwell playing on the grounds of Afton Manor, Earl of Afton’s and Sophia’s fathers country estate. All are good friends, but now that they are growing up, the boys are having a bit of trouble explaining to Sophia that she’s not ‘fitting’ in with their boy’s games, and to get that across, they’re pulling her hair, making fun of her and she’s not having none of it….

“Sophia shaded her eyes against the sunlight and crowned him with her bouquet, bits of green leaves and white petals showering his shoulders. ‘First of all, you shan’t get near any part of me with those spit-stained hands of yours or I shall kill you. Secondly, it’s not just my braids, you ninny,’ she huffed, sweeping the three with an exasperated look. ‘It’s your treatment of me this summer-as if I’m somehow different…’

‘But you are, aren’t you?’ Dash asked, grinning. ‘Look now, you’re wearing a dress, while we three,’ he paused, punching first Nicholas in the arm, then Langdon, ‘are attired in breeches. And shirts. Nary a dress among us.’
Sophia brained all three with the flowers this time. ‘I’ve always worn dresses, you idiot-I am, after all, a girl.’
‘Precisely,’ Dash agreed, brushing daisy petals from his hair. ‘ A girl, with …Well, that is to say…What I mean…’ He felt his cheeks grow hot. ‘Come on, Sophia. Don’t make me say it.’

‘With girl parts and such,’ Nicholas offered helpfully as he arched his eyebrows. ‘You’ve ten-year-old girl parts.’

Suddenly, Dash and Langdon couldn’t take their eyes off of a greenish-blue emperor dragonfly that’d presumably followed them up from the lake. To watch the boys expire from embarrassment. ‘Well, it’s true, isn’t it?’ Nicholas added, scrubbing at his sweaty neck. Langdon sighed and shoved his brother up the path. ‘We don’t want to talk about your girl parts, Sophia-well, that is, we would. If it wasn’t rude. But it is, isn’t it?’

‘Of course it is,’ Sophia agreed simply, apparently quite calm about such intimate references. ‘Yes, of course. Anyway, it’s just that we’re all getting older,’ he explained in his steady way, belaying his thirteen years. ‘You’re ten now. Nick and Dash nearly twelve. And I’ll be fourteen soon enough. We’re growing up.’”

That was such a prophetic statement from Langdon, as all four would face a life changing and altering event.

Our hero, Dash Matthews, now Viscount Carrington, is as handsome as a Greek god, very intelligent and yet because of his work as the Corinthians’ best code-breaker, he is forced to hide that intelligence, and to the ton, he appears as someone who is ‘slow’.

Dash’s father left his prized library of rare books to Baron Harcourt, and as Baron Harcourt was unable to take the long journey, he sends his daughter, Elena in his stead.

Our heroine is Elena Barnes and she loves her life in the country. She is definitely her father’s daughter; smart and witty as well as very well read. Upon learning from her father that they would be soon the caretakers of such a great treasure trove of books, she’s willing to leave her comfort zone and go even though the trip would be bringing some unpleasant memories from her come-out season. However, her plan to make this trip short, unravels as her chaperone has matchmaking on her mind.

This is another fast paced story from Ms. Sloane full of action, humor and romance. What made this story so much fun was its hero. He was one of the best Beta heroes I’ve read about in a while. Very charming, witty and passionate.

The Saint Who Stole My Heart by Stefanie Sloane is book 4 in Regency Rogues series and from the first page of the prologue, I knew it would be a story to make me laugh and cry. Guess what? I was right and I’m looking forward to reading Nicholas’ story in The Scoundrel Takes a Bride out October 30, 2012, which  promises to be yet another emotional journey for not just our protagonists, but for us too.

*To buy this book, click on the cover*

*To learn more about the author, click on the name*

* I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Romance in Real Life: Rollercoaster

A few years ago I was doing the dishes with my sister at my parents’ house, singing Harry Connick Jr.’s You Didn’t Know Me When.  After singing the following lyrics: I rode a roller coaster/ From Coney Island to Key West/ I held on with one finger/ So the other ten could rest I interrupted myself to comment.  “Shouldn’t that be nine?  He’s holding on with one finger so the other nine can rest?  I mean, otherwise the guy has eleven fingers.”

