Lenora Bell's Blog: A Bell Awakened, page 7

The third installment of the Disgraceful Dukes series is finally here! I’m so excited to release BLAME IT ON THE DUKE into the world. Many readers wrote to say they hoped this one would be about Miss Alice Tombs and I was thrilled to be able to fulfill their wishes. Alice is a quirky, bookish lady with a talent for languages and a taste for adventure abroad. The last thing she wants is to settle down and marry. Unfortunately, her father just won her wild and wicked marquess in a game of cards.

Please stop by my Facebook page today at 2PM EST for a live reading from BLAME IT ON THE DUKE. I’ll be hosting giveaways all week as well, and if you’re signed up for my newsletter (you can subscribe on my home page) you’ll automatically be entered for an exclusive giveaway of a fabulous gift basket!

I had so much fun with Alice and Nick’s story and I truly hope you enjoy it! I would love to hear your thoughts so if you feel like posting a review (thank you thank you thank you) or sending me an email that would be wonderful!!

xo

Dear Readers! If you are near (or want to be near) Milwaukee, WI on April 28-30, 2017, the Barbara Vey Reader Appreciation Weekend is one event you don’t want to miss. It’s hosted by the amazing Barbara Vey, and 60+ authors (including me! And keynote speaker Kristan Higgins, Eloisa James, Mary Jo Putney, Shana Galen, and many more) will be ready to meet you and ply you with books and gifts. The schedule is packed with fun events including:

Friday  Author/Reader Bingo (3 Sessions!)  – FREE
Friday Night Author Q&A followed by Meet & Greet – FREE
Romance Jeopardy  – FREE
Saturday Luncheon with the authors – TICKET REQUIRED
Book signing  – FREE
Saturday Night Pizza Party – TICKET REQUIRED
Saturday Night Party Hosted by Damon Suede and Eloisa James – FREE
Sunday Breakfast with an author – TICKET REQUIRED

For tickets and more information, visit the event website here. I hope to meet many of you in April!

I’m thrilled to welcome Avon historical romance author Megan Frampton to the blog today for an interview and a giveaway! My Fair Duchess, the latest in her Dukes Behaving Badly series, is the perfect witty and warm escape I needed from this lingering Wisconsin winter.

LB: I love the trope-twist of a woman inheriting a dukedom and how you cite an actual historical example. How did you first come up with the idea and what other interesting historical tidbits did you uncover while doing the research for the book?

Megan: Well, I was thinking about ways to keep the Dukes Behaving Badly series fresh, and I thought it’d be fun to have a duchess who behaves badly. I’d never heard of a woman inheriting a title, though, so I set off to do some research, and found that the Duke of Marlborough got a special Act put through Parliament to ensure his daughter could inherit his title, since his two sons predeceased him. With that fact tucked into my head, I was able to write Genevieve’s story.

LB: I read on your blog that you had a clever/hilarious working title for this book with a rock and roll inspiration– Duke Looks Like a Lady. How did the title evolve, and can you please do a series of Regency novels based on 80’s glam metal songs?

Megan: I am a fool for a pun, and I was playing around with “duke” puns in my head, and I thought of Duke Looks Like a Lady about my female duchess and kept laughing about it (to myself, which is odd, I agree). My editor liked it also, but as I was writing the book, I realized the title might be viewed as a cross-dressing hero, so I changed it.

For glam metal titles—we could have Earls, Earls, Earls, Duke Gone Wild, Shout at the Marquis…okay, maybe not (feel free to suggest more!)

LB: Haha – Earls, Earls Earls – love it! What about Lord Feelgood?

Megan:  Welcome to the Palace?

LB: Lol – we could do this all day. Maybe a reader will think of another fun title. Booklist wrote a swoony starred review of My Fair Duchess, describing it as, “a captivating symphony of scintillating wit and sophisticated sensuality brilliantly conducted by an author writing at the top of her game.” Does the conductor metaphor work for your writing process? Do you have special methods or writing rituals that help you find the music of each new book?

