And the winner of the “Undone” dowloads is–Sue! Send your email to us at riskies@yahoo.com

…So wrote Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra while Jane was visiting their brother Edward.

These days it is a rare person who is not thinking of economizing (“Can we retrench?”) so naturally this last month I purchased more books…..

In case you are shaking your heads in dismay right now, I must say in my defense that my son took me to a book fair where I found about seven books in seven minutes. This after a long discussion with my husband about how we must watch our pennies (Retrench!). I saved lots of pennies! The books were dirt cheap!

Then there were others I simply HAD to have. A book on the battle of Badajoz, for example, which figures in my next book. And, of course, Todd mentioned reading a book about Dukes so I had to have that one, too.

Here are my Book Fair finds:
The Mammoth Book of Soldiers at War: Firsthand Accounts of Warfare from the Age of Napoleon, Jon E. Lewis, ed. $3.50

The War of Wars: The Great European Conflict 1793-1815, by Robert Harvey $7.50

No Ordinary General: Lt. General Sir Henry Bunbury (1778-1860) The Best Soldier Historian, by Desmond Gregory $4.00

Though the Heavena May Fall: The Landmark Trial That Led to the End of Human Slavery by Steven M. Wise $6.00

Sir Robert Walpole’s Poet: The Use of Literature as Pro-Government Propaganda, 1721-1742, by Tone Sundt Urstad $5.00

Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire, by Roy Moxham $5.00

The Making of Victorian Values: Decency & Dissent in Britain: 1789-1837, by Ben Wilson (I almost purchased this one full-price of $27.95 a year ago) $7.00

National Geographic Traveler: Great Britain $6.50

The Other Books:

Amazing Grace: The Great Days of Dukes, by ES Turner (the book Todd made me buy)

A Mad, Bad & Dangerous People: England 1783-1846, by Boyd Hilton

Chivalry & Command: 500 Years of Horse Guards, by Brian Harwood

Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and The Congress of Vienna, by Adam Zamoyski

Dancing into Battle: A Social History of the Battle of Waterloo, by Nick Foulkes

Badajoz 1812: Wellington’s Bloodiest Siege, by Ian Fletcher

These I bought earlier this summer:

The Battle: A New History of Waterloo, by Alessandro Barbero (Translated by John Cullen)

1815: An End and A Beginning, by John Fisher

This was a gift:

Regency Recollections: Captain Gronow’s Guide to Life in London and Paris, Christopher Summerville, ed.

Last but not least:

From Australia, a trilogy: Innocence and Impropriety, The Vanishing Viscountess, and Scandalising the Ton, by Diane Gaston, Harlequin Australia.

Get a load of the nice medieval cover…..

What ‘s the best book buy you’ve made lately?

AND EVERYONE IN THE USA, TOMORROW PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!

Hello everyone! Welcome to the start of the blog tour for the launch of Harlequin Historical’s new line of ebooks, “Undone”! These stories are only available at eharlequin–though one lucky commenter here will win a free download of all 4 stories. And here to introduce them are the Undone authors! (Oh, and eharlequin is having a special, .89 downloads for November!)

Nicola Cornick: My Harlequin Historicals Undone e-book is a sexy, scandalous Regency tale, The Unmasking of Lady Loveless!

Erotic author Lady Loveless is scandalizing the Ton with her shocking tales that are based on rel-life hijinks of society. Engagements are being broken, inheritances lost as a result of her wicked pen and the gentlemen decide that enough is enough–she may spin the most naughtily seductive tales, but Lady Loveless must be stopped!

Lord Alexander Beaumont is convinced that the outrageous Lady L. is none other than his estranegd wife Melicent, for the manuscripts are coming from the Yorkshire village where she took refuge after the end of their brief, bitter marriage. Alex travels to Yorkshire determined to unmask his errant wife and put a stop to her wicked ways. But when he reaches the beautiful village of Peacock Oak, Alex finds that Melicent–and Lady Loveless–are not what they seem. Will Christmas in the countryside reunite Alex and the bride he lost years before?

The Unmasking of Lady Loveless is set in the same fictional village of Peacock Oak that I used for the background for my July HQN release Unmasked, and also features some of the same characters. I wanted to write a Christmas story, and the idea of the beautiful Yorkshire countryside under the snow seemed the perfect setting!

Amanda McCabe: When I was asked to write an “Undone” short story as a spin-off from my January ’09 book High Seas Stowaway, I knew right away who the hero would be–Carlos de Alameda. Carlos is a Spanish nobleman, an official of the Crown at the island town of Santo Domingo in 1535. He is also a dangerous spy, with secrets of his own to protect. He appeared briefly in the action of High Seas Stowaway, but I was intrigued by his intelligence and mystery. What was he really up to?

In Shipwrecked and Seduced, I got to find out! Maria Gonzales is the one who is shipwrecked, but in the end they are both seduced. Maria is a maidservant, headed to Santo Domingo with a Spanish contessa, Isabella, who is journeying to her wedding. A terrible shipwreck kills all aboard except Maria, and she is soon mistaken for the contessa herself–and taken to Carlos’s island fortress! She knows very well that an affair with the sexy, mysterious man will threaten her masquerade, but she’s drawn to him irresistibly. What will happen when he discovers the truth?

Bronwyn Scott: In Libertine Lord, Pickpocket Miss Sophie DuPlessy has everything to gain–and Julian Burke has nothing to lose.

