What the Duchess Wants

Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry of Anjou

What the Duchess Wants is the story of how Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest women in the medieval world, decided that Henry of Anjou, future king of England, was the man she wanted to marry. In that time period, women generally–and wealthy, land-owning women in particular– did not control their choice of spouses. But Alie-Anor, as she was called, was Duchess of Aquitaine and Queen of France and controlled more land than her then-king-of-France husband did!

Though divorce could have been a shameful thing, Eleanor used it to seize the kind of life and husband she wanted — a young, vigorous, enthusiastic and on-the-move warrior who also held huge amounts of property in France and who wanted more. Henry of Anjou knew the prize that Eleanor was and intended to win her.

Although I know that their later life was not all that happy, and, as happens in many royal marriages in history, the kingdom and power became a driving force between them, I believe Henry and Eleanor began their marriage in love with each other. Henry opened up worlds to Eleanor that she had never experienced before and he appreciated her worldliness and her experience as chatelaine of her vast lands and properties. He needed that experience while he was off pursuing his claim to England. They worked together to establish his claim and to create a family who would hold all the properties they owned–they worked for a future for their dynasty.

And, though their private lives would suggest otherwise, they were successful. The Plantagenet dynasty would rule England from 1154 until 1485, through various branches and descendants, so I would say they were successful!

The Royal Wedding is just weeks away! To celebrate, Harlequin is offering a digital Royal Weddings series to commemorate the event.

In April, Harlequin will release five royal wedding stories that feature British weddings throughout history. Some of the stories are about fictional characters involved in historic weddings and some are about real royal couples.

Take time to appreciate seven new exciting stories from Elizabeth Rolls, Ann Lethbridge, Terri Brisbin, Michelle Willingham, Bronwyn Scott, Lucy Ashford, and Mary Nichols.

Throughout the day we will have guest blogs from these Harlequin Historical authors telling you how they chose their heroes and heroines for this exciting new series, plus a excerpts from some of the books.

Have a royal day!

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of A Night For Her Pleasure by Terri Brisbin
Historical romance short story ebook released by Harlequin Historical Undone 1 Jun 09

Sooner or later, it happens to every reader. The ol’ “It’s Not You, It’s Me” affliction that sometimes happens when we pick up a new story. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it, it just isn’t for you. That’s exactly what happened to me with A Night For Her Pleasure.

Simon, Count of Rennes has just married his fair, innocent bride, Elise. The wedding feast is well underway, but instead of celebrating his marriage, he’s fretting about the wedding night. While noble, Simon sees himself as brutish and rough. He fears he will frighten, scare off, and scar his virginal wife, who he is already hopelessly captivated with. In turn, Elise is fretting about pleasing her husband. Her mother’s advice on the marriage bed essentially consisted of lie back and take it. Then her cousin shares with her a very enlightening conversation she had with Simon’s former mistress. Needless to say, Elise is a bundle of nerves because she has absolutely no idea what to do or what to expect. All she knows is that she loves her husband.

Enjoyment of this story pretty much hinges on how tolerant the reader is of virginal heroines. Certainly Elise isn’t all bad. At least she doesn’t get wide-eyed, point at Simon’s naughty bits and exclaim, “You’re going to be that there?!?!” Still, I found myself getting annoyed by her reticence and her constant referral to Simon’s naughty bits as his “privy parts.” 

A Night For Her Pleasure also serves as a prequel to the author’s new series for Harlequin Historical, The Knights of Brittany. Certainly, almost all of these Undone stories are parts of series, but in this instance I felt it was a bit heavy-handed. The inclusion of those Knights dangerously bordered on info-dumping and they didn’t serve any purpose in this story other than to be series-bait.

All that said, I think this story will be more enjoyable for readers looking for a hot, historical read but who don’t necessarily enjoy the recent trend towards franker language. In other words, if you want hot without reading the F-bomb or the C-bomb, this story will most definitely scratch your itch. It reminded me of the older, sexier historicals from back in the day, before the erotic romance boom as we know it firmly took hold. For this reader though, I think I probably would have preferred it if Simon had married his mistress.

Grade: C+

Summary:
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Brittany, 1066
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Elise saved her family from ruin by marrying Simon, Count of Rennes. Yet this is no mere marriage of convenience–Elise has already fallen in love with her new husband. Intending to please him, Elise sets out to be the bold and seductive woman she thinks Simon desires–even though she’s an inexperienced, innocent virgin.
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On this their wedding day, Simon is determined to skillfully arouse his new wife and initiate her into the pleasures of the bedchamber, although he fears a woman so feminine and delicate could never love a nobleman as rough as he.
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Once their wedding night arrives, Simon and Elise will both discover ecstasy beyond their wildest imaginings….
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Read an excerpt here.

Other books in this series:

We have a couple of lucky winners from our Duck Chat with Terri Brisbin!  We’d like to thank Terri for such a fun day here at the Pond.

I used that handy-dandy random number generator, so now here are the winners of the two sets of Terri’s Highland trilogy, Taming the Highlander, Surrender to the Highlander, and Possessed by the Highlander!

** Maureen (2)

** Patti Shenberger (1)

Congratulations, ladies!  I’m envious!  Please send your snail mail address to lighthousetagger (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll send everything off to Terri to get your books on their way to you.

We back with another great Duck Chat!

We’re continuing Harlequin Historical month Terri Brisbin!

Terri and her family live in southern New Jersey, where she weaves her wonderful stories for us.  She also writes for Kensington Brava as well as Harlequin Historicals and has had 18 books published since 1995.

Writing both historical and paranormal, Terri has two series and a trilogy, the MacLeries, the Dumonts, and MacKendimens, and her fans love them all; Possessed by the Highlander, The King’s Mistress, and Once Forbidden are just a few of the titles from these series. The Queen’s Man, The Duchess’s Next Husband, and The Maid of Lorne are her stand-alones. Take time to read any of Terri’s books. They are well worth it.

Terri has graciously donated two sets of her Highland trilogy, A Love Through Time, Once Forbidden, and A Matter of Time for a giveaway, so be sure to leave a meaningful comment to be thrown in the hat for your chance to win! Now let’s chat with Terri!

DUCK CHAT: Wow, Terri, you have a busy schedule for releases this year. Was that the plan or did it just end up happening that way?

TERRI BRISBIN: Well, once I sold to a second publisher and began to organize my contracted books, I scheduled to alternate between Harlequin and Kensington. So, it means two books about every ten months, plus a short story or two thrown in for fun! It’s different for me, and busy, and I’m hoping I still have a brain left when I finish.

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

TB: The one that asks: “so how long does it take to throw one of these little books together?”

DC: In June A Night for Her Pleasure, a Harlequin Undone! ebook, is hitting the shelves. First let’s talk about the Undone line. These are books which are shorter than the normal category romance. Is that more challenging for an author? Or easier?

TB: HH UNDONES! are actually short stories rather than novels or even novellas, about 60 pages long. They are a challenge and I found them more difficult to write than longer books because an author needs to include great characterization and plot and emotions but in a concise, shorter length.

DC: Now tell us about the hero and heroine, Simon and Elise, in A Night for Her Pleasure, please.

TB: Simon is a nobleman who believes he is a big, hulking man and too rough for the feminine, petite woman to whom he’s been betrothed. Determined to make her happy, Simon seeks the advice of his friends, a trio of bastard sons who were raised with him and who never seem to lack the company or attentions of any number of attractive women. Elise knows that only by making Simon happy and content in their marriage can she secure the future of her family and save them from disgrace and ruin. After discovering the truth about Simon’s true desires, she decides she must be the woman he wants. . . in his bed and in his heart.

The whole story happens over the course of their wedding day as they each try to be the exact spouse the other wants and needs and as they approach their first time in their marriage bed together.

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

TB: Oh gosh, yes! Most of the time, I can clearly see the beginning and the ending of each of my stories, but the middles are vague and unclear until I write the book and begin to know the characters better. Then as I begin to know and understand the characters and their needs and goals and the conflicts that keep them apart, the story takes off where it will and I just run after it, trying to write it all down!

I do argue with my characters, usually in that moment when they first break from my ‘master plan’ and go off on their own. I have to say that they usually win! LOL!

DC: Then in July is the release of your Harlequin Historical, The Conqueror’s Lady. Your website says this is a Knights of Brittany book. Is this a new series you’re starting? And please tell our readers a little about The Conqueror’s Lady.

TB: Yes, The Conqueror’s Lady is the first in my new trilogy which is introduced by the short story in June – all involving the Knights of Brittany, a group of four men raised together, one noble and three bastards and who seek their fortunes and futures in the service of William the Conqueror. In this first full-length book, Giles is the first to gain lands and titles, and a wife, from his king but finds his betrothed wife marrying someone else when he arrives. Let’s just say he is not happy at all.

