I can’t say that 2011 was a classic reading year for me. So many train wrecks and meh books. But I read a lot, and even in a good year I’ll have something to celebrate.

Sooo, here we go.

The Good

Doukakis’s Apprentice by Sarah Morgan – a quirky heroine and a staid hero makes for an amusing book, but also a love story you can follow from start to marriage.

The Highest Price to Pay by Maisey Yates – an African hero and a scarred heroine. Lovely. The story wasn’t about his color. He was happy about that, and so was everyone around him. The heroine is a fashion designer with some bad burn scars. The story doesn’t make light of them, but a yummy hero and some good research made for an absorbing read.

Loose Ends by Tara Janzen – The wonderfully imperfect and implausible Steele Street boys end their series with this book. I have read them all, and loved every one, and this last book didn’t disappoint. I had such a good time with this series.

Too Proud to be Bought by Sharon Kendrick – I love that Kendrick takes risks. Not all her books work for me, but she works on a theme of sacrifice, and sometimes for my taste, the heroine gives up a bit too much. But this book was great, not least because the heroine doesn’t take all the crap the hero wants to shove her way. She fights back.

The Man She Loves to Hate by Kelly Hunter – a ski hut, a steaming affair between two people who really shouldn’t be together and a plot that just works.

The Amorous Education of Celia Seaton by Miranda Neville – my big historical discovery of the year. I hadn’t read Neville before, but I discovered a new-to-me author to love. I did enjoy this book, and I have a review copy of her next one, which I’m saving for when I’ve done something really good. It’s funny, accurate historically, and believable.

Silk is for Seduction by Loretta Chase – so good. Chase back on form. Her sassy and adult heroine is more than a match for her hero, who needs to grow up a bit before he’s worthy of her.

Inside by Brenda Novak – romance light, but an intriguing story about an insider working in a high-security prison and the deputy governor. Exciting, edge-of-your-seat stuff, and the other three in the series are great, too.

Shameless Playboy by Caitlin Crews – one of the Bad Blood books, notable for taking some chances with the Harlequin Presents usual fare. This one took typical tropes, the playboy and the southern belle with a past, and made it memorable, and a book I just dived into and didn’t stop until the end.

Front Page Affair by Mira Lyn Kelly – a traditional style Presents that does it right.

I just noticed – no paranormals this year, although I read a fair few. That’s a shame, because I love me some good paranormals.

The Bad

The Crown Affair by Lucy King – Such a shame, after a great debut this one read rushed and contrived, as if the characters were being crammed into a plot.

One Night in London by Caroline Linden – the strangest cover of the year, beating anything Harlequin put out, and characters I could never warm to.

Star Crossed Seduction by Jenny Brown – a diatribe about astrology masquerading as a historical novel. I have nothing against it, have even tried it myself a time or two, but I prefer my historicals without lectures. And without a brain-dead heroine.

The Marriage Betrayal by Lynne Graham – the kind of Modern Romance you don’t get very often these days. Just as well, really.

The Bed and the Bachelor by Tracy Anne Warren – repeated date rape by the heroine on the clueless, supposedly brilliant hero. She gets the inexperienced man drunk and drugged and has sex with him. But the villain is holding her family to ransom until she steals a cipher from the hero. So that’s all right then.

Guarding a Notorious Lady by Olivia Parker - I didn’t believe in the premise of this book for a minute, and the heroine was beyond irritating.

His Unknown Heir by Chantelle Shaw – secret baby of the worse kind. The mother thinks she has the right to keep her pregnancy secret, because the hero has humiliated her. Then she’s surprised when the hero is angry.

Taken by Desire by Lavinia Kent – I never felt connected to the characters and by the end (it was a dnf for me) the heroine was annoying me no end.

Meddling with a Millionaire by Cat Schield – clunky storytelling and characters I really didn’t like. They were the entitled kind.

Unworldly Secretary, Untamed Greek by Kim Lawrence — secretary/boss romances are a guilty pleasure for me. I know I shouldn’t like them, but I still seek them out. This had a “take your glasses off, Miss Smith – my, you’re beautiful” heroine who I immediately hated, and head-hopping that hurt my neck.

The meh

So many. That was my problem this year. I read a lot of forgettable, average books. I want authors to take a chance, even if it ultimately fails, and I am so heartily tired of the “high concept” book that ignores everything – characterization, plot, historical accuracy, logical plot development – in favor of the god High Concept. Stop it, already. Tell me about people and the problems they have to face in finding true love. I don’t care if he’s a Regency duke or a CIA agent, I want the romance.

It’s that time of year, faithful reader – and let me pause to say how much I appreciate you…even if no one else reads my silliness, I take comfort in the fact that the two of us do – time to list my favorite reads of 2011. These are books I read and that were published in 2011, to clarify. My list ended up looking a little different this year – I had a four-way tie for favorite. Without further ado:

My Top Ten for 2011

1. What I Did for a Duke – There was so much buzz about this that I had to pick it up, even though I was behind in the series. I am so glad I did! I can’t even explain why it was SO good. But it was my favorite historical romance of the year.

1. Kiss of Snow – This was the story fans of the Psy/Changling series have been waiting for Hawke and Sienna’s story since they first met and I was very happy with their book. My favorite paranormal book of the year.

1. Yours to Keep – I love the Kowalskis! Read this book and you will never look at Post-its the same way again. My favorite contemporary romance of the year.

1. Dragon Bound – The first book of the best series I’ve read lately. I might have liked Serpent’s Kiss a bit more but this book established the world and set up everything that follows. Since I already listed a favorite paranormal book, this is my favorite fantasy book of the year.

5. Serpent’s Kiss – Rune! Rune Rune Rune!! An excellent hero and an excellent book. Between Dragon Bound and this one, it was hard to decide which book I liked better and I thought Rune and Carling were a more even match than Dragos and Pia so I enjoyed reading about their relationship a bit more. Still, Dragon Bound was the first and a funner read (yeah, yeah…I used the word “funner”. So?!)

6. ShadowFever – Whether it ended the way you wanted or not, it was epic. EPIC!

7. Heart of Steel – Such a fun, swashbuckling read! So entertaining! Pirates! Zombies! Airships! If you haven’t read any of the Iron Seas books, you make me sad.

8. Winning the Wallflower – Even though this is a novella, I enjoyed it so much! More than the full-length book book that spun out of it, even.

9. To Love a Thief – If you like My Fair Lady-ish storylines, check this book out.

10. Silk is for Seduction – It was hard to round out my top ten but how could I go wrong with Loretta Chase?

11. A Lot Like Love – Honorary mention for this one. When I looked back at my list to find books I would recommend to anyone, this one popped out.

A bonus – biggest disappointment (no, I still haven’t let it go): Breaking the Rules. I know, I’m bitter…it’s my own fault for having high hopes.

So, there you go, my faves for last year. I already have read some good ones for this year – you’ll hear about those soon enough – and hear rumors of more coming soon. Yay!

What were some of your favorites of 2011? Do you agree with mine or are you sitting there shaking your head at your computer?

LynneC’s review of Silk is for Seduction (The Dressmakers Series, Book 1) by Loretta Chase
Historical Romance published by Avon 28 June 11

I’ve spent the last year looking for a new historical romance author to love. I failed. But when I turned back to my old favorites, I found this. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what I mean. This is a historical romance that will give you hours of sheer pleasure. Vivid characterization plus a recreation of a world long gone add up to an absorbing read.

Marcelline Noiret and her sisters own a dressmaker’s shop, and they want to become the best shop in London. The sisters between them have flair, a business sense, and numerical skills. Marcelline has the flair. Hearing that the Duke of Clevedon is to return home for his long-awaited wedding, she is keen to attract him to the shop. They need some high-profile clients. So she hies off to Paris to enchant the duke. Don’t ask. It works. Of course, they are engrossed with each other, but Marcelline, aware that her sisters and her little girl depend on her to do her part, doesn’t get carried away. I really like that about her. In common with most of Chase’s heroines, she’s an immensely practical woman. So when she does get carried away, it really counts.

Not that she does that for some time.

The duke is a big man, and he’s never quite felt like he fit into English society. I like him, but he isn’t as vividly drawn as Marcelline, especially at the beginning. No matter. He turns out to be a complete sweetie. He’s not an out and out bounder, like Dain of Lord of Scoundrels, but he’s not a goody-goody either. He’s been enjoying himself in Paris and he doesn’t really want to come home. But his foster-brother tells him he has to or his sister will consider the marriage off and start to look elsewhere. He needs direction. And, boy, does he find it with Marcelline, although he doesn’t realize it at first.

Their attraction, an engaging supporting cast, plus a touch of industrial espionage add up to an absorbing read.

Chase avoids the clichés I’ve read recently with admirable skill. The Other Woman, Clara, is a statuesque blonde, but she’s a nice person (and probably, I have to say, sequel bait). She and Clevedon like each other and they’re not opposed to marrying. When Clara and Marcelline meet, they are naturally wary of each other, but they tolerate each other and respect each other, too. I can’t see them ever becoming bosom buddies, but I like that, too.

