**GIVEAWAY** Say Yes To The Duke + Interview with USA Today Bestselling author Kieran Kramer

Today I welcome to The Reading Frenzy USA Today bestselling author Kieran Kramer who when I asked "Can you tell us how you went from the CIA to being an author (or will you have to kill us)?" She said––––"...I make a lot of decisions based on daydreams I have about what I want to do. And being in the CIA was one of them. So was becoming an author. I managed to fit both of those dreams in between my biggest dream, which is to be part of creating a loving family of my own...."
See her complete answer and enter to win a copy of the novel Say Yes To The Duke below.

• ISBN-13: 9781250009906
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 8/27/2013
• Series: House of Brady Series
• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Pages: 355

 

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Overview: SAY YES TO THE DUKE Kieran Kramer
Janice Sherwood wants to marry for love, but she’s failed to make a match after two Seasons. Her parents, the Marquess and Marchioness of Brady, arrange to send her to the Duke of Halsey’s country estate as a short-term guest of his grandmother, the dowager, in hopes that she might win the duke’s affections.
Praise for Kieran Kramer: Readers will be up all night before drifting off to dream of a love story like this.”—RT Book Reviews

“Kramer scores with the inaugural House of Brady imbroglio…Though [she] includes her characteristic lighthearted touches, she’s smart and confident enough to take her characters and their situations seriously, turning what could have been a one-line joke into a deep and appealing story.” —Publishers Weekly

“Clever banter, stellar pacing, and appealing, exceptionally well-drawn characters make this fresh, sexy, and gloriously funny debut a knockout and a perfect start to Kramer’s Regency-set quartet.” —Library Journal (starred review)

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Welcome Kieran Kramer USA Today bestselling author to The Reading Frenzy

Kieran tell us about your latest novel, Say Yes To The Duke:
It’s a Regency romance about the middle sister, the one who believes that being a people pleaser is her only option when it comes to likeability. Her older sister is the It Girl, and her younger sister is adorable. So Lady Janice Sherwood sort of gives up and decides that she might as well just go along with what’s expected of her--not make any ripples, you know? She honestly believes that she should say Yes to the Duke because that’s what’s done. Dukes get their way. But she discovers that she’s most attractive to others when she stays true to herself, when she loves herself first. Luke, a groom in the duke’s stables, is instrumental in helping her learn this lesson. 

Likewise, Janice helps Luke with his own inner struggle, which is that he doesn’t feel worthy to claim his own greatness. He’ll do anything to help others. But for much of the book, he’s hiding—literally—from acknowledging that he has the power to own his dreams and make them a reality. Janice helps rip those blinders off his eyes. And in between, there’s lots of fun with secondary characters and some spicy sexy scenes!!! ;-)

Kieran your bio is a must read in itself.
Can you tell us how you went from the CIA to being an author (or will you have to kill us)?
Hah! No, I won’t have to kill you as it’s been SO long since I was at the CIA.  

My parents taught us that life is a big adventure and that we can go for our dreams and not worry about failing. If we do, so what? We pick ourselves up and start again. So I make a lot of decisions based on daydreams I have about what I want to do. And being in the CIA was one of them. So was becoming an author. I managed to fit both of those dreams in between my biggest dream, which is to be part of creating a loving family of my own. I feel extremely blessed to have a great husband and three wonderful children. Life is never easy, so even when you achieve your dreams, there are sticky wickets to deal with, of course. I’ve had extreme challenges, like every other person. But I do believe that if we wake up each day with hope and gratitude, anything is possible.


On your website’s heading it says “Love changes everything…”
How has love changed you?
When you live right here in the now—with every bit of pain, sorrow, joy, wonder, and fear that you have—love is the salve for those fears, the knot in the end of your rope when you’re stressed, and the glass of water when you’re thirsty for comfort and understanding. It’s THERE, waiting to prop you up. But it requires a leap of faith on your part, an exertion of will. You must choose to love yourself and others first, in all your imperfect glory. This is a humbling, scary choice. But it’s worth it because then love finds you wherever you are. 