“Evelyn!” my clever twelve-years-younger-than-me sister exclaimed with disgust.  “The eleventh finger is his penis!  It was an emotional rollercoaster held together by sex,” she explained with a weary sigh that seemed to indicate she had long since resigned herself to the fact that she was surrounded by lesser minds.  “And he obviously couldn’t actually ride a rollercoaster from New York to Florida.”

Whenever I sing that song I think of her exasperated explanation.  And I’ve been thinking about it today as I spent much of the last two years riding my own ghastly rollercoaster.  In terms of last month’s column, it was a variation of Type II Foolishness: I had a sincere interest in a man who did not return my feelings.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested at all.  That would have been so much better!  For me the relationship was a particularly torturous form of unrequited love.  He ran hot then cold on an endless loop and because I really liked him, my hope that this time it would be different kept overriding what I knew to be true from the evidence provided by his actions – he had a tepid interest in me that only manifested when he happened to be in town and was feeling lonely.

Many years ago a friend of mine had been in a relationship with a man she was crazy about.  He left her for another woman and then years later, when he was single again, he got in touch out of the blue.  He asked her out.  She turned him down.  He kept asking.  She kept saying no.  He started sending her flowers – a dozen roses a day for a week – with notes that said things like “I can’t stop thinking about you”.  Finally my friend agreed to go out with him.  His interest appeared sincere this time, and her feelings for him had never totally gone away.

They went out twice and then he disappeared.  Suddenly she was unable to get through to him on the phone and her emails were not returned.  After twelve months of silence she got an email from him that said “I can’t stop thinking about you”.  Well, this friend of mine is no fool, she deleted the message without responding and will continue to do so if he should contact her again.

If only I was as smart!  I kept ‘trying again’ with the man I mention above.  Hope is a powerful thing and my hope that Mr. Hot/Cold and I might end up happy together, despite tremendous evidence to the contrary kept overruling all common sense.  I rode my rollercoaster-from-hell for two years.  One day I was desperately wanted, the next I was ignored – on and on it went and I, stupid b*tch that I am, kept going back for more.  Finally, we had a huge fight during which I expressed what had become incredible anger about our relationship.  He responded with ice cold disdain, saying he had never promised me anything and that I needed to stop bothering him with my pesky, unwelcome emotions.

You know what?  He was right.  He had absolutely not ever promised me a thing.  He had, in fact, repeatedly stated, in action if not words, exactly how little regard he had for me.  Only a masochistic fool would have put up with it and I am sorry to say I was that fool.

I gathered my courage and took a hard look at my own responsibility for my misery.  I think this is one of the hardest things in life to do – I faced the fact that my anger was at myself – I made bad decisions and what I did, I did to myself.  The phrase ‘Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me’ sums up the situation beautifully.  He had shown his true colors a few months into the relationship.  The fact that I kept agreeing to see him – that was my mistake and I have to own it.

Once my vision cleared and I saw the situation for what it was, I took responsibility for my own self-destructive behavior and easily turned him down the next time he happened to be in town feeling lonely.  And I will continue to do so, because I finally, thank heavens, see the relationship for what it truly was.  He is – no doubt – a selfish, irresponsible jackass.  But no one made me waste my emotions or energy on him but me.

XOXO – Evelyn

Let’s make an emotional rollercoaster playlist.  I’ll start with song 1: Katy Perry’s Hot N Cold.

An Interview With the Muses of Mayfair by Sara Ramsey

I’m Sara Ramsey, and I recently spent a delightful hour interviewing the Muses of Mayfair – a secret society for women pursuing artistic passions. While it’s true that these ladies are fictional creations (a fact they think is indelicate of me to mention), they are all too stubborn to do what I tell them – so the interview quickly ran off the rails. Please join me anyway to see whether I can corral them into some semblance of order – and a lucky commenter will win a free copy of SCOTSMEN PREFER BLONDES!

Participants:

Madeleine, Duchess of Rothwell (nee Lady Madeleine Vaillant) – Actress, heroine of Heiress Without A Cause – January 2012
Amelia, Countess of Carnach (nee Lady Amelia Staunton) – Writer, heroine of Scotsmen Prefer Blondes – April 2012
Ellie, Marchioness of Folkestone (nee Lady Elinor Avenel) – Painter, heroine of The Marquess Who Loved Me – summer 2012
Miss Prudence Etchingham – Historian, heroine of as-yet-untitled Muses of Mayfair #4 – late 2012/early 2013
Interviewer: Sara Ramsey, Regency romance authoress, heroine of her own blog at www.sararamsey.com.

