Welcome to the Riskies, Christie! I’m very excited about this book because I was a critique partner with Christie, and I can’t wait to read the finished version. Christie will drop by during the day to answer questions and comments, and the Riskies will pick a winner, who will receive a signed copy of the book (the usual rules apply–no masquerading under different handles–we know who you are and we will say rude things about your cats).
Christie, tell us about your book:
Thank you for having me here! I really am terrible at giving the short synopsis on Every Night I’m Yours so instead, I’ll give you the back cover blurb:
At twenty-six, aspiring novelist Avis Copley intends to wear spinsterhood as a badge of honor. But when she discovers a volume of erotica that ignites a searing fire within her, Avis realizes just how much she doesn’t know about the actual pleasures of the flesh. Determined to learn more, she devises a daring plan…
Avis chooses Emory Billingsworth, a fellow novelist-not to mention a beautiful specimen of manhood-to instruct her in carnal pleasure. But when the brash earl of Selby, Banning Talbot, a man she has known for years, unearths Avis’ true intentions, he claims she’s made a dangerously bad choice. Volunteering his services for one wicked night of reckless, abandoned passion, Banning promises he will satisfy all of her deepest longings. Yet Banning cannot begin to imagine the effect his willful, voluptuous, and very eager student will have on him-or how far an innocent lesson in desire can go…
Oooh. What gave you the idea?
This story woke me up from a great sleep one night. I had been writing a different story that had both Avis and Banning as secondary characters. I really hadn’t intended on writing about them. At least I hadn’t until I woke up one night to Avis telling me she planned to take a lover. My first thought was, no. A spinster in Regency England just doesn’t do that. Well, Avis wouldn’t listen to me. So I had no choice but to write the story.
What attracted you to the Regency as a setting?
I have been reading Regency set historicals forever. So for me, after I wrote a few manuscripts that should never see the light of day again, I decided to focus on writing what I love to read. Every Night I’m Yours was my second Regency historical.
What’s your favorite part of the book?
My favorite scene is when Avis decides she can’t take Emory as a lover. So she tells Banning that she will have to find another man. Banning blurts out that she should take him as a lover. He’s more shocked that he said it than she is to hear it. When she leaves the room, he realizes that he can’t take his sister’s best friend away for a two week affair. But the more he ponders the situation, the more he realizes that Avis is exactly what he’s been looking for in a wife.
(The Risky question) What part of this book do you–or your editor–consider risky or unusual?
I think the riskiest part was having my heroine make a logical decision to have an affair. This wasn’t an emotional decision based on love but purely on satisfying her own curiosity. Some people might not like that in a romance because she didn’t wait until she was in love with the hero before she bedded him.
What’s next for you?
The story is about Banning’s sister, Jennette. She has a deep secret that only one other person knows, and he’s ready to blackmail her to keep it secret. Only blackmail turns to passion and then to love. It’s been a tougher story for me to write because it is such an emotional book.
Your question or comment enter you into a drawing for a signed copy of the book. Have fun!