I’ve learned that when I am at my lowest, there is still something deep within me that’s whole and sustaining. That’s love. And when I tap into it, all my problems turn into something softer, more relatable, and fixable. Family life has taught me that more than anything. We can go through traumas and disasters and fights, yet when the smoke clears and the rubble is swept away, we’re still there, needing each other and willing and anxious to love each other.

We’re amazing creatures, we humans. We truly are made for love. 

So why historical and more specific Regency romance?
From the very beginning, I’ve written both Regency and contemporary. But I’d say that I chose Regency because I love the eccentricity of character and coziness of setting I find in Jane Austen’s novels. I’ve also always been an Anglophile, having grown up with an English nanny. And who doesn’t love the witty repartee and glamorous glimpse into the lives of the privileged in Regency England? The people in that rarified atmosphere were no different than anyone else, of course. Look at Mr. Darcy. He was obviously insecure beneath the trappings of all that wealth. 

I like to peel away the layers, and I’m most attracted to revealing the humor in any situation, as well as the poignancy of it. Those two states can co-exist, you know, and when one feeds upon the other in a really good story, I can’t help but sigh with satisfaction as I close the book. I love a good chuckle, to bite my thumb in anticipation of a great romantic scene, even to wipe away a tear when I read—and write.

I enjoy contemporary novel writing for the same reason: I like to indulge in character drawing, usually fairly larger-than-life people. Yes, the time and settings are different, obviously, from Regency England, but people are people, across the years. The wife of a soldier at Waterloo was as nervous about his safety as a modern-day spouse of a Navy jet pilot would be when that pilot is flying over Afghanistan. Young girls out shopping in 1819 were no doubt as happy to be browsing through a rack of ribbons as teenaged girls today are walking into American Eagle and rifling through a rack of tennis shirts.


Who from that era would you most want to have a conversation with?
Jane Austen. Oh, that would be so fun! And my second choice would be Prinny. I’d like to have dinner with both of them and attend a card party afterward—with Jane, in the country, and with the Prince Regent, in Brighton or London. 



Kieran, you are part of a blog team of authors called peanut butter on the keyboard.
How did you connect with these authors?
Well, a friend and I were working on our own mom writer website, but she had to back out. So I happened to know Shana Galen and Elise Rome, and I saw what they were up to creating Peanut Butter on the Keyboard. I asked if I could join them and provide the perspective of the mom with older kids! Most of them have younger ones. It’s been a wonderful experience. 



Kieran, this is your seventh book, eighth if you count your novella.
Has being published changed the way you write?
Yes, being published has sped up my writing process considerably. When I’m on deadline, I can’t dawdle and rationalize away my lack of pages. I have to produce! Yet I’ve noticed that the books I write now, under deadline, are actually better than the ones I lingered over for years. There’s a certain wonderful energy in writing something under deadline that I lacked when no one was demanding the story!!!  



On that subject can you tell us your first thoughts when you learned you sold your first novel?
My first thought was one of gratitude. I felt enormously lucky. And then my second thought was all about sharing the news with family and friends. So I literally ran up and down the street with my kids running behind me to tell the neighbors, all while I was talking on my cell phone to my sisters. My third thought was that I was finally where I wanted to be professionally, and I saw in my mind a lush green landscape of opportunity with sunshine and butterflies and blue skies. 

The reality of being a working writer is quite different from what I imagined, but the gratitude is still there—even more so as I go along—and the optimism about creating ever-better stories hasn’t waned, either. What I didn’t know at the time was that I’d have to become a businesswoman as well as a writer. I wasn’t quite prepared for the ancillary issues, such as marketing and promotion, networking, budgeting, etc. But it’s all worth it. I still relish the fact that I write for such a fine publishing house, St. Martin’s Press, and for one of the world’s great editors, Jennifer Enderlin. I’m also extremely grateful to have a lovely agent in Jenny Bent.