Sara: I’m so delighted that you agreed to spend an hour answering my questions.

Ellie: (pours tea) As though we could deny you!

Amelia: (paces) Can we begin, please? I would like to return home in time to dress for dinner.

Sara: Hmm, yes. Could you tell me a bit about how the Muses of Mayfair formed?

Amelia: Don’t you know how we formed, dear creator?

Madeleine: (laughs) Don’t mind Amelia – although I enjoy seeing her brought so low by a mere man. Only away from her husband for a few hours and she’s already eager to see him again.

Prudence: (smirks) I do love how the mighty are fallen.

Ellie: Can I paint you like this, Amelia? Dramatic in your separation from your lover? Perhaps as Penelope waiting for Odysseus to return?

Amelia: (drops into a chair) Oh, do stop being absurd. Malcolm and I have only been parted for three hours. Penelope waited for two decades. Isn’t that closer to your own story, Ellie?

Ellie: (glares at Amelia)

Sara: Ladies, if we could please return to the question? Any answer at all about how the Muses of Mayfair formed will do.

Madeleine: (sighs) Very well. Amelia and I were first, although since we grew up in the same house, you can hardly call cousins playing together a club. But she liked to write, and I liked to act, so we encouraged each other. And then we discovered that Prudence was an utter bluestocking…

Prudence: They caught me muttering after a staging of Julius Caesar about the inaccuracies of the set, while everyone else went on about how handsome the actor was.

Madeleine: Yes. She couldn’t not join us, particularly when we threatened to tell her mother about her unfashionable love of history.

Prudence: I didn’t need all that much convincing. Your club was better than sitting at home darning my stockings, I suppose.

Amelia: And then everything was lovely. Until Madeleine ran off to the theatre and got caught by the Duke of Rothwell.

Madeleine: (smiles) And then everything was even lovelier.

Ellie: You are really *too* happy to be married to him, you know. I grew up with him – I assure you he’s not perfect.

Madeleine: Then you may pretend that I meant everything was lovelier because we met you and invited you to join our circle, not because I married your brother.

Ellie: Done.

Sara: (claps hands) Marvelous – let’s move on, shall we?

Amelia: In a hurry suddenly? You don’t have an earl to go home to, do you?

Sara: Well, no. But blog readers have a short attention span…

Ellie: Then we aren’t interesting enough for you? I could tell you about the time I went to Lord Westbrook’s house party…

Madeleine: You went to Westbrook’s house party, Ellie? I merely went to his masquerade and I didn’t think I would stop blushing for a week.

Sara: Perhaps another time – I do rather want to hear about the house party. But we can save that for your book, The Marquess Who Loved Me. Speaking of which, what do you ladies think will happen when Nick, the current Marquess of Folkestone, returns from India?

Ellie: (spills her tea) Next question, please.

Prudence: (hands her the plate of sweets) Have a lemon cake, dear. I find they take my thoughts away from stupid men.

Ellie: He isn’t in my thoughts. Why would he be? Just because he left England a decade ago and refused to come back, even when he inherited my dead husband’s title?

Madeleine: Or perhaps because you were in love with each other when you married his cousin?

Ellie: That’s neither here nor there. Next question.

Amelia: (in a stage whisper) Sara, if it eases your mind, she won’t talk to us about Nick either. So we’re all speculating about what will happen if he ever comes home.

Sara: (mutters) It would ease my mind if Ellie and Nick would cooperate with me so I could finish their bloody book.

Ellie: (smirks)

Sara: All right then, moving on. Do you plan to add any more members to your club?

Prudence: It would be nice to add someone who isn’t married so I’m not the only one left on the shelf.

Ellie: I’m not married either.

Prudence: But you’re a widow. You can go places like Westbrook’s house parties. I’m with the spinsters, left to watch other people dance.

Madeleine: You don’t even want to dance.

Prudence: True. But I don’t particularly want to be an ape-leader, either.

Ellie: My twin sisters have been making noises about joining us, but their maturity leaves much to be desired.

Amelia: (snorts) Yes, maturity is a critical requirement of membership in the Muses of Mayfair.

Sara: If no one else joins the Muses, we can’t leave Prudence to her spinsterhood. Any ideas who we should set her up with?

Prudence: (chokes on her lemon cake)

Amelia: (claps her on the back) You didn’t think Sara would leave you wallowing in spinsterhood forever, did you?