Excerpt from The Conqueror’s Lady:

‘Finish the words and you will be a widow before you are a wife,’ Giles Fitzhenry, knighted warrior of William the Conqueror, promised in a harsh whisper.
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The blood from the gash above his eye flowed down his face and dripped on the lady’s shoulder, but still he did not relent in his crushing hold. It would take but a moment’s pressure to crush her throat and he swore to himself and then aloud that he would do it if she spoke the words of the vow. Giles turned to face the now-quieting crowd in the small chapel and revealed the dagger he aimed at her ribs, another assurance that the lady would die if anyone tried to intervene.
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His intended moved with him, gripping his hand as though she could stop him. Lady Fayth of Taerford should have thought about the repercussions of her actions before he arrived. Before his men and hers had been killed in the battle for the keep… and for possession of her. Giles nodded to Roger and his man held his sword to the neck of the lady’s comrade in this crime, waiting for her response.
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‘The keep and lands are mine now, lady, as are you. Your choice of words will simply bring his death more slowly or more swiftly.’ Giles watched as the woman in his arms exchanged glances with the man held a few yards away.
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He felt her body relent before she spoke the words of surrender. Trying with all his determination to ignore the soft, womanly curves beneath his arm, he lessened his grip a tiny bit and lowered the dagger to give her the opportunity to make the choice. ‘Do you take him to husband instead of me?’ he asked aloud.
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‘I do not,’ she whispered hoarsely into the deathly silence that had covered the room.
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With her capitulation, his men surrounded her people and began to force them from the chapel. Without letting go, he nodded at his second-in-command and then at the man who she had chosen as husband. ‘Kill him.’
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The priest protested loudly, but his men ignored the old man and prepared to follow Giles’s orders. It was her quiet voice that stopped him.
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‘My lord,’ she began, trying to face him in spite of his grasp. Her movement simply made his blood drip and smear more over her cloak. It wasn’t until he lessened his grip on her that she could speak louder.
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‘I beg you, my lord. He is not to blame. Truly. Mercy, my lord. Mercy.’ She leaned her head back, offering herself as a sacrifice to his anger.
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He would tell himself later that it was his need to put an end to the bloodshed that made him relent. He would tell himself that he had never planned to kill the man cajoled or ensorcelled by his betrothed into this foolhardy plan to interfere with his rights to her and the land. But Giles only knew that at the moment when his gaze met hers he wanted to grant her whatever she asked of him. He let out his breath and nodded.
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‘Take him and his men to the edge of my lands and release them,’ he said in a loud voice. ‘And if, from this time forward, they step back onto my lands or try to contact my wife, kill them without hesitation.’
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After Roger dragged his prisoner from the chapel, Giles released his hold on her. She gasped for breath as he pushed her to another of his men. There was much to do and he needed her out of his way.
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‘Find a place and secure the lady.’
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Reaching up to touch her throat, she turned as though she would speak, but said nothing. His bloody handprint marred her neck and he knew that the armour gauntlets he wore would leave bruises on her fair skin where he’d held her. Any measure of sympathy he began to feel for her was extinguished when he saw that two of his men lay dead in the back of the chapel.
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Giles met her gaze once more and the hatred burning there in her dark green eyes said more than her words would have or could have. Giles smiled grimly at her, accepting the challenge made silently.
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‘Nothing is to happen to her, except by my word or by my hand,’ he called out.
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Aye, my lord,’ his soldier answered as he dragged Fayth from his presence.
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After surveying the chapel and making certain that his dead and wounded were cared for, Giles strode to the keep to see what his new home looked like.
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She smelled the metallic odour of his blood on her and felt its stickiness on her skin where his gauntleted hand had clutched her. It was as though he had marked his possession of her where all could see it. Fayth’s throat burned and her chest ached from his crushing hold. As his men dragged her across the yard, she saw Edmund and his men being chained together. Pulling against her guard, she managed to come to a stop, but she feared the cost of calling out to Edmund. When their captors finished chaining them, they were hauled across the yard and out of the gate.
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Would she ever see him again? Would her new lord and master keep his word and see them released? Fayth fought back tears at the thought of never seeing her childhood friend alive again. At least she’d been able to save his life, but now that everyone who had protected her was gone, she alone was left to face this invasion.
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The clamouring at her side caught her attention and Fayth looked on in horror as her people, the servants and villeins of the keep, were herded into the yard that usually held their horses. Men, women, children. Sir Giles’s men were systematically going building by building and forcing all of her people out to the yard where they were thrown with the others.
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Did he mean to kill them all? They called out to her, fear in their voices and terror in their gazes. What could she do now for she was a prisoner herself?
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When one of the Norman soldiers tossed the cook’s young daughter to the ground, she could no longer stand by silently. With a strength that surprised her, she pushed off the grasp of her guard and ran to young Ardith, knocking the warrior away from her. Helping the girl to her feet and urging her to run, Fayth turned back just as her guard caught up with her and as Ardith’s attacker regained his feet.
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Cursing in Norman French, words too gruff and too fast for her to comprehend, the man grabbed her by the cloak she wore and pulled her to face him. The anger flared in his eyes at being interrupted in what he must have thought was his due as the conqueror. He raised his fisted hand and swung it at her. She tried to lean away to avoid the blow, but his hold was too strong.
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Pain exploded in her head and then there was nothing but darkness.
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He watched the chaos of the yard from the open window in the chamber he claimed as his own. The large room boasted a hearth built into the wall, a privy closet and this window that overlooked the yard and gate. Below him, most of the people of Taerford Keep were collected in an enclosure with a few stragglers being taken there now. His men controlled the gate and the roads leading to it.
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They’d fought their way from Hastings, along the roads past London and out to the west, into Harold’s country. William urged his haste in following a few who escaped the battlefield and ran to organise resistance to the duke’s lawful control of England. Days became almost a week as they faced battle after battle and finally made their way to his promised fief.
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In spite of sending word ahead of his claim and his approach, the lady and those who conspired with her had nearly completed their hasty marriage when Giles managed to take control of the keep. He smiled grimly.
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Now, it was his.
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The building was not very large, but would suit him. It contained three floors with several private chambers and a separate kitchen building. The keep, kitchen, chapel and several other shops were enclosed by the wall. It was not large, but it pleased him and would offer protection until he could replace the wood with stone as William had ordered.
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Pushing the mail coif off his head, Giles looked for something to staunch the bleeding from his wound and found a small linen kerchief on the bed. Pressing it against the deep gash, he walked back to the window to watch his orders being carried out. Unfortunately, things were not going as he had instructed.
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The newest soldier in his company had some young girl in his grasp, his intent obvious even from this distance. Damn him! Giles had made it clear that such attacks were unacceptable, but Stephen had thrown control away during the battle and now the girl was his next target. Running from the chamber and down the stairs, Giles reached the yard in time to see the lady Fayth intervene.
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Before Giles could shout an order, Stephen reached out and grabbed Fayth, lifting her from her feet. Giles called for him to stop, but the noise in the yard prevented anyone from hearing it. As he took off running towards them Stephen hit Fayth with enough force that the lady fell to the ground unconscious. Without stopping, Giles ploughed into the soldier and took him to the ground. Heedless of those watching, he pummelled him until he himself was pulled away.
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‘Andre!’ he called to a guard. ‘Carry the lady to my chambers. Henri, find her servant or a healer and see to her care. And,’ he added, wiping his mouth of the blood that flowed freely once more, ‘do not leave her side.’ He turned to face Stephen, who still lay on the ground at his feet. ‘Your disobedience and lack of control have ever been your weakness,’ he accused. ‘You have been warned about this and you have not heeded my words.’
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Giles ordered him lifted, stripped to the waist and tied to the fence. The yard was eerily silent now as all watched their new lord discipline one of his own. He would rather not have carried this out now, but a prompt response to disobedience by any of his men was necessary, especially in a time of war. He tugged off the gauntlets and accepted the whip from his second-in-command. Giles did not do this lightly, for he’d felt the lash bite his skin, but he’d learned the hard lesson it taught quickly and had rarely faced discipline again.
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Walking to the fence, he looked at those now held in the enclosure and at his men. ‘For disobedience of my standing orders, the punishment is ten lashes. Call them, Thierry.’
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Giles unwrapped the length of leather and flicked it into the air. The tip cracked loudly and many of those around him flinched….

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

TB: Everything and everyone distracts me! Emails, tv, phone calls, whatever, grabs my attention and keeps me from writing, until the last days of my deadline…and then I simply write in an uncontrolled binge of creating until the book is done and in!

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?

TB: Hmmmm. I’m not sure if my characters have evolved, but I do think characterization is one of my writing strengths.

DC: You also have a medieval trilogy coming up, the first book due out in November. The trilogy is being published by Kensington. Would you tell us about the first book, A Storm of Passion, and then give us a sneak peek into the next two books?

TB: I am so excited by this new opportunity! I based this new trilogy on an old Scottish folktale about a poor Highland woman who catches a fairy and demands a gift from it for her sons – something that will make them powerful and wealthy. Unable to refuse, the fae does give them a gift – powers to tell the future, read minds and thoughts and heal with a touch, but the fae also curses them. Each time they use their fae gift, their humanity suffers – the seer is going blind, the truthsayer is losing his hearing, and the healer is losing his emotions and becoming an empty shell. And the only thing that can break the curse is the freely given love of an enemy…!

