Linda Banche and Her Historical Hilarity

Release Day! AN INHERITANCE FOR THE BIRDS

2012-02-01T09:01:00.003-05:00

Today is the release date for my latest Regency comedy novella, An Inheritance for the Birds, the next entry in The Wild Rose Press's Love Letters series. All the stories start with a letter that changes the hero's and heroine's lives. Mine is a letter about an inheritance, but there's a catch...

Available at The Wild Rose Press and Amazon.

Tomorrow, February 2, I'll be at Beth Trissel's blog, One Writer's Way, talking about--you guessed it--ducks!

BLURB:

Make the ducks happy and win an estate!

Mr. Christopher "Kit" Winnington can't believe the letter from his late great-aunt's solicitor. In order to inherit her estate, he must win a contest against her companion, Miss Angela Stratton. Whoever makes his great-aunt's pet ducks happy wins.

A contest: What a cork-brained idea. This Miss Stratton is probably a sly spinster who camouflaged her grasping nature from his good-natured relative. There is no way he will let the estate go to a usurper.

Angela never expected her former employer to name her in her will. Most likely, this Mr. Winnington is a trumped-up jackanapes who expects her to give up without a fight. Well, she is made of sterner stuff.

The ducks quack in avian bliss while Kit and Angela dance a duet of desire as they do their utmost to make the ducks--and themselves--happy.

EXCERPT:
Yawning, he shut the door behind him. Enough ducks and prickly ladies for one day. After dropping his satchel by the bed, he dragged off his clothes and draped them over the chair back. He dug a nightshirt from the valise and donned the garment before he blew out both candles.

Bates had already drawn back the bedclothes. The counterpane was soft under Kit's palm, and covered a featherbed. He grinned. By any chance, had they used the down from the pet ducks to stuff the mattress and pillows?

After tying the bed curtains back, he settled into the soft cocoon and laced his fingers behind his head. Tomorrow, he would have it out with Miss Stratton about the steward's residence, but that was tomorrow. He fluffed up his pillow and turned onto his side…

"QUACK!"

A bundle of flapping, squawking feathers exploded from the depths of the covers and attacked him. Throwing his arms over his head for protection, Kit fell out of bed. He scrambled to his feet and bolted for the door, the thrashing, quacking explosion battering him. A serrated knife edge scraped over his upper arm. "Ow!" Batting at the avian attacker with one hand, he groped for the latch with the other.

The door swung open. Miss Stratton, her candle flame flickering, dashed into the chamber. "Esmeralda, you stop that right now!"

The feathered windstorm quacked once more and, in a graceful arc, fluttered to the floor.

Kit lowered his arms and gave a mental groan. A duck. He should have known.

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: THE LORD OF ILLUSION by Kathryne Kennedy

2012-01-29T10:01:00.005-05:00

Tender love, furious action and a life-and-death struggle bring Kathryne Kennedy's The Lord of Illusion, the final book in her Elven Lords trilogy, to a crashing finale.

All his life, Drystan has been an outcast because of his magical visions. These dreams have led him to a lonely and frustrating job as a researcher, where he sifts through long-unread records in search of the woman in his visions. That sad, beautiful lady may hold the key to defeating the Elven lords. Her sorrow also tears at his heart. Is she as lonely as he? He yearns to find her and wipe away her sadness. When his researches at last provide a clue about her, he masquerades as a nobleman and travels to the palace of the Elven lord of illusion to find the lady of his dreams.

The slave Camille has suffered abuse from men all her life. Suddenly, a handsome aristocrat arrives who protects her. He's a kind man and she had encountered too few. But she is wary. What does he really want?

The Lord of Illusion is a story of how people can change when circumstances require, but especially when love smooths the way. Both Drystan and Camille, shunned by their compatriots, tentatively search for happiness with each other. Drystan is magnificent as the strong yet gentle man who coaxes the terrified Camille to love him. Camille is heroic as she rises above her abusive situation to help in the humans' fight for freedom from the elven lords. The magical wonders along the way are exciting, well-thought out and lovely in their fierceness, but the real beauty in this novel is the growing love and trust between Drystan and Camille.

Ms. Kennedy also gives us tantalizing glimpses of other couples who have brought us to this ending. May she someday fill in the gaps.

In The Lord of Illusion, with its awe-inspiring world full of dragons, fire fountains, water steeds and other magical marvels, Ms. Kennedy demonstrates yet again that the one true and most powerful magic is love.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Irresistably Sweet Blog Award

2012-01-22T10:01:00.008-05:00

Fellow Regency romance author Donna Hatch nominated me for this award. Donna writes adventurous regency romance as well as YA and fantasy. Donna's blog is http://donnahatch.blogspot.com

For the blog award, I have to nominate ten worthy blogs, and tell my readers seven things they might not know about me.

So, here are seven things about me:

1. I like ducks. Quack.

2. I like daffodils and pink roses.

3. A baby goose bit me.

4. Baby turkeys came to my front yard. Adult turkeys come to my back yard and eat my sunflower seed. Unfortunately, they leave behind plenty of decorations.

5. My latest regency comedy romance, An Inheritance for the Birds, part of The Wild Rose Press's Love Letters series, releases on February 1, 2012.

6. I like to read--romances, of course.

7. I'm currently writing a science fiction regency comedy romance. How that's for genre mixing?

And here are the blogs I nominated for the Irresistibly Sweet Award:

Lindsay Townsend http://lindsaysromantics.blogspot.com/
Beth Trissel http://bethtrissel.blogspot.com/
LK Hunsaker http://lkhunsaker.blogspot.com/
Stephanie Burkhart http://sgcardin.blogspot.com/
Caroline Clemmons http://carolineclemmons.blogspot.com/
Celia Yeary http://celiayeary.blogspot.com/
Paula Martin http://paulamartinpotpourri.blogspot.com/
Hywela Lyn http://hywelalyn.blogspot.com/
Calisa Rhose http://calisarhose.wordpress.com/tag/calisa-rhose/
Amy Corwin http://amycorwin.blogspot.com/

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: The Rogue Pirate's Bride by Shana Galen

2012-01-15T10:01:00.003-05:00

The Rogue Pirate's Bride by Shana Galen, Book III of The Sons of the Revolution trilogy, combines stunning romance, a fast-paced adventure story, an unconventional heroine (my favorite) and a breathtaking hero to create a delectable concoction of a Regency historical sure to please readers tired of cook-cutter romances.

Admiral's daughter Raeven will not rest until she kills Captain Cutlass, the pirate who killed her fiancée. Dressed as a boy, she challenges him to a duel. But Captain Cutlass isn't so easy to kill. When she loses the fight and he discovers her identity, she winds up as his cabin girl.

Bastien, Captain Cutlass, wishes he had never encountered the hellion. The girl fights, knows as much about the sea as any sailor, and never follows orders. He's only too happy when she escapes. Or is he?

Most romances have a larger-than-life hero and a girl-next-door heroine. I want stories where the heroine is as extraordinary as the hero. Ms. Galen has created such a heroine in Raeven, who has sailed on her father's ship since she was four. No embroidery or kowtowing to society's inane rules for her. She had learned everything there is to know about her father's ship, from mending sails to navigation. She also knows how to handle a pistol and knife, and isn't afraid to use them. And no matter what anyone says, she always tries to get what she wants. On the downside, she is somewhat immature and thoughtless. I would have preferred her a little older and more responsible. All in all, though, I would like to see more heroines like Raeven.

Bastien is my favorite kind of hero, a wronged man whose suffering has transformed him into the best of men, a true hero. The action and romance are both nonstop as Raeven and Bastien fight the villains and each other until their HEA.

If you're tired of all the same-old, same-old romances with little nothing heroines, The Rogue Pirate's Bride is the book for you.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

AN INHERITANCE FOR THE BIRDS Coming Feb. 1, 2012

2012-01-01T10:01:00.008-05:00

Happy New Year, all!

Exactly one month from today is the release date for my latest Regency comedy novella, An Inheritance for the Birds, the next entry in The Wild Rose Press's Love Letters series. All the novellas start with a letter that changes the hero's and heroine's lives. Mine is a letter about an inheritance, but there's a catch...

Click on the cover to enlarge it.

BLURB:

Make the ducks happy and win an estate!

Mr. Christopher "Kit" Winnington can't believe the letter from his late great-aunt's solicitor. In order to inherit her estate, he must win a contest against her companion, Miss Angela Stratton. Whoever makes his great-aunt's pet ducks happy wins.

A contest: What a cork-brained idea. This Miss Stratton is probably a sly spinster who camouflaged her grasping nature from his good-natured relative. There is no way he will let the estate go to a usurper.

Angela never expected her former employer to name her in her will. Most likely, this Mr. Winnington is a trumped-up jackanapes who expects her to give up without a fight. Well, she is made of sterner stuff.

The ducks quack in avian bliss while Kit and Angela dance a duet of desire as they do their utmost to make the ducks--and themselves--happy.

EXCERPT:
Yawning, he shut the door behind him. Enough ducks and prickly ladies for one day. After dropping his satchel by the bed, he dragged off his clothes and draped them over the chair back. He dug a nightshirt from the valise and donned the garment before he blew out both candles.

Bates had already drawn back the bedclothes. The counterpane was soft under Kit's palm, and covered a featherbed. He grinned. By any chance, had they used the down from the pet ducks to stuff the mattress and pillows?

After tying the bed curtains back, he settled into the soft cocoon and laced his fingers behind his head. Tomorrow, he would have it out with Miss Stratton about the steward's residence, but that was tomorrow. He fluffed up his pillow and turned onto his side…

"QUACK!"

A bundle of flapping, squawking feathers exploded from the depths of the covers and attacked him. Throwing his arms over his head for protection, Kit fell out of bed. He scrambled to his feet and bolted for the door, the thrashing, quacking explosion battering him. A serrated knife edge scraped over his upper arm. "Ow!" Batting at the avian attacker with one hand, he groped for the latch with the other.

The door swung open. Miss Stratton, her candle flame flickering, dashed into the chamber. "Esmeralda, you stop that right now!"

The feathered windstorm quacked once more and, in a graceful arc, fluttered to the floor.

Kit lowered his arms and gave a mental groan. A duck. He should have known.

Thank you all,
Linda

A MISTLETOE EVERYWHERE Merry Christmas

2011-12-18T10:01:00.008-05:00

As Christmas approaches, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Have a laugh with Mistletoe Everywhere, and I'll see you all in the new year.

BLURB:
A man who sees mistletoe everywhere is mad--or in love.

Charles sees mistletoe. Not surprising, since he's spending Christmas at Mistletoe Manor. But why does no one else see it? And why does it always appear above Penelope, the despised lady who jilted him after their last meeting?

Penelope wants nothing to do with the faithless Charles, the man who cried off after she accepted his marriage proposal. But he still stirs her heart--and he stares at her all the time. Or rather, he stares at the empty ceiling over her head…What does he see?

According to folklore, mistletoe is the plant of peace. Can Penelope and Charles, so full of hurt and anger, heed the mistletoe's message and make peace?

EXCERPT:

After Charles had heaped his plate with more food than he wanted, he took one of the empty chairs at the table bottom, as far from Penelope as possible.

His tensed muscles eased as he joked with his friends. Smythe made a comment and Charles turned to answer. He caught sight of Penelope…and a monstrous bunch of mistletoe above her.

"Gordon? What is it?" Smythe swiveled in the direction Charles was staring. He looked up and down, and from one side to the other. "I say, with your mouth hanging open like that, you must see something spectacular, but damned if I know what it is."

With an audible click, Charles clamped his jaw shut. "I thought I saw…" He forced his gaze back to his companion. "Nothing. I imagined I saw mistletoe."

Smythe's eyebrows rose. "Mistletoe?"

"Yes. The house is named 'Mistletoe Manor', so the place is filled with mistletoe decorations. Pictures, wall hangings, ceiling trim, whatnot."

"Indeed." Smythe's eyebrows rose higher. "That 'mistletoe' you saw is over that Miss Lawrence. Lovely little filly." His lips curved into a knowing grin. "My jaw dropped the first time I saw her, too."

Charles stiffened. "I was not looking at Miss Lawrence. I believed I saw mistletoe over her."

"'Mistletoe'." Symthe's grin widened. "Of course."

And I hope you get what you want for Christmas, too!

All REVIEWS are here:

http://lindabanche.blogspot.com/2010/12/mistletoe-everywhere-reviews.html

Available at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, All Romance Ebooks, Barnes and Noble and other places ebooks are sold.

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL by Jennifer Blake

2011-12-11T10:01:00.006-05:00

Lies and the tangles they engender abound in Silver-Tongued Devil by Jennifer Blake, a tale of revenge in antebellum Louisiana.

Injured in a steamboat explosion, Angelica awakens in an unfamiliar bedroom to find herself married to Renold, a man she barely knows. With her father and betrothed dead in the same disaster, she must depend on this stranger. But questions abound. She can't remember a wedding, and is her silver-tongued "husband" as kind-hearted as he appears?

With her trademark use of accurate historical detail, Ms. Blake evokes the Louisiana of the past in such breath-taking fashion as to make a fan of someone like me who doesn't care for romances set in America. Like all her other romances, they are fast-paced, gripping, and keep you reading right until the end as we wonder if our hero and heroine will find their happily-ever-after.

That said, I don't care for bad boy heroes. Silver-Tongued Devil also contains one of the motifs I like the least in romance--the hero who takes his revenge on one person by harming an innocent.

While I dislike Renold, I like Angelica. She is the pawn in Renold's scheme, but while she may start out as a puppet, adversary rapidly changes her into a woman more than capable of withstanding anyone's machinations. And the results of his plan surprise and also transform Renold.

The best romances not only knock you off your feet with the story, but also subtly intertwine deeper themes within the main tale. In Silver-Tongued Devil, the deeper theme is revenge. The novel explores its wrongness, its unintended effects, and how revenge changes both the perpetrator and the victim.

Now, as when it was first published in 1995, Silver-Tongued Devil remains an engrossing read.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: LADY SOPHIE'S CHRISTMAS WISH by Grace Burrowes

2011-12-04T10:01:00.003-05:00

Grace Burrowes's latest Regency historical, Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish, is a perfect-for-the-season tale of two lonely people who find happiness while stranded in a London snowstorm with a baby.

Duke's daughter Sophie has dreamed of a few days alone away from her large family at her parents' London townhouse. What she didn't expect was to be saddled with her former housemaid's abandoned baby. Even worse, Sophie knows nothing about caring for infants and a blizzard rages outside. Enter Vim (short for Wilhelm), unable to reach home because of the weather, who offers to teach Sophie how to care for the baby.

Ms. Burrowes guides us through a Christmas story that will make you laugh and cry. Humorous, brimming with emotion, and full of detailed descriptions, Vim and Sophie fall in love despite crossed signals and the insatiable demands of an infant. In separate scenes, most of them hilarious, Ms. Burrowes fills us in on the rest of Sophie's and Vim's families, and how everyone comes together to help our hero and heroine find their happily ever after.

Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish touches on several themes familiar to all: loneliness in the midst of a crowd and the myth of the seemingly invulnerable person who fixes other peoples' problems, but who cannot fix his/her own. Sophie has spent her life helping others, and wishes nothing more than to find someone all her own. An unavenged insult from his youth has turned Vim into a wanderer who desperately wants to return home to a woman he loves. But Christmas is a time when wishes are granted, but not after some initial struggle.

Ms. Burrowes really knows how to write appealing heroes. You gotta love a man who isn't afraid to change a dirty diaper. And he's blond! I do love my blond heroes. And sweet, quiet Sophie, overshadowed by the more flamboyant members of her large family, at last learns how to shine.

Give yourself a Christmas gift and read Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

NaNoWriMo Winner - I Finished!

2011-12-01T08:49:00.007-05:00

This year, I did NaNoWriMo. Every November is National Novel Writing Month, where authors try to write 50,000 or more words in one month.

NaNoWriMo in November can be a hassle, since Thanksgiving also falls in November for those of us in the US. Be that as it may, I finished on November 24. I added 50,367 words by my count, 50596 words by their count, to a novel for which I had already written about 19,000 words.

Writing 50,000 words in one month is never easy, but the trick is just to write. You don't check spelling, and most of all, you never edit. If you write a scene one way, and then decide you don't like it, you just write the new scene and add the words to your word count. Most of writing is rewriting, but you can't rewrite until you've written. I doubt I'll keep every one of those 50,000+ words, but now I have something to work with.

The as-yet untitled book to which I added those 50,000+ words is a regency paranormal, Book 4 in my regency romance comedy series that all feature birds. I've been thinking about this book for three years. Finally, I sat down and added words to the story.

Book 1 (written in NaNoWriMo 2008) is another paranormal with the hero as a weregoose. You read right--weregoose. On the night of the full moon he grows wings and feathers and honks. Book 2 is a Christmas fantasy/paranormal story about a love triangle complicated by a goose with an amazing ability. Book 3 (the only completed novel) is a straight historical about an ornithologist with an embarrassing secret. And Book 4, which I just wrote, is about the ornithologist's assistant, who saves England.

Congratulations to all NaNoWriMo-ers, both those who completed and to those who tried. You have books!

Thank you all,
Linda

Turkey Tales II

2011-11-27T10:01:00.007-05:00

2011 has been a good year for turkeys. I've seen quite a few. Here are the best sightings.

Winter Turkeys

January-March 2011 was very snowy in New England. We rarely saw any turkeys until February, when four big males (toms) slogged through the snow up the hill. These three top pictures are the turkeys. Click on all pictures to enlarge them.

Turkeys are just like people, so once they reached the road, they strutted down the easier-to-walk-down street. My husband and I had to wait until decided to go back down the hill before we could drive down the road.

Spring Turkeys
This year I saw not one, but three mama turkeys and her babies (poults, but as we call them, turklets or goblets).

The first came in early June. This mama turkey worked overtime, because she had nine turklets. The first picture my husband took didn't come out very well, but we were fortunate she came back the next day. Here's a great picture (at left) of mama and eight of her nine goblets. The turklet in front of mama came out the best.

Two weeks later, another mama turkey came by. This one had three turklets. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture.

And at the end of June, along came another mama turkey with three goblets. Here's a picture at the right.

All these turklets were young and small, probably only a few days out of the egg. I've never seen a half-grown turklet. They had to eat somewhere as they grew up, but they never came to my yard.

Fall Turkeys

In October, a tom came to our yard and, for the most part, stayed all day. He ate the seed under the bird feeder, leaving only at night. I went outside and put some seed under the feeder for him. He ran away when he saw me, but not too far. And as soon as I returned inside, he came back and ate the seed. Here he is, on the left. In this picture, you can see the iridescence on his breast feathers.

For several weeks he came every day, except when it rained. The day I remember the most was a Saturday morning. I was asleep when I heard a loud squawking outside. At first, I thought a blue jay had attacked our feeder. Then I realized our turkey had arrived. I hadn't put any seed out for him and he wanted breakfast. Sometimes, these birds act true to their names.

One day as he was feeding, five of his friends showed up. After that, our turkey never came alone. He and his friends dropped by occasionally, but not every day.

But on Thanksgiving Day, the six toms celebrated the holiday by coming to our back yard, where I distributed seed for their dinner. Gobble, gobble.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Thank you all,
Linda
My husband took all these pictures.

Turkey Tales I

2011-11-24T10:01:00.002-05:00

BLACK FRIDAY SPECIAL!