Prudence: (mutters) As though any of you could leave well enough alone.

Madeleine: You’ll meet someone lovely, I’m sure of it.

Ellie: Unless you’ve…already met him, eh?

Prudence: Next question, please?

Amelia: (narrows eyes) Have you met someone, Prue? Don’t say you’re in love and haven’t told us!

Prudence: I won’t say it, then.

Madeleine: Prue! Who is it?

Ellie: (pours more tea) Really, how you’re all so unobservant is beyond me.

Prudence: (firmly) Next question.

Sara: You know, it seems wise to end the interview before you all descend into a brawl.

Amelia: We’ll just pounce on Prudence and drag the name out of her as soon as you let us go.

Sara: (smugly) Difficult, darling, since you’re fictional.

Amelia: (sighs) I don’t like you at all.

————————————–

If you want to learn more about the Muses of Mayfair, Madeleine and Amelia’s books are already out. Ellie’s mysterious former lover, the current Marquess of Folkestone, returns to London in The Marquess Who Loved Me, out later this summer. And Prudence’s secret, unacknowledged passion will finally come out in the fourth Muses of Mayfair book, sometime in late 2012/early 2013.

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Like Prudence, I think lemon cake is a fabulous way to forget one’s troubles – but what’s your favorite comfort food? One commenter will win an ebook or paperback (winner’s choice) of SCOTSMEN PREFER BLONDES!

*Open Internationally*

Melanie here. I want to thank Sara for coming over to play and for her Giveaway, but most of all I want to thank her for letting me ‘cast’ her characters. I had too much fun doing it!

‘Scotsmen Prefer Blondes’ by Sara Ramsey

STORY: She never wanted marriage…

When a friend is forced to consider a marriage of convenience, Lady Amelia Staunton is determined to rescue her. But her plans trap her in an illicit seduction, and Amelia must marry him herself. Malcolm’s all-consuming kisses and devilish humor might make up for her lost freedom, but she believes he will force her to abandon the Gothic romances she yearns to write. Since she can’t escape him, she must distract him from her secret…

He isn’t looking for love…

A powerful autocrat with a well-hidden rebellious streak, Malcolm MacCabe doesn’t need another beautiful mistress – he needs an obedient wife. Obedience is not one of Amelia’s virtues. But he’s too enthralled by her wit and passion to let her go – even if it means risking the political reputation he is building to save his clan.

Their hearts can’t survive the scandal…

Despite their intentions, every wicked embrace binds them together. But as their conflicting desires combust into insatiable hunger and unavoidable ruin, they must decide whether to pursue their personal destinies alone – or fight for the love that could destroy them both.

REVIEW: The blurb above summarizes the story well, and rather than going into it, I’ll tell you why I liked this story.

First, you don’t need to read the first novel to enjoy this story, but the dynamic between the muses, their heroes and the story in itself will be more exciting if you do. Let me tell you, I wasn’t a big fan of Amelia’s in Madeline’s story, but by the end of it, I loved her tenaciousness and honesty, and you will too.

Ms. Ramsey continues to impress me with her portrayal of the friendship of her muses. These women seem real because of that. Their feelings toward each other are honest and at times contentious, but deep down their respect and love of each other and their passion for their art is something that will always keep their friendships strong.

Malcolm is a hero to die for! He’s a strong, smart and ambitious man full of wit that would be a God-given gift to any london season ‘mama’, yet Amelia is full of doubts as she struggles with her feelings for him. It was fun to watch these two very strong-minded people fight the atraction and in the end succumbing to it.

If you’re in a mood for a fun and entertaining, sensual and romantic story of two very strong characters who will take you on their fast paced HEA, this story is just the ticket!

‘Heiress Without A Cause’ by Sara Ramsey

STORY: One title to change his life…

A disgraced son with a dark reputation, William “Ferguson” Avenel is content to live in exile – until his father dies in the scandal of the Season. With rumors of insanity swirling around them, his sisters desperately need a chaperone. Ferguson thinks he’s found the most proper woman in England – and he won’t ruin her, even if he desperately wants the passionate woman trapped beneath a spinster’s cap.

One chance to break the rules…

Lady Madeleine Vaillant can’t face her blighted future without making one glorious memory for herself. In disguise, on a London stage, she finds all the adoration she never felt from the ton. But when she’s nearly recognized, she will do anything to hide her identity – even setting up her actress persona as Ferguson’s mistress. She’ll take the pleasure he offers, but Madeleine won’t lose her heart in the bargain.