The first book is about Connor, the Seer, whose words have caused the death of a young woman’s entire family, and Moira who is on a quest for vengeance against him. They discover that only together can they find the truth and only with love can they overcome those set against them.

The second and third books will follow the other two brothers on their journeys and search for answers about their gift, the curse that afflicts them and the women who could save their lives and their souls.

Blurb for A Storm of Passion:

In the first of a breathtaking trilogy set against the stark beauty of medieval Scotland, one man discovers a surprising past, a remarkable gift—and a terrible destiny…
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Once, Connor believed that his ability to see the future would grant him everything. Instead, it landed him in a prison of his own making. Summoned by the Lord of the Isles to serve as his counselor, Connor gains wealth and prestige, but with every vision, his own sight dims. Even so, Connor doesn’t grasp the terrible consequences of his gift until he’s wounded by a young woman who blames him for her family’s massacre.
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Moira curses herself for failing to kill the Seer—especially when she learns her punishment is to be given to him as a slave. Far from the proud, arrogant tyrant she imagined, Connor is a tortured man with a dark sensuality that tempts her night after night. But freeing him from a strange power that is spiraling out of control will mean forsaking her vow and risking her heart for the one man she has sworn to destroy…

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

TB: Well, I’ve played around with a historical fiction series, but don’t know when I’ll have the time to right that!

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

TB: Learn how to be effective without procrastinating!

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

TB: Exactly what I’m doing in my ‘real’ life – I am a dental hygienist and have been for more than 30 years. It’s a wonderful balance for me, the scientific process by day, the creative process by night!

DC: What’s on the horizon for Terri Brisbin?

TB: I’m under contract for five more books and another HH Undone! in the next three years, so I have to do lots and lots of writing! And I’m hoping for a trip to Scotland this fall, for pleasure and research.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?   – Uh-duh – DARK!
- smooth or chunky peanut butter?   – Smooth
- heels or flats?     -  Flats
- coffee or tea?    – Absolutely tea!
- summer or winter?    – Winter
- mountains or beach?   -  Beach
- mustard or mayonnaise?     -  Mustard
- flowers or candy?     -  Candy
- pockets or purse?    – Purse
- Pepsi or Coke?     – Dr Pepper
- ebook or print?    – Definitely print

And just because it’s fun:

1. What is your favorite word?    -  Inappropriate
2. What is your least favorite word?     -  Fine (as in ‘it’s fine’)
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – Passion for something
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    -  Indifference
5. What sound or noise do you love?    – A baby’s laughter
6. What sound or noise do you hate?    – A silent keyboard
7. What is your favorite curse word?     – Sh*t!
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?    – Attorney
9. What profession would you not like to do?     -  Dentist
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?   – “You were right!”

DC: Thanks so much for visiting with us today, Terri!

Welcome back to Duck Chat!

Today we’re chatting with Harlequin Historical author Julia Justiss. Julia has a wonderful backlist full of historicals such as The Wedding Gamble, Wicked Wager, The Untamed Heiress, and A Most Unconventional Match. (She has some of the best covers out there, too!) Her current release is a novella in the One Candlelit Christmas (which I read and thoroughly enjoyed) that was out last December for the holiday season. 

Julia is married and lives in East Texas with her family. She’s had a very interesting life which includes a lot of traveling before her husband retired from the Navy. Once they did settle in Texas, she was able to put all her energies into writing full time. She has won numerous awards for her stories, including a Golden Heart for The Wedding Gamble.

When reading Julia’s interview, keep in mind she’s giving away a copy of One Candlelight Christmas, which also features stories by Terri Brisbin and Annie Burrows, so leave a meaningful comment or question to be in the running!  Now let’s chat with Julia!

DUCK CHAT: You have a new addition to your Wellington family series coming out in October of this year, From Waif to Gentleman’s Wife. First can you give us some background on the series and then tell our readers about the new book?

JULIA JUSTISS: It isn’t exactly a series, in that there was never a “planned” number of books to come out in sequence. Sarah Wellingford, heroine of my first book, The Wedding Gamble, came from a large family and I’d always envisioned doing the stories of her siblings and her husband Nicky’s two best friends. As it turned out, my second novel featured some totally unrelated characters. In my third, The Proper Wife, I returned to the Wellingfords with the story of Sarah’s childhood love Sinjin and her best friend Clarissa. A number of books featuring other heroines and heroes then intervened, until the appearance last July of my twelfth book, A Most Unconventional Match, which showcased Sarah’s younger sister Elizabeth and Hal Waterman, one of Nicky’s best friends. In November 2008 “Christmas Wedding Wish” appeared in the anthology One Candlelit Christmas, telling the story of the second eldest Wellingford sister, Meredyth. My next book, From Waif to Gentleman’s Wife, out in October 2009, tells the story of Sir Edward Austin Greaves, the second of Nicky’s best friends.

That takes care of Sarah and Nicky’s closest friends, but Sarah still has some unattached siblings, so there may be more Wellingford stories in the future.

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

JJ: I don’t know that there is one. Except maybe “where do you get your ideas.” The answer to that is “everywhere.” From stories I like that I’d like to see with a different twist. Stories I didn’t like that I’d like to end or progress differently. People I like. People I don’t like. Current news stories. Historical events or characters. Those intriguing little bits of historical trivia that just beg to be expanded into a full-length story.

Writers are like the Pig-Pen character in the old Peanuts cartoon strip, who went around always surrounded by this cloud of dirt. Except writers are always surrounded by this dusty cloud of Ideas.

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?

JJ: I’m an outline writer rather an a “pantser” (as in “seat of your pants,” meaning the writer goes where the story takes her, without planning it in advance). It helps reduce the panic when I sit down at the keyboard if I have an idea of where I need to go next and because my day job leaves me with such limited writing time, I can’t afford to write a scene I later decide I don’t need. But even with fairly detailed planning, stories seldom follow the outline exactly.

Characters you think will be important may turn out not to be; events that you think will go in one direction may veer off in another. When the story is really flowing, the dialogue just “comes.” So there are always surprises!

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

JJ: No arguments—because I listen to them. If they take the story in a direction that I hadn’t anticipated, I just follow.

DC: You have an interesting project with several other authors coming in 2010. Dubbed “The Silken Rope Scandals,” can let us know, first, how the idea for the project came about?

JJ: I’m enormously excited about this project, which represents several “firsts.” Although individual authors have created historical series, as far as I know, this is the first historical continuity by a North America publisher. As is usual in a continuity, the participating authors were invited by the editorial directors to take part in the project, but there was no editor-generated “bible” issued for the writers to follow. We were given complete freedom to develop the overall story arc, decide on the main characters, chose whose story we wanted to tell and devise its plot—subject, of course, to editorial approval. Fortunately, the editors loved our concept, accepted the outline of the overall arc and approved the individual story synposes (synopsi?) with very little alteration. Alas, our series working title, “The Silken Rope Scandals,” was ultimately retitled Regency Silk and Scandal.

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

JJ: Like most writers, I have a hard time getting started. Sitting down is no problem; I’m always eager to check e-mail, visit the few blogs and review sites I follow and update the news on my website. What usually distracts me from moving on to the actual writing is research information, either tidbits posted on one of my historical author loops, on a blog, or in a website link. Historical writers are like magpies, always attracted to some shiny bit of obscure fact because who knows when it might be just the thing you need to flesh out a scene? So it must be read and then copied into the appropriate file.

Research will always distract me, which is why when I’m writing, I make up what I don’t know and only go back to check the facts after I’ve finished the book. If I stopped to check out background information as I wrote, I’d never get the book finished!

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?

JJ: I don’t know that my “style” of character has changed. I’ve always written strong, independent women who see the hero as an equal, a complement to them, not as someone to support them or solve their problems or rescue them. I’ve written both alpha and beta heroes, but they always respect their women and are not threatened by a lady who can hold her own with a pen, a pistol, or a horse.

My stories are all character-driven, and I write about characters who interest me. The stories flow from them, not me—I just follow where they lead! However, I guess I could say that my characters now tend to be less the conventional Marriage Mart maiden or matron and more involved in less well-known locales and situations.

DC: Who are the other authors involved in “The Silken Rope Scandals”?

JJ: Louise Allen has the first and seventh books; Christine Merrill has the second and eighth; I have the third; Gayle Wilson the fourth (her first return to Regency historical after several years of writing contemp suspense, so I’m really excited about Book 4); Annie Burrows the fifth; and Margaret McPhee the sixth.

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

JJ: I’d like to do some contemps. My ideas range from the interesting-but-probably-not-marketable, like the crippled murder-mystery-solving bookstore owner heroine who teams up with the artificial-leg-ex-military hero who now runs a security firm. The possibly marketable romance set in East Texas where the big-city heroine inherits a ranch after the sudden death of her father, who bought the place at a tax sale as a retirement hobby—the ranch formerly belonging to the hero, who lost the land that had been in his family for generations after he was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, who breaks out of jail to prove his innocence and get his land back. Then there’s the series I’d like to do on adventurous women, like the Navy fighter pilot; the rescue diver; the engineer-designer of the first practical laser handgun whose prototype gets stolen by the bad guys and she goes undercover to get it back, clashing with the government agent assigned to the case…

DC: LOL, well, after hearing that, I think you might make one of them work!  What advice would you give to your younger self?