On Nov. 25, all digital titles, including mine, are 30% off at The Wild Rose Press with code e8f302ffef

My books are here: http://tinyurl.com/6sjudr5

Now, on to the turkey fun!

Here are two turkey (or turkel, as we call them) sightings around my house.

Turkey in the Snow

In December, 2007, a big storm dropped a good foot and a half of snow. By late afternoon, the sky was clearing and two tom turkeys (all that chest hair) slogged to the bird feeder. We have several large pines in our yard which shelter the feeder. The snow wasn't as deep there and the turkeys pecked at the seeds.

The next time I looked, only one turkey was left. He turned toward the hill to climb up to the woods, stepping into snow that was up to his belly. He stopped. For several minutes, he struggled and strained against the snow, but couldn't make any progress. The light was fading, and I expected him to return along the path he and his friend had broken.

Instead, Mr. Turkey unfurled his wings (BIG wings) and flew up to a branch. Huge bird that he is, he made quite a sight, perched on that limb. As the night progressed, I looked out several times to check on him, but I couldn't see him in the darkness. I worried about him, even as I told myself turkeys are professional wild animals and can survive outside.

The next morning, I heard "Gobble, gobble, gobble," and sure enough, there he was, still sitting on that tree limb. He flapped his wings and flew down to the ground. A crust had formed on the snow overnight, so he was able to walk away, slipping and sliding and using his wings for balance.

A happy ending.

A Spring Turkey

In May, 2009, as I sat in my front room, I heard clucking outside the open window. I jumped up to see the turkey (seeing a turkey is still a big deal) and sure enough, a hen stood on the front lawn.

She clucked again, and six tiny brown-and-yellow chicks (poults) ran out from under the rhododendron beside the house. From their small size, they must have hatched only a few days earlier.

Mama turkey clucked again and walked around the side of the house, her poults trailing in her wake. A resplendent tom, tail flaring in full courtship regalia, followed. The entire group climbed the hill behind my house and disappeared into the woods. I wonder where mama turkey built her nest. I hoped she used our woods, but I have no idea.

My husband took these two pictures from inside the house. Click on the images to see the poults better.

I never saw the poults again, but I do see the turkeys from time to time. They have no schedule, but they wander from yard to yard, climb the hill behind my house to the woods, and then climb down again, cross the street and head into the woods lower on the hill.

I'm glad we have turkels. And I hope they come around for a good many more years.

Happy Thanksgiving. Next time, Turkey Tales II.

Thank you all,
Linda

Turkeys I Have Known

2011-11-20T10:01:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving is upon us and I'm posting my turkey blogs again.

Part 1 is today, the second one, which I've renamed Turkey Tales I, will go up on Thanksgiving Day. Since I've had a lot of turkey sightings in 2011, I've added a third post, Turkey Tales II, which will go up next Sunday. Happy Thanksgiving. Gobble, Gobble.

Turkeys--I'm talking about the ones with feathers, not the non-feathered variety that plague us all every day.

I live in a New England suburb. The area is mainly houses and lawns, with an occasional patch of woods like the one on the hill behind my house. We have the usual wildlife: squirrels, chipmunks, songbirds, rabbits, deer, raccoons and the occasional fox, opossum and groundhog. Up until a few years ago, we never had wild turkeys. Once, long ago, a domestic turkey, probably an escapee from someone's yard, wandered through for a few days, and for a year or two we had ring-necked pheasants, but no wild turkeys.

One day I looked out at my back yard, and there the turkeys were, pecking at the spilled seed under the bird feeder. They usually arrive in groups of females (hens, see picture at left) or males (toms) but not the two together. The only time we'll see them together is in the spring, when the toms display themselves for the hens. The traditional picture of a Thanksgiving turkey with his feathers fluffed up (see picture at top) is a tom in courtship display. He'll ruffle his feathers that way in the spring to attract the hens' attention, but not in November. The hens also fan their tails, but their display is not nearly as striking.

How do you tell the sexes apart? Turkeys are all large brown birds with sharp beaks and big, spurred feet. The toms are generally larger than the hens and have bright, iridescent feathers. These distinctions are apparent in a mixed sex group, but for most of the year, the birds segregate into male or female only groups.

An undeniable difference is what my husband calls the tom's "chest hair"--a bundle of long coarse feathers that hangs loose from the tom's neck and swings as he walks. I would have called the feather bundles neckties, but chest hair works, too.

As for the noises they make, in most ways they sound like chickens. They all cackle and squawk. But the toms gobble, a rapid "gobble-gobble-gobble", which is why they're called gobblers.

I enjoy the turkeys. We call them turkels, to distinguish them from the turkey that will grace our dinner table on Thanksgiving. Watching them is still a treat. Most of the time all they do is stop for a snack at the bird feeder and a drink from the bird bath. But I do have some special stories about the turkeys that have visited my yard.

Next time: Turkey Tales I.

Thank you all,
Linda
Top two pictures from Wikipedia, "chest hair" by my husband

Review: FORTUNE'S SON by Emery Lee

2011-11-13T10:01:00.004-05:00

Emery Lee's Georgian romance, Fortune's Son, is a fascinating, fast-paced tale of power used and abused, opulence and desperation set in the London world of high-stakes gaming.

Life among the rich, powerful and famous in Georgian London is not as wonderful as you might think. Ask young Philip, estranged second son of an earl, who lives hand-to-mouth by gaming. And ask Susannah, knight's widow, left a small jointure and quickly running out of money. When these two impulsive people, both determined never again to bow to another's command, meet, their chemistry is immediate and explosive. Philip, smitten by the older woman, agrees to teach her how to win at cards. Thus starts the tale of two flawed, wildly impetuous lovers and the disasters they suffer, both of their own making and those brought about by others who wish their downfall.

Highly researched, Fortune's Son gives us a fascinating glimpse of both the grit and the glamour of Georgian society. I love lots of descriptions and Ms. Lee's descriptions of people, places, manners and customs are detailed, accurate and vivid. I also love the Georgian language. I'm not a fan of the current trend to expunge all trace of period speech. Language is part of the story and enhances the feel of the era.

Gaming plays a major role in this novel, and although I love detail, I don't much care for descriptions of card games. Most are too long and boring, and the author's explanation is usually insufficient to explain the action. Ms. Lee has succeeded where others failed. She weaves in enough of the mechanics of the era's card games to propel the story along without confusing us with the esoteric points.

While Ms. Lee's attention to accurate detail makes the era come alive, her main emphasis always remains, as it should, upon Philip's and Susannah's passion, zest for life, frequent mistakes, and their long and tortuous path to love.

Ms. Lee introduced Philip and Susannah in her previous novel, The Highest Stakes. If you haven't read that book, I suggest you read it first. While Fortune's Son stands alone, reading the previous book first will enhance the power of its sequel.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: MISS DARCY FALLS IN LOVE by Sharon Lathan

2011-11-06T10:01:00.004-05:00

Sharon Lathan's Miss Darcy Falls in Love, the latest in her Darcy Saga, is her best novel yet.

Georgiana Darcy has toured Europe, ending in France. In Lyon, she meets Sebastian, heir of the Earl of Essenton and a dedicated musician like herself. At last, Georgiana has found someone with whom she can share her deep love of music, and also her musical compositions. Sebastian feels the same way. Theirs is a meeting not just of minds and bodies, but souls as well. But Baron Caxton, a devastatingly handsome man for whom every woman feels an attraction, has decided Georgiana will be his wife. Georgiana feels the tug to the flamboyant Caxton, but will the tug to the quieter Sebastian be stronger?

The Regency genre is mainly populated by stories of rich and titled people whose only concern is for money, property and status. How refreshing to read about two people of this class who share a passion for something else (and I'm not just talking sex). Both Georgiana and Sebastian's love, musical talent, and the hard work they must perform to develop that talent is a welcome change amid the welter of too-rich-for-their-own-good nobles.

Again, the story is rich with sexual tension, sumptuous historic detail, the glittering Paris of 1820 and plenty of music. I like the almost novel-length buildup in sexual tension as Sebastian's and Georgiana's denied passion increases bit by bit, and I suffered along with them as they dealt with the misunderstandings that threatened their happiness.

I especially like that Sebastian encourages Georgiana in her music, rather than turning all male and demanding she give up her passion in order to settle down to her woman's lot of marriage and family. You have to love a man confident enough in his own masculinity not to feel threatened by a woman's talent. And he's blond (I love blond heroes!) and gorgeous, too. What's not to like?

I am sure Sebastian and Georgiana will have a long and happy marriage. And you'll have a good time reading Miss Darcy Falls in Love.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC supplied by Sourcebooks

Review: THE VIRTUOSO by Grace Burrowes

2011-10-30T10:45:00.005-04:00

Grace Burrowes's The Virtuoso, the third book in The Duke's Obsession series, is an intensely romantic and emotional story of two damaged people finding healing with each other.

For virtuoso pianist Lord Valentine Windham, the Duke of Windham's youngest son, music is his life--until a hand injury prevents him from playing. Terrified his music might be lost to him forever, he must find something to fill the void while, and if, his hand heals. He wins a dilapidated estate at cards and throws himself into setting the property to rights.

Widowed Mrs. Ellen FitzEngle lives alone on Val's new estate. Ostensibly a grower of flowers and herbs, the lady carries a weighty secret. Damaged in a different way than Val is, she seeks to help him heal. And maybe Val can help her heal, too.

I don't have much sympathy for the sufferings of the rich and powerful. Their money provides a cushion poor people with the same problems don't have. Ms. Burrowes has overcome most of my objections by saddling Val with a condition no amount of wealth or privilege can overcome. I also like Val. He's another of my favorite kind of hero, the decent man. I also like that he's an accomplished musician, something he attained solely through his own efforts. In the previous two books of the series (The Heir and The Soldier), he played the role of comedy counterpoint to the weighty emotions of the principals. This book strips away the camouflage to reveal the lonely, isolated man beneath.

The author has also balanced Val's privileges with Ellen's lack of them. Ellen is one of those poor people without money to cushion her suffering. Her plight is a mystery we and Val must unravel, and Ms. Burrowes keeps us guessing almost to the end exactly what horrors Ellen has endured.

But the mood is not all gloom. Abundant humor from the secondary characters as well as Val, who still can crack a smile or two through his distress, lightens the tone as we cheer Val and Ellen on.

I like all three books in the series, but The Virtuoso is my favorite. Enjoy.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: MR. DARCY'S UNDOING by Abigail Reynolds

2011-10-23T11:31:00.001-04:00

Abigail Reynolds's Mr. Darcy's Undoing, the latest in her Pemberley Variations, is an intensely emotional story in which Elizabeth accepts another marriage proposal after she refuses Darcy.

Darcy, still madly in love with Elizabeth, returns to Meryton to renew his suit. Although devastated to find her engaged, he cannot in honor to ask her to end her betrothal. With no other choice, he wishes her well and departs. Elizabeth, now in love with Darcy, never expected to see him again. Mindful of her duty to provide for her family after Mr. Bennet's death, she accepted the proposal of a childhood friend. But she cannot marry a man she does not love. Aware her action will precipitate a scandal, she breaks her engagement.

Mr. Darcy's Undoing is a terrifying portrait of the horrors a closed society can inflict on a defenseless woman who defies convention, even for an honorable reason. Especially bad is Elizabeth's lack of support from her family. Ms. Reynolds exaggerates all the distasteful characteristics of the dysfunctional Bennet family. Mrs. Bennet is a self-centered witch who blames Elizabeth for all their woes, conveniently forgetting Lydia's truly shameful behavior. Mr. Bennet is a spineless toad who lets his wife get away with her wrong-headedness. Jane is a cipher, although she does defend Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, all alone, cast down by the treatment she has received, and with nowhere else to go, is so demoralized she never fights back. Frankly, I expected better of her. She could have learned a lesson from Lydia, who is offstage in this story. Lydia was truly disgraceful, but she never repented of her sins, and she never suffered, either. I hate seeing the good suffer and the evil never paying for their transgressions. Elizabeth is too forgiving, but I would have liked to see Darcy make the blacklisters pay for their cruelty.

Mr. Darcy's Undoing is another of Abigail Reynolds's trademark emotional, accurate takes on the Regency world of Pride and Prejudice.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: MR. DARCY'S BITE by Mary Lydon Simonsen

2011-10-16T09:28:00.005-04:00

Mr. Darcy a werewolf? Really?

Yes, really, in Mary Lydon Simonsen's wonderful Regency take on the paranormal, Mr. Darcy's Bite.

For months, Darcy has visited Elizabeth. To all appearances, he wants to court her, but he has yet to make a declaration. At last, Elizabeth has had enough. With the love of his life about to dismiss him forever, Darcy has no choice but to reveal he is a werewolf.

Of all the reasons Darcy would hesitate to marry her, Elizabeth never imagined this. She loves him, but does she want to wed a man who grows fangs and fur every month?

In general, I don't care for paranormal in historicals. The paranormal can easily overwhelm the history, and combining the genres in the correct proportions to satisfy the historical reader is a delicate operation. In Mr. Darcy's Bite, Mary Lydon Simonsen has succeeded in crafting a story true to Regency sensibilities within the framework of an almost done-to-death paranormal motif.

Ms. Simonsen uses Darcy's unusual condition to heighten both the conflict and the emotion. Both Elizabeth and Darcy agonize over whether marriage would help or hurt the other, without realizing their doubts manifest their true love. Ms. Simonsen's scrupulous attention to the Regency world lets us believe Darcy's and Elizabeth's love plus a little humor will allow them to adapt to a marriage in which Darcy runs on four feet once a month. I like that Ms. Simonsen has presented Darcy's lycanthropy as more curse than blessing. Darcy is already a hero for the ages, and using his werewolfism to turn him into a Regency superman would dilute his appeal. And I like the ending, where two truly become one.

Mr. Darcy's Bite adds an enjoyable new dimension to Pride and Prejudice.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

My Name is Getting Bigger

2011-10-09T10:01:00.004-04:00

I've lined up my five book covers from earliest to latest, left to right, top to bottom.

And I've noticed that my name becomes larger on each succeeding title. It can't have anything to do with the cover artist, because I've had two different ones. The first three covers are by Nicola Martinez, and the last two by Rae Monet.

Does the progressive increase in the size of my name mean anything? I doubt it. The name size is probably a function of the cover composition.

If nothing else, I like all my covers. I'm especially happy with my latest for An Inheritance for the Birds, mainly because it has ducks on it, and I love ducks. Quack.

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: THE ROSE GARDEN by Susanna Kearsley

2011-10-02T10:13:00.003-04:00

Susanna Kearsley knocks us off our feet with her spectacular tale of love overcoming all obstacles in her wondrous time travel romance, The Rose Garden.

Mourning the death of her beloved sister, Eva returns to Cornwall to scatter her ashes at the estate where they spent their happiest childhood summers. The people and the countryside are as she remembers--but not quite. Voices speak from empty rooms, paths appear in places where none exist, and a handsome man dressed in breeches and boots beckons her to another time.

Daniel doesn't know what to make of the beautiful woman wearing strange clothes who appears on the hillside beside him. 1715 England is a dangerous place, with the Jacobites threatening the reign of the newly crowned George I. Is she involved in the upcoming confrontation between the supporters of George I and those of James Stuart, whom some consider the rightful king?

The Rose Garden is a masterwork of suspenseful romance. With vivid descriptions of the unchanging Atlantic and its salt spray, the green of the hilly Cornwall estate's rose gardens, and faithful renditions of the tensions and way of life of two very different eras, Ms. Kearsley melds past and present into a coherent whole that firmly anchors the reader into each time period. We live Eva's confusion, disbelief and terror as she fades in and out of a past where danger lurks at every turn.

Both Eva and Daniel are people of their eras, but unique enough to accept something as outlandish as time travel, and to love a person of extraordinary background. Daniel is as forceful as any eighteenth century man, but he also possesses the sensitivity a modern woman appreciates. And while Eva has plenty of twenty-first century backbone, she is smart enough to adapt to the harsh conditions in 1715 without betraying herself.

The romance is breath-taking, as Eva and Daniel, stronger together than singly, seek to triumph over villains and situations that would have destroyed lesser souls. And Ms. Kearsley leaves us gasping at the end with a corker of a surprise.

Read The Rose Garden. You'll be happy you did.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: A DASH OF SCANDAL by Amelia Gray

2011-09-25T10:53:00.005-04:00

Not only scandal, but love, laughter, secrets and mystery abound in Amelia Grey's latest delightful Regency historical, A Dash of Scandal.

A mysterious thief has invaded the ton, stealing priceless objects d'art, including a gold raven sculpture from the Earl of Dunraven. Then the earl meets Miss Millicent Blair, who always takes notes at parties and secretes herself in dark corners. Could this charming young lady possibly be the thief? Not helping Dunraven's quest to retrieve his property are the daily doses of scandal offered by the ton's favorite gossip columnist, Lord Truefitt, who has the uncanny knack of skewering the rich and famous, especially the earl.

Millicent despises dashing young men of the ton--one of them ruined her mother. She wants nothing to do with the earl, even though he's the only man who has ever stirred her heart. But she also guards a secret not her own she must keep from him.

Ms. Grey has written another of my favorite type of story, romance plus. I prefer romances that contain another element in addition to the love story, and this one has plenty of mystery and humor to enliven the action. I also like honorable main characters, especially ones who are evenly matched, and Dunraven and Millicent are wonderful. Millicent, with her witty, spirited repartee, is the formidable earl's equal. And Dunraven honors her as a worthy opponent, even as he seeks to unravel her secrets.

Fresh and fast-paced, with abundant doses of humor, plenty of deceptive appearances, and a mystery to tantalize us until the end, A Dash of Scandal has everything.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: LORD AND LADY SPY by Shana Galen

2011-09-18T07:01:00.002-04:00

The war with Napoleon is over. What's a spy to do? Such is the problem facing Adrian and Sophia in Lord and Lady Spy, Shana Galen's latest Regency historical with mystery and action.

Unbeknownst to each other, Adrian and Sophia both worked for the same top secret organization in the Foreign Office. Retirement holds no allure for spies who thrive on danger and deception, especially when their marriage is troubled. And then the prime minister requests their services in a murder investigation. The catch--they must compete with each other, and the one who solves the case will be reinstated into his or her former job.

Loners both, with divergent styles, they must join forces to solve the case, increasing the strain on their relationship. They love each other, but do they love each other enough to take another chance on their marriage when only one of them can win the competition?

Ms. Galen's latest effort is an exciting mystery/spy story, interlaced with the sadness of a troubled marriage. I like stories that contain another element in addition to the romance, and this one has not only a murder mystery, but a spy story, too. I also like a non-traditional heroine, and Sophia is one of the best. She's a lady who can take care of herself in any situation her work throws at her. Her personal life is another matter. And I like Adrian, who wants both his life as a spy and the love of his wife, but who doesn’t know how to reconcile the opposing desires. Neither Adrian nor Sophia is perfect, and their suffering and humanity come through in this courtship-in-marriage story as they work to repair their relationship and solve the mystery. And the mystery will keep you wondering right until the end.

If you want a Regency with something in addition to fancy balls and pretty clothes (which this book also has), Lord and Lady Spy is the book for you.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: The Wedding Affair by Leigh Michaels

2011-09-11T07:01:00.002-04:00

A wedding is a wonderful event. Love is in the air and everyone is happy.