Realism. Well, there are books about milliners, dressmakers, florists and so on becoming duchesses, but I tend to avoid them. This, people, is how you make it plausible. You set it in an era that is about to take seismic changes—the 1830s, when the aristocracy were about to take a tumble and the middle class to rise. You give the heroine a touch of good birth, enough to make her just about acceptable. You make a hero who isn’t happy with his life, a duke who isn’t as powerful as some other peers, despite his title, because he hasn’t bothered to pursue the connections and business interests that he should. You don’t hide the problems and make it all a fairytale at the end.

And you add the right detail.

Oh my God, what a difference this makes. Chase adds detail as it should be there. Detail the characters take for granted. Unusual aspects are seen through the eyes of people who would notice. And they take their way of life for granted, they know about hackneys and gas lighting and comfortable furniture and shop fittings. You don’t have to think about it because Chase does. There is a delicious undressing scene in the book that makes it obvious that a woman had to take a ton and a half of clothes off before she could get naked. Chase knows her way around an 1830s woman’s wardrobe. Drawers, which didn’t come in for all women until Victoria’s reign, but perfectly acceptable for a dressmaker to have. All those petticoats and padding and corsets, and—well, the scene is superb. Thank you for knowing that a woman had to work hard to undress. Completely different to my beloved mid-Georgian era, when women didn’t wear knickers, briefs, or drawers and wore stays, not corsets. I know Chase would know the difference, as I do.

The result is that I feel transported into the past. Chase does what I always ask of a writer of historical romance. She takes me into a different world, into her world, which seems increasingly to be the 1830s. Not strictly Georgian, as there was a William on the throne, and a time of transition. I believe this world. The behavior and expectations of the characters are right for this time, or seem so.

Silk is for Seduction isn’t without its flaws.

The book is set in the 1830s, which is, in my opinion, one of the ugliest fashion eras ever. Women’s skirts were ankle length and bell shaped. They had huge puffed sleeves and hairstyles were, frankly, weird, when women thought nothing of wearing a Hello Kitty style bow on their heads that was made of hair.

Chase knows this period. Sure, there were a few slips (dollhouse is an Americanism, and is anachronistic, but I’m sure Chase was aware of that), but I don’t care. They don’t intrude, and they didn’t stop me reading. If this book had been about these two characters without the care Chase takes to get her details right, it would have been interesting, but nowhere near as good as it is.

There is a fair bit of sequel bait. There is Clara herself, her brother Lord Longton and his attraction to Marcelline’s sister. There is another sister. I have no doubt we’ll hear their stories in due course.

I can’t wait.

Grade: A

Summary:

Brilliant and ambitious dressmaker Marcelline Noirot is London’s rising star. And who better to benefit from her talent than the worst-dressed lady in the ton, the Duke of Clevedon’s intended bride? Winning the future duchess’s patronage means prestige and fortune for Marcelline and her sisters. To get to the lady, though, Marcelline must win over Clevedon, whose standards are as high as his morals are . . . not.

The prize seems well worth the risk—but this time Marcelline’s met her match. Clevedon can design a seduction as irresistible as her dresses; and what begins as a flicker of desire between two of the most passionately stubborn charmers in London soon ignites into a delicious inferno . . . and a blazing scandal.

And now both their futures hang by an exquisite thread of silk . . .

Read an excerpt. (scroll down)

Liviania’s retro review of Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
Historical romance released by Avon 1 Jan 1995, reprinted Dec 2007

While I’ve now been reading romances steadily for two years, I’m still new to the genre and catching up on the classics.  I read and enjoyed Loretta Chase’s Your Scandalous Ways, and I’ve seen countless recommendations for Lord of Scoundrels and Mr. Impossible and I recently picked up both for cheap.  Due to the “Beauty and the Beast” theme (I love fairytales), I started with Lord of Scoundrels.

Chase, smartly, begins by recounting the Marquess of Dain’s past.  Too often authors draw out revealing the trauma that turned the hero into a jerkass.  This mainly leads to the reason seeming smaller than it actually is and thus extra frustration with the hero’s behavior.  The opening contextualized Dain’s protracted childhood.  He can still be frustrating, but his character remains coherent and makes sense.

Luckily he runs into Jessica Trent, an aging beauty who won’t put up with his nonsense.  Her brother Bertie Trent is pretty close to being the dullest tool in the shed.  His idolization of Dain is leading him toward the poorhouse, and Jessica prefers to live comfortably on her fortune (earned in trade) rather than using it to continually pay his debts.  Thus, she goes after Dain.

I enjoyed their verbal battles.  I also enjoyed Jessica pushing Dain towards adulthood and responsibility.  I was, however, puzzled by a couple of dropped plot points.  At the beginning Jessica talks of setting up her own store, but after the opening her skill at finding antiques remains mostly forgotten.  Likewise,  Dain’s friends Beaumont and Vawtry remain important to the plot until the end, but Esmond disappears without a trace.  (Does the Beaumont, Esmond, Beaumont’s wife triangle reappear in another of Chase’s books?)

I can see why Lord of Scoundrels continually tops favorites lists: Jessica.  She’s intelligent and feisty.  Between this and His at Night by Sherry Thomas, I am going to demand that all historical heroines beat a man half to death during the course of the novel.  It’s clearly a good sign.  Many romances survive on the hero’s appeal, but Lord of Scoundrels stands out by relying on the heroine’s strength.  (I like Dain, as some appear not to, but he’s clearly playing second fiddle to Jess.)

Now I’m happily moving on to Mr. Impossible, hoping that it’s as good as Your Scandalous Ways and Lord of Scoundrels.  I do wonder: what are the other must reads in Chase’s backlist?  Also, what classic romances should I read next?

Grade: B

Summary:
They call him many names but Angelic isn’t one of them…
Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Dain, is big, bad, and dangerous to know. No respectable woman would have anything to do with the “Bane and Blight of the Ballisters”–and he wants nothing to do with respectable women. He’s determined to continue doing what he does best–sin and sin again–and all that’s going swimmingly, thank you…until the day a shop door opens and she walks in.

She’s too intelligent to fall for the worst man in the world…
Jessica Trent is a determined young woman, and she’s going to drag her imbecile brother off the road to ruin, no matter what it takes. If saving him–and with him, her family and future–means taking on the devil himself, she won’t back down. The trouble is, the devil in question is so shockingly irresistible, and the person who needs the most saving is–herself!
Read an excerpt here.

You’re in for a treat today! Welcome to Duck Chat!

Ohmyohmyohmy!  Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!  Kathryn Smith is here!!!!!

As most of you know, Kathryn’s vampire series, Brotherhood of the Blood, is a favorite of fans everywhere, but the really big news lately is that she’s writing straight historicals once again, and Kathryn will be talking about that and so much more today.

So no more lollygagging! Let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Kathryn, of course, the big news, the happy news for your fans is that you’ve returned to writing historical romance. Was it just time? Did something specific happen to prompt you to write that next one?

KATHRYN SMITH: The simplest answer is that yes, it was just time. I’d been writing a lot of paranormal, and even though most of it was historical, it wore on me. I loved my vamps, but they couldn’t go out in the sun! Actually, the sad truth is that historical paranormal just does not sell like contemporary paranormal and while I had some success, the move didn’t really help my career. It was upsetting to say the least, but historical was always my first love and it took me back with welcome arms.

DC: If you could retire any question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

KS: Where do you get your ideas from? Only because I never know how to answer it. It’s not like I have a magic hat or anything! My ideas can come from anywhere.

DC: And fans will not get just one new historical from you, but an entire series. Lots of happy dancin’ is going on out there! Tell us about the new series, please.

KS: Thank you! I’ve dubbed the new series a ‘Victorian Soap Opera.’ I’m introducing lots of recurring characters that will appear in some or all of the books, and there will be secrets and intrigue afoot. There’s even a gathering place – a hub – where all the characters go to be social, much like Ruby’s on General Hospital. I even have a ‘love to hate’ character that I hope readers will embrace. It’s going to be difficult keeping track of everyone, but I think I’m up for the task.  The series begins with a trilogy, and after that I’m treating it as a world rather than a series. That way I don’t feel locked in to write books about specific characters. Anyone could have a book! And just like on soaps, a new character could arrive on the scene at any time.

DC: I’ve heard writers often say their stories take them in surprising directions, or dialogue flows from some unknown place. Is it the same with you? Do your characters surprise you sometimes?

KS: Yes! I’m mostly a plotter, but I like to leave room for my characters to express themselves. That sounds slightly psychotic I’m sure, but once you’re in their heads, writing from their POV, you start to understand what they’re all about. That’s when they surprise you.

DC: Do you ever argue with your characters while you’re writing? Who usually wins?

KS: No. I trust them to do the right thing. LOL. I let them do what they will and if it doesn’t work, I do it my way. There’s no arguing because either way I win.

