Risky Book Talk - Risky Regencies

Research Ahead, Plus Book News

April 13, 2016 November 17, 2022 carolyn 6 Comments

I’ve been head down working on book three in my Sinclair Sisters series and am at the point where I think the basic plot is in place and a few interesting themes and developments have emerged. I’ve only just begun listing these issues out for a research intensive session.

For those of you who are familiar with the series, Book 3 features a man (Devon, Lord Bracebridge) who was the youngest of several boys and never, ever expected to inherit his father’s title. He and his father did not get along. Rather than join the army, he became a boxer and from there branched out into businesses that made him wealthy but not respectable. :::waving of hands::: So, now he’s Lord Bracebridge and he has his hands still in these other ventures.

And now I must go down a research path that should be pretty fun. Gaming hells and other disreputable locations. I will be researching that. I imagine by my next post that I’ll have some interesting facts to share.

Book News – Secrets of a Soprano by Miranda Neville

Miranda is a friend of mine and a wonderful author, and I so love love love the cover of her newest release. Miranda is dealing with some health issues right now, and isn’t able to let people know about her release, so I’m telling you about it.

Great fame brings great heartbreak

No one knows the perils of celebrity better than Teresa Foscari, Europe’s most famous opera singer. The public knows her as a glamorous and tempestuous diva, mistress to emperors, a reputation created by the newspapers and the ruthless man who exploited her. Now she has come to London to make a fresh start and find her long lost English family.

Foscari’s peerless voice thrills all London—except Maximilian Hawthorne, Viscount Allerton, the wealthy patron of opera—and lover of singers. Notorious Teresa Foscari is none other than Tessa, the innocent girl who broke his youthful heart. When his glittering new opera house sits half empty, thanks to the soprano filling the seats of his competitor’s theater, Max vows to stop the woman he unwillingly still desires.

Amidst backstage intrigue and the sumptuous soirées of fashionable London, the couple’s rivalry explodes in bitter accusations and smashed china. With her reputation in ruins, Tessa must fight for her career —and resist her burning attraction to the man who wishes to destroy her.

Where to buy Secrets of a Soprano

Amazon | Nook | iBooks | Kobo | Print

I have a release of my own, too. A historical novella, A Seduction in Winter.

A Seduction in Winter

He’s an artist and a duke’s heir. She’s sheltered and scarred. Can he show her by Christmas that love can be theirs to share?

As the holidays approach, Lieutenant Leoline Marrable, now Lord Wrathell, travels to London where he’s expected to fulfill longstanding expectations and propose to his former commander’s daughter. Wrathell longs to ease the strained relationship with his ducal father. The key may be an unfinished portrait of his late brother.

Honora Baynard has a terrible facial scar as a result of a childhood injury. She has never forgotten Leoline, who came to her defense when other children tormented her. Now, her over-protective artist father keeps her indoors, creating the beautiful detail work that makes his paintings so sought after.

As Wrathell and Honora spend more time together, mutual interest becomes mutual attraction. Can Wrathell convince Honora that for Christmas, he’d like to give her not only passion and pleasure, but his heart to keep for her own?

A Seduction in Winter is a holiday novella and appeared in the historical romance anthology Christmas in Duke Street. If you like sensual romance, complex characters, and witty dialogue, you’ll love Carolyn Jewel’s latest refreshing Regency tale.

Buy A Seduction in Winter to experience the passion today!

Where to get A Seduction in Winter

Releases and News

March 9, 2016 November 17, 2022 carolyn 5 Comments

Hello, Risky Readers!

I am busy writing the third book in the Sinclair Series. This is Emily and Devon’s story. I’m about 30% in. It’s going about as okay as writing tends to go. I’d say this is the hard part, but come to think of it, all the parts are hard. I don’t, yet, have any research subjects that are worth sharing but I expect that to change as I get far enough in that I can’t just type in “RESEARCH THIS.”

I do have a novella to tell you about, though. And, to help celebrate, I’m giving away a stash of print books. All of them are Romance. Leave a comment per the rules below and one person will win ALL THE BOOKS.

An Unsuitable Duchess is on sale now as a standalone story.

A lady demurely looking at a fan. Don't be deceived. George isn't really demure.

Cover of An Unsuitable Duchess.

Where to Get An Unsuitable Duchess

About An Unsuitable Duchess

The duke of Stoke Teversault has well earned his reputation for bloodless calculation. Indeed, recently widowed Georgina Lark has no idea he’s loved her since before her late husband swept her off her feet. Stoke Teversault means to keep it that way. The cold and forbidding duke and the blithe and open Georgina could not be less suited in any capacity. And yet, when Georgina and her sister arrive at his home, his ice-bound heart may melt away.