Well, not quite. Not if you're the Simon, the Duke of Somervale, whose sister's twelve (twelve!) bridesmaids are on the hunt for a ducal matrimonial prize. What to do? Why, hire the beautiful widow, Lady Olivia Reyne, as your pretend fiancée until after your sister's wedding. Especially after she propositions you. And not if you're Charles, the Earl of Townsend, who married cit's daughter Penelope for her money to save the bankrupt estate he inherited. But her father's purse strings haven't opened, and Penelope is as much a victim of her father's machinations as you are. And not when you're impoverished vicar's daughter, Kate, and you again meet Andrew, the man you fell in love with when you were seventeen, and who never came near you again.

With a setup like this, how can Leigh Michael's latest Regency historical, The Wedding Affair, but anything but lots of fun?

Ms. Michaels has given us another whopping good read with three intertwined stories of unlikely love threaded with secrets, and all with a wedding theme. The duke's sister's wedding forms the backdrop of the novel, while the three couples are in various stages of wedded bliss--or non-bliss. Each story also has a different emphasis. Simon's and Olivia's story is mainly funny, Charles's and Penelope's sad, and Kate's and Andrew's poignant, although all these elements exist to some degree in each tale. I love Simon, the mighty duke, when he's spattered with grape juice, the way Charles and Penelope circumvent her father, and the real reason Andrew never came near Kate again. And the secrets remain secret until the end.

Again, Leigh Michaels has nice-guy heroes (my favorites) and heroines who fight for what they want. And she manages to fit all this action, doing justice to each couple, into one book. Truly the hallmark of a master. I loved each hero, but my favorite is Andrew. I like a man who makes his own way.

Funny and sad situations, witty and pointed dialog, and a quick pace keep us turning the pages until the end. The Wedding Affair is another winner from Leigh Michaels. I can't wait for her next book.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT LOVE I LEARNED FROM ROMANCE NOVELS by Sarah Wendell

2011-09-05T07:01:00.002-04:00

Everything I Know About Love I Learned from Romance Novels by Sarah Wendell is a joyous celebration of those novels we all love to read, romances.

Contemporary, historical, time travel, urban fantasy--we can't get enough of these stories. And not just because of gorgeous heroes with ridged muscles and large…ahems. Whatever trials the hero and heroine suffer in these courtship stories, the book always ends with a Happily Ever After (HEA). In an imperfect world, romances give us hope that we can solve our own relationship problems, too. And not only solve them, but find the love and happiness we deserve.

What a fun book! I had a great time breezing through Ms. Wendell's thoughts on romance. Written in her witty, upbeat style, Ms. Wendell, with numerous comments and excerpts from romance novelists, dissects the attraction that has made romance the best selling, as well as the most vilified, fiction genre. Romances give us permission to value ourselves and show us the types of men to slaver over and the ones to avoid. In these novels, we can solve our relationship problems, learn how to ask for what we want, and even (gasp!) find out about sex--what we like, what we don't and what we didn't even know existed.

Ms. Wendell's most important point is that in a romance, the woman counts. I came to romance for that very reason. My preference in novels is a rousing fantasy adventure tale. But men wrote most of them and the women characters were either subsidiary or non-existent. In romance today, I can find the stories I like with the heroine right up there kicking butt alongside the hero. What's not to like?

Ah, romances. We sweep through them enjoying every moment. And when we finally reach the end and our beloved HEA, we savor it because the hero and heroine deserve it.

And so do we. Enjoy.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC supplied by Sourcebooks
Sarah Wendell is the cofounder of the romance review site SmartBitchesTrashyBooks.com

GIFTS GONE ASTRAY--5 Hearts from The Romance Studio, and Please Vote for Me!

2011-08-29T11:01:00.000-04:00

The Romance Studio has given Gifts Gone Astray 5 Hearts out of 5. Here's a snippet from the review:

"A truly wondrous tale of gift-giving, misunderstandings, and unexpected love. There were blushing beauties, scholarly studs, nefarious schemers, mischievous children, and kindly uncles all wrapped in Ms. Banche's prim and proper Regency prose, that once opened revealed a sweetly racy story that was perfect. The writing was vivid and captured the time exactly."

Thank you, TJ at The Romance Studio.

The full review is here:
http://www.theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/goneastraybanche.htm

Blurb and excerpt here.

Gifts Gone Astray is up for TRS's 5 Heart Sweetheart Vote from August 29 through September 4, 2011.

Please vote for me. The voting link is: http://www.theromancestudio.com/5heart_form.php

Thank you all,
Linda

Book Review: SYLVESTER or THE WICKED UNCLE by Georgette Heyer

2011-08-28T05:01:00.005-04:00

A duke who needs to be taken down a notch or fifteen and a battered down young miss who fights back the only way she can. Did I say Sylvester, or The Wicked Uncle by Georgette Heyer?

Sylvester, the Duke of Salford has decided to marry. And he has his list of requirements, and five prospective candidates. Why shouldn't he? He deserves nothing less.

And then he meets Phoebe, a young girl without money, connections or looks. A more unsuitable lady cannot be found. Her straightforward manner attracts a nobleman who has always been catered to.

But only up to a point. That point is reached when Sylvester discovers Phoebe is the authoress of a novel which skewers the rich the famous of the ton, but most especially him. Never expecting the novel to be published, Phoebe cast him as the villain, based on her then-limited knowledge. But when the ton fools blow up the novel's meaning to absurd proportions, everyone assumes she knew all the intimate details of her characters' lives, which she didn't. They punish her for it. Especially Sylvester, whom she has come to like.

Sylvester is a load of fun as the action ricochets from one improbably funny scenario to another. Ms. Heyer pokes fun at fatuous fribbles, feather-brained ladies, too-rich-for-their-own-good noblemen, spoiled brats, and horse-mad country squires who care more for their horses than their children. And she's wrapped it all up in her delightful Regency language.

Sylvester is also a tale about hiding--and what happens when you can't hide any more. Sylvester is an unusual type of hero, the closet tyrant--affable on the outside, but ruthless underneath. Phoebe also fits the closet motif. Powerless under the sway of a cruel stepmother and a weak father, she fights back against the brutal ton that disdains her by writing a novel ridiculing them.

I didn't care for either character. Sylvester is brutish in his attempts to punish Phoebe, and Phoebe accepts the blame for something that is not her fault. But they are appropriate to the time and partially redeem themselves by the end of the book.

I did like Phoebe's life-long friend, Tom, a decent, level-headed young man who calls a spade a spade and sticks up for Phoebe against Sylvester's wrong-headed treatment.

If you like Regency, Sylvester is another sensational ride into Georgette Heyer's historical world.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Book Review: BATH TANGLE by Georgette Heyer

2011-08-21T08:45:00.002-04:00

Regency Bath is in a tangle--a tangle of mismatched couples in Georgette Heyer's rollicking farce of a regency romance, Bath Tangle.

The Earl of Spenborough has died, leaving his twenty-five year old unwed daughter, Serena, and a wife younger than her. And to make matters worse, the earl has left Ivo, the Marquis of Rotherham, the man Serena jilted years ago, as trustee to her fortune.

Serena finds her plight unendurable, but what can she do? With a year of mourning to endure and nowhere to go, the ladies bury themselves in the earl's dower house--until utter boredom urges them to change their circumstances. But not too much. So off they go to Bath.

With such a setup, how can this novel be anything but a comedy?

If you like your regency in one large dose, Ms. Heyer has everything here--alpha and beta heroes, mismatched couples, jilted betrotheds, young girls forced by their parents to wed men much older than they, title-hungry mothers on the hunt for matrimonial prey for their daughters, and money, lots of it, not only owned by the rich aristocrats, but also by the cits who fund said titled aristocrats who then shun their benefactors. The action careens from one comic crisis to another, as the couples honor their promises (or not), even as their hearts urge them elsewhere. And all told with Ms. Heyer's delicious Regency language.

Ivo is my least favorite type of hero, the arrogant and obnoxious alpha male, and he does some distinctly unheroic things. But Serena gives as good as she gets, and together they lead this merry dance of a novel. The secondary characters are appealing and the action is fast-paced, for a wonderful time all around.

Bath Tangle is loads of nonstop comic fun, a treat for the summer or any other time.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC supplied by Sourcebooks

Review: THE QUIET GENTLEMAN by Georgette Heyer

2011-08-18T10:36:00.004-04:00

If you Regency fans out there haven't yet read The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer, you're in for a treat with this romance filled with comedy and danger.

The earl of St. Erth has come home--not that anyone wanted him to. Banished by his father because he was a constant reminder of the wife who deserted him, Gervase has spent his years at war. His stepmother and half-brother hoped a bullet would find him. After all, war is dangerous. But St. Erth is home, to a sullen family, a motley assortment of hangers-on and the no-nonsense Drusilla, a guest of the family. Matters worsen when Gervase and his brother compete for the same lady. And then the accidents start. Or are they accidents? Does someone want the earl dead?

The Quiet Gentleman is the type of romance I like, plenty of regency and with something else, in this case comedy and mystery, contributing to the action. I also love a secret identity story, and The Quiet Gentleman is one without masks. Gervase, blond, blue-eyed (I LOVE blond heroes), his manner unassuming, gives the impression of a lightweight. But he's no pushover, as the other players in the story soon discover.

The danger mounts with the page count. And not only the serious danger from a killer, but that most dreaded of comic regency dangers, rabid mothers seeking the earl as a matrimonial prize for their daughters. And, in a refreshing change, the heroine is the antithesis of the beautiful but not-much-else female.

I haven't read Georgette Heyer in a while, and I'd forgotten the sheer pleasure of wallowing in everything Regency. The history, the customs, the situations, the clothes, and most of all the language. Granted, I don't understand some of the thieves' cant, but that's part of the fun. If you really want translations, page through the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

They don't write regency romances like this any more. In these days of wallpaper, if you want a more authentic regency experience, read Georgette Heyer's The Quiet Gentleman.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: THE PRIVATE WORLD OF GEORGETTE HEYER by Jane Aiken Hodge

2011-08-16T07:01:00.006-04:00

Everyone who knows Regency romance knows Georgette Heyer. The bare bones of her life are there for all to see, but not much more. She disliked the cult of author as celebrity and rarely gave interviews. Jane Aiken Hodge's biography, The Private World of Georgette Heyer, sheds light about the life of someone so well known and at the same time so well hidden.

A compulsive writer, Ms. Heyer (pronounced "hare") published her first novel in 1921 when she was nineteen. Then, for the rest of her life, with a few exceptions, she wrote one and sometimes two novels a year. She wrote mainly historical romances, but also historical fiction, thrillers, contemporary novels and one collection of short stories, fifty-seven works in all. A monumental output for any author.

She was born on August 16, 1902. Her father encouraged his children to read, and she was a voracious reader as she grew up. She was tall, good looking, intelligent, and never hid her light under a bushel. And on top of it, she was a successful novelist, which scared away many men. But not Ronald Rougier, whom she married in 1925, and they remained married for almost fifty years, until her death in 1974. They had one child, Richard, who became a barrister like his father.

Ms. Hodge uses common knowledge, as well as Ms. Heyer's letters and interviews with people who knew her, to paint a picture of a woman of contradictions. She loved to write, but in her early career, she had to write. She was the main breadwinner for her mother and brothers after her father's death, and also in the first years of her marriage. Later, as her success increased, she raged on and on about how she paid too much in income taxes, but she couldn't be bothered to track deductible expenses that would have reduced her burden. She wrote stories read mainly by women, yet she was not domestic. She spent most of her life around men and preferred their company. She lived in the public eye, but since her novels sold so well, she deemed interviews unnecessary and actively discouraged them.

As rabid as she was about maintaining her privacy, she was also rabid about historical accuracy. Her books are treasure troves of historical detail, both the thrillers, which were contemporary in the 1930's when she wrote them, as well as the novels set in the Regency, Georgian and earlier eras. Ms. Hodge gives a fascinating view of the context in which Ms. Heyer's novels were written, and a chronological list of all her books.

Love Georgette Heyer's novels or hate them, she, along with Jane Austen, remains one of the icons of regency romance. If you want to know more about this fascinating woman, The Private World of Georgette Heyer is the book for you.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC supplied by Sourcebooks

Discounted Georgette Heyer eBooks!

2011-08-14T07:01:00.004-04:00

Georgette Heyer's Birthday is August 16.

For those of you with ereaders, Sourcebooks is celebrating from Monday August 15, 2011 through Sunday August 21, 2011 with $1.99 ecopies of all their Georgette Heyer novels and books about her. I don't know about you, but I'm going to fill in my gaps.

Here's the link with all the info below:

http://www.sourcebooks.com/readers/casavip/happy-birthday-ms-heyer.html

Here's the announcement:

Tuesday, August 16 would have been Georgette Heyer’s 109th birthday. In honor of this most beloved author, who many call the Queen of Regency Romance, Sourcebooks is discounting EVERY SINGLE one of the eBooks we currently have available to $1.99 for one week, getting Heyer’s Birthday Party started a day early on August 15!

That’s 46 books by Georgette Heyer, plus the fabulous reader companion, Georgette Heyer’s Regency World by Jennifer Kloester, available for $1.99 from August 15-August 21.

As always, please feel free to share this awesome deal with your blog readers, on Twitter, through Facebook, etc. This is the perfect time for everyone to read Heyer, and celebrate the woman who was such a prolific author! Please note that this promotion does not start until MONDAY, August 15. So if you want to wait until then, or post it over the weekend to post about the deals, that is fine, and will probably cause less confusion amongst eager readers! But if you do post about it today or tomorrow, please make it clear that the deal starts on MONDAY! Did I mention this starts on Monday? ;-)

Below is the full list of titles, separated by category: regency romance, mystery, historical fiction and non-fiction. And here’s a link with all of the info in this email, as well as a look at those gorgeous covers: http://www.sourcebooks.com/readers/casavip/happy-birthday-ms-heyer.html.

The eBooks will be available through Sourcebooks.com and major eBook retailers (and please give them some extra time if prices aren’t adjusted right away on Monday—this is a long list and a lot of data to update J). I wanted to let you know about this fabulous deal a little bit early. We’re looking forward to Monday, August 15 when our Heyer celebration begins! Enjoy!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MS. HEYER!
eBooks Available for $1.99
August 15-August 21, 2011
Heyer’s Birthday: August 16, 2011

REGENCY ROMANCE
1. Arabella
2. Bath Tangle
3. Beauvallet
4. The Black Moth
5. Black Sheep
6. Charity Girl
7. The Convenient Marriage
8. The Corinthian
9. Cotillion
10. Cousin Kate
11. Devil’s Cub
12. False Colours
13. Faro’s Daughter
14. The Foundling
15. Frederica
16. Friday’s Child
17. The Grand Sophy
18. Lady of Quality
19. The Masqueraders
20. The Nonesuch
21. Powder and Patch
22. The Quiet Gentleman
23. Regency Buck
24. The Reluctant Widow
25. Sylvester
26. The Talisman Ring
27. These Old Shades
28. Venetia

MYSTERY
29. Behold, Here’s Poison
30. A Blunt Instrument
31. Death in the Stocks
32. Detection Unlimited
33. Duplicate Death
34. Envious Casca
35. Footsteps in the Dark
36. No Wind of Blame
37. Penhallow
38. They Found Him Dead
39. Unfinished Clue
40. Why Shoot a Butler?

HISTORICAL FICTION
41. The Conqueror
42. An Infamous Army
43. My Lord John
44. Royal Escape
45. Simon the Coldheart
46. Spanish Bride

NON-FICTION
47. Georgette Heyer's Regency World

Review: MIDNIGHT ON JULIA STREET by Ciji Ware

2011-08-11T07:01:00.004-04:00

My primary requirement in a book is a good story. Midnight on Julia Street by Ciji Ware is a great one.

Corlis has been fired from her job--again.

A crusading TV reporter, Corlis doesn't care whose toes she steps on when she's pursuing a story, and she pays the price. This latest job in New Orleans is the fourth one she's lost. Not helping matters is her encounter with Kingston, her college nemesis, at the scene of her latest debacle. Twelve years ago at UCLA, feminist school paper reporter Corlis and sexist frat boy King fought a no-holds barred ideological battle that resulted in King's expulsion from the college. Now's he's a professor of architectural history with the mission to save an historic city block from a greedy real estate developer.

Both Corlis and King have mellowed in the intervening years. Corlis is no longer strident, and a stint in the marines obeying women officers has divested King of his chauvinist tendencies. Softer feelings now come to the fore. King even helps Corlis get another job. But flashbacks to antebellum New Orleans trouble Corlis. These visions send her back to when the buildings now under dispute were constructed. Her ancestor, another Corlis, lived in New Orleans then, and the other characters in the visions are also ancestors of people living today. Feelings run high over the preservation battle and find their mirror in Corlis and King's emotions, which make an about-face from their college days.

Midnight on Julia Street is an exciting, face-paced story loaded with historic and contemporary detail about New Orleans. Ms. Ware does a masterful job of interweaving the past when the buildings were constructed and the present when they may be demolished. She brings two very different eras to vivid life, leaving you wondering how the historical story will play out even though we already know the end.

As for the characters, I love Corlis. She's my kind of woman. Smart, educated, strong, an outspoken professional who stands up for what she believes in and always remains true to herself. I also like King, who has learned the error of his sexist ways to become an honorable man and the perfect match for Corlis. Watching them as they seek to deny their attraction while the preservation battle throws them together is another layer of drama in this riveting novel.

The third character is hot, humid, New Orleans. The issues facing the slave-owning French past of Corlis's visions are an eerie premonition of the problems of the modern city.

Ciji Ware's books are fantastic. Midnight on Julia Street proves that again.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: MIDNIGHT WALTZ by Jennifer Blake

2011-08-08T07:01:00.000-04:00

I've loved every Jennifer Blake book I've read. Midnight Waltz is no exception.

In antebellum Louisiana, young wife Amalie settles into marriage with her new husband, Julien. Handsome, rich and charming, Julien is everything a woman could ask for, but slightly distant--until he comes to her bed at night. Then he turns into the wildly passionate lover of every woman's dreams.

The difference confuses and alarms Amalie, especially when attraction develops between her and Julien's newly arrived cousin, Robert. Secrets abound in a society that owes its existence to strict conformity, and Amalie's placid life ruptures when long-hidden truths surface.

Vivid descriptions and lush storytelling rocket you through this vibrant and compelling historical romance. Ms. Blake's extensive research and detailed descriptions insert you firmly into 1850's Louisiana plantation life. As a product of her time, Amalie starts out as a bit of a doormat, but her difficult situation rapidly transforms her into a woman capable of directing her own course, even if society disapproves. The hero (and I won't tell you who he is) is again my favorite type, the decent man.

While Midnight Waltz is everything a romance novel should be, the story is also a sad commentary on the futility and the tragedy of obeying society's precepts at any cost.

First published in 1984, Midnight Waltz remains a winner.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Blog Jog Day - What's In a Name?

2011-08-07T01:01:00.005-04:00

Welcome to Blog Jog Day! Please enjoy my site then click over to http://jcfloresinc.blogspot.com to see what the next Blog has to offer! Lost in the links? You can always go back to the main Blog Jog Day Blog at http://blogjogday.blogspot.com and find a new link to jog from. Thank you for stopping by my site!

What's in a name?

Plenty, if it's mine.

A simple-looking name isn't always easy to pronounce.