JJ: Be more disciplined. Write faster. Get more books out.

DC: Your contribution to the project is titled The Smuggler and the Society Bride. Can you give us a smidge of a sneak peek, please?

JJ: The background of all the stories is a scandal in the father’s generation involving three friends and spymasters. One is having an affair with the wife of another; after angry words are exchanged, one man is found murdered, the friend with whom he’d quarreled supporting him, holding a bloody knife, by the third member of the team. Although the suspect insists he found his associate already stabbed and dying, he is tried, convicted of murder and hung—with a silken rope, as was the right of a peer of the realm. At the hanging, the murdered man’s gypsy mistress curses all those involved in her lover’s death. Someone in the children’s generation decides to implement the curse.

My heroine, Lady Honoria Carlow, is the daughter of the friend who let his best friend die on the scaffold despite his claims of innocence. She is set up to be ruined in such a way that she has no choice but to leave London. Angry at fate, life and the family that did not believe her, the victim of some diabolical scheme, she flees to a distant aunt in Cornwall. While mulling over her life—and trying to figure out who conspired to destroy her—she meets the intriguing captain of a local smuggling ship. Though he’s the last sort of man an earl’s daughter should find attractive, there’s something compelling about Gabriel Hawksworth—a man who has secrets of his own to conceal—that Honoria finds impossible to resist.

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

JJ: I’ve always wanted to run an indie bookstore in a college town that had a coffee bar by day and wine bar by night, with student art on consignment hanging on the walls, a little stage for poetry readings, one-act plays, concerts, and other entertainments.

DC: What else is on the horizon for Julia Justiss?

JJ: I’ve just completed the rough draft for the Harlequin Historical e-book Undone program, an e-book only, sexier short stories format similar to the Spice Briefs that are marketed from the eHarlequin website. This story features secondary characters from my upcoming Wellingford book and will be out in September. I’ve got three more books under contract, the next of which should be the story of Caroline, an independent young woman who has serious and somewhat unusual reasons for avoiding wedlock, and Max, the unrepentant rake she proposes to have “compromise” her so she’ll be considered ruined and safe from matrimonial pursuit. Except that Max discovers he has a conscience after all and isn’t sure he can ruin and then abandon this very intriguing young lady.

However, there are several secondary characters from the October Wellingford book who are calling out for stories of their own, so Max and Caroline might not be next after all. I’ll see what my editor thinks after I turn in the final draft of the Undone.

A treat for those of you who have not read One Candlelit Christmas:

CHAPTER 1

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“Merry! Merry, they’re here! Come quickly!”
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From the dining room where she was supervising the footmen placing another leaf in the long table, Meredyth Wellingford heard her younger sister’s urgent voice summoning her to the entryway. “Coming, Faith” she called.
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A lilt in her step, Meredyth smiled as she walked to the front hall. How she loved the holidays! The scent of greenery adorning stairs and mantles mingling with the spicy tang of simmering wassail and the odor of roasting meat; mistletoe kissing balls and sharp-edged holly; carols sung around the hearth before the blazing Yule log. But especially, she loved having her family at home, the siblings gathered once again under Wellington’s roof as they had been for all their years growing up.
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The first to arrive should be her younger brother Colton returning from Oxford with his best friend Thomas Mansfell. Since Wellingford was on the way from university to his friend’s home farther north, Thomas was a frequent visitor, normally spending a few days with them each time the boys made their way to and from school.
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Just as Meredyth met her sister in the entry hall, they heard boots tromping up the front steps, followed by a sharp rap at the wide front door that Twilling, their old butler, hastened to throw open.
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“Faith! Merry!” Colton cried, sweeping them into a hug as they ran to greet him. “How good it is to be home!”
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“How good it is to have you,” Merry replied, an ache in her heart as she stepped back to inspect the youngest member of the Wellingford clan. With their mother having never really recovered after his birth, Meredyth and her older sister Sarah had tutored and cared for Colton all of his life before he left for school. In place of the smiling, eager boy she’d sent away to Eton now stood a young man taller than she was, his burnished brown locks highlighted with gold, his blue eyes glowing. Her little brother was becoming a handsome young man, Meredyth realized with a shock.
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“The hall certainly looks festive,” another masculine voice said, pulling her from her contemplation of Colton.
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“Thank you, Thomas, and welcome,” she said, turning her attention to her brother’s friend. “You are planning on staying for a few days before journeying home, I hope! I’ve had your usual room prepared.”
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“Oh, yes, do say you’ll be staying!” Faith interposed. “It is so agreeable to see you again.”
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“Good to see you too, brat,” Thomas replied, giving one of Faith’s gold curls a careless tug before turning back to Meredyth.
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“I should love to rest here for a few days before returning to the rigors of Christmas at the Grange. And I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of telling my brother Allen that he could stay here as well. He arrived from London to join us on the trip north just as Colton and I were leaving Oxford.”
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“Of course he’s welcome,” Meredyth replied. “You’ve spoken of him so often, although we’ve never met, I feel I know him already.” Indeed, over the years Thomas had frequently recounted the exploits of the older brother he admired, his expertise at riding and fencing, his service as a dashing young subaltern carrying messages for Wellington during the Waterloo campaign, the expertise with which he’d taken over the management of the family estates.
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Thomas grinned “I’m glad! It would have been most embarrassing to have to send him on his way alone! He stopped to see about the horses—but here he is now.” He gestured to a tall, dark-haired gentleman whom Twilling was just admitting into the hallway.
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“Ladies, may I present my brother Allen? Allen, here are Merry and Faith Wellingford, two of Colton’s sisters.”
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“Miss Faith, Miss Wellingford, a pleasure!” the newcomer said, bowing over their hands in turn. Addressing Meredyth, he added, “I’ve heard so much about Wellingford from Thomas, I’m delighted to visit at last—if you are certain, as he insisted, that having an extra guest foisted upon you without notice won’t be an inconvenience.”
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As the gentleman straightened, Meredyth barely suppressed a gasp. Unlike her fledgling brother, Allen Mansfell was a man already fully mature—and a strikingly handsome one. Though Meredyth was tall for a lady, the visitor towered over her. Sable brown locks brushed the forehead of his square-jawed, slightly smiling face, while eyes of an arresting green captured her gaze, making her feel for an instant as if the two of them were the only occupants of the hall.
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A bit disconcerted, she dropped her eyes, letting her appreciative gaze travel from his broad shoulders down a trim torso to muscled thighs well-displayed by his chamois riding breeches. When, cheeks pinking, she forced her eyes back up to his, a tingle of attraction sizzled through her, stronger than anything she’d felt since the death of her fiancé James a heartbreak ago.
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Shaking her head, she tried to re-gather her wits. “If you’ve listened to what Thomas says about me, I’m surprised you dared venture to the house.”
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He laughed, that disturbing, shiver-inducing stare still fixed on her. “I assure you, everything he recounted was most complimentary.”
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“I hope you left us some decorating to do,” Colton said, glancing around the garland-hung hallway. “After being cooped up with musty old books for a term, Thomas and I are keen to ride about the countryside.”
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“Faith and I began with the entryway, but haven’t progressed much further. We shall have need of you gentleman to fetch in more pine, holly and mistletoe. I thought we’d leave some of the gathering until Sarah, Elizabeth and Clare arrive with their clans. Riding out with you should amuse the children.”
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Colton grinned at her. “That’s Merry, already managing everyone and half the group aren’t even here yet.”
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“She is an excellent manager,” Thomas pointed out. “Viewing Wellingford now, Allen, you cannot imagine what it looked like when I first visited here! The manor in disrepair, cottages falling into ruin, fields lying fallow. Merry’s done a wonderful job of refurbishing the house and farms and seeing the land brought back under cultivation.”
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Were Thomas not almost as close to her as a sibling, Meredyth might have been embarrassed by his bald description of the sorry condition of Wellingford at the time of their father’s death. As it was, knowing that via Thomas his brother Allen would be fully aware of how badly their gamester father had neglected Colton’s inheritance, she felt no need to explain or apologize. “Time, a competent estate agent and an influx of funds can accomplish a great deal,” she replied.
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“Having wrestled with the upkeep of Papa’s properties, Miss Wellingford, I am well aware that it takes much more than those to keep a property in good heart,” Allan said. “The land and farms we rode through looked exemplary and this house is lovely. Your hard work is quite evident.”
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“Oh, indeed!” Colton interposed. “Merry is so excellent a manager, I believe I shall keep her on when I marry and return to Wellingford for good.”
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“I doubt your bride would care for such an arrangement,” Meredyth replied tartly, feeling her face heat. With the blunt insensitivity of a young man, she knew Colton didn’t realize he’d just branded her as his spinster sister, well and truly on the shelf. Which, of course, she was, but ‘twas not a fact she appreciated his pointing out in front of the very attractive Mr. Mansfell.
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Though some eight years senior to the seventeen-year-old Thomas, Allen Mansfell must still be at least two years younger than she. Her discomfort intensified by that lowering thought, Meredyth told herself sternly that she must get over the unseemly sensual response he’d sparked in her.
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Noting from her expression that her sister was piqued at being left out of the conversation—and conscious of a sudden need to escape Allen Mansfell’s too-compelling presence, Meredyth said, “Faith, why don’t you take our guests into the front parlor? I’ll have Twilling bring in some spiced wine while I see about preparing your rooms.”
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Turning to Mr. Mansfell, she added, “I’ll have your chamber ready shortly. If there is anything I can do to make your stay at Wellingford more comfortable, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
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To her surprise, Allen took her hand and bowed over it. “I’m sure you will make me comfortable indeed,” he murmured, the warmth of his voice and the heat of his gloved hand sending another little shock through her.
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Hastily withdrawing her tingling fingers, Meredyth curtseyed and turned away, acutely conscious of his gaze upon her back as she ascended the stairs.
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Escaping from his view down the hallway, Meredyth proceeded to the guest wing to inspect the room she meant to assign Allen, needing to determine if anything more than fresh linens would be needed. As her gaze lingered on the large high bed, she recalled Mr. Mansfell’s velvet-voiced remark about how comfortable she would make him. A surprisingly intense flush of heat suffused her body.
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She was being ridiculous, attributing to his idle remark an innuendo a gentleman would never direct toward a gently-born spinster. ‘Twas bad enough she’d blushed like a schoolgirl under his gaze. She’d best get hold of herself around him before she did something that alerted him to the effect he had upon her. The thought of him realizing it and reacting with distaste-or even worse, pity–was too humiliating to contemplate.
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Fortunately, he would only be at Wellingford for a few days. With the rest of the family arriving any time now, she’d be too busy overseeing meals, lodging and entertainment for her sisters, their spouses and children to reflect on the mesmerizing effect of a pair of vivid green eyes or the quivering in her belly produced by a handsome face and a virile physique.
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It wasn’t as if she’d encountered no attractive men in the years since her engagement ended. What was it about Allen Mansfell that sparked her body to a sensual awareness she’d thought submerged for good after James’s death?
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The dull ache that had replaced the first searing pain of losing her fiancé throbbed in her chest. Swallowing hard, she drifted to the window, staring sightlessly down at the winter garden as the memories overtook her.
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How in love they’d been! How vividly she recalled the excitement of kissing him, the way she’d felt as if she were melting from the inside out when his tongue caressed hers and his strong hands fondled her breasts. Not for the first time, she regretted the sense of honor and responsibility that had made them curtail those thrilling explorations short of complete fulfillment.
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They’d have all the time in the world to enjoy each other when he returned from his posting in India, James had promised as he gently pushed her away. Drawing a finger over her kiss-swollen lips, he’d pledged to pleasure every inch of her once she was his bride, when they need no longer fear that their joining might create a child.
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That last night before he left she’d been tempted, oh so tempted, to draw him back into her embrace, rub her breasts against his chest, fit her body around the hardness in his breeches and coax his lips open, touching and teasing until his control broke and he took her then and there down the path to ecstasy. Only the knowledge that conceiving his child would mean disaster had stopped her.
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Faced now with the probability that she’d never bear a child of her own, she wasn’t so sure she’d made the right choice.
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It wasn’t that she’d set her face against marriage. Of course, for the first year or so after losing James she’d not thought it possible she would ever wish to wed anyone else, but time had worn away that certainty as it had muted her grief. In the intervening years, the necessity of remaining at Wellingford to tend her dying mother, followed by a succession of other needs and duties, had kept her here, far from the ballrooms of London where she might have found another love.
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Not that it was completely impossible she might yet marry. She’d go to London with Faith in the spring, accompany her little sister to all the events of the Marriage Mart. But by now almost ten years older than her sister and the other girls making their bows, she would likely be consigned to wearing caps and sitting with the dowagers.
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Besides, unlike many of the maidens soon to join Faith in the drawing rooms of society, Meredyth cherished no dreams of wedding for wealth or title. She’d already sidestepped the rich neighbor who’d come wooing, wishing to join her dowry lands with his. Gently rebuffed an old family friend, a widowed viscount looking for a new mama for his clan. Possessed of a valued place among her family, a budding brood of nieces and nephews to spoil, land and a dower house in which to live once Colton brought home a bride to be the new mistress of Wellingford, she would not turn her heart, her worldly possessions and her future over to a husband in exchange for anything less than a love as powerful as that she’d felt for James.
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Turning to give the bed one last lingering glance, Meredyth sighed and walked back out. Despite Allen Mansfell’s ability to make her senses zing, demonstrating that passion burned within her still, for a lady as long in the tooth as Meredyth Wellingford, finding true love again would take a miracle.
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Savoring a glass of spiced wine in the parlor below, Allen Mansfell propped an elbow against the mantle and looked on indulgently as Miss Faith Wellingford tried—with no success—to flirt with his brother Thomas, who alternately teased and ignored her while discussing with Colton a proposed hunting expedition for the morrow.
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A pretty enough child, Miss Faith resembled her older sister Elizabeth, said to be beauty of family, who’d recently married his friend Hal Waterman. With her lovely face and artless charm, Miss Faith would probably have little problem finding a suitable husband next spring when, as she earnestly informed him, she’d be making her debut.
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At the thought, Allen suppressed a quiver of distaste. Next spring would probably find him back in London as well. Though after Susanna’s faithlessness, part of him recoiled at the thought of ever offering his hand and name to another lady, once his initial hurt and fury abated, he knew the reason he’d first sought her out—a desire to marry, settle down on his estate and delight his mama by providing her with grandchildren–would propel him back to Marriage Mart again. Not that he had any intention this time of risking his heart.
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Unfortunately, the London season provided the most convenient and comprehensive gathering of maidens of suitable breeding and lineage from which a gentleman might find a wife. Though ‘twas ludicrous to think of choosing an infant like Faith.
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It was Susanna’s confident self-assurance that had first caught his interest last spring. Unlike most of the other maidens, she was able to converse intelligently—and flirt alluringly–instead of falling into giggles or blushing at every word he uttered. To say nothing of the blatant promise of her lush body…
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Angrily he thrust away the memories. He’d raged and mourned long enough. He would not allow her perfidy to cast a damper over his spirits any longer.
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If he were compelled to wade into waters of Marriage Mart once again, he thought, Miss Faith’s sister Meredyth was much more to his taste. Tall, slender, her hair a paler blonde that the gold of her little sister’s, her eyes gray-blue rather than cerulean, she carried herself with a graceful elegance. Then there’d been that surprising spark of awareness accompanied by a jolt of warmth that fairly burned through his gloves when he’d foolishly uttered that naughty remark about how comfortable she could make him. Elegance and—unlike Susanna—integrity in one subtlety sensuous body made for quite an arresting combination.
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Nor had he been mouthing empty phrases when he’d complimented her on the management of Wellingford. He’d been genuinely impressed by the well-tended fields, fences and cottages past which they’d ridden, their excellent condition all the more impressive considering in what a shambles the entire estate had been just a few years ago.
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Randolph Wellingford’s profligate habits, addiction to gaming and shocking neglect of his estate had been quite the on-dit when Allen first left Oxford for London. Indeed, many at his club had murmured ‘twas a blessing for the family when the man met an early death, riding out half-foxed one cold winter morning in an attempt to win some ridiculous wager. Meredyth Wellingford must be intelligent, diligent and a thrifty manager to have accomplished so much at Wellingford.
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The thought struck him then, as appealing as it was sudden. If he must marry—and marry he must–why not choose a more mature lady, one he knew by reputation to possess a sterling character and by personal observation to already have the skills necessary to be mistress of a large estate? An older lady who might be as amenable as he to a marriage based on similar tastes and mutual respect. A lady whose subtle attractiveness promised satisfaction of his appetites without the torment of lust and jealousy Susanna had roused in him.
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A lady who just happened to be planning to accompany her little sister to London for the upcoming Season.
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Allen swallowed the last of his wine and set down his glass, smiling. He’d use this few day’s sojourn at Wellingford to become better acquainted with his charming hostess. And if he continued to be as impressed—and titillated—by Meredyth Wellingford as he’d been upon their first meeting, he might just have found the answer to his marriage dilemma.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?   – Dark
- smooth or chunky peanut butter?    – Chunky
- heels or flats?    – Really high FMP for going out; flats and barefoot for home
- coffee or tea?    – Coffee
- summer or winter?    -  Cool not cold; don’t like heat (and I live in Texas—how smart is that?)
- mountains or beach?    – Both. Love walking by the water (not laying out tho) Love mountain trails and woodland streams.
- mustard or mayonnaise?   – Mayo
- flowers or candy?    – Flowers
- pockets or purse?     -  Pockets; not big on bags but oh, get me some SHOES!
- Pepsi or Coke?    – Coke
- ebook or print?    — Print. My eyes bother me after reading on a screen for awhile.