Megan: I wish I were this organized! I usually just get a cup of tea and open up the doc. I can’t multi-task worth a damn, so I don’t listen to music (I would likely end up singing instead of writing, and nobody is foolish enough to pay me for singing).

LB: Is this the last book in your Dukes Behaving Badly series? What’s up next?

Megan: This is the last book in the series! Next up is the Duke’s Daughters series, which is if Mr. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice was a duke and had five daughters he had to marry off. Lady Be Bad is the first book, and that will be out in late July.

LB: The new series sounds fantastic. I can’t get enough of anything Pride and Prejudice related and I’m sure readers will agree. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Megan: Thanks for hosting!

Leave a comment for a chance to win an autographed copy of My Fair Duchess! (U.S. shipping only).

xo









My Fair Duchess

The unexpected duchess

Archibald Salisbury, son of a viscount, war hero, and proficient in the proper ways of aristocratic society, has received orders for his most challenging mission: Genevieve, Duchess of Blakesley. How she inherited a duchy isn’t his problem. Turning her into a perfect duchess is. But how can he keep his mind on business when her beauty entices him toward pleasure?

It was impossible, unprecedented…and undeniably true. Genevieve is now a “duke”, or, rather, a duchess. So what is she to do when the ton eyes her every move, hoping she’ll make a mistake? Genevieve knows she has brains and has sometimes been told she has beauty, but, out of her depth, she calls on an expert. And what an expert, with shoulders broad enough to lean on, and a wit that matches her own. Archie is supposed to teach her to be a lady and run her estate, but what she really wants to do is unladylike—run into his arms.

 

I’m a true fan of Lorraine Heath’s lush and rich historical romances and I’m honored to welcome her today for an interview and a giveaway!

LB: The cover for The Viscount and the Vixen is just so gorgeous! What was your reaction when you saw it for the first time? Does the cover model resemble how you pictured Portia in your mind?

Lorraine: I was thrilled when I saw the cover for the first time. The cover model definitely resembles how I envisioned Portia—not only in looks but in attitude. I can clearly see Portia glancing back over her shoulder, teasing my hero as she constantly strives to maintain the upper hand. She may be one of my favorite heroines, vulnerable yet strong.

LB: What are a few reasons you love writing in the Victorian time period? What is something interesting you uncovered while doing the historical research for this book?

Lorraine: I would love to answer the second question—except it might prove to be a spoiler for the story—so I’ll tell you why I love writing in the Victorian time period. It provides such a rich and broad canvas for storytelling. England and the aristocracy was in the midst of change. Industrialization was modernizing the world at a rapid clip and yet many facets harkened back to an earlier, darker time. I can have pickpockets mixed in with people playing tennis. American heiresses were coming over in search of titled gentlemen. Titled gentlemen were in want of ladies with a fortune because their estates were no longer producing livable incomes. All levels of society were having to make adjustments. It’s fun to explore a world where the middle class was emerging and the upper class was struggling to maintain the status quo. So many story possibilities exist.

LB: You’ve been called “a magician with words” (RT Book Reviews) and I agree! Do you have special writing rituals that help you to keep the magic flowing for each new book?

Lorraine: I’m blushing at the praise. I do have a couple of rituals that I began when I first started writing seriously. I tend to write the more emotional scenes at night, in the dark, with a rain CD playing in the background. I also try to find that represents one of my characters (bergamot, rose, lavender) usually in soap or candle form to bring in that sense. But mostly I try to imagine myself as that character—what he or she is feeling, thinking, dreaming—and put their thoughts to the page. I do a lot of research searching for small things that can make my characters more relatable to the reader. I want the reader to feel immersed not only in the world I’m creating but also in the characters.

LB: Oooh, bergamot/rose/lavender sounds like a dreamy combination. What a great idea to play rain in the background when you’re writing an emotional scene – I’ll have to try that

I’m over at the Ramblings From This Chick blog today for Dani’s super fun Christmas Historical Event. Every day she features a new author with an original holiday-themed historical romance scene + fantastic giveaways!! Please stop by and visit and enter for a chance to WIN.