"Banche" looks easy to pronounce, but it's not.

I get "banche" (1 syllable), "blanche" (1 syllable, added "l"), "blan che" (2 syllables, added "l"), "bianci" (trying to make my name more Italian than it is), and "ban shee" (2 syllables, soft s--no, I am not an Irish ghost).

I even get flak from machines. If you search for me on amazon, amazon asks "Are you sure you don't want blanche?"

A very nice gentleman from the UK with the same last name as mine asked if my family came from Mauritius. I had to look up Mauritius. Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean. No, we don't hail from so far afield. My family came from Italy.

So how do *I* (and I'm the only person who counts since it's my name *g*) pronounce my last name?

Correct pronunciation is ban-che --two syllables, accent on the first, short a, long e, "ch" as in "church".

How's that for complex? I figure if I ever make it to the bookstores, they'll shelve me next to the queen of regency romance, Mary Balogh (whose name rhymes with "kellogg"), and there isn't any better company.

What simple-looking names have you found that are difficult to pronounce? Is yours hard to pronounce?

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: TEARS OF GOLD by Laurie McBain

2011-08-03T13:44:00.004-04:00

Sweeping from London to the ranchos of Spanish California, gold rush San Francisco, and antebellum Louisiana, Laurie McBain's Tears of Gold plunges headlong on a vivid, heart-pounding story of love, adventure, deceit and mystery.

Mara will never end up like her mother, the cast-off mistress of a rich man. Mara spurns men first—until a young London suitor shoots himself after her rejection. The young man's uncle, Nicholas, vows revenge on the villain who hurt his nephew.

Not knowing the young man's fate, Mara, along with her con-artist brother and his son, leave London for the gold fields of California. Mara masquerades as a California ranchero's long lost niece as she reluctantly becomes part of her brother's latest scheme. Here Nicholas first encounters her, unaware she is the woman who rejected his nephew. Thus begins Nicholas's fascination with the beautiful and enigmatic Mara. When he discovers her identity, he smothers his growing admiration for her with contempt. The attraction is mutual, and Mara also fails to keep her distance, even as she knows she should.

Tears of Gold is big story in every sense of the word--historic events, life-and-death consequences, and dramatic settings. Today the book would be a series, with each of the three major locations, all full of historic and descriptive detail, a separate connected novel. The story itself is a wider-ranging, mid-nineteenth century version of Pride and Prejudice, although I found the leads less appealing. Ignoring the introduction of new information, Nicholas continually mistreats Mara, his prejudice blaming her for something that was not her fault. Mara is strong and independent, but her too-strong pride prevents her from explaining her side, and she makes excuse after excuse for Nicholas's continued ill-usage.

Despite the hero's and heroine's shortcomings, I enjoyed this big, sprawling, complex novel. If you also long for stories like this that no one writes any more, Tears of Gold, published in 1979, is the book for you.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

My Fifth Contract: AN INHERITANCE FOR THE BIRDS

2011-07-31T07:01:00.004-04:00

The Wild Rose Press has contracted my latest Regency comedy novella, An Inheritance for the Birds for their upcoming historical Love Letters series. Each story starts with a letter which changes the characters' lives. Some examples are an arranged marriage, a Dear John letter, an unexpected inheritance, a mail order bride, or the death of a loved one.

My letter is a notice of the hero's inheritance. But there's a catch...

Here's the unedited blurb and excerpt:

BLURB:
Make the ducks happy and win an estate!

What?

Mr. Christopher "Kit" Winnington can't believe the letter from his late great-aunt's solicitor. In order to inherit her estate, he must win a contest against her companion, Miss Angela Stratton. Whoever makes his great-aunt's pet ducks happy wins.

A contest? What a cork-brained idea. This Miss Stratton is probably a sly spinster who camouflaged her grasping nature from his good-natured relative. There is no way he will let the estate go to a usurper.

Angela never expected her former employer to name her in her will. Most likely, this Mr. Winnington is a trumped-up jackanapes who expects her to give up without a fight. Well, she is made of sterner stuff.

The ducks quack in avian bliss while Kit and Angela dance a duet of desire as they do their utmost to make the ducks--and themselves--happy.

EXCERPT:
Yawning, Kit shut the door behind him. Enough ducks and prickly ladies for one day. He dragged off his clothes and draped them over the chair back. He blew out both candles.

Bates had already drawn back the covers and left Kit's nightshirt on the pillow. The counterpane was soft under his hand, and covered a feather bed. He gave a grin. By any chance, had they used the down from the pet ducks to stuff the mattress and pillows?

After pulling on the nightshirt and tying the bed curtains back, he settled into the soft cocoon and laced his hands behind his head. Tomorrow, he would have it out with Miss Stratton about the steward's house, but that was tomorrow. He fluffed up his pillow and turned onto his side…

"QUACK!"

A bundle of flapping, squawking feathers exploded from the depths of the covers and attacked him. Throwing his arms over his head for protection, Kit fell out of the bed. He scrambled to his feet and bolted for the door, the thrashing, quacking explosion battering him. A serrated knife edge scraped over his upper arm.

"Ow!" Batting at the avian attacker with one hand, Kit groped for the door latch with the other.

The panel swung open. Miss Stratton, a candle in one hand, dashed into the room. "Esmeralda, you stop right now!"

The feathered windstorm quacked once more and, in a graceful arc, fluttered to the floor.

Kit lowered his arms and gave a mental groan. A duck. He should have known.

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: THE GREATEST LOVE ON EARTH by Mary Ellen Dennis

2011-07-28T10:01:00.003-04:00

The Greatest Love on Earth by Mary Ellen Dennis is a gripping story of great love, great betrayal and the great danger of getting what you want played out against the unusual and exotic background of mid-nineteenth century American circus life.

Equestrienne Calliope knows only the circus, but longs for a normal life, symbolized by the name "Mary". She loves Brian, the lion tamer, but he barely notices the young girl, and one day, he disappears. For years, Calliope and her father, the circus owner, soldier on as calamity after calamity caused by an unknown malefactor befalls the troupe. When Brian returns, the almost-grown Calliope appeals to him. But the big top burns down and separates them again.

After the disaster, Calliope awakens in the home of the rich grandparents of the little girl she rescued from the fire. Reviled by so-called "good" society for being part of the circus, Calliope reinvents herself as a Mary to find acceptance. But good society has a dangerous dark underbelly which threatens to destroy her. Lies lead to more lies and disaster after disaster as Calliope and Brian, who has also reinvented himself, seek their happiness with each other. And the evildoer who caused all those calamities at the circus lives on to spread more misery.

The Greatest Love on Earth is a fascinating glimpse of circus life, and a condemning study of Victorian American society with a mystery winding through the whole. The hypocritical and rigid "haves" who make the rules despise the lower-class circus people, when they are no better and often worse. Calliope and Brian are determined enough to fight them while they also battle each other when their desires conflict. I think both are a little too hard-headed, and Brian is less than heroic when he blames Calliope for things she can't control. There are multiple villains in this story, but the worst villain was too evil for my taste--he physically tortures Calliope.

But the circus is unique setting for a romance, and for those who have overdosed on noblemen, society misses and foreign locations, The Greatest Love on Earth is a welcome change.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC supplied by Sourcebooks

Review: THE LADY OF THE STORM by Kathryne Kennedy

2011-07-25T13:00:00.003-04:00

Kathryne Kennedy's The Lady of the Storm, the second installment of her Georgian fantasy, The Elven Lords, is a rousing story of adventure and the coming of age interspersed with magical marvels galore.

Half-human Cecily, bastard daughter of the elven lord of Dewhame, never wanted the powers over storm and stream she inherited from her father. And for years, thanks to her stepfather's magical safeguards and the watchful eye of Giles, whom her stepfather appointed as her protector, she lived as an ordinary girl. But Giles longs for action and adventure, and chafes in his role as blacksmith in a provincial village, especially since he desires Cecily. Cecily also desires Giles, but her stepfather has forbidden their yearning.

Then Cecily's stepfather disappears, and so do his shields. The water lord discovers his powerful daughter is still alive and moves to eliminate her. Cecily and Giles flee to the humans who fight to regain England from the elven overlords, and undertake a dangerous quest that leads them straight into the water lord's palace.

Ms. Kennedy has created another fascinating blend of history and magic in the elven kingdom of Dewhame. Merging magic and mores, she again captures Georgian sensibilities against the background of a world of magical wonders. And the magical water wonders are indeed wonderful and fit seamlessly into the story.

But The Lady of the Storm is also a study of heroism. Giles and Cecily, so human in their determination to seek their desires, achieve heroism and their yearned-for love when they finally accept the roles fate has thrust upon them.

Another fine effort from the master of historical magical romance.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Christmas in July: A Conversation with Mistletoe

2011-07-24T05:01:00.004-04:00

Greetings all, I am Mistletoe. You know me--the green plant with white berries you most often see at Christmas time. My association with Christmas arises because I am an evergreen and will remain green even in the dead of winter, but you can see me all year if you know where to look. Mainly on apple and oak trees.

Most often, people hang me or one of my relatives from chandeliers or above doorways so gentlemen can kiss their sweethearts. Ah, Christmas love. I thoroughly enjoy my role as a Christmas matchmaker.

I enjoy it so much, that I am the hero of Linda Banche’s Mistletoe Everywhere. What, you say? How can a plant be a romance hero? Isn’t Sir Charles Gordon the hero? Well, he thinks he is, but my name is in the title, not his. And I have the pivotal role in the story.

In any event, how can the didactic Charles be the hero? He never again wants to see the lovely Penelope because she jilted him. Or so he says. Meanwhile, according to Penelope, Charles withdrew his marriage proposal after she had accepted. While I have no intention of taking sides, something havy cavy is going on.

Although I am best known as a Christmas fertility symbol, I have another persona as the plant of peace. In medieval times, enemies who met under the mistletoe had to lay down their weapons and call a truce for twenty-four hours. This ceasing of hostilities afforded them a chance to talk out their differences rather than resorting to violence.

Can either of my identities help Charles and Penelope? I flatter myself that I am just the plant to do it. As luck, or perhaps, design would have it, I am on the scene as both fertility symbol and plant of peace in Mistletoe Everywhere.

Let me see if I can reunite Penelope and Charles.

Thank you all,
Mistletoe
As told to Linda Banche

Mistletoe Everywhere Buy Link here.

Review: JUST ONE SEASON IN LONDON by Leigh Michaels

2011-07-20T05:01:00.000-04:00

Charming characters, sparkling conversation and exuberant humor abound in Leigh Michaels's Regency historical, Just One Season in London, an exhilarating story of love found while trying to make others happy.

Young Viscount Ryecroft has no money. How can he keep up his estate, give his little sister, Sophie, a London Season so she can find a mate she wants, and also provide for his widowed mother, Miranda? He has to get them all to London for the Season. He will do anything he has to, including wedding an heiress for her money. Unbeknownst to him, Sophie and Miranda each set into motion their own plans to sacrifice themselves for the other two's welfare.

Just One Season in London is exactly the kind of book I like. With not one, but three of my favorite type of hero, the decent man, and heroines to match them.

In her previous book, The Mistress' House, Ms. Michaels wrote three separate but related novellas. Here, she has interwoven the three tales. In this era of straight-line stories, Just One Season in London is unusual in using multiple heroes and heroines, all of whose stories are of equal importance. In Ms. Michaels's deft hands, this means three times the fun. I like the way she intertwines scenes, showing each first from one main character's perspective, and then another's and another's. She keeps us in suspense until the final triple HEA.

I loved this book. In a world where everyone is out for him-or-herself, how refreshing to find characters so willing to sacrifice themselves for others.

There's probably a moral here about how you can make yourself happy when you make others happy, but we'll leave any possible preaching aside. Go and read Just One Season in London and have a good time.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Digi Books Café Summer Hunt--Chance to Win a Kindle!

2011-07-19T05:01:00.000-04:00

The Digi Books Cafe Summer Hunt is on!

Enter for a chance to win a Kindle.

How? There are two ways:

1. Go to each of the participating authors' websites and find the secret word. Email the word to marketing@digibookscafe.com, with Summer Hunt in the subject line.

2. Buy any book at Digi Books Cafe, http://www.digibookscafe.com/

There are three hunts this summer. Hunt 2 starts today, and I'm one of the participants. You can start your search with the secret word at my website, http://www.lindabanche.com

All the details are here: http://www.digibookscafe.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=9

Have fun and good luck!

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: WHISPERS IN THE SAND by Barbara Erskine

2011-07-17T05:01:00.004-04:00

Whispers in the Sand by Barbara Erskine is a masterful interweaving of three connected stories of ancient evil surviving through the ages to surface again in the present.

After divorcing her rat of a husband after fourteen years of patronizing, faithless marriage, Anna travels to Egypt for a trip down the Nile to follow in the footsteps of her great-great-grandmother, Victorian artist Louisa, as described in Louisa's sketchbook. Anna also brings along Louisa's old Egyptian scent bottle, which experts have claimed to be a fake, but which excites the interest of not one, but two men on Anna's cruise ship while awakening a long-dormant evil.

Vivid descriptions draw you right into the exotic sights, sounds, scents and searing heat of the colorful Egyptian desert of past and present, even showing the man-made changes between the Victorian period and now. The suspense never lets up as more and more of the malevolence surrounding the scent bottle reveals itself in parallel to Louisa and Anna, as their journeys mirror each other's.

I love the intrepid Louisa, who fights back against the human villain, malicious magic and the restrictive Victorian mores in her search for happiness. Anna is another matter. She's my least favorite type of heroine, the doormat. Given her history, I can understand her letting the villain bully her at the beginning, but she never develops. At the end, she is as much of a doormat as at the beginning.

Whispers in the Sand will keep you reading right to the last page to find out all the surprises, and Louisa is breathtaking. But the story would have been much better if Anna had developed some backbone by the end of the story.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: A GENTLEMAN NEVER TELLS by Amelia Grey

2011-07-14T05:01:00.001-04:00

A Gentleman Never Tells--even when a strange lady kisses him in the park, thereby forcing him into an unwanted betrothal.

But what a lady! Duke's daughter Gabrielle is lovely, smart and concerned about people and animals. Viscount Brentwood could do much worse.

But Gabrielle kissed Brent in order to extricate herself from an unwanted betrothal. She's not about to shackle herself into another. But she never meant to involve an innocent party in her problems. What to do? Why, convince Brent she will make a terrible wife and have him call off the engagement.

Fun abounds as Gabrielle concocts failing scheme after failing scheme to convince Brent what a bad wife she will make, even as they present a solid front against the high sticklers of the Regency ton. And why have all those pet dogs disappeared?

A Gentleman Never Tells is a witty story with likeable main characters whose actions are guided by a concern for others. Gabrielle wants both Brent and herself to have a choice in their futures. Also guiding their actions are Gabrielle's concern for her sister's well-being (although I think she is a little too kind to her flighty sister), and Brent's solicitude for his brothers. And entwined through the story is the puzzle of the lost dogs and their owners' anguish over their loss

Ms. Grey keeps the action fresh, compelling and witty while the suspense about the characters' future and the riddle surrounding the dogs keeps us wondering right until the end.

A book I couldn't put down.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: A WIFE FOR MR. DARCY by Mary Lydon Simonsen

2011-07-11T05:01:00.004-04:00

A gentleman never insults a lady. But Mr. Darcy does precisely that when he says Elizabeth Bennet isn't handsome enough to dance with at the Meryton assembly. And so begins Mary Lydon Simonsen's A Wife for Mr. Darcy, wherein Darcy's apology sets off a story about the conflict between duty and desire.

Although Elizabeth shrugged off the slight, she boldly calls him to task for his behavior. In Darcy's experience, ladies are retiring, colorless little sheep, always bowing down to men. But not Miss Elizabeth Bennet. And he likes it. So much so, that he falls in love with her.

But there are stumbling blocks. Besides Elizabeth's obvious social inferiority, Darcy has already taken the first steps towards seeking another lady's hand--one of the aforementioned sheep. He cannot, in honor, back away. What to do?

Never underestimate the power of friends, as Georgiana, Col. Fitzwilliam, Anne De Bough and even Col. Fitzwilliam's brother, the earl, unite to save Darcy from making the most colossal mistake of his life.

Rich with the social realities of the era, A Wife for Mr. Darcy is also a cautionary tale of the pitfalls involved in blindly following society's dictates. Duty and position in the world loomed large in Darcy's day, with serious penalties for not conforming to expectations. But should you follow society's precepts in a matter of such importance as matrimony? Should you undertake a disastrous, loveless, life-long marriage with a "suitable" woman as Darcy's cousin, the earl, did, or follow your heart and risk the consequences?

Ms. Simonsen writes the style of Jane Austen well, but with added emotion. The emotion transforms a simple Cinderella story into a tale of real people caught in a bind of life-altering proportions.

Darcy and Elizabeth's love makes them both vulnerable and deeply human, and is a joy to read. I like the rehabilitated Mrs. Bennet, here a sensible woman whose dramatics are only a bid for attention in a crowded female household. Mr. Collins is even sillier than in Pride and Prejudice, and Georgiana shows a definite talent for intrigue as she helps extricate her beloved brother from a tangle not entirely of his making.

A Wife for Mr. Darcy is a happily-ever-after we will all enjoy.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Blogging at Goddess Fish Pavilion Today and People Read My Reviews!

2011-07-10T05:01:00.007-04:00

First, I'm blogging today, July 10, at the Goddess Fish Pavilion (link here) for their July Release Party.

My post is GIFTS GONE ASTRAY: The Hero, the Heroine and the Location. I queued it for 9AM EST, so it should be one of the first posts for the day. Goddess Fish will award one lucky commenter from all today's posts with a $10 gift certificate. So leave a lot of comments!

Full link to my post is here: http://goddessfishparty.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-regency-comedy-gifts-gone-astray.html

On a second note, I review books for Sourcebooks, and I've wondered if anyone noticed. One of my ARCs for August is The Greatest Love on Earth by Mary Ellen Dennis. I reviewed her The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter in April and I loved it.

I skimmed through the first page of The Greatest Love on Earth, a page of reviews headed by one by Mary Jo Putney. I turned the page and...there I was! Here's what they used:

"Rich in historical detail, The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter sweeps you along on waves of atmosphere and passion...I couldn't put it down." Linda Banche Romance Author

I've changed my blog's name to Historical Hilarity! since then, but that's my review! The full review is here.

I guess someone does notice. And read The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter. It's a great book.

Thank you all,
Linda

GIFTS GONE ASTRAY Reviews

2011-07-09T07:29:00.008-04:00

I note the reviews that contain spoilers.