And because we’ve had fun with them so far:

1. What is your favorite word?   – faith
2. What is your least favorite word?     – Camaraderie, because I can never, ever spell it right
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – Calm serenity in my personal life
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – Anxiety, esp about family or my kids
5. What sound or noise do you love?   – Flowing water: fountain, waves on a beach, etc.
6. What sound or noise do you hate?    – “background noise” tv or music
7. What is your favorite curse word?    -  Damn—it’s mild enough to use liberally
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?   – Fighter pilot; I love to fly but I get motion sickness.
9. What profession would you not like to do?    – **Anything** that deals with numbers
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? – “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

DC: Thank you so much, Julie, for being with us today!

Sandy M’s review of One Candlelit Christmas by Julia Justiss, Annie Burrows, and Terri Brisbin
Historical Romance Anthology released by Harlequin 1 Nov 08

I really enjoyed this anthology.  The three stories are full of love and hope during the season of miracles.

Christmas Wedding Wish by Julia Justiss

Meredyth has accepted her fate of not finding love again since the death of her fiance years before, but she still has faith in the Christmas season.  She knows she’ll be the one to stay on with her younger brother when he inherits his title, so her future seems sealed as chatelaine of Wellingford Hall.  Then she meets the older brother of her sibling’s best friend, a man younger than herself.  Though he shows an interest in her for his wife, she can’t bring herself to accept his proposal that doesn’t contain the love she hopes to experience again.

Allen has just come out of the throes of angst and depression after finding out the kind of woman his former fiance truly is.  Knowing he must marry anyway, he’s pleasantly surprised when he finally meets Meredyth.  He knows they share an attraction and feels they have enough in common on which to build a mutually satisfying relationship for the future.  Then he’s more than surprised when she rejects his logical offer.

This story abounds with hope for both the main characters, even though they’re looking at it from very different points of view.  They enjoy a very nice flirtation, one thinking it’s a beginning toward a new life, the other believing it can only be taken for what it is in the moment.  It’s also full of family, brothers and sisters, good friends all being brought together again for the holidays.   Very enjoyable!

Grade: B+

Summary:

Disenchanted with empty-headed society debutantes, dashing gentleman Allen Mansfell decides that, if he must marry, he will choose a lady whose mind and heart he’ll have to win over—a lady like Miss Meredyth Wellingford. But for Merry, finding true love will take a miracle…

Read an excerpt.

The Rake’s Secret Son by Annie Burrows

Young Harry asks God for a father for Christmas, a man who must be better than his own father who left his mother to the wolves of society, who left Harry himself to be ridiculed and labeled a bastard.  By the time he returns home from the church where he made his prayer, God has already answered it.  Unfortunately, that prayer is what neither he nor his mother had in mind.

Carleton has returned from the dead and Nell knows her life is about to get worse than it’s been in the five years since she found out her young, arrogant husband, who left her on the tails of his making sure she’d be branded a harlot, had died.  Carleton himself can’t believe he’s ended up in Nell’s home, he swore to have nothing to do with her ever again.  But as they get to know one another during Christmas, they learn how the manipulation of others shaped their lives and how much they lost because of it, but how much they do have now is a miracle.

Another touching story of a little boy’s prayer being answered but just not the way he wanted.  It was nice seeing Harry getting to know his father, though, after all the details begin to emerge about Carleton and Nell’s wedding, the time when everything went wrong.  The dichotomy of Nell knowing she can live with her son and husband and do without all the amenities of the nobility while that is Carleton’s background even though he’d been away from it for a while in horrendous circumstances is a conundrum they have to overcome.  A lovely story.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Before Carleton Tillotson left Nell, the rebellious rake broke her heart. Now he is back, just in time for Christmas, and Nell can’t hide her secret any longer—Carleton’s the father of her son!

Read an excerpt.

Blame It On the Mistletoe by Terri Brisbin

This novella is my favorite of the book.  Julia and Iain knew each other as children when she visited his Highland home.  It’s been a number of years since they’ve seen one another and in that time Iain was in a carriage accident in which he lost his parents and other relatives and was gravely injured.  He still suffers mightily, he’s in constant pain and endures his body’s imbalance due to his injured leg and hip.

Julia is the younger sister of Anna, who is now a countess, and she’s always made sure Julia has had the best of everything. Her current goal is to see Julia in a proper marriage.  But Julia has eyes only for Iain, though he knows there can be nothing between them.  Blaming the mistletoe hung around the house keeps their stolen kisses within social parameters, but that’s not nearly enough for them.  Determined not to ruin Julia’s life because he can’t keep her safe, Iain rejects her offer of love and suddenly the world is a very dim place for them both.

A very moving story of love and longing, duty and integrity.  The scene at the lake when Iain rescues Julia is simply heartrending.  You feel the helplessness each character when forced to do the right thing and their hearts want something else.  It was also a very poignant moment when Iain finally decides to take that first step toward hope, faith, and trust.  And that was without the mistletoe!

Grade: A-

Summary:

Julia Fairchild has loved Iain MacLerie forever-but the boy she once knew is now a hardened and aloof man. Amid the festivities and warm cheer of yuletide, can Julia melt Iain’s guard and ignite the spark that continues to burn between them…? Read an excerpt.

Overall Grade: B+

Sandy M’s review of Possessed by the Highlander (The MacLerie Series, Book 4) by Terri Brisbin
Historical Romance published by Harlequin Historical 1 Aug 08

I’m a huge Scottish Highlander fan. I love’em big, braw, alpha, and claymore-wielding. Imagine my surprise when I ended up loving the hero of this book just as much, although he’s the peacemaker for his clan. He is definitely a warrior, as all men of his era were, but he is also a man known for his use of words, patience, and negotiation. Of course, I also love a hero who shows his sensitive side, protects his woman at all costs, and that is definitely Duncan MacLerie.

Duncan has been dispatched by his laird, Connor MacLerie, to negotiate a peace treaty with the Robertson clan.  His success at such negotiations is well renowned and he expects this one to be no different.  It’s on his way to his first meeting with The Robertson that he meets Marian, a woman living in a one-room cottage with her daughter, well away from the village.  He is taken with her and finds himself yearning for that which he’s never wanted before, a family, a home, someone to love.

During his time with his hosts, he finds himself visiting Marian again and again until the unthinkable happens.  He awakens with Marian by his side and Laird Robinson looking on, claiming the woman is his sister and is now ruined, forcing Duncan to marry to her.  He agrees just to keep the peace between their clans and to keep his clan from harm.  And he’s one step closer to having what he wants in a marriage, even though Marian will only agree to a handfasting instead.

She’s been through hell the last five years, has lived the life of the Robertson Harlot.  Marian has learned to ignore the taunts and insults hurled her way, even though they hurt to the bone.  She’s begun to have feelings for Duncan, something she hasn’t allowed herself for so long.  But she won’t tie the man to her for a lifetime, knowing she can never tell him of her past and will let him go in a year and a day.  But when she and her daughter arrive at Duncan’s home, when they experience the closeness of family she’s missed all these years, when she finds pleasure night after night in Duncan’s bed, she begins to want what she can never have.  When all her secrets come out, she yearns for only one thing.  For her husband to want her above all else, but she knows that Duncan can never do that, his loyalty is to his laird and his clan.

I really enjoyed these two characters.  Duncan is a quiet man, secure in the knowledge of his ability to sway with words, knowing he does his best and succeeds for his laird.  When Marian and Ciara come into his life, his yearning for what he can have with them is palpable.  He does his best to earn Marian’s trust, giving her stability, doing those little things for her that no one else has ever done.  And his heart is given to her child the moment he sets eyes on her.

Marian has reluctantly been cast into the role of protector of her family and clan no matter the cost, and the cost is so very high for her.  When Duncan looks past her sins, she wants to trust him with everything, but her secrets are so deep she’s not sure she can ever let him in.  The love scenes with these two are very nicely done; loving and tender but fierce and all-consuming, especially with all the obstacles in their way.  I also enjoyed the interactions of Connor and his wife Jocelyn, the hero and heroine of Taming the Highlander, and also Rurick and Margriet of Surrender to the Highlander. Duncan’s love and loyalty spill over to his family and you see how much that means to him when he thinks he’s failed them.

Again, I’m reading out of order for the series, and because of this book I now would like to read the others.  Ms. Brisbin brings the Highlands and its people to life in a wonderfully real way and I know those other books will be just as good as this one.

Grade: A

Summary:

Marian Robertson rescued a child and destroyed her reputation. Now, to keep her family safe, she must marry the stern, dark-eyed warrior negotiating a truce between their clans – and risk her heart to protect the truth.