What’s next?
Ah hah! Great question! I’m taking a hiatus from my beloved Regency period and writing a contemporary romance novel called SWEET TALK ME. It’s Southern and fun and I’m loving it. As I mentioned earlier, from the very beginning of my career, I wanted to write contemporary, too. So now is a good time—after seven Regencies—to introduce that side of my storytelling to romance readers. I hope my historical readers will follow me over, and maybe I’ll connect with new readers, too! 



Will you be promoting this novel where fans could meet you in person?
I haven’t signed up for any book signings for SAY YES TO THE DUKE yet, but I inevitably do, and when I do, I post the times and location on my website. I love meeting reader friends in person! I’m always at Romance Writers of America annual literacy signing. The next one is in the summer of 2014 in San Antonio, Texas. 



Kieran thank you for taking the time to chat here today. Good luck with this novel and all the future ones too!!
Thank you so much. It was a lot of fun being here, and I wish for you and all your readers many hours of reading bliss! 





Connect with Kieran – Website – Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest 

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NYT bestselling author Celeste Bradley chats about her newest And Then Comes Marriage

Please welcome New York Times bestselling author who talks about her second book in her brilliant Wicked Worthington series And Then Comes Marriage. Here's how she describes her Worthington clan ––"The Worthingtons are a family of madcap artists, inventors and misfits living in Regency era London. I like to describe them as "the Bennets meet the Weasleys!" Eight grown siblings. Imagine the possibilities!"

   

• ISBN-13: 9781250016133
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 7/30/2013
• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Edition description: First Edition
• Edition number: 1
• Pages: 341

Overview

AND THEN COME MARRIAGE Celeste Bradley

After years of being a quiet, dutiful wife, the recently widowed Mrs. Miranda Talbot is finally free to do as she pleases. As an attractive woman of independent means, Miranda is suddenly turning heads all around town. When she meets the dashing Mr. Castor Worthington, she is swept away by his passion. Is he too good to be true?

PRAISE FOR CELESTE’S PREVIOUS NOVELS:

Rogue in My Arms

“Bradley doesn’t disappoint with the second in her Runaway Brides trilogy, which is certain to have readers laughing and crying. Her characters leap off the page, especially little year-old Melody, the precocious ‘heroine,’ and her three fathers. There’s passion, adventure, nonstop action, and secrets that make the pages fly by.”—Romantic Times BOOKreviews

“When it comes to crafting fairy tale–like, wonderfully escapist historicals, Bradley is unrivaled, and the second addition to her Runaway Brides trilogy cleverly blends madcap adventure and sexy romance.”—Booklist

DEVIL IN MY BED

“From its unconventional prologue to its superb conclusion, every page of the first in Bradley’s Runaway Brides series is perfection and joy. Tinged with humor that never overshadows the poignancy and peopled with remarkable characters (especially the precocious Melody) who will steal your heart, this one’s a keeper.”—Romantic Times BOOKreviews

“Part romantic comedy, part romantic suspense, and wholly entertaining, Devil in My Bed is a delight!”—Romance Reviews Today

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Celeste, welcome to The Reading Frenzy.

Hi Debbie! I'm happy to be here. Thanks for the chance to talk about my newest release!

Can you tell us about And Then Comes Marriage?

In AND THEN COMES MARRIAGE, the Worthington twins, Cas and Poll, are competing for the same lovely widow. Being Worthingtons, this does not always go according to the usual rules! Reserved widow Miranda Talbot likes one twin at first, but cannot deny her physical attraction to the other twin as well. Her dry, loveless marriage did not leave prepare her for the transformation that true passion can bring--and it certainly didn't prepare her for the mad antics of the Worthington clan!

Is this novel part of a series or connected to other novels in any way?

AND THEN COMES MARRIAGE is the second book of my Worthingtons series, following closely upon WHEN SHE SAID I DO, which was the story of the eldest Worthington sister, Callie, who finds herself abruptly married off to the reclusive, scarred Ren Porter.

The Worthingtons are a family of madcap artists, inventors and misfits living in Regency era London. I like to describe them as "the Bennets meet the Weasleys!" Eight grown siblings. Imagine the possibilities!