DC: The first book of your new series is When Seducing a Duke and it will be released later this month. Would you tell our readers about Grey and Rose and how their story came about?

KS: Grey and Rose are a little bit Phantom of the Opera and a little bit Luke and Laura. He’s a little older, jaded and a little tortured. He’s had an awful past that haunts him still, and he doesn’t want the taint of that to touch her, but it’s going to just by association. He promised her father he’d look after her and to him that means NOT giving in to his feelings for her. Rose on the other hand is determined and slightly naïve. Part of her is convinced that if she can make Grey confront the attraction between them everything will magically be wonderful.

I have no idea now where the idea for them came from! I’ve always loved the kind of hero who has been ‘rode hard and put away wet.’ Grey is definitely one those. He feels awful for his past, but he also knows he’d still be the same if not for the event that changed his life. He didn’t change willingly, and he’s not sure what kind of man he is anymore. I think Rose is a little bit like me – she thinks if she wants something bad enough and works at it hard enough, she’ll get it. That doesn’t always work out for the best! It’s a ‘be careful what you wish for’ situation.

DC: What is sure to distract you from sitting down and working/writing?

KS: Email. Phone calls. iTunes. YouTube. Twitter. Cats. Shiny things.

DC: How’s work coming on the second book in your Victorian series? May we have a little sneak peek?

KS: Currently I’m working on revisions for When Marrying a Scoundrel, the second book in the series. It’s about Jack Friday and Sadie Moon. He’s a self-made man with a secret and she’s a tea leaf reader – with a secret. The secret is that they married when they were very young, but then Fate tore them apart. Now, the two of them are reunited and neither one of them is very happy about it.

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

KS: Wow, what a difficult question. The lovely man who runs the Avon Art Dept is one of my favorite people in the entire world. He’s been so very generous with me over the last few years. I’ve always loved the cover for Into Temptation painted by Diane Sivavec. More recently I think the cover for Dark Side of Dawn, which comes out in December – but that might just be because of the gorgeous nekked man on the cover!  Of the Brotherhood covers I think Let the Night Begin is my favorite. I love the golden color of it and the fact that she’s going for his neck.

DC: How about your least favorite cover? Why?

KS: Wow. I’ve never had a cover I hated. I’ve been very lucky. Although if I had to choose it would be In Your Arms Again. I’m not a fan of the pose where the hero is behind the heroine and she has her skirt hauled up. Not sure why. And then, if you don’t look closely it looks like the hero isn’t wearing pants – just a belt and boots. His trousers are almost the same color he is. Still, I’ve seen much worse.

DC: How do you feel your male or female characters have evolved over your career? Do you think you write them differently now than you did when you started?

KS: Oh yeah! I think my heroines have gotten more realistic. They’re not entirely good little girls. Nothing interesting in that. My heroes have changed as well. I used to think I had to write Alpha guys, but I’m not good at that. I like guys who can be both tough and sweet. Real people have uncharitable thoughts, absurd thoughts, insecurities and vanities. That’s what I’m interested in writing now.

DC: Your Nightmare Chronicles is also a fairly new urban fantasy series, one book out last year and the second due out in November. Would you tell us about the series over all and and then we’ll talk about each book.

KS: Dawn Riley is the half-mortal daughter of Morpheus, God of Dreams. That’s the crux of it. Dawn is able to walk between both worlds, something no one else can do. It makes people fear her. The veil between the dream realm and our world is thinning, strange things are happening. And no one is sure if Dawn is the solution to the problem, or the cause of it.

DC: First in the series was Before I Wake, which was out last year, and next month Dark Side of Dawn is being released. Would you give a look inside each book, please?

KS: In Before I Wake, Dawn has repressed who she is. She’s working in a sleep center and crushing on one of her ‘clients,’ Noah Drake. One night Noah is attacked in his dreams and somehow Dawn gets pulled into that very dream. She becomes the target of a Night Terror and the only way to stop it is to accept what she is and use her abilities. This means reconciling with Morpheus and her mother. It also means telling Noah the truth about who and what she is.

In Dark Side of Dawn, Dawn is working on honing her abilities and dating Noah. But then someone close to Noah is attacked and Dawn has to use both her professional skills as a psychologist, and her skills as a Nightmare to help. But this puts her in the path of another monster – an earthbound one this time. She’s also in trouble with the Nightmare Council for something she did in book 1. Dawn just can’t catch a break, and if she doesn’t do something fast, she might not live to stand trial in the Dreaming!

DC: Is there a genre you haven’t tackled but would like to try?

KS: Hmm. Young Adult. Historical. Paranormal. Urban Fantasy. I think I’ve written everything I’ve wanted! Actually, I would love to write mysteries, but I don’t think I’d be very good at it. I really want to do more Young Adult. I had two historical YAs out in 2001-2002, and I’ve wanted to do more ever since. So, while there’s not a genre I would like to try, there certainly is one I’d like to do more in.

DC: What advice would you give to your younger self?

KS: Don’t date him. LOL. Actually, I think everything we’ve done has led to where we are, so I don’t think I’d encourage myself to do anything differently. I might, however, tell myself to have more confidence and not take quite so much attitude from other people.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

KS: She’s a big girl with a big mouth and an even bigger heart, but does she have what it takes to make the big time?

LOL. That’s so corny, but it’s the best I can do without sounding totally bollocks.

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

KS: Realistic characters. Fantastic passion. I’d actually have a ‘wink’ after that too. I have a hard time talking myself up.

DC: Your vampire series, The Brotherhood of the Blood, is a favorite with readers. There’s five books in the series so far, with Night After Night being released earlier this year. First would tell those one or two people who aren’t familiar with the series what it’s about?

KS: The Brotherhood was originally six mercenaries who found what they thought was the Holy Grail, but it was actually the Blood Grail, made from the silver paid to Judas, infused with the essence of Lilith. When they drank from it they were turned vampire. 6 centuries later the group who originally had the Blood Grail wants it back – and they want the Brotherhood as well.

DC: Is the series evolving as your originally envisioned it?

KS: Yes. It played out exactly as I’d planned book-wise. I had an arc and I followed it. Success wise, I have to be honest and say that I was much higher hopes for it. Maybe someday paranormal historical will become what I’d hoped it would be and I can give fans of the series some new books.

DC: Please tell everyone about Night After Night.

KS: Night After Night was Temple’s story. He was the leader of the Brotherhood of the Blood once upon a time. In Be Mine Tonight, you discover he’s gone missing, and throughout the series the mystery of what happened to Temple runs through every story. This is also the book that reunites the Brotherhood. It is a romance, however. Temple meets Vivian, who is far more than she seems – more than she even knows. And she’s part of the group that would see the Brotherhood destroyed. That’s conflict, huh?

DC: Are there more books planned in the series? What can we expect next?

KS: As of right now, there are no more books planned for that series. That story line ended with Night After Night. If I do anything in the future, it will be with a new group of vampires or other supernatural creatures.

DC: If you had never become an author, what do you think you would be doing right now?

KS: I’d be a rock star. Actually, I once wanted to be a makeup artist. I love makeup.

DC: Who’s your favorite author(s)?

KS: I have so many. I love Julia Quinn, Laura Lee Guhrke, Connie Brockway. Sherry Thomas and Meredith Duran are two new authors that I do not feel worthy of when I read them! Lorraine Heath is another favorite, along with Jenna Petersen, Sophie Jordan, Sabrina Jeffries, Loretta Chase, and Liz Carlyle.

DC: How about a favorite book or two?

KS: Stranger in My Arms by Lisa Kleypas. Love that book. Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. Secret Desires of a Gentleman by Laura Lee Guhrke is a current fave, as well as When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn. Those are the first that come to mind.

DC: What else is on the horizon for Kathryn Smith?

KS: More Victorian soap opera books. I’m currently outlining the third, which I’ve tentatively titled When Tempting a Rogue, but that will probably change to better suit the story. I’m hoping to perhaps continue on with the Nightmare Chronicles, and I do have a little something else I’m working on, but I’m keeping mum until I see what happens. That makes me a tease, doesn’t it? Sorry!

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?     – milk
- smooth or chunky peanut butter?     – chunky
- heels or flats?      – heels
- coffee or tea?      – both
- summer or winter?      – Actually, autumn
- mountains or beach?      – beach
- mustard or mayonnaise?     – mayo
- flowers or candy?      – flowers
- pockets or purse?      – Purse – anyone who knows me is laughing at this, because they know I collect purses.
- Pepsi or Coke?     – Coke
- ebook or print?     – Print – but I want to try an e-reader.

And because folks still like seeing the answers:

1. What is your favorite word?    – friend
2. What is your least favorite word?     – nourishing
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – nature
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?      – willful ignorance
5. What sound or noise do you love?      – the sound of Steve’s voice
6. What sound or noise do you hate?      – a cat coughing up hair balls.
7. What is your favorite curse word?     – I don’t curse! Right. I say fuck a lot, but I’d like to use the word twat more. I can’t believe I just admitted to that.
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?     – makeup artistry. Maybe teaching.
9. What profession would you not like to do?      – anything where I’d have to put my hand in another person.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?     – “I’ve read all your books.”