Manipulated into marrying the ‘Robertson Harlot’, Duncan, peacemaker of the MacLerie clan, finds his new wife’s courage and spirit make it impossible to resist her. But will he put his honor at stake to free her from her past – and claim her love forever?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Holly‘s review of Taming the Highlander by Terri Brisbin
Historical romance published by Harlequin Historical 1 Jul 06

Although I enjoy historical romance novels, lately I’ve been disappointed in the majority of the ones I’ve read. I realized the other day the reason for my disappointment stems from the fact that I have a hard time suspending disbelief over some of the situations the characters find themselves in. Basically, I don’t think the novels I’ve read recently have been in keeping with how I think historical times really were. While that doesn’t always bother me, I think I’ve just been craving something a little more realistic. Terri Brisbin did an excellent job, in my opinion, of staying true to the times. It was very refreshing and just what I was looking for.

She didn’t gloss over some of the more unsavory aspects of historical times, but instead highlighted them. Jocelyn is all set to marry one of her father’s fostered men when she’s told her brother has been captured and the price of his release is her agreeing to marry his captor, Connor MacLerie, called The Beast because of the rumors circulating that he murdered his first wife because she couldn’t bare him children.

Though she doesn’t want to – especially considering the rumors surrounding him – she knows she has no choice. I think I liked this aspect best. She didn’t want to, but she knew she didn’t have a choice. There was no fighting it, or running away, or doing something stupid. She just did what she had to do. She didn’t like it, but she did it regardless. It was refreshing to have a heroine who knew her own mind and wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself when needed, but who also knew she had to make the best of a bad situation. I think she was much stronger than many other heroines for just that reason.

Connor’s first wife fell down the stairs. For three years afterwards he spent considerable time and effort cultivating the rumor that he pushed her. He’s been told by the king that he needs to remarry, so he chooses Jocelyn because she has enough spirit to stand up to him and because unlike his first wife, she’s not beautiful. Connor struggles to stay detached from her, because he knows had he not loved his first wife, she wouldn’t have died. I enjoyed his character very much. He was the typical highland warrior, more than prepared to go to war, but not nearly prepared enough to deal with a woman and her sensitive feelings. Though this could have become tedious, Brisbin did a credible job of balancing his need to be a man with his need to have peace in his household. He screws up several times, giving Jocelyn what he assumes she wants, but he always makes it right in the end. I even understood his need to keep her at arms length.

The plot was tight and well drawn, though it didn’t take much to figure out who the villain of the piece was. I’m not sure if the author intended for it to come as a surprise or not, but it wasn’t long after the character was introduced that I figured the whole thing out. Even so, the focus of the story was on the main protagonists, so the mystery/suspense plot wasn’t in the forefront and therefore wasn’t as important as it could have been.

Overall an extremely well drawn novel with wonderful character development.

Grade: A-

Lady Jocelyn MacCallum had always believed she would marry for love. But the price of her brother’s freedom was to become fearsome Connor MacLerie’s new bride – a bargain that could cost Jocelyn her life.

From the moment she looked into Connor’s sternly handsome face, Jocelyn began to hope that the rumors surrounding his first wife’s death were false. His reputation was as wild and untamed as the Scottish moors. Would she find a way to reach the man beneath that forbidding exterior?

TGTBTU has the pleasure of presenting (three or four) up coming Harlequin Historical anthologies for you to add to your ‘I WANT’ list:

Hallowe’en Husbands: “Marriage At Morrow Creek,” “Wedding At Warehaven,” “Master Of Penlowen” by Lisa Plumley, Denise Lynn, Christine Merrill (we will have their guest posts this weekend as well).

The Magic Of Christmas: “A Christmas Child,” “The Christmas Dove,” “A Baby Blue Christmas” by Carolyn Davidson (sniff don’t think she is coming), Victoria Bylin (guest 6/25/08), Cheryl St.John (guest 6/23/08)

Both of these novels come out in Oct 08 and we will be posting excerpts from Hallowe’en Husbands this weekend as well.

One Candlelit Christmas: “Christmas Wedding Wish,” “The Rake’s Secret Son,” “Blame It On The Mistletoe” (Harlequin Historical Series) by Julia Justiss, Annie Burrows, and Terri Brisbin

And we know that Jillian Hart will be in an HH antho in the spring of 2009 with Rocky Mountain Courtship (Joseph’s story). I don’t think we have the name yet or the other authors in the antho… or did we? Anyone? anyone?

My question to readers are do you like the Harlequin anthologies? Have you ever purchased one? Have you tired one from the Harlequin Historical Line?

If you are an author have you ever written an anthology? Tell us about it. Did you enjoy it? Did the story turn out like you wanted or were you disappointed in it? And of course if you are a Harlequin Historical author and have written one you MUST answer and tell us all about it .

And a question for anyone (wearing any hat: reader or author ) – it the response I liked it but wanted MORE or it ended too quickly… is that the sign of a good novella or poor execution of the story type. Should we be left always wanting more?

by Terri Brisbin

I got the idea for this posting from Deb Marlowe’s about breaking the rules in Regency romances. In reading that and thinking about my own books, I realized that most of my books have broken rules that lots of readers and writers think apply to Harlequin Historicals. What do you think?? Have you heard these before?

Rule #1 – Heroines must be the virginal type.

No one told me about this one, so the heroine of my first HH book (The Dumont Bride – 2002) is pregnant with another man’s child when she marries the hero. Of course, he doesn’t know it and is none too pleased when he finds out and, of course, it’s at the worst possible time. As I think about it, the first three heroines I wrote for HH were all non-virgins, only to be followed by one who was the village harlot and another who was the king’s mistress!

Rule #2 – Heroes must be heroic.

Does that mean that they can’t be bent on revenge, reformed rapists or out to teach the heroine a lesson or two? Can they not take a castle away from the fair maiden or hold her siblings hostage? Can he not be a man who’s already killed his first wife or one who meant to marry another woman? I’ve written award-winning stories that have had all of the above and are some of my most emotional books and my readers’ favorites.

My Rule: An author can break any and all of the supposed rules if they make it work in their story.

Being true to the characters, to their time period, to their journeys is the key to creating emotionally-satisfying romances where even heroes can begin the story as less than heroic. Christian, Royce, Geoffrey, Sebastian and Connor all begin their journeys as less-than-perfect people, but learn and grow through the power of love and through the strength of the woman they each love.

I should be candid though — I have fallen prey to the some of the rumored and reader-loved characters that seem to be related to Harlequin romances. . . yes, I have had amnesiac brides and secret babies! Oh my! And do you know why? Because they work! They challenge me to write an intense, believable characters and a plot that makes sense while ratcheting up the sexual tension and the moving the romance along, too!

So, I think it’s all in the delivery. What do you think?

Possessed by the Highlander by Terri Brisbin. This Highlander goodness comes to us from Harlequin Historicals 1 August 2008. Read on for a summary and a peek between the covers…

Marian Robertson rescued a child and destroyed her reputation. Now, to keep her family safe, she must marry the stern, dark-eyed warrior negotiating a truce between their clans – and risk her heart to protect the truth.

Manipulated into marrying the ‘Robertson Harlot’, Duncan, peacemaker of the MacLerie clan, finds his new wife’s courage and spirit make it impossible to resist her. But will he put his honor at stake to free her from her past – and claim her love forever?

E-X-C-E-R-P-T

Marian sat up at the sound. More like an animal bellowing in pain than a man speaking, she drew the blankets up around and over Ciara before climbing from the pallet and going to the door. Checking the bar, she knew the door was secure against most dangers, but what lurked outside this night? Grabbing her cloak from a hook, she wrapped it around her shoulders and peered into the darkness through the small, high window.

The light of the nearly-full moon made much in the area around her cottage visible to her, but she did not need light to recognize his voice when he spoke. The MacLerie’s man.

“Mara!” he called again, leaning over with his hands on his knees.

Sweet Jesus! He would wake not only Ciara but the entire village if continued bellowing like a wounded bear. Deciding to take a chance that she could quiet him better face-to-face, she slid the bar up and set it aside. Lifting the latch, she opened the door a bit so she could speak to him.

“Sir Duncan,” she whispered. “My daughter sleeps within.” Marian stepped out and tugged the door closed behind her. “As does the rest of the village. Can we not speak of what concerns you in the morn?”

He stood up then, rising to his full height that made him tower over her and he strode directly to her. More than anything, she wanted to scamper back in the cottage, close the door, drop the bar and gain any protection that the croft could offer, and she did try. But, he moved too quickly. He blocked the door with his foot, making it impossible for her to close it. His hand slid up the edge of the door, making any thought of keeping him out a hopeless one.

“Please, my daughter. . . ,” she began in a whisper. Glancing at the pallet and seeing no movement there, she stepped forward to block his view into her home.

“I need to see you, Mara,” he said in a low, gruff voice. “Come out, so I can see you.”

He stuttered his words and Marian suspected he was in his cups, but that did not make him less dangerous. But, her choice was clear—her safety or her daughter’s—so she released her hold on the door and stepped away. His gaze was hot as it passed over her, from her head to the toes that peeked out from beneath the bottom of her chemise. She tugged her cloak closer around her and walked outside.