One season to fall in love…

Every stolen kiss could lead to discovery, and Ferguson’s old enemies are determined to ruin them both. But as their dangerous passion ignites their hearts and threatens their futures, how can an heiress who dreams of freedom deny the duke who demands her love?

REVIEW: This is Ms. Ramsey’s début novel and first in the Muses of Mayfair Series (Madeline Vaillant, Prudence Etchingham, Amelia Staunton and Ellie, Marchioness of Folkestone) and she starts off with Lady Madeline Vaillant’s story.

The book opens up with our heroine attending a ball at Salford House, which is the home of her cousin Alexander Staunton, the Earl of Salford, his mother, her aunt Augusta as well as Amelia Staunton, Alex’s sister. She’s been with them ever since she was a little girl, after her parents went back to France in the midst of the Revolution and gotten themselves killed in the process.

She is aware that no one has ever paid her any attention and that no one likely ever will. Not as long as she’s determined to stay a spinster and dress like one, down to her spinsters cap. What the ton doesn’t know and if it did it would not only shock them but it would also ruin Madeline and possibly the family that she loves dearly, is that our heroine has a secret desire and a talent for acting.

Our hero is William “Ferguson” Avenel and coming out of exile is not so easy for him. It has been a decade since he’s seen his sister Ellie and his twin half sisters who are both ready for their first London season, and to all of them, Ferguson needs to apologies for not being there for them when they needed him the most.

I really liked this story for lots of obvious reasons; for a début book, it was written well, paced well and its hero and heroine were very likeable, but what I liked the best about it was the relationship between the three friends, and after we meet Ellie, there was no doubt in my mind that she was perfect as, and eventually would become another, muse of Mayfair.

The author has done an excellent job in portraying the relationships between all the characters with so much reality, that it will touch your hearts with an equal dose of humor and sensuality. You will come to care for everyone involved and that is what makes this début such a great read and I whole heartedly recommend it.

Fan2Author Interview with…Marilyn Brant!

K:  Hello Marilyn!  Thank you so much for stopping by to chat with us!  It is a pleasure to have you here! 

MB:  Thanks, Kristal—it’s wonderful to be at bookworm2bookworm!! Thank you so much for inviting me.

K:  My first question involves your extensive travel!  On your bio, I read that you have traveled to 46 states and over 30 countries??  That is amazing.  I have only ever been to a handful of the states and Canada!  How do you decide where to go next?  Do you have a favorite place to travel to? 

MB:  When my husband and I met, we were both public school teachers. During those few years that we were married but before we became parents, we lived in a little apartment and we’d save up all year and then choose a few interesting spots to visit during summer vacation. My husband still teaches world history, so he particularly loved getting to visit some of the incredible historical sites he talked about to his high-school students—like those in Italy, England and Greece. And I studied French for 5 years and had an insatiable love of Swiss chocolate, LOL, so between the two of us, we wanted to see A LOT of places!

We traveled as backpackers then. We never checked our luggage on a flight, so everything that we brought for one of our trips had to fit into a carry-on backpack. For us, that made it easier to travel light and visit multiple places on a trip. When we went to Europe, we would purchase Eurail passes in advance so we’d have full access to their extensive train systems. It allowed us to easily change plans because we could hop on almost any train we wanted with very little notice. We might decide to begin our journey in Austria but, then, while we were there, some random person we met would tell us we just had to visit this small community in Switzerland…so we’d look at our map, consult the train schedules and figure out what connections we needed to get there. (That actually happened by the way—it’s how we discovered the beautiful town of Zermatt in the Swiss Alps.) It was very freeing and really fun to be able to be that flexible.

Of course, that was 15 years ago, and our lives have changed a lot since then! We now have a house, a teenage son and aging parents who need care. We can’t just take off and go to Europe for a few weeks. However, we really wanted to introduce our son to the joys (and, sometimes, the challenges) of travel, so we went on our first international trip as a family last month, and we took him to England and northern Wales. My husband and I hadn’t been in the U.K. since 1996, so it was thrilling for us to go back there for a week and a privilege to get to see our son experiencing the wonder of places like Stonehenge and the Tower of London for the first time.

K:  Do your extensive travels inspire your books?  Any particular place that brings out the creative muse in you? 