DC: Kathryn, it was such a pleasure to have you here today! Thank you so much!

Welcome once again to Duck Chat!

Today is going to be a very fun day. We have Meredith Duran in the house!

Besides being a romance author, Meredith is a doctoral student in anthropology, loves doing field work in such places as India and browsing through library travelogues written by Nineteenth Century Englishwomen. British history is a favorite of hers and she talks about that with us today. When she needs a fix, some of her favorite historical authors are: Laura Kinsale, Judith Ivory, Loretta Chase, Sherry Thomas, Connie Brockway, Joanna Bourne, Marsha Canham, and Jo Goodman

Her books have become fan favorites, and if you haven’t read any of Meredith’s stories yet, do read on and learn all about them. She even gives us a sneak peek of her new book that’s being released next year. Be sure to leave a meaningful question or comment for Meredith because she’s going to be giving away a copy of Bound by Your Touch and Written on Your Skin. Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Meredith, I’m curious – it says on your website that you grew up enamored of British history and one of your life’s goals was to go to London to see Holbein’s portrait of Anne Boleyn. What was it that first captured your interest in British history? Have you attained that goal of seeing the Holbein?

MEREDITH DURAN: Good question! It was Shakespeare that got me hooked into my obsession with English history. I’d always been a very, er, dramatic child, so when I was about eight or nine, my parents decided to take me to a Shakespeare festival. I believe it was Richard III that we saw, since I can still recall the precise way the actor hissed the line, “You…try…my…patience!” The play was over my head, but the costumes fascinated me (I decided then and there that I was going to become a Shakespearean actor when I grew up – heh, what a great way to make a living!). The fate of the little princes also haunted me, so when we got home from the festival, I decided to ransack the local library for more information about them. This led to an interest in the Plantagenets (I had a VHS copy of Lion in Winter that wore out, I watched it so much), which yielded in high school to a fixation on the Tudors. (I made color Xeroxes of Henry VIII’s wives and plastered my dorm room wall with them. And, yes, my friends did think this was a little weird.)

DC: If you could retire any question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

MD: Ha! This question right here is a work of evil genius – asking me to admit my least favorite question, and then to answer it! I think this question is the one I’d like to see retired.

DC: One of my questions sometimes of authors is if they have an old WIP under the bed, back of the closet, shoved to the back of a drawer that they might pull out and rework. The answer is usually no. In your case, that’s exactly what happened with The Duke of Shadows, your debut book. When you were in the process of reworking it, was there ever a point when you nearly chucked the whole thing, thinking it would never work? What kept you going?

MD: Actually, I didn’t rework the manuscript until it had won the Gather/Simon & Schuster contest. Since I only had five weeks to revise it, I had no time to entertain doubts. What kept me going? The willingness of my friends to let me disappear for five weeks. Also, the utter heady thrill of knowing that the words I was placing on the page would be read by my fellow romance readers. Actually, those five weeks were the happiest of my life to date – one long, exhilarated marathon of creativity.

DC: Any other works hidden away like The Duke of Shadows that we might see some day?

MD: Most of my shelved manuscripts are the work of adolescent enthusiasm – a few fantasy manuscripts, a paranormal romance (I was ahead of the curve! Blame it on a childhood filled with LJ Smith, Christopher Pike, and Lois Lowry), nothing I would inflict on the world. However, I actually had another book pulled from beneath the bed recently –a women’s fiction novel that was agented in NY, but never sold. It’s a coming-of-age story about an Anglo-American girl whose obsession with Hindi cinema begins to warp her view of reality; in short, she starts to lead her life as though she were a heroine in a Bollywood film. (If you’ve ever watched one of these films, you can see how this might cause farcical results.)

After realizing it was never going to sell, I sort of forgot about it, until one day I mentioned it to a friend who lives in Delhi. He wanted to read it. I gave him a PDF copy. Three years on, he happened to befriend someone in publishing there; he mentioned it to her, she asked for a look, and lo and behold: it’s being published in India this fall! What a surreal and happy ending. I loved writing that book – it’s a work of pure affection, by a huge fan of Hindi films – so I’m so glad it will get an audience.

DC: While we’re talking about TDoS, tell our readers a little about the story and its characters, please.

MD: The Duke of Shadows tells the story of two star-crossed lovers who meet in India in 1857. Each of them is an outcast, Emma because her reputation is in tatters, Julian because his birth – as a ducal heir whose grandmother was Indian – offends the sensibilities of a society in which racial divisions are becoming increasingly stark. When war breaks out, they have no choice but to trust each other in their fight to survive, and in the process, they fall in love.

But war has a way of destroying happy-ever-afters. They are separated, and by the time they find each other again in London, the darkness of their pasts, and the cost of their own survival, may prove too great for their love to overcome.

DC: I’ve heard writers often say their stories take them in surprising directions, or dialogue flows from some unknown place. Is it the same with you? Do your characters surprise you sometimes?

MD: Yes, I know I’m in the zone when my writing and characters surprise me.

DC: Do you ever argue with your characters while you’re writing? Who usually wins?

MD: Nope, I never argue with them. When the writing isn’t coming easily, I like to argue with myself, though. (“Your plot is weak! What the hell were you thinking, Duran?” LOL.)

DC: What is sure to distract you from sitting down and working/writing?

MD: The internet is a terrible temptation. Good books also furnish endless distraction, but I don’t feel so guilty about that; reading seems to replenish my “well,” as it were.

DC: Your second book is Bound by Your Touch. First, are your books related in any way? Would you tell us about Viscount Sanburne and Lydia Boyce?

MD: The Duke of Shadows has no relation to any of my other books. Bound by Your Touch is related to Written on Your Skin insofar as certain characters (and part of the timeline) overlap, but each of the books stands alone, as a separate and contained story that does not require knowledge of the other.

As far as Sanburne and Lydia go – well, BBYT is an opposites-attract story, the key twist being that they’re not nearly so opposite as they might believe (and wish) themselves to be. At the beginning of the book, Lydia would tell you that Sanburne is a useless, handsome scoundrel whose only employment in life lies in breaking the rules, preferably in as spectacular a fashion as possible. Sanburne would tell you that Lydia is a self-important, overly serious bluestocking, who no doubt would be horrified to learn that her prickly façade practically begs a man to breach and dismantle it.

To Lydia’s horror and Sanburne’s amusement, these two actually end up having far more in common than they suspect.

To Sanburne’s horror and Lydia’s amusement, she has a peculiar talent for breaching and dismantling *his* façade.

Fireworks result!

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from your releases so far and why?

MD: The Duke of Shadows still reigns supreme in my heart: that minaret, the late light of sunset slanting in through the window, and the black spine made it really distinctive. Although WOYS is such a gorgeous red… Grr, it’s hard to decide.

DC: I’m going to guess that you really don’t have a least favorite cover. True? LOL, the cover gods have been mighty nice to you!

MD: True! I’ve lucked out.

DC: How do you feel your male or female characters have evolved over your career? Do you think you write them differently now than you did when you started?

MD: The Duke of Shadows was mostly Emma’s story – Julian was a swoon-worthy hero, no doubt, but he has made his peace with his own childhood traumas; the only thing that haunts him is his past with Emma. Hence the second half of that book is really about his effort to rescue her from the darkness into which she has locked herself.

On the other hand, the heroes in Bound by Your Touch and Written on Your Skin are classically “tortured” insofar as their inner conflicts are no less sizeable than that of their heroines. They’ve got to do a lot of growing before they can win their happy-ever-safter. So, if anything, I’d say that I’m growing crueler and crueler toward my heroes. Ha!

DC: Your latest release is Written on Your Skin. I love that title, by the way. We meet Phin and Mina in this book. Can you tell us about them and their story?

MD: Phin is a world-weary former spy. He was pushed into the game against his will. It stripped away all his idealism, and he is determined, for the sake of his soul, never to return to it. So when Mina Masters comes to him for help – help that would require he reenter the game – he resists with all his might. Problem is: she saved his life once. He’s indebted to her, and ultimately has no choice but to help her.

Mina is something of a femme fatale, who has learned the hard way how to use her looks and her wits to protect herself. But her fierce independence masks a serious fear of making herself vulnerable to anyone. It chafes her that she requires Phin’s help. It burns her to have to trust him. But she hasn’t any choice in it.

What ensues is a battle of wills between two very smart people who are very good at lying to themselves and others. But in each other, they have met their match.

