We Have A Winner!

The winner of Midnight’s Wild Passion, by Anna Campbell, is Betty Lewis!  Congratulations, Betty!  I’ll be in touch with details very soon.

Thanks to all who stopped by the blog to visit with Anna.  It was great fun!

Anna Campbell Is In The House!

I’m so excited to be hosting the wonderful Anna Campbell, who truly needs no introduction.  Oh, heck.  I’m going to introduce her anyway!  Anna writes the most lusciously sensual, fantastically lyrical Regency-set historical romances, with brooding heroes, intelligent heroines, and tons of passion and drama.  Her first book, Claiming The Courtesan, rocked the romance world.  It finaled in the presigious RITA Awards, and won the Best First Historical Romance Award in the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Awards.  Her books have finaled in or won numerous contests, and have received great critical acclaim.

Anna’s latest book is Midnight’s Wild Passion, and it’s bound to be another fantastic read!  Welcome to the blog, Anna!

A Classic Is a Classic Is a Classic

As Gertrude Steinway said,  tinkling away on her Mozart sonata in Paris.

Hiya Vanessa! Congratulations  on all the buzz about your latest release . Gorgeous cover! Thanks so much for having me as your guest today.

When people ask me about my latest historical romance, MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION (out 26^th April, yahooooooo!), I tell them it’s a classic  Regency romance with Anna Campbell touches. And it is!

This book includes a whole stack of elements that have been the mainstay of Regency romances since their inception (going back to PRIDE AND PREJUDICE!). There’s an elopement. Actually there’s more than one elopement! There’s a duel. The characters join the glamorous social whirl that is the London Season. There’s an event-filled house party in Surrey. I could go on – you get the picture, I’m sure!

In fact, I went so far as to say to someone who asked me about MWP that in this particular book, my heroine gets to dress up rather than take her clothes off. Which is a bit of an exaggeration as I wrote quite a few luscious love scenes for the Marquess of Ranelaw and his heroine Antonia Smith.

You can read the blurb and an excerpt from MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION here.

In my other books, the characters operate outside society in many ways so their chances to go to parties are pretty minimal, poor dears. So I wondered where this sudden penchant for ballrooms and waltzes and brittle exchanges on the terraces of stately homes in MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION came from.

Then I remembered a significant fact, although its true significance had escaped me until now. Back about the stage I started MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION (about eighteen months ago), I had begun to re-read Georgette Heyer’s classic Regency romances published between 1921 and the mid-1970s. I devoured these books first as a girl in primary school – they’re terrifically popular down here in Australia, especially in libraries – then I re-read them as a teenager, then in my late 20s. Loved them every time, although interestingly my particular favorites changed from reading to reading.

About 18 months ago, I was asked to review DEVIL’S CUB for The Romance Dish site and I have to admit (shame on me!) that I picked up this book published in 1932 quite reluctantly. I worried that after having dined almost exclusively on modern dishes lately, this older read might have a slight whiff of being past its use-by date. And hey, I love sex scenes and I knew there weren’t going to be any of those!

But I gulped down the delicious story of wicked Lord Vidal and his stalwart heroine Mary in the space of a (very late) night. And I’ve been gradually picking up the ones I remember as favorites ever since. So far, I’ve been through THE UNKNOWN AJAX, VENETIA, THE GRAND SOPHY and FREDERICA. Every single one of them has been marvellous – sparkling and sexy and witty and beautifully written.

Georgette Heyer established the parameters of the classic Regency romance and I think one of the reasons this period continues to be so incredibly popular is that people just want to return to that world. I can see why – and it seems I’ve done an unconscious tribute to her genius in MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION.

So do you like the classic elements of a Regency romance? Do you have a particular favorite element? The parties? The rakes? The wit? The dresses? Are you a Georgette Heyer fan? Do you have a favorite?

One lucky commenter today will win a signed copy of MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION! Good luck!

Sarah MacLean & Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart

I love Sarah Maclean, and even a quick visit to her website will tell you why.  First of all, there are her taglines:

I write books.  There’s smooching in them.

Best. Taglines. Ever.

But wait!  She has a Regecy-specific tagline, too:

Fetch the smelling salts.

And you’d best have your maid fetch those smelling salts because you just might swoon from reading her books – she’s that good.  Sarah is smart, funny, and her writing is impossibly accomplished.  Her first book, a Regency YA, debuted to enthusiastic reviews and her first adult romance, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, landed on the New York Times bestseller list, the USA Today bestseller list, and won the Romantic Times “Historical Romance of the Year” award.  Yowzers!

Sarah has a new book out this week.  It’s Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart, which is book 3 in the Love By Numbers series.  It’s already gotten phenomenal reviews, including a starred review from Booklist, a top pick from Romantic Times, and a coveted “A” rating from Dear Author.

Sarah’s books are witty, romantic, poignant, and utterly charming.  If you haven’t yet read her, you simply must!

There were some other fantastic books released this week, including Kris Kennedy’s Defiant, Mia Marlowe’s Touch of a Thief, and Anna Campbell’s Midnight’s Wild Passion.  In fact, Anna will be here on my blog this Friday to talk about her latest book and to give away a copy.  It’s always a good time when Anna is in the house, so be sure to stop back.

To celebrate the release of Sarah’s book and my own release of My Favorite Countess on May 3rd, I’m giving away a copy of Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart.  Just tell me what books you’re looking forward to reading in the next few weeks.  One commentor will win a copy of this wonderful book!