The third book, titled WITH THIS RING, tells the story of the strong-willed middle sister, Elektra, and her quest to fix the family's financial problems with a stellar marriage--no matter who she has to kidnap to do it!

What is it about historical romance that appeals to the author in you?

I have to admit that when I originally chose the Regency era, I did it for the clothes! Those beautiful Grecian-influenced gowns, with flowing lines and Empire waists--which look good on every woman!--and those broad-shouldered surcoats and nice tight breeches on the gentlemen...so yummy! As time went on, I realized that it was also a time of art and culture and a certain kind of monarch-inspired lawlessness that has never been repeated since.

Celeste, in your bio you say being a professional artist (your previous career) is like being an author.
Can you expound on that a bit?

The creative process is much the same, no matter what media I use. I have an idea, then the idea grows and changes. I have to know how to focus my attention, I have to balance what I want to do with what I know will work, I have to know my media very well, and I have to know how to finish what I start. I also need to know when to stop! There comes a time when editing--or sculpting--goes too far and a piece becomes overworked. The only way to learn that is through experience, but since I had knowledge of how to recognize that moment, I was able to adapt to writing very quickly. The artistic awareness combined with a lifetime of voracious reading helped writing come very easily to me.

I also still get to work in my pajamas.

So after so many release days do you still get excited when a novel is published?

Of course! Every book is the first book--the only book! From facing the blank page every time I start a new novel to getting my hands on the first bound copy, every book is a completely unique experience. I get an enormous charge out of seeing my creation on the shelf at the bookstore. As a devoted reader, I consider good books to be some of my best friends. The notion that my books might just mean that much to someone else is an astonishing and humbling thought.

So yes, I have been known to squee just a little.

When you begin writing your novels do you already know how they end?

Yes. She gets the guy.

Seriously, I don't know at all. Although I am a compulsively organized plotter, I intentionally don't plot the end at all, other than having a vague notion that somehow everything works out. The twists and turns of the writing process might take me somewhere much more interesting and I don't want to lock myself into one certain idea until I get there. The end that I suggest in my synopsis is a good guess, but when the moment strikes, I do whatever I would most like to read!

You like to write about the past. Would you want to live in it?

Not really. I like modern medicine and toothpaste. Much of the conflict in my books stems from the inferior status of women in the Regency era and the ways in which they plot to overcome it--by whatever means necessary. I wouldn't want to be legally subject to my brother's whims or to lose my inheritance to a distant male cousin just because I sit sideways on a horse, would you?

Celeste, you’ve got some pretty prestigious awards under your belt.
Is there that one elusive, Susan Lucci, award you’re still striving for?

Well, I've been nominated twice for a Rita Award, which is the "Oscar" of the Romance Writers of America. The first time I didn't win, I was just relieved that I didn't have to get up on stage. I came home from the national conference and got a little blonde puppy for my birthday. I named her Rita and figured I would get a golden statue someday. Rita the Dog is turning twelve years old...and still no statue. Sigh. Hey, a good dog is worth more than any award, right?

Celeste, will there be a signing event for And Then Comes Marriage?

I often sign in New Mexico with my LERA chapter sisters (we have the highest percentage of published authors in all of the RWA!) but my writing schedule doesn't really allow for a book tour. Appearances are announced on my website www.CelesteBradley.com and I keep people updated on Facebook as well. And yes, I bring swag! ;)

Thank you for your time. Good luck with the new novel!

Thanks, Debbie! I hope everyone enjoys the latest antics of the Worthingtons!

Connect with Celeste – Website - Blog

Today I'm welcoming from across the pond USA Today bestselling author Nicola Cornick––"I’ve wanted to write a series set in Scotland in the Regency period for quite a while and I am so excited about The Lady and the Laird and the Scottish Brides series. The series is tagged as “Regency elegance meets highland passion” and that’s quite appropriate for the hero and heroine of this first book; he’s a wild highland laird and she is a very proper Duke’s daughter."