Marian could see him out of the corner of her eye and she watched as his hands curled and relaxed, curled and relaxed and then again. He allowed her to walk past him and then he followed where she led—away from where her daughter could see or hear them. She suspected how this would end and she did not want Ciara to witness it. When she reached a small clearing in the trees next to the path, she stopped and turned to face him.

His eyes were wild, but there was a sadness and longing deep inside them that made her heart hurt. Her chest tightened and she found it difficult to take in a breath as she waited for him to do something. When his touch came, the tenderness of it was the true surprise. With only the tip of his finger, he traced the edge of her chin and then her mouth. His hand shook as he did it and her body began to tremble beneath his touch.

“You did not come,” he said.

“I could not.”

“I wanted you there. I wanted to see you,” he whispered, closer now, close enough for her to feel his breath on her face. Then he kissed her neck and the heat of his mouth sent chills through her. Still, she dared not move. “I wanted to taste you.”

He lifted her face to his and leaned down until his lips met hers. It was only a moment before the kiss changed from tender to possessive and she lost the ability to think or to move. Now, heat raced through her and centered itself in that place deep inside. He guided her face to one side and she felt his tongue pressing against her lips. Opening her mouth to him, Marian discovered that her limbs lost the ability to support her and she leaned towards him.

When he’d called out her name and told her to come out, she’d been completely prepared to fight or reason him away. Now though, she was not so certain. He slid his arms around her, touching her stomach, her thighs and then her breasts as he did. Instead of giving her the strength to resist, the caresses excited her making her mouth water in anticipation and making the place between her legs throb in some unrecognizable way.

Was this passion then? Was this what made men lose their minds and what brought clans to war?

That thought did clear her senses and she dragged her mouth from his, drawing in several ragged breaths.

“We must not do this, Sir Duncan,” she said hoping he could still see reason in the muddle of the desire.

“I willna hurt ye, lass,” he whispered, kissing her softly once more. His arms loosened not their hold on her and his hands never stopped their teasing caresses. “Tell me ye dinna want this and I will walk away.” His mouth took hers again in a kiss that filled her with wicked thoughts of the act to come.

Though she doubted his ability to do that, Marian was more shocked in that moment she did not want him to walk away. She wanted to feel the rest of the passion that a man and woman shared, a passion she knew was not meant to be for her. He wanted her now, the proof of his desires stood hard between them and he rubbed it against her belly even as her own body readied itself for him. Her breasts felt heavy and the tips of them tingled and tightened beneath her chemise. He drew back this time and watched her mouth, waiting for the word she would speak. . . the word she wanted to say.

Sybil’s Review: The Duchess’s Next Husband by Terri Brisbin

Adrian, Duke of Windmere, has the perfect life of a Duke. A wife to show off, a mistress to screw, money, the right clubs and he knows his duty and does it.

Until he overhears his doctors leaving after his appointment. Adrian discovers he has won’t see the year out and from that point on starts to put his life in order to prepare for his death.

The book opens with a sex scene. Oddly enough it is the h/h having sex, they have been married for seven years and have a weekly appointment to screw on Thursdays. It is really an icky scene and reminds me of The Other Boleyn Girl where King Henry is praying while fucking his wife, finishes up and goes and makes love to his mistress. We don’t get the mistress scene here but it still just makes me so sad.

Just imagine living that way…

He gets rid of the mistress early in the book, at first due to not having time to deal with her and later due to loving his wife. And it is nice to see a ‘mistress’ character that isn’t a bitch, after the hero for herself or trying to make the wife miserable.

They have been married seven years when the book opens. I really have such a hard time with that. Miranda really was living a shell of a life for seven years. And it was nice to see her grow some balls and learn to stand up for herself. I did have issue with the last scene she had with the mother-in-law. By that point she should have known better but hey you got to move the plot along.

I had great issue with the bitch of a mother-in-law. I can’t see how anyone could ever let one woman control their life so much. But understanding Miranda’s belief that she didn’t deserve to be duchess and having ‘lucked’ into it, you can see her struggling and needing guidance.

Did I mention the 7 years that happened before the book started? Such a waste of time…

It was sweet watching them rediscover their relationship and fall in love. It was harder to understand that they did have a connection when they first got married, even though he was marrying her for her money. But soon after they were married, his brother died and he became the duke. Soooooooooooo, I guess that meant they had to quit talking. They both became so focused on ‘duty’ but neither really knew what they meant since neither of them thought they were going to be duke or duchess.

Miranda is too easy on the man who had been screwing a mistress for 7 years. But hey it is a short book. The scene where she brings it up knowing about the mistress is priceless.

As Adrian is working really hard to knock up his wife, if he dies without an heir she gets nothing, he is looking for – The Duchess’s Next Husband. No matter what he wants Miranda to be ok and have a future, even if that future is without him.

The book could have been very melodramatic but really it isn’t. Brisbin has a different way of looking at the same old cliches. The Duchess’s Next Husband is fast, funny and a story of love and emotional growth. What more can you ask for in a romance novel?

Grade: A-

The Duke of Windmere receives word that he’s going to die, and tries to get his affairs in order—which includes finding his wife a new husband!

But as the duke’s efforts go awry and he starts to fall in love with the duchess again, dare he hope they will find true happiness together — before it’s too late?
read an excerpt

The King’s Mistress by Terri Brisbin

Hey look I read a beta hero book. It was odd to see a Harlequin Historical with a nonvirgin/been a kings whore/had his baby heroine. That took guts, at least I think so.

I would recommend the book on that alone. Brisbin’s writing is something I find I enjoy, she was the one story I really liked in The Betrothal. She doesn’t seem to always take the easy way out, not that she doesn’t wrap up some things with a nice neat bow. But not in normal HH fashion.

I don’t read many beta boys and I have to say I am not much for REALLY beta boys. But I don’t like over the top alpha’s (mostly) either so I think I might just be bitchy and hard to please. Then again, I can’t really think of too many beta hero’s. Maybe I have read them and just didn’t notice.

And Marguerite of Alencon isn’t a good girl. She doesn’t always make the right choices. And when she fucks up, it isn’t so much TSTL, as it is a reflection on what she has learned growing up as she did.

But how in the hell she couldn’t have known what a whore Henry II was is laughable. I guess it feeds into the want that ‘this’ person loves you, that you are different and you will make a impact in this person’s life. So you see what you want to see and not what is there. Or not.

I digress…

I would recommend this book. It is a good HH with a good written character in Henry II. There is some life in him and he isn’t just holding up the wall. Sort of makes me what to go pull out a historical fiction novel and read. Although I think the only thing I have to do with Henry II is The Book of Eleanor: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Or not, I think I will go read Drive Me Crazy by Nancy Warren.

Sybil’s Review of The Betrothal by Terri Brisbin, Joanne Rock and Miranda Jarrett
Historical Romance by Harlequin Historical

The Claiming of Lady Joanna by Terri Brisbin was the story that caught my eye. I started reading it while in line at Wal-Mart and decided I needed to know what happens at the end of the story.

It is your basic, man wants to marry girl, girl doesn’t want to marry man because of his evil wicked rep. Girl runs away. Yes you didn’t see that one coming did you. Joanna sneaks out dressed as a monk, and she cuts her hair to do it. YES! I gasped. How do all these chicks run around pretending to be men and keep their long hair? I can’t put mine under a hat.

Anyway, I like this story. I hated the hero, wanted to hug him, wanted to slap him being stupid and thought he handled the betrothal well. And this was just in the prologue. And Joanna? Hell if you can argue why you don’t want to marry a man, in front of the man, your parents, king and court – you have balls and I like you. And I thought it was interesting that we didn’t meet Joanna at court, you saw it through Lord Braden’s eyes.

The set-up intrigued me and I wanted to see how it played out. Hence how I ended up with a new book with three authors I have never read before.

Highland Handfast by Joanne Rock had another strong female… stops – thinks – hmmm all three stories did – damn I am quick. Ok, where was I, we start the story with Brenna Kirkpatrick rushing to get help from Gavin Blackburn. She had been imprisoned in England after warning the scots of an attack; her husband’s family had kept her children and wouldn’t give them back.

Blackburn is something of a young crush/love of hers and the only person she can think of to help her. He lost his wife in childbirth a year before, a wife he loved. YES he loved her. And hasn’t left a woman in his home since her death. He agrees to help if she will handfast with him. See he needs an heir and she has three sons, survived childbirth, is a woman he respects and had feelings for at one time.

She doesn’t think so and wants him to do better… you know the rest. I enjoyed the story, but I can say I paid no attention to the history here so I can’t tell you if it was right or wrong. Bad reader

A Marriage in Three Acts by Miranda Jarrett was a much lighter tale than the other two. And well it was something of a star-crossed lovers story. An earl and an actress… the story is really two short for me to buy the pairing. The banter is amusing but I didn’t really care for the story.

Of course if you follow the amazon link (not that there is one because blogger hate me), the one review there is the reverse of mine. Got to love it . I would like to read Brisbin’s next The Duchess’s Next Hustband and will look over the next Joanne Rock I see but will need to be rec’ed another Jarrett.