Georgina Lark has never thought of the duke of Stoke Teversault as a man capable of inducing passion in anyone. He’s long disapproved of her, but she will be forever grateful to him for his assistance after her husband died. It’s been a year since she’s realized he’s not the man she thought. Can she find a way to convince him to open his heart to her?

An Unsuitable Duchess is a Regency romance novella featuring an austere duke and a sweet, playful widow. If you like charming love, steamy passion, and when opposites attract, then you’ll love Carolyn Jewel’s entertaining read.

Buy An Unsuitable Duchess to watch the Duke stumble into love today!

Rules and How to enter

Void where prohibited. Must be 18 to enter. International is OK. Winner chosen at random via “And The Winner Is” plugin. Leave a comment to this post in which you tell me your favorite flower. Deadline to comment is 11:59:59 PM Eastern, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. No purchase necessary. Multiple comments will not increase your chances. If the winner does not respond to my notification email within 5 days, an alternate winner will be chosen.

News from Carolyn – New Book, An Awesome Link, Stuff

February 10, 2016 November 17, 2022 carolyn 6 Comments

Happy February!

I have much to delight you with today, including some Shameless Self-Promotion but also a treasure trove of information. . .

Let’s get the shameless self-promotion out of the way. The seventh book in my My Immortals series released last week.

My Demon Warlord

Cover of My Demon Warlord

A Demon Warlord Bound by Dark Magic. . .

Kynan Aijan’s centuries-long enslavement to a mage left him borderline insane and bound to Maddy Winters, a witch he intended to kill in horrible ways. Though he’s sworn the bonds they share will never be completed, their very existence feeds his desire for her even as he accepts that Winters will never forgive him.

. . . to the Powerful Witch He’s Desired for Years.

For Maddy Winters, the fight against evil magic users always takes top priority. But her bonds to Kynan give her intimate access to his thoughts and experiences, and she can’t always ignore their chemistry. Her insistence that she has no feelings for him is a deception she can’t afford to give up.

As Kynan and Maddy join forces to stop a rebellious and murderous witch, the dark magic that binds them locks them into forbidden passions and magic that could destroy them both. Will their fight for what’s right lead to a fight for each other?

My Demon Warlord is the seventh installment in the My Immortals series of paranormal romance novels. If you like magical supernatural tales, explosive chemistry, and irresistible passion, then you’ll love Carolyn Jewel’s latest breathtaking romance.

Historicals!!

In news about my historicals, I am working on Book 3 in my Sinclair Sisters Series. It’s early days and there are some areas of research that are cropping up. If I told you these particular areas, they would be enormous spoilers and, quite possibly, not even in the book by the time I’m done. But never fear! I will be posting research related discoveries later. I learn something new every time.

I’m pulling together the historical novallas I’ve written and getting them spiffied up or ready for release on their own. So there will be that to look forward to. At least, I hope you’ll look forward to that.

Catalog Downloads from the Met, for Free

Risky Sandy posted this link on facebook. It’s from dressful.com — an awesome site, which mentioned that the Met has exhibit catalogs, including fashion related one, available to view online, order Print On Demand, or download as a pdf. And it is AWESOME. The Met Catalogs.

Lookit! Just as an example. If I go over there again, I won’t get any work done.

The Academy of the Sword: Illustrated Fencing Books 1500–1800, LaRocca, Donald J. (1998)

It’s spectacular–all of it. I want ALL THE CATALOGS! There’s so much there that’s just wonderful and fascinating no matter what you might be interested in, and I want to hug the Met for this. And donate to them, too.

And so. Happy clicking around the Met.

We love you here at the Riskies.

Austen vs Brontë

January 4, 2016 January 24, 2023 Diane Gaston 12 Comments

How better to start 2016 at Risky Regencies than with a cat fight? Not a real one, of course, but a literary one pitting Jane Austen against Charlotte Brontë.

I just read Why Charlotte Brontë Hated Jane Austen by Susan Ostrov Weisser (Daily Beast, 10/19/2013) and, intrigued, looked around and found The Austen vs Brontë Smackdown on the blog Austen Pride (5/16/2009). I also found a long discussion of Austen vs the Brontës on Goodreads, which I skimmed, but did not read.

Apparently Charlotte Brontë had never read Jane Austen until a critic suggested she do so after she’d written Jane Eyre. She studied Pride and Prejudice and, among other things had this to say:

She ruffles her reader by nothing vehement, disturbs him with nothing profound. The passions are perfectly unknown to her: she rejects even a speaking acquaintance with that stormy sisterhood…

Austen Pride makes the point that Austen, who had passed away a year after Charlotte Brontë was born, could not rebut this accusation. In Northanger Abbey, Austen did, however, parody the emotional excesses of gothic tales, of which the Brontës’ books could be included.