• ISBN-13: 9780373777419
• Publisher: Harlequin
• Publication date: 7/30/2013
• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Pages: 384

Overview

 An Indecent Proposal
Lady Lucy MacMorlan may have forsworn men and marriage, but that doesn't mean she won't agree to profit from writing love letters for her brother's friends-letters that become increasingly racy as her fame grows. That is, until she inadvertently ruins the betrothal of a notorious laird....

Praise for Nicola Cornick:

"Cornick gives the Regency historical a deliciously fresh twist." -Booklist on Whisper of Scandal
"A rising star of the Regency arena." -Publishers Weekly
"Nicola Cornick creates a glittering, sensual world of historical romance that I never want to leave." -Anna Campbell, author of Untouched
"Witty banter, lively action and sizzling passion." -Library Journal on The Undoing of a Lady

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Please welcome USA Today bestselling author Nicola Cornick!
Hi Nicola, welcome across the pond to The Reading Frenzy
Thank you! It’s a great pleasure to be here.

Tell us a bit about The Lady and the Laird.
I’ve wanted to write a series set in Scotland in the Regency period for quite a while and I am so excited about The Lady and the Laird and the Scottish Brides series. The series is tagged as “Regency elegance meets highland passion” and that’s quite appropriate for the hero and heroine of this first book; he’s a wild highland laird and she is a very proper Duke’s daughter.

Robert Methven has returned from Canada to claim his title and lands only to find that he is in danger of losing them if he cannot find a wife and heir in short order. The only woman who can help him is the one woman he cannot have, Lady Lucy MacMorlan who, after the death of her fiancé years before has sworn never to marry. Robert and Lucy had been childhood sweethearts but time and tragedy have intervened to change all of that. How they re-discover the tenderness they once had for one another and how Robert persuades Lucy to help him is, I hope, a poignant as well as a romantic and very sensual story!

Book 2, One Night with the Laird, is about Lucy’s sister Mairi and Robert’s wicked cousin Jack, and that is out later in the year. I’m working on Book 3 in the Scottish Brides series now.



You’ve had a quite an education, but what really caught my eye was what your Masters dissertation was about–“heroes and hero myths”
Can you give us the cliff notes edition of it?
I love history so much I don’t seem to be able to stop studying it! For my Masters degree I studied heritage and different ways to present history so that it is engaging to the public. One of the things that has always fascinated me is what we look for in our heroes, whether they are real live heroes or fictional creations. What qualities do we want in heroes? What characteristics do we admire? Why do we need hero legends? So I examined the myths around characters like Robin Hood and King Arthur and also looked at other historical heroes with a view to pinpointing those qualities they possessed or that people attributed to them. I studied Horatio Nelson in great depth. It was fascinating. Here was a man who was an inspiring leader, physically brave, cool under pressure, clever, resourceful and with loads of charisma. Yet he was also easily swayed by emotion and made some questionable decisions in his personal life. One of the things about him that I found particularly interesting though was that he was very active in promoting his own legend. We tend to think that celebrity is a modern phenomenon but Nelson was aware of how popular he was and did all he could to promote himself as a celebrity!



You’ve won a multitude of awards on both sides of the ocean.
Is there one that means more than the others?
Is there still one elusive one out there for you?
It’s always a great feeling to win any award or receive recognition from readers, reviewers and other authors. It’s something I value because it encourages me on those days when the writing simply isn’t coming together. 

The one elusive prize I would love to win is the RWA RITA because it is so prestigious. I’ve been shortlisted three times and I hope that one day a golden lady will be mine!



You write in the historical romance genre.
Could you ever see yourself either mixing genres or writing in another one?
I’d love to write a book that moves between several different time periods. I think that would be quite a challenge. I’d also like to try writing historical romance with paranormal elements.



What’s your favorite historical time period and why?
It’s pretty hard to choose! I love the medieval period. King Richard III is a lifelong hero of mine and I love the period of the Wars of the Roses. I’m lapping up the current BBC/Starz adaptation of The White Queen by Philippa Gregory! I think my all time favorite historical period is the English Civil Wars of the 17th century, though, because it was a time of such enormous turmoil and passionately-held belief. There is so much conflict and such powerful characters and strong forces in play.