Excerpt from Written on Your Skin:

Delhi, 1857

Julian first noticed her because she looked so bored. Waiting for the Commissioner’s arrival had put him on edge. He stood at the top of the room, half-attending to the feverish chatter around him, his eyes fixed on the door. Rumors in the bazaar daily grew darker, and it was clear to him now that if Calcutta would not act, the local government must. Tonight he meant to exact a promise on that account.
He became aware of the woman gradually. It was her stillness that drew his attention. She was leaning against a wall, not ten feet away. Though several people surrounded her, sipping negligently at their wine and laughing, she seemed somehow apart. Tired of it all. Her eyes, which had been resting vacantly on the space over his shoulder, focused on him. They were a penetrating blue, and gave Julian a start. He saw that she was not bored at all, but unhappy.
She looked away.“Sir,” she said evenly, bobbing a shallow curtsy. Something in her tone indicated she’d overheard the tail end of his argument with Frazer. He opened his mouth to respond—after all, the lady had seemed to be waiting for him—but she had already retreated in a swish of cornflower silk, and he was not in the mood for a chase.
He began to wonder about the coincidence when she drifted after him into the garden. Was she following him? In London he might have felt some faint, predatory stirring of interest—he enjoyed women, particularly those who spared him the trouble of pursuit—but he had a policy of avoiding memsahibs. Their husbands were rarely understanding, and they themselves tended to be so bored by life on a British station that passing love affairs quickly inflated to their entire reason for being. There was also an absurd set of ideas circulating about him in Anglo-Indian circles, variations on the theme of exotic Eastern eroticism, and he’d long since grown weary of it.
But she did not, in fact, seem to know he was there. She paused at the edge of the lawn, one hand coming to her throat, and seemed content to stand there, an abstracted look on her face. A breeze came over the grass, and her fingers loosened, letting the shawl flutter around her shoulders. Fleetingly, her pale lips curved in a smile.
Again, he was struck by the impression that she stood at a great remove from the scene around her. Curious. He studied her more closely, finding nothing of special note. Her hair was an unremarkable color, a curling, sun-faded dun that, in conjunction with her pale skin, made it seem as though all the energy of her being were focused in the brilliance of her deep blue eyes. A very odd sort of beauty, if a beauty at all. He wondered if she had recently been ill.
The thought made him impatient with himself. She was young, no more than twenty-two or –three years, with smooth white skin that bespoke a typical memsahib’s routine. What was there to wonder about her? She would spend her days closeted in a bungalow, reading or at needlepoint. When the monotony began to wear, she would take heart in her zealous belief that the English way of life was the only one of merit in the world.
She muttered something beneath her breath. Despite himself, he leaned forward. He could not quite make it out. Surely she had not said—
With a violent gesture, she splashed her wine into the bushes. “Pig swill,” she said clearly.