5 Hearts out of 5 from TJ at The Romance Studio
"A truly wondrous tale of gift-giving, misunderstandings, and unexpected love. There were blushing beauties, scholarly studs, nefarious schemers, mischievous children, and kindly uncles all wrapped in Ms. Banche's prim and proper Regency prose, that once opened revealed a sweetly racy story that was perfect. The writing was vivid and captured the time exactly."
http://www.theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/goneastraybanche.htm

5 stars from Lindsay Townsend (To Touch the Knight)
"Gifts Gone Astray by Linda Banche is a delightful romantic comedy of misunderstandings, ghastly relations (old and young) a sinister suitor and two very different books sent as gifts to the 'wrong' people."
http://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Gone-Astray-ebook/dp/B0058V64XS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1309696840&sr=1-5

4 out of 5 stars from The Romance Reviews (Contains spoilers)
"Linda Banche's new novella, GIFTS GONE ASTRAY, is a charming Regency love story, which I enjoyed very much...so put your feet up for a few hours and enjoy!"
http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooksreview.php?bookid=2842

4 out of 5 stars from Romance Writers Reviews (Contains spoilers)
"Interesting book"
http://www.romancewritersreviews.com/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=11&sobi2Id=127&Itemid=30

3.5 Stars from Long and Short Romance Reviews (LASR)
"A Regency screwball comedy? Linda Banche’s latest romantic offering, Gifts Gone Astray, comes pretty darn close...The comedy that runs throughout the book will have you laughing out loud (I certainly did) ...If you’d like to experience laughter as the hero and heroine fall in love, this is the book to read! "
http://longandshortreviews.blogspot.com/2011/08/gifts-gone-astray-by-linda-banche.html

3 Stars from RT Book Reviews (Contains spoilers)
http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/gifts-gone-astray
"A sweetly written historical romance. The story is about two lonely people trying to fit into Regency England’s strict societal structure, but not finding a place they feel comfortable until they meet each other."

3 Roses out of 5 at Romancing the Book
http://www.romancing-the-book.com/2012/01/review-gifts-gone-astray-by-linda.html
"Ms. Banche, has a good story here and one that is enjoyable...overall a good light read."

First Review for GIFTS GONE ASTRAY and Where I Guest This Week

2011-07-03T09:12:00.005-04:00

My day started off with a bang when I found this 5 star review from Lindsay Townsend (TO TOUCH THE KNIGHT) on amazon:

"Gifts Gone Astray by Linda Banche is a delightful romantic comedy of misunderstandings, ghastly relations (old and young) a sinister suitor and two very different books sent as gifts to the 'wrong' people. "

Thank you so much, Lindsay. Full review here.

As for my guest blogs this week:

July 5 -- Interview at Regency Sketches

July 7 -- Spotlight at Miss Mae's site

July 8 -- 8PM Eastern , chat at facebook group Romantic Historical Fiction Lovers. You must join the group to join the chat. I'm giving away a PDF copy of Gifts Gone Astray.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

Thank you all,
Linda

Release Day! GIFTS GONE ASTRAY, Regency comedy

2011-06-29T05:01:00.002-04:00

At long last, today is the release day for my latest Regency comedy novella, Gifts Gone Astray!

BLURB:
A gift is a wonderful surprise. Or maybe not.

At the Earl of Langley's family gathering, everyone receives a gift, including the servants. Tutor Stephen Fairfax expects a small token, but the present from family member Mrs. Anne Copely, the widow who's caught his eye, is a dream come true.

Until he opens it. What a gift! How did that demure lady acquire such a book? And she wants to "study" it with him? If he accepts her offer, tempting as it is, he could lose his job.

Anne has no idea why Mr. Fairfax is in such a flutter. Her present is a simple book of illustrations. The subject interests them both, and she would like nothing better than to examine the book--and Mr. Fairfax--more closely.

EXCERPT:
She glanced at the mantel clock. "Oh, look at the time! I must return to the drawing room. So much to do before the family party tonight. But, before I leave..." She swallowed. "We had some trouble with the gifts today. Yours went missing. I apologize—"

"But I received a gift. Someone left it outside my door."

"Thank the stars." She pressed her hand to her bosom.

Stephen's gaze followed her hand down and his throat dried.

"I worried your present was lost."

She worried about me. Capital! He tore his eager gaze from her breasts and lifted his head. "I have not yet unwrapped it. A book, I take it?"

"Yes. The volume belonged to my husband. He was a scholar, and that book was one of his favorites. Mine, too. We spent many happy hours enjoying it." Another dazzling smile curved her lips. "I selected it with you in mind."

His pulse thumped. I have a chance. "You flatter me with your consideration."

"My pleasure." She flashed another of her heart-stopping smiles. "As much as I long to, I will not ruin the surprise by telling you what the book is." She smoothed her face into a blank stare, but her glorious chocolate eyes twinkled.

So, she wanted to play games. He gave an inward smirk. He would love to play games of a different sort. But he would settle for a guessing game. For now.

Available at:

The Wild Rose Press

Note, depending where you are, the links might not yet be active.

Thank you all,
Linda
Linda Banche
Welcome to My World of Historical Hilarity!
http://www.lindabanche.com

GIFTS GONE ASTRAY: The Time and Place, 1817 in Langley, Cheshire

2011-06-26T05:01:00.005-04:00

The Wild Rose Press releases my latest Regency comedy novella, Gifts Gone Astray, on Wednesday, July 29.

Anne and Stephens' romance takes place in Langley, Cheshire. The seat of the Earl of Langley, Stephen's employer, Langley is a town on the western edge of the Macclesfield Forest. Langley is also east of the town of Bollin, and southeast of Liverpool and Manchester.

I selected this location because I set the story on a country estate. Macclesfield Forest provides a backdrop, and Stephen goes to Bollin on his day off. Also, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first passenger railway, was in its formative stages, and the start-up process brings a businessman to consult with the Earl of Langley. The railroad also plays a role for Stephen. I wrote a post on Regency Railroads here.

The time is the summer of 1817, two years after the passage of the Corn Laws, which raised the price of grain so high most people couldn't afford it, and one year after The Year Without a Summer, which destroyed that year's crops in many places. The combination of the two events wreaked havoc with many landowner's incomes. Anne's brother, John, is one of those landowners. I wrote two posts on The Year Without a Summer, which is also the setting for Pumpkinnapper. Blog post part 1 is here, and Part 2 is here.

Stephen's story is here.

Anne's story is here.

I hope you will find Gifts Gone Astray to your taste.

Thank you all,
Linda

GIFTS GONE ASTRAY: The Heroine, Anne, In Her Own Words

2011-06-19T05:01:00.003-04:00

My greetings to all. I am Mrs. Anne Copely. I have newly come to my Uncle James's country estate, Four Winds, for our annual family party. Although my job as teacher at Mrs. Black's girls' school is tolerable, this summer celebration is so festive, it has become the high point of my year.

Especially since my dear Edward's death. Oh, how I miss him. I am grateful for the three years we had, and the pain of his passing has diminished with time. While part of me will always love him, he has been gone these two years and I must continue on.

On my first day here, I noticed Mr. Stephen Fairfax, the new tutor for Uncle James's son. What a handsome man. And not only attractive, intelligent and kind, but we are both teachers and like books! Since everyone, including the servants, receives a gift at this fete, what better way to honor my late husband's memory than to give one of his favorite books to Mr. Fairfax?

Gracious, was I too forward in giving Mr. Fairfax a present? I hope not, since I disguised my action by giving several other servants gifts, too. I liked that book as much as my husband did. Will Mr. Fairfax see my special meaning?

I do so hope he likes the gift.

Thank you all,
Mrs. Anne Copely

Read Stephen's story here.

Gifts Gone Astray, Regency comedy, coming June 29, 2011 from The Wild Rose Press.

Blurb and excerpt here.

PUMPKINNAPPER now on Amazon

2011-06-18T09:49:00.005-04:00

It's not just for Halloween!

Pumpkinnapper, my second Regency comedy holiday novella, is now also on Amazon.

All three of my novellas, Lady of the Stars, Pumpkinnapper, Mistletoe Everywhere, are now on Amazon. My upcoming novella, Gifts Gone Astray, will also be there on its release day, June 29.

For some whimsical summer reading, try Pumpkinnapper. On Amazon here.

Lady of the Stars on Amazon here.

Mistletoe Everywhere on Amazon here.

Thank you all,
Linda

GIFTS GONE ASTRAY: The Hero, Stephen, In His Own Words

2011-06-12T05:01:00.007-04:00

Greetings. I am Mr. Stephen Fairfax, lately arrived here at the Earl of Langley's country estate, Four Winds, to work as tutor for his lordship's young son.

And "work" is the appropriate term. Although I taught at Cambridge for several years before I accepted this post, I have never before seen such a badly-behaved child. I vow, my private name for the boy, "Horrible Harold" is too mild for this child's actions. I wonder if I will survive.

But survive I must, until, and if, I can find employment more to my liking. With so many of the former military returning after Napoleon's defeat, jobs are scarce. I lost my position at Cambridge six months ago. A nobleman with more influence than my baron father appropriated my job for his ex-soldier son.

But then, if I had never come to Four Winds, I would never have met Mrs. Anne Copely. The young widow is the most beautiful, intelligent, kind, gracious, indeed, the most glorious lady I have ever encountered. And she regards me with some favor, too. She has given me a gift as part of her family's summer party. The generous earl includes the servants in the gift-giving, but do I detect more in her present? I certainly hope so.

Now all I have to do is open the package…

Thank you all,
Mr. Stephen Fairfax

Gifts Gone Astray, Regency comedy, coming June 29, 2011 from The Wild Rose Press.

Blurb and excerpt here.

LADY OF THE STARS Now on Amazon

2011-06-11T03:01:00.001-04:00

Lady of the Stars, my Regency time travel, is now available on Amazon.

And not just on amazon.com, but amazon UK and amazon Germany, too.

The links are:

amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Lady-of-the-Stars-ebook/dp/B0054R5J64/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1307724804&sr=1-2

amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lady-of-the-Stars-ebook/dp/B0054R5J64/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307725173&sr=1-2

amazon.co.de: http://www.amazon.co.de/ (Search on Linda Banche)

Thank you all,
Linda

Guest Paula Martin: Settings for My Novels

2011-06-08T01:01:00.005-04:00

Today I welcome Paula Martin and her contemporary romance, His Leading Lady, set in the London theater world. We all grit our teeth if an author makes the obvious mistake of placing the Eiffel Tower in Germany. But there are lots of other location errors authors can make. Here she talks about how important setting is to her novels.

Welcome Paula!

Many years ago, some scenes for a major British film were shot in my home town. We watched some of the filming one evening. When the film was shown the following year, of course we went to see it. In one scene, a bus pulls up outside the Town Hall. You could sense the reaction all over the cinema, with people muttering ‘Buses don’t stop there.’ In that split second, the illusion was lost as people with a personal knowledge of the location were distracted by an inaccuracy.

A minor detail, I know, but it has stayed with me, over 40 years later. I’ve read similar inaccuracies in books – someone looks out from the White House and sees Pennsylvania Avenue beyond the Washington Monument (wrong, the Monument is south of the White House, and PA Ave is north), someone gets a train from Victoria Station in London to travel to Edinburgh (nope, you’d have a long time to wait at Victoria for a train to anywhere in the north of Britain!), someone pulls their car to a standstill in Quay Street, Galway (sorry, it’s in a traffic-free zone).

In my opinion, writers must always take into account of the fact that one or more of their readers will know the place(s) in their book(s) unless, of course, they are completely fictitious places. All the research in the world will probably not give you the information to avoid making an error which causes the reader to say ‘Buses don’t stop there’ (or similar).

This is why, so far, I have set my novels in places with which I’m familiar. ‘His Leading Lady’ is set mainly in London, which I know fairly well. ‘Fragrance of Violets’ is set mainly in the Lake District, an area I know intimately. My current WIP is set in Egypt. A year ago, that setting wouldn’t have occurred to me, but having spent two weeks in Egypt last autumn, I think (hope!) I absorbed enough to write reasonably authentically about Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. I’m having to do more research than, for instance, a novel set in the Lake District, but at least I have a basic knowledge on which to build.

When I was writing a fan fiction story, I set part of it in Galway in Ireland. I’d never been there and, to my knowledge, none of the people on the loop where I was going to post it had been there either. However, my ‘perfectionist’ streak (damn that Leo trait!) wouldn’t let me make it up. I wanted to make sure my setting was accurate, so I went over to Galway for a few days. I did my characters’ walk from the Cathedral to Eyre Square and then down Quay Street to Claddagh harbour. Maybe I could have done that on a street map or even with Google earth but it wouldn’t have been the same. I was able to absorb not only the sights, but also the sounds and smells, as well as the whole atmosphere of the place.

In short, I find it much easier to describe a place if I've experienced it for myself. Not simply to avoid basic inaccuracies, but also to help my readers to experience it too. I admire those writers who can use settings with which they’re not personally familiar, but I need to feel comfortable with my setting. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why I’m reluctant to write a historical novel, despite being a historian by profession. I know I could research and/or use my imagination but somehow I wouldn’t have the same ‘feel’ for the place as I have with places I’ve actually visited.

Current release: ‘His Leading Lady’ published June 2011 by Whiskey Creek Press (www.whiskeycreekpress.com)

Blurb: Jess Harper’s predictable life is turned upside down when she discovers that Lora, her twin sister, has disappeared. It’s just a week before rehearsals are due to start for a new West End musical in which Lora has the lead role. Jess decides to pose as her sister in order to save Lora's career. This brings her into close contact with arrogant theatre director Kyle Drummond. Attraction sparks between them but there’s also evidence that he had been dating Lora. So is Jess simply a substitute – in real life as well as in the show? And what will happen when Lora eventually returns?

Excerpt from Jess’ first meeting with Kyle Drummond:
He turned towards her and Jess’s breath caught in her throat. Broad forehead, high cheekbones, wide mouth and strong jaw all combined to make him the most devastatingly attractive man she had ever seen. Then she realised that her own astonishment was reflected in the dark eyes that met hers.
“Good lord,” he said. “For a moment I thought you were –”
“Lora.” Jess gave a small smile. She was used to this reaction. “Yes, we’re very alike, Mr Drummond. In looks, at least.” She knew that both she and Lora had inherited their finely sculpted features and dark hair from their Italian mother, but it was their father’s Irish genes that had given them their startling hyacinth blue eyes that were such a contrast to their otherwise Italian looks.
The man’s gaze slowly travelled the full length of her body and Jess glanced down at her short peach skirt and her silky cream top. Suddenly she wished it wasn’t quite so low-cut and that it didn’t reveal so much of her cleavage. She looked up again and found his shrewd dark eyes studying her.
“Yes, you’re definitely twins. But you’re slimmer than Lora,” he said candidly, “and your hair’s longer.”
Her natural cordiality cooled at his blatant appraisal of her figure. “I don’t like being inspected, Mr Drummond.”
“Why not?” Eyebrows raised, he appeared totally unabashed. “You’re a beautiful woman. Why not be proud of that? Your sister certainly is.”
“Lora and I are two very different people,” Jess said coolly, “and I don’t take kindly to a complete stranger assessing me on some ten point scale.”
“So how many points did you give me?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“How many points?” he repeated. “When you were inspecting me from the back of the shop?” Wry amusement flashed in his eyes. “You must have stood there for a good two minutes. I saw your reflection in the shop window.”
“Oh!” An embarrassed flush crept to her cheeks. “I – er –”
“Don’t apologise and I won’t either,” he said easily.
Quickly she reverted to the cool approach. “Obviously I don’t need to introduce myself, and I assume you’re Kyle Drummond.”
“Yes. Where the hell is Lora?”
The abrupt demand threw her off balance again. “Wh-what do you mean?”
“Your sister – where is she? I’ve spent the last three days trying to track her down, and then trying to find you.” He made it sound as if it was all her fault.
Jess frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Would you explain please?”
Kyle Drummond fixed her with an intense gaze. “Don’t cover for her, Ms. Harper. If your sister thinks she can play silly little games with me, she’d better think again. And so had you.”
Jess stared at him, completely taken aback. “Excuse me, Mr Drummond,” she said, more calmly than she felt, “but before you start issuing your orders and threats, I repeat – I simply don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
She met his gaze steadily although her heart had started to race. She wasn’t sure whether it was sudden concern about Lora, or whether it was more to do with those dark eyes that still rested on her.

Contact Information:
Website: http://paulamartinromances.webs.com/ Personal Blog: http://paulamartinpotpourri.blogspot.com/ Writers Blog (with 4 other writers): http://heroineswithhearts.blogspot.com/

Review: THE SOLDIER by Grace Burrowes

2011-06-05T05:01:00.004-04:00

Grace Burrowes's latest Regency historical, The Soldier, is a redemption tale about three suffering people who share a common bond and who find peace with each other.

Devlin St. Just, duke's bastard and former soldier wounded in mind if not in body, returns from ten years of war as the newly minted Earl of Rosecroft. He travels to his sadly-in-need-of-repair estate and there discovers the former earl's illegitimate child. Also on the scene is Miss Emmaline Farnum, herself a bastard, and the child's fiercely protective aunt. They all suffer from the stigma society has placed on the illegitimate, and their shared pain draws them together. But secrets abound, and can destroy the fragile bloom of Dev's and Emmie's love.

As in her previous book, The Heir, Ms. Burrowes has again written my favorite kind of hero, a decent man whose suffering has made him a better man. I also like Emmie, who supports herself and the child as a baker. She holds her head high in a hypocritical world that buys her goods while scorning her for something she could not control. The poor child, shielded by Emmie and later, Dev, is a pawn, having no understanding or power over adult society. The emotions run high in The Soldier because the torment has been so great. I liked The Heir very much, but I like The Soldier more.

Despite its serious tone, The Soldier contains sprinkles of humor, especially when Valentine, Dev's youngest half-brother and the hero of the next book, The Virtuoso, arrives on the scene.

I look forward to the next two installments, The Virtuoso and Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

1816: The Year Without A Summer, Part II

2011-05-29T05:01:00.004-04:00

An unusual confluence of geological and astronomical factors precipitated The Year Without A Summer. The inciting event was the earth-shaking eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia from April 5-15, 1815. This explosion was immense, the largest volcanic eruption in the world since the Hatepe eruption in c.180 AD in New Zealand. People in Sumatra, 1200 miles away, heard the blast, and heavy volcanic ash falls were observed as far away as Borneo, Sulawesi, Java and Maluku islands.

The enormous amount of dust the volcano spewed into the atmosphere blocked the sun’s rays and lowered global temperature. But Tambora's eruption alone may not have caused 1816's disastrous weather. Other volcanic eruptions in the immediately preceding years (1812--La Soufrière on Saint Vincent in the Caribbean, and Awu on Sangihe Islands, Indonesia: 1813--Suwanosejima on Ryukyu Islands, Japan: 1814--Mayon in the Philippines) had set the stage by already darkening the skies and depressing temperatures around the world. In addition, all these eruptions took place during a Dalton Minimum, a period of unusually low solar activity.

Although most of the effects of The Year Without A Summer were disastrous (see my previous post), some were positive.

The large amounts of dust in the air produced spectacular sunsets worldwide, and most likely inspired J.M.W. Turner's paintings (Chichester Canal pictured).

The weather also inspired Lord Byron’s 1816 poem, Darkness:

The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air

In Switzerland, the atrocious weather forced Mary Shelley and John William Polidori, on holiday with their friends, to stay indoors. Mary Shelley used the time to write Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, and John William Polidori penned The Vampyre, two novels which influence us to this day.

And Pu mpkinnapper, my Regency Halloween comedy set in the English countryside in the autumn of 1816, uses the Year Without A Summer as a backdrop.

Thank you all,
Linda

1816: The Year Without A Summer, Part I

2011-05-22T05:01:00.001-04:00

1816 was supposed to be a good year in Regency England. After almost twenty years of warfare, 1815 had seen Napoleon's final defeat and his exile to St. Helena in the southern Atlantic.

But even as a welcome peace settled over the land, a large number of cloudy days, temperatures much colder than average and excessive rain conspired against the return of prosperity.