Nicola besides being an author you work as a guide and historian for The National Trust at the Ashdown House.
What led to this “second life”?
I used to drive down the road from my house every day to work (in those days I was an administrator at a local college) and I would pass this gorgeous stately home built of white stone. When I resigned my job to work full time as an author I signed up to be a guide at Ashdown, to show people around and tell them a little bit about the history. We’re a small but dedicated team. There’s something about Ashdown’s story that completely grips me. The house was built by William Craven, a cavalier and a supporter of King Charles I in the English Civil War, who fell in love with the King’s sister and probably married her in secret. It’s impossibly romantic! I started to research the history of the house and the Craven family and the more I discovered the more hooked I became. From William Craven and his love for Elizabeth, the Winter Queen, to the Craven family in the Regency period and their connection to Jane Austen, Ashdown’s story is totally fascinating. One day I hope to write a non-fiction history book about it.



Nicola, you’re a pretty connected author, on Facebook, Twitter, and you blog.
Is everyone in the UK constantly checking their I-phones, I-pad etc… like they do over here?
And seeing that write about an unconnected era, how do you feel about that?
Oh, totally! We’re all addicted to technology! I find the contrast with the Regency period fascinating in terms of how quickly we can communicate now compared with how long it took to send a letter in the early 19th century. I think that they found some very clever ways to send messages; I love that the results of the National Lottery were sent out from London by carrier pigeon, for example!

I love being connected with people through social networking. It’s great to be able to talk to people all over the world and it gives a social aspect to writing, which I find quite a solitary occupation. The only problem is that like a lot of people I do use it as a displacement activity. I try to limit my internet time but I don’t have as much willpower as I need!



Are you a city girl or a country girl?
I’ve lived in cities for half my life, including four years living in London, and it was great! There was so much going on, so many things to see and do. In my mid-twenties, though, I moved to the country and I have lived there ever since. I love it. It’s beautiful and peaceful and inspirational. I love going out of the back door and straight out into the fields to take my dog for a walk. That said, every so often I find I have to go up to London for some shopping, exhibitions, talks and shows… Nothing beats the buzz of a city!



Are you a Downton Abbey fan?
I am a huge Downton Abbey fan! I’ve been engrossed in every series. The early 20th century is a fascinating era and I love the way they entwine the upstairs and the downstairs stories. Like a lot of people I was very shocked at the way in which Matthew Crawley left the series but I am intrigued to see what will happen next for Lady Mary…

Last year I was lucky enough to visit Highclere Castle, which doubles for Downton Abbey in the series. I got to see all those gorgeous rooms that feature in the program and to chat to the staff there about what the actors are like in real life!

We took one of our Guide dog puppies with us – he looked very regal on the grand staircase! - and we recreated the scene in the opening credits where Isis, Lord Grantham’s Labrador, is walking up the path towards the house!



On your website it mentions your travels some of which are pretty exotic.
What’s the most remote place you’ve ever visited?
I love to travel and see new places and I’ve been really lucky to see the places I’ve seen. Sailing to the Arctic Circle was probably the most remote trip I’ve ever done but it was amazing in terms of scenery and the experience of seeing polar bears in the wild. Second is probably Fair Isle. It’s the most remote inhabited island in the UK, off the north coast of Scotland, and it’s only five miles long and three miles wide. I used Fair Isle as the inspiration for Golden Isle in The Lady and the Laird. We had to take three flights to get there and then we were marooned on the island because a storm blew in and grounded all the planes! It’s stunningly beautiful with huge cliffs and white sand beaches and magnificent scenery but it does feel like the end of the earth – in a good way!



Nicola, do you ever come on this side of the ocean for signings or events where fans could meet you in person?
I do! I love travelling to the US and come as often as I can. I usually attend the RWA Conference and next year I’m planning to be at RT as well. Plus I try to visit friends and family in between. 



Thank you so much for answering a few questions and letting us get to know you a little better. Good luck with the new novel!!
Thank you so much! It’s been great!



Visit Nicola’s website here