The garden was not cool, but it was quiet. Emma turned her face into the sultry breeze and let her eyes drift shut. Had Mrs. Greeley been speaking the truth? Either way, the woman must have been surprised at Emma’s impassive reception of the news. It was unpleasant, of course; one didn’t often learn that one’s betrothed was conducting a torrid affair with a married woman. But the act seemed entirely in keeping with the person Marcus had become since their engagement.
Perhaps it was this land that had changed him so. Emma had only been here a few weeks, but she already sensed that India had taken hold of her: loosening her tongue, widening her eyes. Even now, when her mind should have been racing with the implications of Mrs. Greeley’s words, the gentle swaying of the trees and the parrots twittering in the branches above distracted her from thought. The night air mantled her bare shoulders, thick and warm, so richly perfumed with night-blooming jasmine that she wondered if she would carry the scent back inside with her.
A cow lowed in the distance. She felt a brief stirring of pity, imagining he was confused at the excess of liberty granted him by the native culture. As to why the cows were encouraged to wander through the streets, Marcus had told her that the Hindus believed them to be some sort of deity, but he hadn’t been able to elaborate. Marcus was often impatient with details.
This party, for instance. He should have told her, given her some warning regarding the people she would meet. Within five minutes it had become clear that Delhi society was no friend to her, that news of the shipwreck and her “dishonorable” rescue had tainted local opinion. But instead he’d let her march inside like a lamb to the slaughter, encouraging her to mingle with the sharp-tongued harpies whilst he conferred with the Commissioner.
All this, and then to discover he was having an affair with the hostess!
Well, it was clear that whatever they did when alone together, Marcus had not reviewed Mrs. Eversham’s wine list for her. He was possessed of impeccable taste. With a scoff she tossed the remnants of her bordeaux into the shrubbery. “Pig swill!”
The quiet laugh startled her, and she gasped, squinting into the shadows. “Who’s there?”
A form emerged from the trees, offering her a toast from a silver flask. “Pig swill indeed,” he said, and lifted the pocket pistol to his lips for a long swallow.
She relaxed slightly at the Oxford drawl, which complemented a deliciously low, rough voice. “Pray do not relay my sentiments to our hostess, sir.” Or perhaps do, she added silently.
Another step brought him full out of darkness, and she caught her breath. It was the man from indoors—the one whom she had nearly collided with earlier. Once again, his height took her off guard. He was taller even than Marcus, and a full head over her own considerable length. His eyes were a luminescent green-gold, cat-like as they reflected the faint light spilling from the bungalow. They watched her as though he waited for something.
“Are we acquainted?” she blurted out—knowing very well they were not.
He gave her a faint smile. “No.”
When he said nothing more, she arched a brow, returning rude stare for rude stare. At least, she hoped it was rude, for she suspected she might be ogling him. The man was unnervingly handsome—like something from a fever dream, brilliant and fierce, skin touched by gold and hair so black it absorbed the light. Earlier, indoors, she had found herself looking at him, thinking his face begged to be sketched. It would take only a few economical strokes—sharp, angular slashes for the cheekbones, a bold straight line for his nose, a fierce square for his jaw. Perhaps his lips would take more time. They were full and mobile, and saved his countenance from sternness.
He was very tanned. Doubt flickered through her mind, quashed as she considered his starched cravat and elegantly cut tail coat. Of course he was English. The lazy grace with which he held himself made her aware of her own unmannerly slouch. She straightened, lifting her face towards the stars.
“A lovely night,” she said.
“Pleasant weather,” he agreed, eliciting a startled laugh from her.
“You must be joking!” she said, when he tilted his head in question. “It’s dreadfully hot.”
“Do you think so?” He shrugged. “Then I suggest you withdraw to Almora. The hill stations are quite popular this time of year.”
His reference to the tradition of retreating to the Himalayan foothills during the hot weather sounded almost contemptuous. “You don’t plan to go?”
“Business holds me here.”
“Business. You’re with the Company, then?” Most everyone she had met so far was in the employ of the East India Company, either as a civil servant or, like Marcus, as an officer in the army.
But he appeared mightily amused by the idea. “Dear God, no. I see my reputation does not precede me.”
“Oh, is it very bad?” The question was out of her mouth before she could reconsider, and she blushed as he laughed again.
“It’s even worse.”
When she realized he wasn’t going to elaborate, she ventured to continue. “You’ll have to tell me about it yourself; I’ve only just arrived in Delhi, you see.”
“Really?” He sounded surprised. “I didn’t know they raised chits like you in England.”
“Chits like me?” She frowned. He had settled back against a tree trunk and was smiling at her indulgently, as if—suddenly it came to her—she were some three-year-old who had just shown him a neat trick with her doll. “Are you being insulting?”
“I meant you seem to have some spirit.”
“You are being insulting,” she decided. “To me and England both.”
“Well then.” He sighed and rolled his shoulders; his coat fit closely enough to reveal the ripple of arm muscles beneath the fabric. She wondered what he had done to acquire them; it was not at all the fashion. “Now you’ve discovered the first part of my reputation. I am considered terribly ill-mannered.”
“But I knew that the moment I saw you! A gentleman would refrain from drinking spirits in the presence of a lady.”
His brows rose. “And a lady would not call her hostess’s wine—what was it? Pig swill, I believe?”
Her laughter was reluctant, but genuine. “All right, you’ve found me out. I’m a black sheep as well. Really, it’s a wonder my intended will have me.”
“Paragon of virtue, is he?”
“Not quite,” she said dryly. “But they’ll forgive him just about anything.” The conversation was utterly inappropriate, of course; but she had forgotten how good it felt to joke and be silly with someone, and to be spoken to without those ever-present undertones of pity and speculation. “In fact, someone inside just called him the ‘Darling of Delhi.’”
“He sounds dreadfully dull. Do I know him?”
“Oh, you must. This party is in honor of us, you know—of our engagement.” His sudden stillness made her frown, and she searched his face, concerned she might have embarrassed him. “If you don’t know who the party’s for, I promise not to tell.”
“Oh, I know.” His voice was very soft now. “That would make you Miss Martin.”
“Indeed! And now you must tell me your name, so I won’t be at a disadvantage.”
His cat’s eyes moved over her shoulder, and he smiled again, this time rather unpleasantly. “Here comes your betrothed,” he said, and took a deep swig from the flask.
“Emmaline! There you are!”
She turned back towards the doors, shielding her eyes from the light. “Marcus!” He was yanking his cravat in place, and she wondered acidly if he hadn’t been waylaid by their hostess somewhere between the Commissioner and the garden. “I was taking some air,” she said. “Flannel is horribly ill-suited to this climate.”
Marcus stepped into the yard. “I hardly think that’s appropriate for public discussion,” he said severely. “And I did warn you about the weather, but you insisted—” His voice died away as he stared at her companion. “What in blazes are you doing here?”
“Lindley,” the man said curtly. “A pleasure.”
Marcus made a rude noise. “I’m sure I can’t say the same. I had no idea Mrs. Eversham was so indiscriminate with her guest list.”
Emma glanced rapidly between them. The stranger’s expression was perfectly neutral; Marcus, on the other hand, was glaring and breathing like a bull. “Marcus, really! This gentleman—”
“Knows he is not welcome,” Marcus said. “Not anywhere I am, and certainly nowhere near my future wife. I would suggest you leave now, sir.”
The man shrugged. “Of course.” Slipping the flask inside his jacket, he sketched a shallow bow. “Accept my congratulations on your betrothal, Lindley. Miss Martin is utterly charming.”
“You soil her by speaking of her,” Marcus snapped. “Beware lest I call you out for it!”
Now she was truly alarmed. Something about this man—perhaps his slight smile at Marcus’s threat—made her think he would be more than a match for her intended. “Gentlemen, this is absurd!”
“Come with me.” His hand tightening cruelly into her forearm, Marcus all but dragged her back into the bungalow.
Inside, the sudden brightness of numerous lamps and candelabras made her wince. She pulled Marcus to a stop at the edge of the crowd, beneath one of the giant fans hanging from the ceiling. Its starched chintz streamers were wilting in the humidity. “I cannot credit your behavior,” she said. “How could you behave so loutishly!”
“How could I?” Marcus pulled her around to face him. “Do you know who that man is? Do you know?”
“Stop shaking me!” She yanked her arm from his grip. The strong, sour odors of wine and sweat were rising from his skin. Maybe he had overindulged tonight, but that was no excuse. “What has come over you?”
“That is my cousin,” he managed, his face purple. “That is the half-breed who would have the dukedom instead of me.”
“That—” She stopped, understanding. “That man is Julian Sinclair?”
“One and the same.”
She turned away from him, staring blindly toward the dancers. Marcus had written to her of his second cousin, Julian Sinclair. Sinclair’s father Jeremy had married a Eurasian, a woman of mixed English and native descent, when he had thought his brother the Marquess would have the dukedom. But within a short period, the cholera had killed Jeremy, and the Marquess had died in a hunting accident. That left Jeremy’s young son as heir to the dukedom—Julian, whose blood was one-quarter native.
Now Julian Sinclair was grown, and his grandfather, the current duke, had made sure through every legal means that his grandson would follow him in the succession. But Marcus could not accept the idea that a man of mixed blood might inherit the title, when Marcus, pure-blooded English and in line after Sinclair to inherit, might himself wear the strawberry leaves so well.
“He didn’t seem Indian,” she whispered to herself.
“Of course he didn’t!” Marcus exploded. “The Duke has done everything in his power to assure it—Eton, Cambridge, a seat in the Commons. But while a man can ape his betters, he can’t change his blood. The proudest title in Britain is to go to a mongrel!”
She looked back to him, stunned. “Marcus, you sound so… hateful.”
He stared at her, his mouth thinning into a grim line. “Is that so? To think, you’ve only been here for five days, and already you’re starting to pant after the natives. What would your parents say?”
She winced. A servant was passing with a tray of wine; she reached out and snared a glass. “That is cruel.”
“Cruel but true. Even in death, they knew the honor of being Martins.”
She took a deep swallow of the wretched bordeaux and shut her eyes. Again and again it returned to haunt her—this image of her parents’ faces, so small and pale as the ocean closed over them. The pain of their deaths did not fade; most nights, she still awoke weeping from nightmares of drowning with them. Only a miracle had guided her to the gig on which she had floated for almost a day; only God had given her the strength to cling to it as the hot sun beat down and she despaired of ever being found.
She set the glass on a sideboard and looked directly at him. The atmosphere was close and torpid, and sweat was trickling down her nape; strange, then, that she felt so cold. “You think it would have been more honorable to let myself drown?”
After a mute, stubborn moment, his face softened, and he reached for her hands. “No, my dear, of course not.”
But she wondered. After all, he could play with his precious honor all he liked, risking it with his conspicuous philandering, his exorbitant gambling debts. But to have that honor tarnished by a woman! Surely it must irk him, to risk being made a laughing-stock by upholding a betrothal with a woman of questionable reputation—a woman who had arrived in India sheltered not under the watchful gaze of her mother and father, but by a crew of rough-and-ready sailors. Those sailors had saved her life, but Anglo-Indian society was wondering if they hadn’t robbed her of something even more important: her virtue.
Naturally, the fact that her betrothed’s virtue was completely and publicly compromised was of no import at all.
She lifted her chin. “Oh, I was only speaking with him, Marcus. Do let’s forget it. There’s no need to look so grim.”
Marcus exhaled. His eyes began to search the crowd beyond her shoulder. “I’m wondering why he hasn’t been thrown out by now.”
“Perhaps because he’s the Marquess of Holdensmoor?”
He slanted her a sharp glance. “I’m not in the mood for your cheek, Emmaline. And for your information, the man’s a threat to the Crown. He’s been stirring up talk of a possible insurrection, trying to goad us into abandoning Delhi. Thinks our native troops might turn on us.”
“Gracious! Might they?”
He waved a dismissal. “It’s treason to even think it. No, of course they won’t. We give them the bread their families eat in the morning. Just because of some silly nonsense at Barrackpore—”
Yes, she remembered that. It had been all the talk in Bombay upon her arrival in the port city. A sepoy, a native soldier, had turned on his British officers. He had shot two of them before he was stopped by his superiors; what had been so alarming, if she recalled correctly, was that none of the other natives had attempted to disarm him.
“He does have a point,” she said. “It’s a bit alarming.”
“It was one isolated incident in over two hundred years on this continent. And the man was directly hanged. We’ll have no more trouble along those lines, I assure you.”
“But if Lord Holdensmoor is partly native, perhaps he has heard something—”
“Emmaline!” Marcus wheeled to face her. “Yes, the man is part native, and for all I know, he’s trying to scare us out of Delhi so the natives can take it back! In fact, I believe that is exactly what he is up to, and I have told the Commissioner so! Now cease your ignorant speculations and make yourself pleasant for your host.”
“My host? Do you mean the one you’re cuckolding?”
All color bleached from his face. Oh dear. Blonde hair didn’t look so well on skin that particular shade of green. “What did you just say?” he asked.
“So it’s true.” Nausea rolled through her stomach. “Well. I suppose you’re going to tell me you still love me anyhow.”
His eyes, such a guileless shade of blue, searched her face. “Of course I do.”
She managed a smile. “Yes. We have loved each other quite a long time, haven’t we? Since we were born, I believe.”
“Since forever,” he said, with an admirable show of sincerity. “And whatever rumors you hear to the contrary, there is no woman in the world for me but you. Some people are jealous, you see, and they would spread vicious gossip in order to harm me—”
“I know,” she interrupted, and then stopped, swallowing hard when her voice would have broken. How sad to realize that she could no longer believe a word he said. “Marcus, I think I’d like to leave now.”
He considered her for a moment, then gave a short nod. “Of course. But I will call on you at the Residency tomorrow. We’ll discuss this, and you’ll see, my dear. These lies—you must simply set them from your mind.”
“Naturally,” she murmured. “If you’ll find Lady Metcalfe for me?”
She leaned back against the wall, watching him push his way through the congratulatory crowd as he went in search of her chaperone. Even though his back was turned, she knew every gesture that he made, sensed every smile that crossed his face. Such was the familiarity of twenty long years—decades of their families plotting to bring them together, arranging their betrothal, choosing the names of their unborn children. The Martins and Lindleys had never known that the only two who would live to fulfill their dream would be the very two who had never been quite as enthusiastic as the rest: the bride and groom themselves.
She closed her eyes, turning her head to press her cheek against the cool bungalow wall. The windows rattled in a strong gust of hot wind, and the candles flickered with the inrush of jasmine and darkness. Strange, how the night called to her so sweetly, promising a lovelier, more innocent place. Yes, India seemed to draw out her very soul. Perhaps that was why she felt so bruised inside—as though her defenses had been laid bare, allowing a terrible melancholy to settle in her core.
Surely she wasn’t grieving over Marcus? She had abandoned her childish dreams of romantic love three years ago, the first time she’d learned of one of his many paramours. She’d been heartbroken then, but her mother had explained quickly enough: marriage was not about something as illusory and fleeting as love. It was about alliances, partnerships, the continuation of the family line. Marcus’s grand and crumbling estates would be consolidated with the vast Martin wealth, and the two of them would create a dynasty that would compensate for her mother’s failure to produce male issue.
So what, then, could account for this sudden foreboding? It slid like a shadow between her and the brightly lit room, leaving her with the odd conviction that she stood apart, watching a great panorama like those they sometimes displayed in the British Museum. This room seemed like Pompeii before the volcano eruption, or Rome before the fall: a civilization on the edge of disaster.
A shiver slid over her, and she glanced away, starting as she found herself locked in a vibrant emerald gaze: Lord Holdensmoor, coming in from the gardens. His face was expressionless as he stared at her. In defiance of both Marcus and her own gloomy reverie, she offered him a smile.
His own was rakish and swift, the effect of it on his aloof, aristocratic features dazzling to behold. And then he too was gone, his tall, broad form swallowed up by the crowd in a cloud of crushed silk and waving peacock feather fans.