Of course, those of us who love Austen would also argue that there is plenty of passion in Austen’s work, although it is brimming beneath the surface. How could you not think so of Persuasion?

Austen Pride concluded that the two authors were writing from different perspectives. Austen was writing about her keen observations of the world in which she lived; Charlotte and her sisters, on the other hand, wrote what was in their imagination.

Me, I was never a huge fan of Jane Eyre. I loved the beginning when she was in the orphanage, but I never believed in the romance between Jane and Rochester. And the coincidences of falling in a ditch and being found by her long-lost cousin didn’t work for me. I also hated how Rochester treated Jane. And don’t get me started on Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff and Cathy have to die to be together? And who would want Heathcliff anyway? I preferred Edgar to Heathcliff.

I think I hold my fictional heroes to very high standards, ones that the Rochester and Heathcliff don’t quite meet. I understand the forces driving the Brontë heroes, but I much prefer heroes I can admire and even fall in love with. Heroes like Austen creates.

I also love all the finely drawn characters in Austen’s books. Their actions and feelings are much more believable to me and that gives me the sense that I’m in a real place, among real people.

But that is me, thinking on the surface of the stories, which is mostly how I read books.

What about you? Do you prefer Austen or the Brontës? Or do you like both for different reasons?

Re-releases and Time Travel

November 20, 2015 November 19, 2015 susanna 2 Comments

While I don’t have a new release out, I’m happy to announce the re-release of my 2013 Christmas novella, Christmas Past, with a brand new cover as part of Entangled’s Scandalous line.

Christmas Past cover

Time-traveling PhD student Sydney Dahlquist’s first mission sounded simple enough—spend two weeks in December 1810 collecting blood samples from the sick and wounded of Wellington’s army, then go home to modern-day Seattle and Christmas with her family. But when her time machine breaks, stranding her in the past, she must decide whether to sacrifice herself to protect the timeline or to build a new life—and embrace a new love—two centuries before her time.

I’ve always loved a good time travel story–I think the idea of getting to actually visit the past is just so seductive to me as a history geek. Christmas Past is my first attempt at the genre, but it won’t be my last. I’ve started work on a story I’ll talk more about in my December post that takes a magical approach to time travel rather than a scientific one. But for this week I thought I’d talk about some of my favorite time travel stories as a reader and viewer. In no particular order…

Outlander. (Though despite that lovely illustration, due to the lack of Starz in my cable package I’m far more familiar with the books.) It’s big and epic, satisfying that part of me that loves a decades-spanning saga. It’s romantic and sexy. And I appreciate how in the later books when most of the action moves to colonial and Revolutionary America, Gabaldon gives a much more nuanced portrayal of both sides of the conflict than your typical Plucky Liberty-Minded Colonists vs. Tyrannical Royalists.

Tempus Fugit

Sleepy Hollow, my current TV obsession, on the other hand, will never win prizes for its nuanced examination of the Revolutionary era–the British in many cases are literal demons. And technically it’s not even a true time travel show, since its man-out-of-time hero Ichabod Crane gets to the future by dying (or close enough to it) in 1781 and getting resurrected in 2013 rather than your traditional time machine or time travel spell. But in the Season 2 finale, Abbie Mills, his 21st-century cop partner in apocalypse-fighting, goes back to the 18th century to save Crane’s life, not to mention all the American history yet to come. Along the way she gets to meet Benjamin Franklin and her own ancestress who first got her family involved in the secret war against evil. (The show is 100% as crazy as it sounds, but at its best, as with this episode, it’s crazy-awesome. And frankly, I’m nervous about including it on this list, since I’m writing this post Thursday evening before the Season 3 mid-season finale airs, so I have no idea if I’ll be giddy and squeeing over crazy-awesome or grumbling, “Why, show, why?” over plain old crazy tomorrow morning when you’re reading this!)

First Contact

The Star Trek universe goes to the time travel well a lot, but I’m listing First Contact as my example because I have such fond memories of watching it in the theater when it first came out. It was everything I loved about Next Gen Trek, made big-screen and epic.

Everybody lives!

Doctor Who, of course, is all about time travel…so I’m just listing what remains my favorite two-part pair of episodes, The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, wherein the Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler, and Jack Harkness end up in the London Blitz…and just this once, everybody lives!

A Swiftly Tilting Planet was always my favorite of Madeleine L’Engle’s time quintet, probably because of the high stakes (stopping a nuclear war!) and dizzying leaps through multiple times.

What about you? Are you a fan of time travel in fiction? What are some of your favorites?