Early 1816 in England ranks with 1814 as one of the two coldest winters since records were first kept in 1659. In the London area, snow fell on Easter (April 14), and again on May 12. A summer peppered with notably cold periods and unusually high amounts of rain succeeded the frigid winter. On July 30, snow drifts were still on Helvellyn, the highest peak in the Helvellyn range in the Lake District, and in early September, ice formed on water in London.

The depressed temperatures prevented normal crop growth and the copious rain caused what did sprout to rot in the fields. Poor harvests had been the rule for the previous few years, and 1816's crop failure led to food shortages. This dismal year was then succeeded by the bitter winter of 1817.

Since the weather prevented the crops from growing, farm laborers were left without work. At the same time, returning soldiers swamped the country, swelling the masses of the unemployed. The Corn Laws, enacted the previous year, had set the price of grain at a high level. The intent was to protect British farmers from an onslaught of cheap foreign grain. But after successive years of abysmal harvests, British grain prices soared to heights the poor couldn't afford. Food riots broke out and food warehouses were looted. In one riot in Dundee, rioters ransacked over 100 shops and a grain store.

Disease usually accompanies famine, and 1816 was no exception. The food shortages led to the typhus epidemic of 1816-1819, responsible for the deaths of an estimated 100,000 Irish.

What produced such atrocious weather? In my next post, I'll explore the physical causes of The Year Without A Summer.

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: MR. DARCY AND THE SECRET OF BECOMING A GENTLEMAN by Maria Hamilton

2011-05-15T05:01:00.001-04:00

How could she turn down his marriage proposal? He's Fitzwilliam Darcy, the Master of Pemberley!

And a puffed-up, abrupt, overbearing, proud, haughty, sanctimonious, stiff-rumped know-it-all. How could she accept his proposal?

Thus begins Maria Hamilton's Mr. Darcy and the Secret of Becoming a Gentleman. We're off and running as Elizabeth's refusal at Hunsford sparks a wake-up call, and Darcy, desperate for her affections, heeds the summons.

He starts by making amends to Bingley and Jane, by admitting his role in keeping them apart and helping to reunite them. But Bingley and Jane, forgiving by nature, are relatively easy. Elizabeth is more difficult, but as he exerts himself to please the local Meryton society, which he previously scorned, she reexamines her own actions. While his behavior was often wanting, so was hers when she so rudely refused his proposal. Not helping are her family's misunderstanding of the changes in Darcy's behavior.

True to the Regency era with its attention to the period's constraints on society,
Mr. Darcy and the Secret of Becoming a Gentleman is also a timeless study of how easily two people can misunderstand each other, especially when those people are in love. But the novel is also a tender tale of love triumphant, as those same two people work through their problems together.

The book contains one of the most beautiful love scenes I have ever read. I quote:

Kneeling above her, he murmured, "Elizabeth, oh, Elizabeth," and looked upon her with reverence. "I love you so completely."

By the rooster's first crow, he awoke alone with only a hint of her scent and a set of discarded hairpins to confirm it was not a dream.

Mr. Darcy and the Secret of Becoming a Gentleman, Copyright 2011 by Maria Hamilton

Wonderful.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: The Truth About Mr. Darcy by Susan Adriani

2011-05-08T05:01:00.003-04:00

What is the truth in Susan Adriani's The Truth About Mr. Darcy? The truth is Darcy is madly, passionately, obsessively and desperately in love with Elizabeth and doesn't know what to do about it. The Master of Pemberley has met his match and his well-ordered world crumbles. How to put the pieces back together? By swallowing his pride and telling Elizabeth the truth about Wickham before her prejudice can hurt them both.

Darcy's early confession changes Elizabeth's opinion of him, leading Darcy to declare his love and win her much sooner than in Pride and Prejudice. But their early engagement leads not to early bliss. In the grip of overwhelming ardor, Darcy, that most upright of men, courts a scandal which can destroy the Elizabeth he adores.

The wit and proper behavior of Pride and Prejudice sometimes obscures the powerful feelings seething beneath the surface. Ms. Adriani has humanized the story by adding emotion to the book's almost too cerebral characters. Enjoy watching the overly rational Darcy succumb to uncontrollable love in his pursuit of Elizabeth, and a newly ambivalent Elizabeth as she welcomes his advances while knowing she shouldn't. Not only Darcy and Elizabeth feel her touch. Lydia is louder and more obstreperous, Wickham more dastardly and a grudge-bearing Mr. Collins incites trouble. But Darcy's and Elizabeth's love is the focus, as they overcome more obstacles of their own making until they can complete their love.

Another enjoyable version of Pride and Prejudice.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC supplied by Sourcebooks

25% Off All Ebooks at The Wild Rose Press in May

2011-05-06T16:08:00.005-04:00

All this month, The Wild Rose Press celebrates its fifth year in operation.

As a special gift, enjoy 25% off all ebooks (including mine) at The Wild Rose Press (http://www.thewildrosepress.com) with coupon code 18b632d0b0

Here's my link: http://thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=486&zenid=22aefecd81e713c7420bb257501f2bf3

Have a good time!

Thank you all,
Linda

A Determined Woman

2011-05-02T05:01:00.001-04:00

We all know the kind of heroines we like. Here's mine.

My heroine is intelligent, independent, and somewhat unconventional. Life may do its best to defeat her, but she survives because of iron determination and sheer hard work. She’s a decent woman, nice, but not too nice. No doormats or martyrs need apply

I write Regencies, and many Regency heroines are very young. Not mine. Her few extra years have thrown some troubles her way, but she’s survived on her own terms. She and the hero may disagree, but she doesn’t cave in to unreasonable demands.

And last, but not least, she’s beautiful. She has to match the gorgeous hero. As for a picture, I think the image on the cover of Lady of the Stars is a good representation.

In many ways, my heroine is a lot like my hero (see A Nice Guy). The same standards apply to them both.

Since I like independent women, why do I write Regencies? In the modern world, we take independence for granted. In an historical, the independence has to show up in more subtle ways.

I faked it a little in my first book. Lady of the Stars is a time travel, and the heroine, Caroline, is a twenty-first century woman. But, even for a modern woman, time traveling back to 1817 is a shock. In any event, heroine that she is, she adjusts and thrives, with a little help from the hero.

My other stories are set entirely in the past. What do I do now?

In Pumpkinnapper, the heroine, Emily, married at seventeen. Now twenty-four and a widow, she takes care of herself when the pumpkinnapper tries to steal her pumpkins. The hero, Hank, in true hero style, offers to help her, but she refuses. Hank, again in true hero style, still tries to protect her, but she almost shoots him when she mistakes him for the prowler.

In Mistletoe Everywhere, the poor heroine is living at the behest of her rich aunt. Rather than letting her aunt force her into marriage with a man she fears, she decides to earn money with her embroidery. Gracious, working! What a scandalous thing for a lady to do!

In my upcoming Gifts Gone Astray, the heroine is a poor widow who now works as a teacher. Some people look askance at her because a proper woman did not work.

In one of my WIPs, the heroine is married off at eighteen. She uses her pin money and widow’s jointure to make a fortune. Another WIP has a mathematician heroine, who creates a code which the enemy can't crack.

I haven’t yet written a story where the heroine goes mano a mano with the villain. But who knows? I like adventure stories, so maybe someday I’ll write one.

Thank you all,

Linda

The Wild Rose Press Celebrates 5 Years And Prizes!

2011-04-30T01:01:00.009-04:00

We are celebrating
5 years!

Five days and more than
$500.00 worth of prizes.

April 27th - May 1st on the
Wild Rose Press yahoo groups.

Join us for a celebration in
the garden.

The Wild Rose Press Yahoo group

The Wilder Roses Yahoo group

(this is an adult loop with

adult content.

18+ only)

How to Win...

For chances to win more than $500.00 worth of prizes

all you have to do is party with us. Everyone who participates

will be entered into the prize drawings.

Non-stop fun from Wednesday, April 27 - Sunday May, 1st.

Click on the links above to join the fun and

help us celebrate 5 years in the garden.

Sourcebooks British Babes and Georgette Heyer Giveaways

2011-04-24T05:01:00.006-04:00

Starting Monday, April 25 through Friday, April 29, Sourcebooks is sponsoring two book giveaways in honor of the royal wedding.

First, a "Georgette Giveaway" here! Leave a comment on this post with your email address through Friday, April 29, for a chance to win one of two copies of a Georgette Heyer novel. Sourcebooks can mail to the US and Canada only.

And the winners of the Georgette Heyer novels are Pommawolf Emeraldwolfeyes and Emily Hendrickson! Congratulations!

Second, on the Sourcebooks British Babes Book Brigade Facebook Page:

If you haven’t already checked out the Sourcebooks British Babes Book Brigade Facebook Page (where you can participate in giveaways and interact with authors like Elizabeth Chadwick, Jill Mansell, Helen Hollick, Sarah Bower and Phillipa Ashley and more…) then you should before next week because the page is about to go royally mad!!

The royal wedding is only a week away and we are going to be celebrating all next week. Starting Monday we will be doing a giveaway every day until the big celebration on Friday. But these are no ordinary giveaways – these are royal wedding prize packs!

3 winners will be randomly picked each day from the facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/britishbabesbookbrigade):
- The 1st place winner will get a William & Kate wedding memento (it is top secret for now (just like Kate’s dress J) but check the page out on Monday to find out – oh and they are all different so there will be a different memento each day). Along with that they also get their choice of three books from any of our British Book Babes.

- The 2nd place winner will have their choice of any two books from any of our British Book Babes.

- The 3rd place winner will have their choice of one book from any of our British Book Babes.

Have fun!

Blog Award: Best of Romance Blog Award

2011-04-23T08:03:00.006-04:00

Author and illustrator Deirdra Eden-Coppel (Let Me Be With You) was nice enough to give me her lovely "Best of Romance" Blog Award for this blog.

Such a lovely picture, which Deirdra created herself.

Thank you, Deirdra. Visit her website at http://www.knightess.com/.

Review: WICKHAM'S DIARY by Amanda Grange

2011-04-21T05:01:00.002-04:00

In Wickham's Diary, Amanda Grange has written a cautionary tale of how circumstances and personality can conspire to make a man go wrong.

In Georgian and Regency England, birth was all. No matter how brilliant, hardworking or even wealthy, a person's place in the natural hierarchy trumped all. But if a man was not born to wealth and power, he could obtain some if he used his opportunities.

Wickham, son of the elder Darcy's steward, was the younger Darcy's childhood playmate and friend. As such, Wickham had access to the highest circles of society. In addition, the elder Darcy paid for the boy's education at Cambridge, which the Wickhams could never have afforded. Wickham was always a bit wild, but his mother's guidance kept his more undisciplined tendencies in check. She urged him to better himself by using his acquaintances among the upper classes, but she died while he was still in Cambridge. Unchecked, Wickham's always-present resentment toward Fitzwilliam Darcy's privileges took root and festered, with the culmination of his attempt to elope with Georgiana.

I found this story sad in that a basically good young boy went wrong because of a lack of guidance. I am also angry at the adult Wickham, who had advantages others of his class could only dream of, and yet squandered them all. But I am angry as well at a world that produced sycophants like Mr. Collins, malcontents like Wickham, and the sanctimonious Fitzwilliam Darcy who took his exalted place for granted.

Kudos to Ms. Grange for portraying Georgian England in such a true light as to bring out both reactions.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC Supplied by Sourcebooks

Review: A RACE TO SPLENDOR by Ciji Ware

2011-04-17T05:01:00.000-04:00

Ciji Ware sets off seismic waves of her own in A Race to Splendor, an earth-shaking triumph of a novel about a woman architect battling the male establishment in San Francisco in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake.

Amelia Hunter Bradshaw returns from completing her architect degree in Paris to find her drunken, irresponsible father has gambled away the Bay View Hotel, which her deceased grandfather left to her. To add insult to injury, her father lost the hotel to the disreputable J.D. Thayer, a card cheat and dealer in prostitution, a friend of shady businessmen, and a man who openly flaunts his Chinese mistress. And the courts, which uphold the condescending patriarchial view that logical men must administer flighty women's property, uphold her father's actions.

Although Amelia despises J.D, work together they must to rebuild the Bay View Hotel from scratch in the construction frenzy after the earthquake's devastation. In the process, each discovers the other may not be quite what he or she appears.

From the graft-taking city officials and the venal wealthy businessmen who run the town, to the poor abused Chinese and Italian immigrants, Ms. Ware's cast of realistic supporting characters enriches the many layers in this book. Last, but not least, is the City of San Francisco itself, which Ms. Ware has lovingly described in all its historical and physical grandeur, encompassing both the good and the bad.

In Amelia and J.D., Ms. Ware has created a Darcy and Elizabeth for the early twentieth century. Amelia fights against the male-dominated world that treats women as children whom men must protect, but often abuse. And a woman doing a man's job is an abomination. While J.D. needs and admires Amelia as both an architect and a woman, he nevertheless believes he is just as right in his patronizing views as she is. These two strong personalities lock horns in a titanic struggle that causes the pages to melt away.

I adored this book. Ms. Ware writes the kind of stories I like: historicals with women doing so-called men's jobs who take on the male-dominated world and win, and heroes who like these heroines precisely because they are the way they are. After reading A Race to Splendor, I ran out and bought Ms. Ware's Island of the Swans, Wicked Company and A Cottage by the Sea. Am I going to have a good time.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: THE LANDLORD'S BLACK-EYED DAUGHTER by Mary Ellen Dennis

2011-04-14T05:01:00.000-04:00

The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter by Mary Ellen Dennis is a riveting, fast-paced story of a man battling for justice in an unjust era and a woman struggling for her independence in a male-dominated society.

In this intense, brooding retelling of Alfred Noyes's The Highwayman, past lives, reincarnation, dark emotions and forbidden love collide in the story of Elizabeth and Rand, two misfits in Georgian England. Elizabeth, an independent woman who earns her own way as an author, is a menace to the oppressive status quo, symbolized by the evil magistrate, Walter, whose desire for her conflicts with his need to destroy her. Soldier turned highwayman Rand, disgusted with the platitude-spouting hypocrisy of the powerful that crush anyone who defies them, strikes back as a Georgian Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Sparks fly when these two kindred souls meet. Increasing their blazing attraction for each are glimpses of unfinished business from the past, when they were also lovers.

Ms. Dennis plunges you deep into Elizabeth and Rand's time right from page one. Rich in historical detail, The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter sweeps you along on waves of atmosphere and passion as a desperate Elizabeth and Rand seek a haven in a world determined to subjugate them. Rand is another version of my favorite kind of hero, a decent man. And Elizabeth is smart and tenacious, a fighter in a repressive age that demolished most women's resistance.

I couldn't put The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter down. Am I glad I read it.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: THE RETURN OF BLACK DOUGLAS by Elaine Coffman

2011-04-10T05:01:00.004-04:00

A matchmaking ghost, time travel and Highland hunks. What more can you ask for in a romance?

Welcome to Elaine Coffman's The Return of Black Douglas.

Archaeologist Isobella Douglas lives in the wrong century. She needs a Mr. Darcy, especially after her rat of a fiancé elopes with his dance instructor a week before their wedding. So, Isobella and her twin sister, Elisabeth, visit the Scotland of their heritage. At Beloyn Castle, one of the ancient Douglas strongholds, they view a portrait of their ancestor, The Black Douglas. Wouldn't it be nice to have a man like that?

Be careful what you wish for…

The ghost of The Black Douglas catapults Isobella and Elisabeth back to 1515 Scotland. After dumping them into the middle of a battle between the Mackinnons and the Macleans, the meddlesome spirit abandons them. The Macleans take Elisabeth, but the Mackinnon chieftain, Alysandir, saves Isobella. Although a warrior, Alysandir is kind and understanding to the disoriented Isobella. A fierce attraction rapidly develops between them, but Alysandir mistrusts her. Where did she come from? Is she a spy? And he doesn't want to marry and Isobella does.

In order to succeed, time travels need to juxtapose the past and present in a believable manner. Ms. Coffman has the task down pat. Alysandir, while every inch the Highland warrior chief, is also kind and caring, a man for any woman's dreams. Twenty-first century Isobella has just enough of the traditional to fit into historic Scotland while retaining her modern spunk. While mainly serious, The Return of Black Douglas also contains plenty of comic relief to lighten the darker moments. And there are lots and lots of hunky men in kilts to please the most rabid Scottish historical fan.

A wonderful journey to the Scotland of the past with a hero to die for and a heroine who matches him--The Return of Black Douglas has it all.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: WHAT WOULD MR. DARCY DO? by Abigail Reynolds

2011-04-03T05:01:00.000-04:00

What Would Mr. Darcy Do? by Abigail Reynolds is a fast-reading sensual and emotional tale of love conquering all despite supposedly insurmountable odds.

In this latest of Ms. Reynolds's Pemberley Variations, Darcy, instead of concealing his feelings at Lambton, proposes to Elizabeth after she tells him Lydia has run away with Wickham. Despite his proposal, Elizabeth convinces herself the disgrace to her family is too high for his love to overcome. She requests time to consider, while ultimately planning to refuse. With reluctance, he accepts her delay, and then hurries to London where he deals with Wickham.

When he returns, he presses her for her answer. Misunderstandings continue until both Darcy and Elizabeth each explain the behavior which has so confused and angered the other. Love so long suppressed comes to the rescue.

This relatively short (227 pages) account of Darcy's and Elizabeth's tortuous journey to understanding, love and passion is a delight to read. Both have suffered for their pride and prejudice, but the self-knowledge gained and the explanations given for misconstrued conduct make their love the sweeter. I especially enjoyed their negotiations in setting and resetting their wedding day. Elizabeth wants the wedding a week after Jane's and Bingley's. Darcy wants it sooner. Both are so eager, they finally fix on the day immediately after the other wedding.

Two weddings in a row and twice the marital bliss. Another wonderful Pemberley Variation from Abigail Reynolds.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: THE TROUBLE WITH MR. DARCY by Sharon Lathan

2011-03-29T05:01:00.001-04:00

The happiness of a birth and a wedding, the sorrow of illness, and the return of villains all mark The Trouble with Mr. Darcy, the emotional latest chapter in Sharon Lathan's Darcy Saga.

The Trouble with Mr. Darcy belongs to Elizabeth as some good and a lot of bad overtake her. The Darcys have a new son, Michael, but all is not well. Although physically cured, Elizabeth remains mentally sick from the birth, and the illness takes a toll on her and Darcy's marriage. On a happier note, Kitty weds her beloved General Randall Artois, although the attendance at the wedding by George and Lydia Wickham casts a pall over the proceedings. George is as evil and revengeful as ever, and along with another malefactor from the past casts Elizabeth as the pawn in his latest plot against Darcy.

Written in her flowing sensual style and with a wealth of detailed descriptions, Ms. Lathan again transports us to the Regency as she immerses us into the joys and fears of her characters. We suffer along with Darcy and Elizabeth during Elizabeth's illness, rejoice in the heady joy of Kitty and Randall's new love, and snarl at Wickham and his dastardly plot as we cheer on Mr. Darcy in his new role as swashbuckler fighting to protect his family.

All in all, a story that grips you from beginning to end. Enjoy.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Guest Kara Louise: The Dreaded Entail

2011-03-25T05:01:00.004-04:00

Today I welcome Kara Louise, whose latest book is the Pride and Prejudice retelling Only Mr. Darcy Will Do. Here she explains the mystery of that most dreaded of property entanglements, the entail.