MB:  I love so many, many places…sigh. I’d dreamed of visiting the Alps since I was in 6th grade. I even wrote a descriptive piece for my middle school English class on the beauty of the mountains there, though it would be more than a decade before I’d get to see them with my own eyes.

When I was in high school, I was fortunate enough to be accepted into an exchange program through AFS, and I spent the summer when I was 16 in Brisbane, Australia. I *loved* that! If I hadn’t already been a totally travel-obsessed kid that trip would have made me so.

But the place I always think of as my “creative muse” is Venice, Italy. I love everything about that city. The uniqueness of it. The colorful masks. The way the light plays against the many footbridges and piazzas and how the reflection of the buildings in the water makes it seem like the paint is sliding off of them and into the canal… And, oh, there are to-die-for gelato shops and beautifully crafted pieces of art and jewelry to look at and be dazzled by. There are the historical sites, the famous rituals/carnivals and the fact that the place has looked essentially the same for centuries.

So, short answer: Yes. My travels have definitely inspired my books. My most recent novel, A SUMMER IN EUROPE (Kensington), is all about a woman who’d never before left the United States but is getting to discover the beauty of Italy, France, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and England for the first time…and how those experiences change her perception of where her life is and where it’s going.

K:  I see that you are a Jane Austen fan!  My daughter and I have watched Pride and Prejudice a hundred times.  I really am a sucker for the epic love story.  Have you read all of her books and seen all of the movies about her?  How much of Jane’s influence can we see in your books?   

MB:  Depending on the book you’re reading, Austen had quite a lot of influence! My debut novel, ACCORDING TO JANE, is my personal homage to her. Austen has been my favorite author since I was a high-school freshman, and my first book is about a woman who has the ghost of Jane Austen in her head giving her dating advice…for about 2 decades! (It takes my heroine a long time to get the love thing right, LOL.) And, yes, I have read all of her published novels, as well as quite a few biographies and letters she wrote and unfinished writing projects. I don’t think I’ve seen *every* movie made about her or adapted from one of her books, but I’m pretty close on that. I don’t blame you for watching PRIDE AND PREJUDICE a hundred times, by the way!! I’ve watched and read that brilliant story countless times, too.

Two of my other books—ON ANY GIVEN SUNDAE and FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE—reference Austen’s novels in there somewhere, but A SUMMER IN EUROPE has some Austen-esque elements. It also shares a lot with E.M. Forster’s classic story, A ROOM WITH A VIEW, which is another novel I’ve loved for years.

K:  All of your books have received wonderful reviews.  People love them and relish the characters and the dimensions of your stories.  How does it feel to know that people love your books so much? 

MB:  Oh, thank you for saying that! I know that no author can be loved by *everyone*—much as we wish we could. However, I do feel tremendously excited and honored when readers will take time to leave me a comment on Facebook or to send me a tweet or an email saying that they read one of my books and it made them laugh or it touched them in some way. It’s the best feeling. I also love when they post reviews on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads or their personal blog and recommend one of my books to others. An honest, enthusiastic review from a reader is like getting a very special gift. It’s proof that a connection exists between us—a bond of understanding authors and readers share—and, to me, that’s priceless.

K:  What inspired you to become a writer?  Was it something you always knew you wanted to be or did it come to you over time?  Can you tell us a little bit about the creative process that takes place in your mind? 

MB:  The reason I became a writer was because I felt so indebted to other authors for either giving me a fun story to escape into or convincing me that they really understood whatever struggle I was dealing with in my life at the time. I’ll always appreciate Jennifer Crusie and Susan Elizabeth Phillips for creating such laugh aloud romantic comedies, and I’m just as grateful to Sue Miller, Anne Tyler and Elizabeth Berg for making me feel as though I wasn’t alone in being frustrated with many real-life issues or relationships. It’s my biggest hope that I can be an author who brings that kind of humor and/or reassurance to a few readers out there, too.

As for the creative process, I think it mostly comes down to the fact that I ask myself hundreds of “what-if” questions every day. “What if you had to run an ice cream parlor for the summer with the guy who’d broken your heart a decade before…and he didn’t even know it?” Or, “What if Jane Austen could advise you on the guys you’re interested in…and what would happen if you didn’t listen to her or if she were even wrong on occasion?” Or, “What if you were given an amazing summer trip as a gift but you’d never been far away from home before…how would you feel being truly out in the world for the first time?” I think creativity originates in curiosity, so I really enjoy contemplating all kinds of questions like these.