Tonight the amazing Sarah MacLean and I will takeover the Avon Books Facebook Page for two hours! Expect talk of Scots, dukes, celebrity scandals, chocolate, Tom Hardy, Tom Hardy with dogs, feminism in romance, more sexy Scots…you get the picture

Dear Readers,

I just sent out my very first newsletter in honor of the release of IF I ONLY HAD A DUKE, out now from Avon Romance! Here’s an exclusive giveaway for newsletter subscribers to win 1 of 3 signed copies of IF I ONLY HAD A DUKE + chocolate + a paperback book of your choice! Only newsletter subscribers will be eligible to win.

Thank you so much for subscribing, for reading, for posting reviews, and for loving historical romance!

Hello friends! I’m so excited about the release of my second historical romance novel IF I ONLY HAD A DUKE. So excited…that I’m giving away four books to two lucky winners! Visit my facebook page to learn more and to read an excerpt from IF I ONLY HAD A DUKE.

Hugs 

For Day Five of the “2 Weeks of 2nd Books” Giveaway,  I’m delighted to welcome debut author Kristi Ann Hunter with An Elegant Façade, Book 2 of the Hawthorne House series. Kristi Ann is one of my Dreamweaver sisters — the group of  2014 Golden Heart finalists who bonded together and formed a supportive community of friends.

Kristi Ann is having a fabulous 2016 so far. Her debut novel, A Noble Masquerade, won the Romance Writers of America’s 2016 RITA® Award for Best First Book in the Inspirational Romance category! This is truly the equivalent of winning an Oscar in the romance community.

 

Lenora: Welcome, Kristi Ann!

Kristi Ann: Hi Lenora! Thanks for hosting me.

Lenora: Can you tell me a bit about the writers who inspire you every day?

Kristi Ann: The first Regency I ever read was written by Johanna Lindsey but I didn’t really fall in love with the era until I discovered Julia Quinn’s novels. To this day she is still where I turn if I need a good comfort read. Karen Witemeyer and Regina Jennings have an amazing knack for getting to the heart of a story and I find their writings very inspiring and insightful as well.

Lenora: Oh. Julia Quinn. *swoon*

Countdown to IF I ONLY HAD A DUKE! For the second day of the “2 Weeks of 2nd Books” giveaway I’m thrilled to welcome Eva Devon with DREAMING OF THE DUKE, Book 2 of The Dukes’ Club series!

Eva and I have been friends and critique partners since the RWA National convention in San Francisco in 2008. She’s a mother, a USA Today Bestselling author, and a theater geek. We bonded over our love for all things theatrical and dramatic. I adored her dark, angst-filled “Mad Passions” debut Victorian series under the pen name Máire Claremont. And now I can’t get enough of her fun, saucy and sexy Regencies written as Eva Devon!

She confessed that her romance addiction began with reading Johanna Lindsey’s Mallory novella, THE PRESENT. I’m sure Johanna Lindsey hooked a few of you on historicals, dear readers, am I right?

 

DREAMING OF THE DUKE (BOOK 2)

Cordelia Eversleigh, Duchess of Hunt, has spent her entire life in Egypt, sifting through the sands, cavorting with the local tribes, and uncovering the tombs of glorified ancient Egyptian accountants. Now, all she wishes is to go to Paris and study the mysteries of the hieroglyph. There’s only one problem. She needs to annul her marriage to the husband she has never met. But when she comes face to face with the infamous duke, he stirs a wicked desire in her nature that shocks her to the tips of her oh so practical toes.A duke longing to be tamed.

Born the second son, Jack Eversleigh, now the Duke of Hunt, has accepted he is going to be a terrible duke. Loving wine, women, and song, he knows there’s only one thing to do. Live up to his debauched reputation. But when a young woman tracks him down in a London pub, prim, proper, and with a tongue that would make the devil envious, he is captivated. . . Until he discovers that she is his wife.

Intrigued by Cordelia and Jack’s story? Pop over to my facebook page for a chance to win DREAMING OF THE DUKE!! One day only!

(And do check out Eva’s latest, the amusingly titled IF THE ROGUE FITS