DC: Is there a genre you haven’t tackled but would like to try?

MD: I’m an avid reader of YA, paranormal romance, historical fiction, SF/F, and urban fantasy. I have ideas for books in all of these genres. Time is what I lack!

DC: What advice would you give to your younger self?

MD: Relax. There’s always time for a walk in the sunshine.

DC: You have listed on your site you’re currently reading Nalini Singh’s Branded by Fire. I have to say I loved this book, it’s the best of the series for me. How did you like it? Give us some of your thoughts about it?

MD: I just updated that yesterday! I’m a huge of Nalini Singh. I’ve just started reading the book, so I can’t say much, save that it’s fantastic so far. Oh, also: it takes serious talent to write a sex scene in the first chapter, before we’ve gotten a chance to fully invest in the characters, and make it so incredibly riveting.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

MD: Gosh, great question. Well, blurbs are meant to sell the product, so I’ll abandon modesty for this exercise. Perhaps something like, “Fast-paced intensity, interspersed with moments of wicked humor and whimsical reverie.”

DC: Your next book has just received its title, Wicked Becomes You, and is due out in May of next year. May we get a sneak peek?

MD: Sure! Here’s the working copy:

She’s been burned not once but twice by London’s so-called gentlemen . . .

Gwen Maudsley is pretty enough to be popular, and plenty wealthy, too. But what she’s best known and loved for is being so very, very nice. When a cad jilts her at the altar—again—the scandal has her outraged friends braying for blood. Only Gwen has a different plan. If nice no longer works for her, then it’s time to learn to be naughty. Happily, she knows the perfect tutor—

Alexander Ramsey, her late brother’s best friend and a notorious rogue.

So why won’t a confirmed scoundrel let her be as bad as she wants to be?
Unbeknownst to Gwen, Alex’s aloof demeanor veils his deepest unspoken desire. He has no wish to see her change, nor to tempt himself with her presence when his own secrets make any future between them impossible. But on a wild romp from Paris to the Riviera, their friendship gives way to something hotter, darker, and altogether more dangerous. With Alex’s past and Gwen’s newly unleashed wildness on a collision course, Gwen must convince Alex that his wickedest intentions are exactly what she needs.

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

MD: Hmm. Okay, I was blushing for days over something the Book Smugglers said about Bound by Your Touch – Ana called it “sophisticated, beautifully written and utterly romantic.” I’d like to imagine this applies to my voice!

DC: If you had never become an author, what do you think you would be doing right now?

MD: Well, I’m a PhD student in anthropology, so I hope to be an anthropologist as well as a novelist. Were it not for the fiction writing, I’d still be aiming at a professorship.

DC: What else is on the horizon for Meredith Duran?

MD: I’m off to India for a year to do anthropological research! The laptop, of course, comes with me.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?     – Dark.
- smooth or chunky peanut butter?     – Chunky.
- heels or flats?   – Both.
- coffee or tea?    – Coffee.
- summer or winter?   – Summer, for the sunlight – not for the heat!
- mountains or beach?   – Mountains.
- mustard or mayonnaise?    – Mix them together!
- flowers or candy?    – Candy.
- pockets or purse?    – Pockets.
- Pepsi or Coke?   – Coke.
- ebook or print?     – Until I get an e-reader, print all the way.

And because they’re still amusing:

1. What is your favorite word?    – kerfuffle
2. What is your least favorite word?     – Glint.
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – Reading amazing fiction. Mountains that slope down to the ocean. London. Airports and hotel lobbies, spaces that encode the possibility of encountering the unexpected.
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – Anxiety. Traffic. The glare of the sun off concrete and high-rise windows. Really, really hot weather.
5. What sound or noise do you love?     – Fiddle music. The ocean at night. The sound a dog makes when he sighs through his nose. The scratch of a fountain pen across textured paper.
6. What sound or noise do you hate?     – The squealing of brakes and microphones. The high-pitched, almost-but-not-quite-undetectable hum of electronic equipment. Alarm clocks.
7. What is your favorite curse word?     – Erm. In my mother’s presence? “Crap.” Since she’ll probably google me and find this interview, I’ll leave it at that!
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?   – In another life, I’d love to work for the foreign service. Learning languages is such fun. The opportunity to live in so many places overseas, to settle down and really get to know those places, and also to find a support network wherever you land — all of that sounds fantastic.
9. What profession would you not like to do?    – I would make a very bad chemist. In high school, titration always slayed me.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?    – “Good job. The library is that way, between the pizza parlor and the puppy playpen. Get to it!”

DC: Meredith, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today!

Sandy M’s review of Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase
Historical Romance released by Avon 27 May 08

I was a little hesitant to begin reading this book. The only other Loretta Chase I’ve read is Lord of Scoundrels. If you’re a fan of hers, I don’t have to tell you what most folks think about Lord of Scoundrels. I’m not one of them. At least not to the extent all those folks are. It’s a good book, but it’s not one I sigh over or tell other people about. After I began reading Your Scandalous Ways, I had the thought that this is going to be another one that just isn’t my cup of tea. It started a little slow for me, but I’m glad I hung in there.

My favorite part of the book is James. He’s a spy who’s been at it a long time. He’s tired of the espionage game and wants to leave it behind, relax at home, take in the sights and sounds of the city if he so pleases. However, he ends up on one last mission. His assignment this time is to retrieve some letters from a woman. How difficult can that be, especially for a seasoned spy like James? Once he meets Francesca he finds out how truly difficult things are to become for him. Although she is a high-priced whore, he and his body still react to her. He tries to keep it all professional, but every time they’re together sparks fly, in more ways than one.

Francesca chose to become a whore after her husband divorced her and ruined her name and reputation with accusations that a woman can never live down, so her logic was to do the very thing she’d been accused of and be very well compensated for it. She loves her freedom, loves not having a man control her life. She was a fool once over a man and look what that did for her. She’s about to become a fool again over another man, but what fun the reader has on that particular journey.

The banter between these two characters is just wonderful. Francesca holds her own and then some in the battle of words with James. Even when they both succumb to their passions for each other — and those are some lovely, intense scenes — their relationship is not cemented until later in the book when they work together to bring down a traitor and their wordplay is constant and sure-fire all the while. It even transitions into their relationship, it just takes on a different tone.

When I first started the book, I didn’t know if I was going to like having a whore as the heroine. Of course, I jumped to that conclusion way too soon. Finding out what Francesca went through during the latter years of her marriage and then her divorce brings everything into perspective and you cheer her on for the woman she’s become despite everything. I loved how James always lost his perspective when in Francesca’s company. Even the most solid, by-the-book, duty-bound man couldn’t hold his resolve in check when face to face with the woman made for him. I also enjoyed the backdrop of Venice, the gondolas and gondoliers, the perfect Italian flavor for the story.

I love the way Ms. Chase completely turned me around while reading this book. I started out doubtful and became a true believer. And I know a lot of you won’t agree, but I enjoyed this book so much more than Lord of Scoundrels. This time around the spy won my heart instead of the usual tormented hero I normally like to read about.

Grade: A-

Click on the Your Scandalous Ways tag for more reviews.

Summary:

James Cordier is all blue blood and entirely dangerous. He’s a master of disguise, a brilliant thief, a first-class lover—all for King and Country—and, by gad, he’s so weary of it. His last mission is to “acquire” a packet of incriminating letters from one notorious woman. Then he can return to London and meet sweet-natured heiresses—not adventuresses and fallen women.

Francesca Bonnard has weathered heartbreak, scorn, and scandal. She’s independent, happy, and definitely fallen; and she’s learned that “gentlemen” are more trouble than they’re worth. She can also see that her wildly attractive new neighbor is bad news.

But as bad as James is, there are others far worse also searching for Francesca’s letters. And suddenly nothing is simple—especially the nearly incendiary chemistry between the two most jaded, sinful souls in Europe. And just as suddenly, risking everything may be worth the prize.

Read an excerpt.

Shannon C.’s review of Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase
Historical romance published by Avon 27 May 08

It seems that anyone who wants to consider themselves well-read in the romance genre reads Loretta Chase. I mean, how brilliant can an author consistently be if one of her books makes everyone’s best of lists all the time? And there was so much buzz about this release that indicated it was going to be a great book, so I was excited to get to read it.