K:  What can we expect next from you?  Any books in the works right now?  What releases can our readers watch out for in the future? 

MB:  I’m working on three different projects right now, and I hope all of them will be published in the next year or two. The first is a new romantic comedy that (fingers crossed!) will be released at the end of this year. (I’ll always post the publication dates of any upcoming books on my website: http://www.marilynbrant.com) The second project is the first book in a romance/women’s fiction series set in a warm climate that involves a cast of funny, unique characters and a community that cares deeply about the environment. And the third is a project I’m in the midst of writing, and it’s a little too early for me to describe it accurately. I’m still learning who these characters are and what they desperately need in their lives. Every day, I’m excited to get back to it so I can figure out a little more about them and delve a bit deeper into their story…

Thanks, again, for having me as a guest today. It was a pleasure to be here!

I’ll give away a PDF copy of my romantic comedy, DOUBLE DIPPING, to one of the commenters on this post .

‘On Any Given Sundae’ by Marilyn Brant

Honestly, I opened up On  Any Given Sundae with no doubt in my mind that I was going to love it, and I was not disappointed in the least bit!  I knew from the premise that this was going to be one of those read-in-one- sitting- feel- good- make- me- all- warm- and- fuzzy books- And it certainly was.  Down to the last bite.

I love reality in my fictional characters- as silly as that sounds.  I like to read a book and feel like I am right there, in their town with their families and friends, sharing in their experiences.  On Any Given Sundae does just that and so so much more.   I might have been right there in this little town in Wisconsin with these wonderful people!

Elizabeth and I may have been sisters for that matter.  The ex-chubby, food loving stuttering chick who had the hots for the town jock… seriously, the parallels I could draw are endless.  And the chance to make that jock fall head over heels years later when he comes back to town lookin all good… well, that I can’t make any parallels on, but I can say that I can imagine it in my head and it would go just like Marilyn Brant painted it for me!

All silliness aside, I truly, honestly, thoroughly enjoyed On Any Given Sundae.  It has the perfect amount of all of the right stuff.  The romance, the laughs, the poignant moments, the food-  I fell so in love with these characters and their story, I literally felt invested in their HEA.  The secondary characters, the atmosphere, the love and loyalty of all of the characters combined- it is a delightful cocktail that will make any romance lover smile all over.

Bravo to Marilyn Brant on a story wonderfully told, I hope she keeps them coming and they keep making me just as happy as this one did!

A time to soak and absorb my adventure at RT’s…

Well, 2012 RT Convention is now in the history and my memories of it will always bring a huge smile to my face. My biggest regret is not taking a pic with Grace Burrowes. This awesome woman has so generously offered to share her room with me during the day, shared lunch with, went to some events together, and we kept saying, later we’ll do it, and in the end with all the running around we never did. Now I feel sad for not doing it and I mean to make sure next time I see her, the first thing we’ll do is take a pic together.

Let me tell you, I don’t get easily intimidated, but meeting Lorreta Chase and Victoria Alexander just left me speechless and in tears. Totally a Fan-Girl moment!!

Right now, I’m truly exhausted and need to rest and sort it all in my head before I bring them to you. Soaking in the tub is on my list of must do in the next hour.

Before I head out to do my soaking, I thought to run one more contest and ask y’all which author would you be in awe of meeting? One of you will end up with a book of your choice out of my stash!

A day with all my favorite authors…and then there’s Brooks!

Once more, before I lay my head on a pillow [in my mind, I'm already there] I’m stopping by with some juicy tidbits….

Too many authors and too little time, but I made the rounds and beside stopping by and saying hi to the old favourites, I made some new author discoveries, and I made new friends.

Sabrina Jeffries is truly the best Duchess ever.

Jade Lee can throw a fun-filled bridal shower and a wedding like no one else.

Kieran Kramer is one hot, HOT chick and she has the moves to kill, and energy to burn.

And then there’s Brooks….

This has been a weekend of my firsts, and this is one first I’m filing under ‘Grandma posed with a male model’ memory file. What about you? Have you had a male model encounter [if not in real life, fantasy will do] and who is it? One of you will get a free book (mention your choice from a big pile that is on the pic under the post) in our second RT giveaway. Click on both pics and you can visit Brooks on his website, and you can enlarge the one with the books.* Sorry, US only…