Leave a comment with your email address for a chance to win the copy of Only Mr. Darcy Will Do which Sourcebooks has generously provided. Kara will select the winner. Check the comments to see who won, and how to contact me to claim your book. If I cannot contact the winner within a week of the selection, I will award the book to an alternate. Note, Sourcebooks can mail to USA and Canada addresses only.

And the winner Kara selected is Kaye Manro! Congratulations to Kaye, and thanks to all who participated.

Welcome, Kara!

Thanks for inviting me to share with you today. Linda asked me to share a little about the dreaded entail that had Mrs. Bennet so easily vexed. In fact, I attribute most of her episodes of flutterings and vexations of nerves to Longbourn’s entail and what it meant. If you do not fully understand what an entail is, you are not alone. Mrs. Bennet did not understand it either. Here is an excerpt from “Pride and Prejudice” concerning the subject:

“Jane and Elizabeth attempted to explain to her (Mrs. Bennet) the nature of an entail. They had often attempted it before, but it was a subject on which Mrs. Bennet was beyond the reach of reason; and she continued to rail bitterly against the cruelty of settling an estate away from a family of five daughters, in favour of a man whom nobody cared anything about.”

Even though she did not fully understand it, she knew it could mean the loss of her home to her and her daughters. Mrs. Bennet had every reason to fear what would become of them if Mr. Bennet died. Longbourn was entailed to the male heir, and since they had no sons, the closest male heir was the odious Mr. Collins, who, as Mr. Bennet teasingly suggested, “may turn you all out of this house as soon as he pleases.”

In my newest book, “Only Mr. Darcy Will Do,” Mrs. Bennet’s fears do come to pass and Mr. Bennet dies after Elizabeth returns from Kent. While Mr. Collins waits several months before taking his rightful ownership of Longbourn, he does eventually move in with Charlotte. He does extend the courtesy of allowing the Bennet ladies to remain, but none of them choose to do so.

Mrs. Bennet could not bear to live under the same roof with Mr. Collins, so she and her three youngest daughters move to Meryton to live with her sister and brother-in-law. Elizabeth and Jane both take governess positions in London. Jane becomes a governess in her aunt and uncle’s home, (the Gardiners) and Elizabeth becomes governess to six year-old Emily Willstone.

Elizabeth soon comes to learn that the Willstone’s have a long-time acquaintance with Mr. Darcy. When Mrs. Willstone’s sister, Rosalyn, comes to visit, Elizabeth learns that this young lady has had a secret affection for Mr. Darcy for a long time. Elizabeth fears that their paths might cross, but has a greater fear that someone will discover that he proposed to her and she turned him down. When the Willstone family is invited to Pemberley, Elizabeth cannot escape being in his company. And being in a much lower position, when she begins to see him in a new light, she regrets that he will likely never renew his offer since she is much more beneath him.

Now, what exactly is an entail?

An entail was a legal stipulation put on a home and land to ensure it would be kept in the family on the male line. One of the reasons for doing this was that if the property was given to all the children of the owner, it would have to be divided up between them. Eventually there would not be enough for all future generations.

In the particular case of the entail of Longbourn, someone back in Mr. Bennet’s family line drew up this entail, which stipulated that the male heir would inherit. Mr. Bennet could do nothing about it now, but he could have ended the entail if he had a son.

In P&P we are told, “When Mr. Bennet had married, economy was held to be perfectly useless; for, of course, they were to have a son. The son was to join in cutting off the entail, as soon as he should be of age, and the widow and younger children would by that means be provided for.”

From the text above, Mr. Bennet could have, and probably would have, broken the entail in agreement with a son, when he had come of age, if he had one. The son would be the prospective heir, and only the two of them could break the entail legally. Without a son, the entail went to the nearest male relative in his family line, and that was Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins could do nothing about the entail, even if he wanted to, because he was merely the heir presumptive. An heir presumptive means just that. You are only presumed to be the heir until or unless a direct heir (son) is born. That could be either through a ‘surprise’ (and possibly a miracle) if Mrs. Bennet were to bear a son, or if she died and Mr. Bennet remarried and then had a son with his new wife.

It’s also interesting that even if one of the Bennet daughters were to marry and have a son, it could not go to him. It had to go through the male heir. I think we can see why Mrs. Bennet was so concerned. In “Pride and Prejudice” she does marry off at least two of her daughters to men who are wealthy enough to help out if they were to require their financial assistance.

In “Only Mr. Darcy Will Do,” however, we see what may have happened to the Bennet ladies if Mr. Bennet had died. I hope you will be curious enough to read the book and find out exactly what happens between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.

Thanks for letting me share!

Only Mr. Darcy Will Do by Kara Louise
In this fresh and original retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s greatest fear comes to pass—Longbourn is entailed to Mr. Collins. Elizabeth finds work as a governess in London, widening the social divide between her and Mr. Darcy and making it more difficult than ever for them to find their way to each other...

Kara Louise grew up in the San Fernando Valley and moved to the Midwest in 1991, where she enjoys the relaxed pace of the country. She began writing about nine years ago, first with a story inspired by her genealogical research. But that took a back seat when she discovered the writings of Jane Austen. She has written six novels based on Pride and Prejudice, including Darcy’s Voyage, answering the “what happened next” and the “what ifs” in Elizabeth and Darcy’s story. She lives with her husband outside Wichita, Kansas. Visit her at http://karalouise.ahhhs.net/

Regency Places

2011-03-20T08:44:00.002-04:00

When I started to write Regencies, I looked at maps to familiarize myself with the places where my characters lived. Even a cursory examination revealed that many English place names were duplicated in the United States, especially in the areas the English settled.

The English were the first Europeans to arrive in the northeastern United States, where I live, and they named the area New England after the home country. As they built cities and towns, they named them after the places they had left behind.

Examples abound. After New England, the most familiar names are New York, New Hampshire, and New Jersey, named for the British counties of York, Hampshire and Jersey. Manchester and Peterborough are in New Hampshire, and Warwick is in Rhode Island. Massachusetts has Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex counties.

Some names were so popular the settlers reused them. Both Connecticut and Massachusetts have Middlesex counties. The city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, lies in northern New England, and Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in the south. Connecticut contains the City of Bristol, and Bristol County is part of Massachusetts. The City of Worcester, Massachusetts, lies in Worcester County. There are two Oxfords in Massachusetts, one in Bristol County and one in Worcester County.

Boston, Lincolnshire, lent its name to Boston, Massachusetts. The Charles River, named for King Charles I, separates Boston from Cambridge. About fifteen miles west of Boston is the Town of Lincoln. Travel another fifteen miles west to reach the City of Marlborough, which we Yanks often abbreviate as "Marlboro". Alas, Marlborough, Massachusetts, has no Duke.

Other English place names in Massachusetts include (in no particular order): Waltham, Sudbury, Bedford, Dover, Shrewsbury, Truro, Gloucester, Chelmsford, Tewksbury (not quite a match, the English town is spelled Tewkesbury), Falmouth, Taunton, Bridgewater and Chelsea.

As far as place names go, I've only scratched the surface. When I look at the maps again, I know I'll find even more.

Thank you all,
Linda

Why Is Everyone Named George?

2011-03-13T05:01:00.001-04:00

Many unique factors define a historical period--technology, politics, wars or the lack thereof. Social manners and mores also define an era, including the names parents give their children. The English Regency (1811-1820) was no exception.

In England, the name of the reigning monarch was always popular with the parents of newborns. In the Regency, as for the previous 100 years since George I ascended the throne in 1714, that name was "George" (George III pictured). George Washington, born in 1732, took his name from George II (reigned 1727-1760). George Gordon Byron, the famous Regency poet, Lord Byron, (born 1788) was named for George III (reigned 1760-1820). Girls were not exempt from the trend--Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, born in 1757, was named, like George Washington, for George II.

The name "George" was so important and so popular that the entire era preceding the Regency, from the reign of George I (1714) to 1811, was named the Georgian era.

After "George", the names of kings and queens from the Norman Conquest onward were popular, especially among the upper echelons of society. For boys, popular names were John, William, Richard, Henry, Charles, James, Edward, and the Saxon kings' names Harold and Edmund. Girls' names included Elizabeth, Mary and Anne, monarchs in their own right, as well as the kings' consorts, Charlotte (George III), Catherine and Jane (Henry VIII), Emma (Canute the Great), Eleanor (Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Henry II).

Caroline, the name of the Prince Regent's wife, was also popular, as well as the names of the Regent’s sisters, the princesses Sophia, Augusta, and Amelia, and his brothers, the princes Frederick, Alfred, and Adolphus.

Biblical names, with a few exceptions, such as Susanna and Sarah, were not popular with the Beau Monde. A footman might be named Joseph, but his employer, the earl, would not share the name.

Here are a few links for finding Regency names:

Jo Beverley's site: http://www.jobev.com/regname.html

And here's a Regency name generator: http://ugoi.net/nonsense/name.html

Thank you all,
Linda

Read an E-Book Week and Chance to Win an Ebook Reader! And LADY OF THE STARS nomination at TRR

2011-03-06T05:01:00.002-05:00

Since I'm an ebook author, I'm all for Read an E-Book Week.

Not only can you buy my ebooks (hint, hint), but you also have a chance to win an ereader.

http://www.ebookweek.com/ is giving away a Barnes & Noble Nook and 3 Kobo eReaders.

To enter, go to http://www.ebookweek.com/. On the right side, click on the "Win an eReader, Enter here" and answer the questions:

To win a Kobo: Kobo uses ePub format, which allows for downloading content from various sources, including your library. Who developed ePub format, and in what year?

Hint: Look in Wikipedia

To win a Nook: Although other display technologies may come and go, the E Ink corporation deserves credit for WHAT?

Hint: look for the answer here: http://www.ebookweek.com/ebook_week_eink.html

Make sure to follow the directions in order for a chance to win. Entries must be emailed from March 6, 2010 through March 12.

And I just found out that TRR reviewers at The Romance Reviews (“TRR”) have nominated my Lady of the Stars for Best in Historical Fantasy/Paranormal for 2010.

If you're so inclined, please vote for my book here: http://www.theromancereviews.com/bookvote.php (scroll down)

Good luck to all.

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: MERELY MAGIC by Patricia Rice

2011-03-01T05:01:00.003-05:00

Logic and emotion collide in Patricia Rice's rich Georgian paranormal Merely Magic, a story of the importance of being true to oneself and of letting people live their own lives.

Malcolm women and Ives men do not mix. Sequestered in her isolated little village, healer and empath Ninian, one of the long line of Malcolm witches, has never met an Ives. And then Drogo, the long-absent Earl of Ives arrives at his castle. The uber-responsible slave to logic Drogo is taking a break from picking up the pieces after his maddeningly flighty family's antics. Never did either Ninian or Drogo expect the immediate and overpowering attraction that blasts them when they meet. But passion has its own logic, and these two supposedly mismatched people wed. Ninian is terrified she might lose herself under the onslaught of Drogo's potent masculinity. Drogo fears becoming like all the other male Iveses, who destroyed their marriages while siring numerous bastards. And he doesn't believe in witches.

Merely Magic takes you on a wild emotional ride in this complex, riveting tale of the mind-numbing fear and towering passion involved when opposites attract. Written in Ms. Rice's signature style that seamlessly combines emotion and action, the story sweeps you along with a varied cast of characters who are true to their time, and yet timeless. I especially like Ninian's and Drogo's wedding ceremony, where Drogo must vow equality with his wife. Equality with a woman in Georgian England? What a cork-brained idea.

First in Ms. Rice's "Magic" series, Merely Magic sets the scene for the continuing saga of the Malcolm witches. I can't wait for the next story.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks.

February 28 -- 99 cent eBooks at A Writers Work

2011-02-27T05:01:00.001-05:00

From their latest newsletter--I've bought books from A Writers Work. The books are great, and for 99 cents, you can't go wrong. And they didn't pay me to say that!

FROM A WRITERS WORK
OUR VERY PLAIN LITTLE NEWSLETTER
(You would rather have us writing books, right?)

From Authors You Love, Directly to You
Shari Anton / Fran Baker / Becky Barker / Nicole Byrd / Ken Casper / Phoebe Conn
Diane Chamberlain / Ginger Chambers /Jasmine Cresswell / Kathy Lynn Emerson
Barbara Freethy / Lori Handeland / Holly Jacobs / Elizabeth Kary / Cait London
Patricia McLinn / Patricia Rice / Leigh Riker / Karen van der Zee

Happy Anniversary to Us ... And You!
Feb. 28 - Every book 99 cents!

To celebrate that we've been offering e-works by proven authors directly to readers for a full year, we are ready to party! For us the best party possible is readers experiencing e-books, AWritersWork, and authors you'll love!

Come to AWritersWork.com on Feb. 28, and any book you select will be 99 cents.

Here are the details:
-- No more than 1 copy of each book to any individual/household.
-- If you order more than 1 copy of a book, any copies after the first one will be the regular price.
-- This offer is available from 12:01 a.m.-11:59 p.m. EST Feb. 28, as time-stamped by PayPal.
-- Initially, you will be charged the regular price for each book, then you will receive a refund via PayPal for everything except 99 cents ($0.99). But, remember, if you get more than 1 copy of a title, only 1 will be 99 cents. The additional copies will be charged at regular price.
-- We will issue that refund via PayPal by March 4 (earlier, if the usual and unusual potential gremlins cooperate.)

It's been a terrific first year. Thank you for being on board with us -- and here's to Year 2 and many more to follow at AWritersWork!
~ ~
AWritersWork.com
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AWritersWork on Facebook

GIFTS GONE ASTRAY: Cover and Blurb/Excerpt

2011-02-20T05:01:00.005-05:00

The Wild Rose Press has just sent me my cover for my latest Regency comedy novella, Gifts Gone Astray, and it's a beauty. Thank you, Rae Monet.

So, enjoy looking at the cover while you read the blurb and excerpt, to give you some idea of what the story is about:

BLURB:
A gift is a wonderful surprise. Or maybe not.

At the Earl of Langley's family gathering, everyone receives a gift, including the servants. Tutor Stephen Fairfax expects a small token, but the present from family member Mrs. Anne Copely, the widow who's caught his eye, is a dream come true.

Until he opens it. What a gift! How did that demure lady acquire such a book? And she wants to "study" it with him? If he accepts her offer, tempting as it is, he could lose his job.

Anne has no idea why Mr. Fairfax is in such a flutter. Her present is a simple book of illustrations. The subject interests them both, and she would like nothing better than to examine the book--and Mr. Fairfax--more closely.

EXCERPT:
She glanced at the mantel clock. "Oh, look at the time! I must return to the drawing room. So much to do before the family party tonight. But, before I leave..." She swallowed. "We had some trouble with the gifts today. Yours went missing. I apologize—"

"But I received a gift. Someone left it outside my door."

"Thank the stars." She pressed her hand to her bosom.

Stephen's gaze followed her hand down and his throat dried.

"I worried your present was lost."

She worried about me. Capital! He tore his eager gaze from her breasts and lifted his head. "I have not yet unwrapped it. A book, I take it?"

"Yes. The volume belonged to my husband. He was a scholar, and that book was one of his favorites. Mine, too. We spent many happy hours enjoying it." Another dazzling smile curved her lips. "I selected it with you in mind."

His pulse thumped. I have a chance. "You flatter me with your consideration."

"My pleasure." She flashed another of her heart-stopping smiles. "As much as I long to, I will not ruin the surprise by telling you what the book is." She smoothed her face into a blank stare, but her glorious chocolate eyes twinkled.

So, she wanted to play games. He gave an inward smirk. He would love to play games of a different sort. But he would settle for a guessing game. For now.

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: DARCY AND FITZWILLIAM: A TALE OF A GENTLEMAN AND AN OFFICER by Karen V. Wasylowski

2011-02-15T05:01:00.002-05:00

Laugh until your sides ache and then laugh some more with Karen V. Wasylowski's delicious Darcy and Fitzwilliam: A Tale of a Gentleman and an Officer. This absorbing, fast-moving romp of a book catalogs the often hilarious ups and downs in the enduring affectionate friendship of those brothers-in-spirit, cousins Fitzwilliam Darcy and Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam.

Darcy and Elizabeth have married, but nothing comes between the lifelong regard of Darcy and Fitzwilliam. Each always there to help the other, they weather life's catastrophes together with male camaraderie, competition and not a little joking.

As Caroline Bingley attempts yet again to come between Darcy and the now-pregnant Elizabeth, Fitzwilliam lends a hand in removing the threat of the viperish lady, assisted by none other than the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh herself.

And when Fitzwilliam finally meets his match in the American widow, Amanda, Darcy, along with Lady Catherine again, aids in securing the lady's son from the boy's guardian, who seeks to separate the child from his mother. And everyone closes ranks to help Elizabeth through the difficulties of childbirth.

I read this entire 481 page book in one day, laughing all the way. Ms. Wasylowski has a good ear for realistic male banter, most of it uproariously funny. The best two lines in the whole novel occur when Darcy and Fitzwilliam reminisce about their youth and the hilariously disgusting things young boys do to each other. I still laugh when I think of those lines.

A truly wonderful and original take on Pride and Prejudice. I can't wait for Ms. Wasylowski's next book.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC supplied by Sourcebooks

Love Romances Book Club and CRR Scavenger Hunt

2011-02-12T05:01:00.004-05:00

Valentine's Day is in the air, and I have two ways to celebrate.

First, Classic Romance Revival(CRR) is sponsoring a Scavenger Hunt from February 13-14. Answer all the clues correctly, and win a prize. I'm giving away a PDF copy of one of my novellas, but I can't tell you which one, or I'll give my clue away!

Info here: http://classicromancerevival.blogspot.com/2011/02/welcome-to-crr-scavenger-hunt-13-14-feb.html

Winner will be announced on February 15 on the CRR blog: http://classicromancerevival.blogspot.com/

Second, I will be at the Love Romances Book Club yahoo loop with the other Sweeter Romantic Notions authors on February 13 from 7-9 PM EST. Come and meet 20 romance authors whose works tend toward the sweeter end of the romance spectrum. Link here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveRomancesBookClub/

You must be a member of the yahoo group to comment. Hope to see you there.

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: MY LOVE, MY ENEMY by Jan Cox Speas

2011-02-09T05:01:00.002-05:00

Set during the War of 1812, My Love, My Enemy by Jan Cox Speas is a story of conflicting loyalties and how the fate of individuals can diverge from the fate of nations. Ranging from America to Bermuda, France and England, the story is a cornucopia of historical detail interwoven with a fast-paced adventure story and, of course, romance.

In 1813 Annapolis, Maryland, Page saves suspected British spy Joss from hanging by Americans furious at the encroachments of the occupying British. As they sail back to her father's house, the British capture them. Page, now a prisoner, is forced to sail away from her home. But the British Joss protects Page from the harsh realities of nations at war. Love blossoms between these two people separated by national loyalties. But individuals compose nations, and Page and Joss must decide if their love can surmount their differences.

I love stories that combine rousing adventure and tons of accurate history with the romance. Ms. Speas succeeds on all accounts. Without ever being intrusive, she weaves history, sea lore, adventure and romance into an exciting tale of the choices people at war must make. Joss was a little too much of an overbearing superman for my taste, and Page too reckless and too young (eighteen). But the characters are true to their era, and the novel, written in 1961, is also a reflection of its time.