Since Devon’s review does a good job summarizing the plot, I’ll just recap. James is a spy looking for some letters Francesca has. Francesca’s a courtesan living in Venice, and the letters were sent to her ex-husband. Neither she nor James particularly want to want each other, but they do.

I really liked both these leads. Francesca is smart, resourceful, stubborn, calculating, and mischievous. She’s not really a whore with a heart of gold here. Her struggles felt all too human, and I loved her for them. I loved the fact that she goes after what she wants, and chooses the life of a courtesan so that she can rub her ex-husband’s face in her success.

James is a wonderful foil for her. He fell in with a bad crowd and was rescued from a life of crime so that now he serves Mother England. He has dreams of going back home and marrying some doe-eyed debutante, so he’s nonplussed when he finds himself drawn to the beautiful and wicked Francesca. And when the two of them finally get together, their love scenes are hot.

Chase does a great job of making Venice come alive and presenting the period in a realistic manner. I appreciated the setting of Venice, and I liked all the references to Lord Byron, who must have been an interesting character. And Chase does a great job of making all these characters sound either Italian or English or French. Her dialogue, in fact, just all around sparkles and I enjoyed reading it.

My one complaint was that there were several points in which the story dragged. It felt like it took forever for Francesca and James to meet, and then periodically, I felt the pacing was just a bit too slow.

I’m not sure that I’ll ever reread this book, but I do have to admire Ms. Chase for her craft. This is definitely a good edition to her bibliography.

Grade: B

Summary:
James Cordier is all blue blood and entirely dangerous. He’s a master of disguise, a brilliant thief, a first-class lover—all for King and Country—and, by gad, he’s so weary of it. His last mission is to “acquire” a packet of incriminating letters from one notorious woman. Then he can return to London and meet sweet-natured heiresses—not adventuresses and fallen women.

Francesca Bonnard has weathered heartbreak, scorn, and scandal. She’s independent, happy, and definitely fallen; and she’s learned that “gentlemen” are more trouble than they’re worth. She can also see that her wildly attractive new neighbor is bad news.

But as bad as James is, there are others far worse also searching for Francesca’s letters. And suddenly nothing is simple—especially the nearly incendiary chemistry between the two most jaded, sinful souls in Europe. And just as suddenly, risking everything may be worth the prize.

You can read an excerpt here

Devon’s review of Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase
Historical Romance released by Avon 27 May 08

A courtesan is the heroine of this book. An honest to goodness professional mistress, a harlot who accepts jewelry, money and other gifts in return for the pleasure of her company. Intriguing. I know it’s been done before, but I’ve never read any of them, and I was curious to see what kind of HEA she would be given. I was more concerned that the hero was a spy, a rather tedious and overdone type of historical hero, IMHO. But it’s Loretta Chase, she of the wonderful characterization, matchless dialogue, and dazzling battles of wits! If anyone could pull off a “the whore and the spy” scenario, it’s Chase.

And she does. I loved Francesca Bonnard. I downright admired her. She weathered cruelty and betrayal, and survived what would have seemed an untenable situation for the day. What could a divorcee, branded an adulteress and tainted by other family scandal do? Become a governess, or companion? Not likely. Francesca took the best path available to her, and pulled it off admirably. She is now one of the most sought after women in Europe, wealthy in her own right, and able to do as she pleases. Plus, it burns her ex-husband’s ass to see her flourish. Really, the whole courtesan thing doesn’t seem like a bad gig. But I digress. Francesca is exotically attractive, intelligent, and witty. She can be a bit calculating, but I don’t see how one wouldn’t be, given her past and profession. But she is also vulnerable underneath it all.

James Cordier was a great hero for her. In the great rake vs. rogue debate, James is definitely a rogue. A younger son (neither rich or powerful enough to merit Francesca’s favor), James is no stranger to doing questionable things for money. Or for king and country, depending on how you look at it. These are two highly experienced, world-weary folks, and the sparks fly as soon as they meet. Neither wants to want the other, but they are perfect for each other. They play off of each other hilariously and sexily. One thing I enjoy about Loretta Chase’s heroes is that you always get the sense that they admire the whole woman. Even when James thinks it’s just lust, it’s Francesca’s wit and personality that seduce him as much as her looks.

James comes to Venice to steal some important letters from Francesca. There are others who want those letters too, and don’t mind hurting Francesca to boot. There is just enough plot to keep things moving along nicely. There are a number of entertaining secondary characters as well: Francesca’s buddy Giulietta, the dorky Prince Lurenze, the Comte de Magny. But this is pretty much the James and Francesca show. They meet, flirt, argue, and fall inexorably in love. Their encounters are lively, amusing, and sensual. The fact that they’ve both been through so much, only makes the romance that much more romantic.

Your Scandalous Ways is a satisfying, chemistry-filled, character driven romance. While I must admit that I don’t think I’ll re-read it as often as I do Lord of Scoundrels or Mr. Impossible, Chase fans won’t be disappointed. Nor will any historical reader who enjoys great dialogue and vivid characters. Definitely worth a read.

Grade: B+

     From the back cover:

     James Cordier is all blue blood and entirely dangerous. He’s a master of disguise, a brilliant thief, a first-class lover—all for King and Country—and, by gad, he’s so weary of it. His last mission is to “acquire” a packet of incriminating letters from one notorious woman. Then he can return to London and meet sweet-natured heiresses—not adventuresses and fallen women.

     Francesca Bonnard has weathered heartbreak, scorn, and scandal. She’s independent, happy, and definitely fallen; and she’s learned that “gentlemen” are more trouble than they’re worth. She can also see that her wildly attractive new neighbor is bad news.

     But as bad as James is, there are others far worse also searching for Francesca’s letters. And suddenly nothing is simple—especially the nearly incendiary chemistry between the two most jaded, sinful souls in Europe. And just as suddenly, risking everything may be worth the prize.

     Read an excerpt here.

Lawson’s review of Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
Historical romance reprinted by Avon November 27, 2007

I am probably one of a very few people who may admit the reprint was the first time I’ve read this book. It tends to top lists, at least it has on a few that I’ve seen. I wanted to check out what all the love was about and I really enjoyed Not Quite a Lady and wanted to read more from Chase. What Scoundrels gave was not what I had expected. With so many people liking this book so much I was expecting a different book than I got.

Scoundrels is a ‘Beauty and the Beast’ story and Jessica makes a decent Beauty. She’s called a femme fatale like her grandmother, though she’s turned down many proposals and wants instead to open a curio shop in London. Intelligent, independent heroines are usually a good sign in a book. Especially due to the fact she doesn’t cower to the hero at his most belligerent.

The Beast is not really a beast, he’s just a jerk. Why is Sebastian, Marquess of Dain, so well loved by romance readers? He’s belligerent, spoiled, selfish, obnoxious, emotionally stunted and likes himself that way. There’s lots of back story about abandonment and having a horrific Italian nose and getting hazed horribly at Eton. Where that could create sympathy for the now bad marquess, it just made him turn out to be a bully with the attitude of a four year old.

Though he can be charming and congenial, it’s only when he chooses to be. How Jessica falls for him beyond basic animal attraction I don’t understand. And speaking of animal attraction… Sebastian wants her so bad, but what annoyed me was how he thought of himself. A overlarge beast of a man who could break his fragile, delicate wife with his animal urges and lovemaking.

Sebastian has no good opinion of himself, he believes his own worst detractors and those who want to tear down his ego, though it just makes him more malicious and doesn’t let him grow up emotionally. There are some token villains and consequences of a misspent youth that must be dealt with, but when the HEA comes it seems that Sebastian hasn’t grown much and Jessica has become more of his mother than his wife, dealing with his tantrums and fight or flight mentality and offering herself for breeding purposes.

After reading Scoundrels, I wonder if I missed something. A continual top 10 on reader’s lists made me expect the best but end up disappointed in this one. Maybe I was just in the wrong mood or don’t get Sebastian in the right way. Is there anyone that wants to share why they loved this book so much? For me, I’ll read the next Chase and hope it’s more like Not Quite a Lady instead of Lord of Scoundrels.

Grade: C-

Burb: They call him many names but Angelic isn’t one of them…
Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Dain, is big, bad, and dangerous to know. No respectable woman would have anything to do with the “Bane and Blight of the Ballisters”–and he wants nothing to do with respectable women. He’s determined to continue doing what he does best–sin and sin again–and all that’s going swimmingly, thank you…until the day a shop door opens and she walks in.
She’s too intelligent to fall for the worst man in the world…
Jessica Trent is a determined young woman, and she’s going to drag her imbecile brother off the road to ruin, no matter what it takes. If saving him–and with him, her family and future–means taking on the devil himself, she won’t back down. The trouble is, the devil in question is so shockingly irresistible, and the person who needs the most saving is–herself!

Read an excerpt.