Vienna of the 1820s is Europe’s new glittering capital both in culture and politics. No one knows the potential of such a setting better than Sophie DuPlessy. Europe has been ravaged by Napoleon’s wars and re-structured by the Vienna conferences and Europe’s statesmen. Kingdoms have been absorbed, national boundaries redrawn. In the wake of upheaval, heirlooms have been ost. In certain circles of dubious repute, Sophie has earned a reputation for discreetly recovering such objects. Now, she’s been hired by an Italian count to retrieve a set of jewels, a supposed heirloom of his family. This will be her last job. The reward promised guarantees her the financial resources to re-make her life as a horse breeder. But she is not the only one looking for them.

Julian Burke, second son of an earl, has been sent on crown business to Vienna to ferret out the truth to the rumors that an heirloom, once part of the royal treasury during the time of Charless II, has surfaced in Vienna. When the crown wants something badly, Julian is the man for the job. He is the most dangerous of men; a man with nothing to lose. No wife to protect, no estate to risk, a fortune so large he cannot be bribed, no care for his reputation and no heart to break.

But Sophie is about to change that!

Hope you enjoy their cat-and-mouse game! The most challenging part of writing in a condensed version is making the characters’ attraction to each other real in a short time frame. Not only does it need to be physical, but it needs to be based on something more without having the normal amount of time to discover what that ‘more’ is…

Michelle Willingham: On a trip to Dublin two years ago, I visited an archaelogical museum in order to research medieval artifacts. To my surprise, I saw an amazing display of Viking lore, including preserved bodies that had been found in a bog! I’ve always been intrigued by Viking raiders, and though most of the true Viking era took place in the 9th and 10th centuries, I found evidence that a Norse king, Magnus the Barefoot, attempted to take over Dublin in 1101. Such a daring move made him a fascinating historical figure, and as I plotted my Viking story, I imagined that such a king might a ruthless foe for a Viking warrior.

The Viking’s Forbidden Love Slave tells the story of Tharand Hardrata, a memer of the Norse warrior class who steals an Irish noblewoman from her clan. He intends to trade Aisling O Brannon for his sister’s life, after she was taken by King Magnus. If Aisling succeeds in pleasing the king with her body, Tharand believes Magnus will let his sister go. But the Irish captive enslaves him with a pleasure he’s never known before. If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to be carried off by an amazingly hot Viking, then I hope you’ll enjoy this fantasy story!

When the tale ends, Aisling asks Tharand to help her discover what happened to her brothers during the Norse raid. Their tale continues in Her Warrior Slave, the story fo Kieran O Brannon, on sale now at Harlequin Historicals.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this taste of 4 very different tales! Do you enjoy revisting characters and places from books you’ve read? What kinds of stories would you like to see in this form?

This isn’t the last stop on our Undone blog tour! Join us at the following sites for more fun and more chances to win:
November 3–Romance Bandits (The Battle of the Heroes)
November 7–UK Regency Readers Blog
November 10–Writeminded
November 11–Romance Vagabonds (The Heroines’ Tea Party)
The Good, The Bad, The Unread (The week of Nov. 3)

I had another post all ready to go, but then last week one of my favorite authors, Tony Hillerman, died at age 83. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak at an authors’ event in Albuquerque many years ago, and he was entertaining, articulate, inspiring, an all-around class act as well as a superlative writer.

I lived in New Mexico as a child and early-teenager, and still visit the state as often as I can. It’s a very special place, one of immense and strange beauty and a great sense of creativity and spirituality that is like nothing else I have ever seen. I was first drawn to Hillerman’s books because of this same deep affinity for the land, which he evokes so perfectly through the very different characters of Leaphorn and Chee. But I stayed for more than that–for his evocative yet unadorned writing style, for his intricate plots and vivid characters, for his beautiful descriptions of Navaho ritual and the vastness of the irresitible landscape.

According to one of the many tributes that came pouring out last week, Hillerman used Chee and Leaphorn to introduce “readers to a landscape of bold physical, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions.”

The first Hillerman I ever read was Skinwalkers, which is still my favorite. I also love Coyote Waits, Talking God, Thief of Time–all of the Leaphorn/Chee mysteries, really. He also has a memoir, Seldom Disappointed, childrens’ books, and some great non-fiction, including The Spell of New Mexico and The Mysterious West.

Jim Benciveng, in one of those tributes, defends Hillerman’s place among the timeless greats of the mystery genre. “First, Hillerman is a master of style. His sentences are lucid, yet subtle, as sunlight in the high desert where Navaho tribal detectives Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee patrol. He creates a vivid, austere sense of place. Second, Hillerman probes the metaphysical implications of crime, religious taboo, and moral weakness in human nature. His point of view is always compassionate. He taps an innate hunger for justice and harmony. Third, Hillerman explores misunderstanding and conflict inherent in cross-cultural mores. This more than anything else sets him apart from mystery writers of his generation.”

Hillerman and his work will be greatly missed. (For an obituary, you can go here; or here for a full bibliography)

Do you read Tony Hillerman’s novels? If so, which is your favorite? And do you also feel like you’ve lost an old friend when a favorite author dies?

Be sure and visit Risky Regencies tomorrow to read about the new Harlequin Historical Undone ebook line! There will be lots of fun and chances to win free downloads of the 4 launch stories. Also, there are lots of updates at my own website, including an excerpt from High Seas Stowaway and some “behind the scenes” research info…

And in case you haven’t noticed (ha!) Election Day is Tuesday. Be sure and vote!!!

And the winner is…..

m, you have won Julia’s prize, signed copies of both The Lost Duke of Wyndham and Mr. Cavendish, I Presume.

Email us at riskies@yahoo.com and give us your address.
Let us hear from you by Nov 5
Congratulations!