For those of us who like action and adventure with our romance, My Love, My Enemy is a welcome addition to our libraries.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: FIERCE EDEN by Jennifer Blake

2011-02-06T10:28:00.004-05:00

Fierce Eden by Jennifer Blake is a sweeping, vibrant historical tale of love, honor, betrayal and adventure.

In 1729 Louisiana, long-simmering tension erupts into violence as the beleaguered Natchez Indians attack the French Fort Rosalie, destroying the fort and the surrounding farms and slaughtering the settlers.

Widowed French landowner Elise, after suffering marriage with an abusive husband, has no wish to submit to any man. But in the chaos after the massacre, she must accept the attentions of the half-French Natchez prince, Reynaud, as the price for his protection of her and her little band of survivors.

And so begins a far-ranging tale of culture clash and divided loyalties. Rich in in-depth historical detail and fast-paced action, Ms. Blake's superb novel sweeps you away into a vastly different time and place. Never dull, she draws you into the story of Elise's and Reynaud's increasing love for each other against the background of a world in violent transition.

Fierce Eden immerses you in cultures far different from our own, but where human nature remains the same. Elise, while a woman of her time, is no passive victim. She fights against her fate, and fails and succeeds in turn. Reynaud, as both French and Natchez, is torn between two worlds and must make the wrenching decision of where to place his loyalties.

I love Jennifer Blake. Her novels are exactly the kind of meaty read I adore. Ms. Blake wrote Fierce Eden in 1985 and the good news is--she's still writing. Even better, she still writes the same wonderful type of story. May she write for a long time to come, so we fans can enjoy her new novels along with her treasures of the past.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: THE MISTRESS' HOUSE

2011-02-02T05:01:00.002-05:00

When the Earl of Hawthorne buys a second London townhouse whose garden connects with his own, he has no idea his purchase will become a trysting place. In a trio of connected tales in Leigh Michaels's delicious The Mistress' House, three noble cousins find their matches in their mistresses.

First is the Earl of Hawthorne himself. Thorne meets the widowed Anne, who wants the not-as-rakish-as-he-appears earl to ruin her so she won't have to marry again. Second is Richard, the Earl of Colford, whom mill-owner's daughter Felicty shocks when she demands he stand in for his older brother, the previous earl, who betrayed her. And lastly, virginal miss Georgiana and returning soldier Julian, both fleeing arranged marriages, find each other.

I liked Richard's and Felicity's tale the best. This touching story of the wronged cit's daughter and the former spare, who must yet again clean up one of his brother's messes, catches at our heartstrings as their devil's bargain blossoms into love. A tale to remember and savor.

With deft storytelling, abundant humor (laugh at the hilarious asides from Julian's body, which pants "Yes, yes, yes!" when the vivacious Georgiana asks Julian to seduce her, even as his mind shouts "No, no, no!"), and tenderness in all the right places, The Mistress' House will remain with you for a long time to come.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: MOONSTRUCK MADNESS by Laurie McBain

2011-01-30T05:01:00.004-05:00

Moonstruck Madness by Laurie McBain is a fast-paced, engrossing novel of the difficult choices people make to survive in a cruel world.

After losing everything in the aftermath of the 1746 Scottish Battle of Culloden, Sabrina must find a way to support her family. Her unorthodox method incurs the wrath of the arrogant and powerful Lucien, Duke of Camareigh. Again and again, these two strong personalities clash in a titanic battle of wills, even as an unwilling attraction seizes them both. But Lucien is promised to another and must marry to secure his estate.

Sabrina is bold almost to the point of recklessness as she does what she needs to in a harsh Georgian England which casts women as pawns. The utterly arrogant Lucien, although too abrasive for my taste, is appropriate to this period when an aristocrat's word was law. The villains, also, were too villainous for me, but again, are in keeping with this era of extremes.

As powerful now as at its first publication in 1977, Moonstruck Madness transports you to a fascinating world of high drama and high stakes where power reigns until love finally wins.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

My Fourth Contract: GIFTS GONE ASTRAY

2011-01-27T05:01:00.001-05:00

The Wild Rose Press has accepted my latest Regency comedy novella, Gifts Gone Astray. I have no idea when it will come out, but I assume it will be sometime this year. I hope, I hope!

Anyway, here are the unedited blurb and excerpt, to give you some idea of what the story is about:

BLURB:
A gift is a wonderful surprise. Or maybe not.

At the Earl of Langley's family gathering, everyone receives a gift, including the servants. Tutor Stephen Fairfax expects a small token, but the present from family member Mrs. Anne Copley, the widow who's caught his eye, is a dream come true.

Until he opens it. What a gift! How did that demure lady acquire such a book? And she wants to "study" it with him? If he accepts her offer, tempting as it is, he could lose his job.

Anne has no idea why Mr. Fairfax is in such a flutter. Her present is a simple book of illustrations. The subject interests them both, and she would like nothing better than to examine the book--and Mr. Fairfax--more closely.

EXCERPT:
She glanced at the mantle clock. "Oh, look at the time! I must return to the drawing room. So much to do before the family party tonight. But, before I leave—" she swallowed "—we had some trouble with the gifts today. Yours went missing. I apologize—"

"But I received a gift. Someone left it outside my door."

"Thank the stars." She pressed her hand to her bosom.

Stephen's gaze followed her hand down and his throat dried.

"I worried your present was lost."

She worried about me. Capital! He tore his eager gaze from her breasts and lifted his head. "I have not yet unwrapped it. A book, I take it?"

"Yes. The volume belonged to my husband. He was a scholar, and that book was one of his favorites. Mine, too. We spent many happy hours enjoying it." Another dazzling smile curved her lips. "I selected it with you in mind."

His pulse thumped. I have a chance. "You flatter me with your consideration."

"My pleasure." She flashed another of her heart-stopping smiles. "As much as I long to, I will not ruin the surprise by telling you what the book is." She smoothed her face into a blank stare, but her glorious chocolate eyes twinkled.

So, she wanted to play games. He gave an inward smirk. He would love to play games of a different sort. But he would settle for a guessing game. For now.

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: MR. DARCY'S SECRET by Jane Odiwe

2011-01-23T10:50:00.005-05:00

The bloom is off the rose in the Jane Austen sequel cum mystery Mr. Darcy's Secret by Jane Odiwe.

Mysterious passionate love letters from the past, supposedly written to Darcy, interrupt Elizabeth's newly wedded bliss. Even worse, there is a child who closely resembles Darcy. Is the boy Darcy's son?

Although Elizabeth can't change the past, the present is equally disturbing. Darcy reverts to type as he arranges Georgiana's loveless marriage to a "suitable" older gentleman. That Georgiana loves another, the landscape gardener, Tom, who also loves her, means nothing.

Full of the manners and mores so dear to Regency readers, Mr. Darcy's Secret is another fine addition to the Jane Austen universe. The worthy, if penniless, Tom must fight for Georgiana against the prevailing sentiment of marriage as a merger of fortunes and influence. In her turn, Georgiana must overcome her dutiful submission to her brother's wrong-headed ideas about marriage, ones he himself ignored.

And then there is the mystery. Ms. Odiwe keeps you guessing right to the end as to what the sad and shocking Mr. Darcy's Secret really is. The knowledge could either destroy Darcy's and Elizabeth's marriage or make it stronger.

Young love, old sins, characters we love, villains we love to hate, and a mystery threading through the whole--Mr. Darcy's Secret has it all.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: A PERFECT BRIDE FOR MR. DARCY by Mary Lydon Simonsen

2011-01-16T05:01:00.002-05:00

We read Price and Prejudice and sigh in happiness at this enduring tale of a romance that was always fated to be.

Or was it?

No seemingly random events drive the action in A Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy, Mary Lydon Simonsen's retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Everything is arranged by none other than that unlikeliest of characters, the little-seen Anne De Bourgh.

Anne may be sickly, but her frail body houses a rapier-sharp mind. The story begins as Darcy confesses to Anne his monumentally bungled marriage proposal to Elizabeth. With the skill of a master strategist, Anne, along with some help from Darcy's sister, Georgiana, orchestrates the events that at last being them together.

In A Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy, Ms. Simonsen writes Pride and Prejudice as Jane Austen would have if she were alive today. She fleshes out the supporting characters, giving their motivations in their own words, as well as providing rationales for some of the coincidences in the original. Did the whim of the gods bring Darcy and Elizabeth together at Pemberley? Nothing of the sort. Anne directs the action, never leaving us in doubt that our characters find their happy endings not because of the mercy of the universe, but because of her deliberate, watchful care.

With a fast-reading, engaging style, along with a touch of humor--Darcy is so excited about Elizabeth that he must now wear trousers instead of breeches--A Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy brings a new and enjoyable immediacy to Jane Austen's most popular novel.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks.

Gorgeous Men in Tight Breeches and Ruffled Shirts II

2011-01-09T17:01:00.001-05:00

What's Wrong With This Picture/Excerpt?

In Part I, we discussed Regency men's clothes. Although the era saw the birth of modern menswear, Regency clothing is not exactly the same. Errors abound in many romances. In this post we'll discuss three common errors in the portrayal of the Regency gentleman’s wardrobe.

What's wrong with Gorgeous Gentleman #1's clothes? The problem is his shirt. Men's shirts didn't button all the way down the front until the end of the nineteenth century. The front was open to about halfway down the chest, much like a present-day man's polo shirt. There may or may not have been one or two buttons to keep the collar closed. And a gentleman always wore a cravat to keep his shirt top closed.

The only way GG#1 could show off that great set of washboard abs in a historically correct shirt was to pull the shirt over his head. Or, the heroine could tear it off him in a fit of passion--the modern version of the bodice ripper.

The shirt GG #2 is wearing is correct. But what's wrong here? His shirt is correct, and our hero even has ruffles at his cuffs (oh, I do like ruffles on a man!). The answer--GG #2 is wearing a belt. Regency men held up their breeches (generic term for what they wore on their lower bodies) with braces, also called suspenders.

My third example is a passage from Miss Lockharte's Letters by Barbara Metzger:

"And I saw you trying to corner her in the choir loft. If you ever managed to keep your pants buttoned, we wouldn't be in half this mess."

The error here? The word "pants" is an Americanism, first found in the works of Edgar Allan Poe, around 1840, according to dictionary.com. An Englishman would refer to the garment as "trousers". And if he were in the presence of a lady, he would call them his "unmentionables", if he referred to them at all.

I found lots of pictures of gorgeous gentlemen as I searched for images for this post. But I hit the jackpot with GG#2. Unlike some writers, I don't use a picture of an actor or model as inspiration for my hero. But when I saw GG#2, I knew I had found Richard, the hero of Lady of the Stars, my Regency time travel and 2010 EPIC EBook Competition Finalist.

GG#2's hair is a little too long, he's wearing that belt, and he would never appear before a lady without a cravat, waistcoat and coat (jacket). I like to think he's in his bedchamber, early the morning after he met Caroline, the heroine. He's thinking about her, and already falling in love.

And here's our Happily Ever After.

Thank you all,
Linda

MISTLETOE EVERYWHERE Up For Sizzling Book of the Month

2011-01-07T08:38:00.004-05:00

Please vote for me!

Last month, Sizzling Hot Reviews gave Mistletoe Everywhere 5 hearts, their highest rating.

As a result, Mistletoe Everywhere is now up for Sizzling Book of the Month.

Please vote for me. Poll is on the right.

http://www.sizzlinghotbooks.net/

The poll ends on January 9th at 5:00pm EST.

Their review (thank you, thank you, thank you) is here:

From Marissa D at Sizzling Hot Books - 5 hearts out of 5
"Mistletoe Everywhere is fast paced and keeps us involved with the characters. I was happy to see these happy-for-everyone endings and the warm fuzzy I was left with."
http://www.sizzlinghotbooks.net/2010/12/mistletoe-everywhere-by-linda-banche.html

Thank you all,
Linda

Gorgeous Men in Tight Breeches and Ruffled Shirts

2011-01-02T05:01:00.001-05:00

Today we'll talk about men's clothes in the Regency era, which occurred about two hundred years ago in England. This post is a primer on the subject, because I'm no expert. But in order for my stories to ring true, I must know how to dress--and undress--my hero.

Our modern world began to take shape in the Regency. Many facets of the era are recognizable to our eyes, including men's clothes.

Here’s a list the Regency gentleman's wardrobe, and the modern equivalent, as close as I can find: (I apologize for the ragged table, but blogger is not cooperating.)

Modern--Regency

jacket--coat

shirt--shirt

undershirt--no equivalent

vest--waistcoat

suspenders--braces

tie--cravat

belt--no equivalent

boxer shorts--drawers

trousers--breeches, pantaloons, trousers (the Regency gentleman had 3 lengths)

socks--stockings (not quite the same)

boots--boots

shoes--shoes

Fabrics of choice were wool and linen because they were produced in the British Isles. Imported fabrics, like silk, and our everyday workhorse material, cotton, were luxury items and used mainly by the rich.

Here's a description of male attire from my Regency time travel, Lady of the Stars. The twenty-first century heroine, Caroline, gets her first good look at the Regency hero, Richard:

Good heavens, the aggravating man was gorgeous. Tall and slim, his broad shoulders tapered to narrow hips and long legs. But where had he found that outlandish outfit? He wore a top hat, out here in the middle of nowhere. His shirt collar was turned up and he wore a huge white tie. And his waist-length, double-breasted jacket had tails, like the one an orchestra conductor wore. Muddy black boots with the tops turned down came up to his knees. Skintight trousers, or were those breeches--of all things?--emphasized every well-formed muscle.

This passage illustrates another aspect of Regency men's clothes: they were tight. A man's coat often fit so closely he needed help putting it on, and then he might be unable to lift his arms as high as his shoulders. Form-fitting breeches literally left little to the imagination. Then, as now, such clothes could look good only on men with the best physiques, like romance novel heroes.

The Regency hero--a handsome man with a great physique and gorgeous clothes. What a fantasy. Stay tuned for part 2.

Thank you all,
Linda

A Month of Free Ebooks at A Writers Work

2010-12-31T05:01:00.001-05:00

Thirty-one free eBooks in a variety of genres from A Writers Work.

Throughout the month of January, A Writers Work will give away a different book each day. More info below, and at their website, http://AWritersWork.com.

From the December-January A Writers Work Newsletter: (You can sign up for their newsletter at their website, on the right sidebar.

FROM A WRITERS WORK
OUR VERY PLAIN LITTLE NEWSLETTER
(You would rather have us writing books, right?)

From Authors You Love, Directly to You

Shari Anton / Fran Baker / Becky Barker / Nicole Byrd / Ken Casper / Phoebe Conn
Diane Chamberlain / Ginger Chambers /Jasmine Cresswell / Kathy Lynn Emerson
Barbara Freethy / Lori Handeland / Holly Jacobs / Elizabeth Kary / Cait London
Patricia McLinn / Patricia Rice / Leigh Riker / Karen van der Zee

~ ~
BOOK-UP IN JANUARY!

A FREE BOOK A DAY FROM AWRITERSWORK.COM
AWritersWork.com will offer a different book for free each day of January. Thirty-one days, thirty-one books from authors you know and love.

Here are the details:
-- No more than 1 copy of the day's free book to any individual/household.
-- Each day's free book is available 12:01 a.m.-11:59 p.m. EST, as time-stamped by PayPal.
-- Initially, you will be charged for your book(s) then you will receive a refund via PayPal for the purchase price, making it free.
-- Books from Jan. 1-15 will be refunded via PayPal by Jan. 18. Books from Jan. 16-31 will be refunded via PayPal by Feb. 3.

So mark your calendar for each day of January:
(Schedule also available at AWritersWork.com and www.Facebook.com/AWritersWork. And follow AWritersWork.com on Twitter for updates!)

1 THE GAMES Patricia McLinn
2 THE TEXAN Ken Casper
3 IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS Patricia Rice
4 SASSY LADY Becky Barker
5 FACE DOWN BELOW THE BANQUETING HOUSE Kathy Lynn Emerson
6 TIMELESS Jasmine Cresswell
7 RODEO NIGHTS Patricia McLinn
8 SECRET LIVES Diane Chamberlain
9 SUMMER SECRETS Barbara Freethy
10 WIDOW WOMAN Patricia McLinn
11 DRINK MY BLOOD Phoebe Conn
12 THIS OLD HEART Holly Jacobs
13 PRINCIPAL OF LOVE Patricia McLinn
14 CALL IT LOVE Ginger Chambers
15 DEAR IMPOSTER Nicole Byrd
16 YOU'RE MOVING WHERE?! Karen van der Zee
17 PRELUDE TO A WEDDING Patricia McLinn
18 UNFORGETTABLE Leigh Riker
19 ESCAPE ARTIST Diane Chamberlain
20 MOTHER OF THE YEAR Lori Handeland
21 ROMEO,ROMEO Fran Baker
22 FATAL AS A FALLEN WOMAN Kathy Lynn Emerson
23 HOOPS Patricia McLinn
24 THE FIRST FAMILY OF TEXAS Ken Casper
25 BACK IN HIS ARMS Becky Barker
26 A STRANGER IN THE FAMILY Patricia McLinn
27 ALMOST PERFECT Patricia Rice
28 EMILY'S CAPTAIN Shari Anton
29 THE PRICE OF A MAN Karen van der Zee
30 PORTRAIT OF A LADY Elizabeth Kary
31 ALMOST A BRIDE Patricia McLinn

Note, I downloaded several books at their free book day on December 26 (see my blog post here). I received my refund on December 27.

Thank you all and Happy New Year,
Linda

Holiday Traditions: Sheets

2010-12-27T03:01:00.002-05:00

As the festive end of the year approaches, we celebrate with our Christmas traditions: food, decorations, lights.

I put the best sheets on the bed.

For most of the year, my husband and I sleep on our old, much-washed white cotton sheets with the blue scallop trim. But when the year winds down, I break out the fancy sheets.

Christmas begins in October, with the pink cotton set and the red cotton set. My favorite color is hot pink, and when I saw sheets that color, I had to buy them. I had never slept on colored sheets before, so, when the red sheets went on sale, I bought them, too.

I alternate the red and pink sheets until Thanksgiving. Then the three sets of lace-trimmed and embroidered sheets emerge from the linen closet. Compared to these 200-to-300 thread per inch cotton sheets, my soft, most-of-the-year sheets scratch like sandpaper.

The week before Christmas belongs to the cream satin sheets. Satin sheets may sound like the height of luxury, but they're very slippery. The only way to prevent the bottom sheet from falling off the bed is to anchor it with garters. But no matter how often I tuck everything in, the top sheet still slides off, dragging itself and the quilt to the floor. And last, but not least, the fabric is so delicate we have to wear socks to bed so our toenails don't destroy the material.

I save the best sheets for Christmas and New Year's. For Christmas week, I use the cream silk sheets. The material is soft, but thin--the cloth equivalent of tissue paper. They don't slide as much as the satin sheets, but we still have to wear our socks to protect the delicate fabric.

We usher in New Year's with the white 52% cotton/48% silk jacquard print sheets. These sheets are sturdier than the all-silk ones, but the year begins, as it ends, with us wearing our socks to protect the bedding.

Alas, all holidays come to an end, and the week after New Year's, I store the fancy sheets away.

Except for the pink and red sheets. I'll use them again in February. Pink and red are Valentine's Day colors.

Thank you all,
Linda