This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jenna Jaxon will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
A scandalous mistake…or a wicked way to happiness?
Hoping to compromise herself, Lady Amantha Easton sneaks into the bedroom of her would-be suitor only to find a total stranger there—a totally handsome, charming stranger to be sure—but not at all the man she plans to marry. She leaves his room with her reputation intact—barely—only to fall victim to the gentleman’s charms in a public place. Now Amantha must face the fate she’s tried to avoid—marriage to a man who will never love her.
All Rafael Beauregard wanted was a warm bed and a good night’s sleep…but what he got was an unexpected romp with a beautiful vixen and a fiery kiss that left him wanting more. An excellent trade, except now he’s got to marry Lady Amantha, one of the most willful women he’s ever met. So Rafe’s challenge is to persuade her that marriage to him might be the best thing for them both…once he convinces himself.
Read an Excerpt
“Oh, Raif!” She could scarcely breathe now. “That…feels…so good.”
“I thought it might. You’re awful sweet.” His low, sleepy voice sounded odd under the covers. On the verge of asking if he was well, she lost the thought when he lifted his head from her breast and crushed his lips to hers.
All else forgotten, she wouldn’t have cared if the house burned down around them. His lips were hot, insistent. Then he plied the seam with his tongue, softly urged it to part for him. She had no desire to resist and soon he had buried his tongue deep in her mouth. A tentative stroke of her own brought a growl of encouragement, and she abandoned herself to explore his willing mouth. She did things she’d never dreamed she’d do, with Raif or anyone else. And she only wanted more. “Oh, Raif. I never thought it could be like this.”
He chuckled. “How soon you forget, Jenny.”
“Jenny?” Amantha froze, her blood turning to ice in her veins. “Who’s Jenny?” Sudden anger lit a fire in her, and she pushed him away. “How many women were you expecting in your bed tonight, Raif?”
“What?” The sleepiness had flown from his voice. “You’re not Jenny?”
“You expected me to be?” This was a nightmare. They weren’t even married and Raif was being unfaithful to her.
“I didn’t expect anyone in my bed.” He threw off the covers and fumbled at the bedside table.
“What do you mean you didn’t expect me? We had planned this, Raif.” What the devil was the man playing at?
“We?” A match flared as he lit the lamp, the sudden light after the darkness almost blinding her. She put her hand up to shield her eyes.
“What do you mean, we?” He sat up in the bed, rubbing his eyes. “Who are you, sweetheart?”
The voice, now unmuffled, certainly did not have the superior tone of Raiford Tolbert. Slowly Amantha lowered her hand to find a man with dark hair she’d never seen before peering at her.
Dear God, what had she done?
What do
you think is an important aspect of the historical romance genre and how can it
be achieved?
I think
one of the most important aspects of historical romance is historical accuracy.
A major reason many fans of the genre read it is in order to become immersed in
another time and place and to create that immersive experience, the historical
romance author has got to get the details right.
I was a
history major in college and I’ve loved history all my life, so writing
historical romance seemed like a no brainer to me. Fortunately, I also love to
do research. I daresay most authors who write in this genre do, else they
wouldn’t stay in a genre that requires hours of painstaking poring over
centuries old newspapers, diving into websites dedicated to ships’ records, or
looking through pictures from turn-of the last century hotels to be able to
describe what one of their bedrooms looks like, or to be able to figure out
where and how the final huge struggle between the heroine and the villain will
play out.
I did all
of those things when researching and writing As Long As You’re Mine (and
have done so for each of my historical works over the past seventeen years) in
order to allow the reader to experience the story in the most accurate way
possible. Granted, some historical authors create fictional places for their
works, and there’s nothing at all wrong with doing that as long as the places
adhere to comparable real places during the time period. (Meaning you can’t
have a town during the Regency with electric lights.) However, part of the fun
for me as an author is finding the perfect town or village and then discovering
everything I can about it. Then when my characters walk down the street, the
reader can really see every detail through that character’s eyes.
One of my
most thrilling finds while doing research for one of my books was an
interactive walking tour of the town I’d chosen for my characters to live in.
So in the book, when the house party members went into the town, I knew every
step they could take, everything they could see, every landmark they could
visit and all the details about it are right there in the book. Another bit of
serendipity occurred when I wrote another book and needed an extraordinary
outing for my courting couple. And my research of that area told me that there
were actual Roman ruins in the town, which was perfect for this couple to go
and see.
All of
which is to say that this most important part of the historical romance genre
is easily accomplished if the author is willing to spend the time it takes to
make their settings, their fashions, their customs, and their characters’
actions as authentic to the time period as possible. I remember when the first
season of Outlander came out, I read that people working on the show
said that setting foot on the set was like stepping back into the 18th
century because of the time and talent that had been put into the production
values to make it as authentic as possible.
From that
day I have striven to live up to that very high standard. I’m not sure that I
always do so, but I know that is my goal and it is the goal of the very best
authors in the genre.
About the Author
Jenna Jaxon is a best-selling author of historical romance, writing in a variety of time periods because she believes that passion is timeless. She has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager. A romantic herself, Jenna has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise. She tries to incorporate all these elements into her own stories.
She lives in Virginia with her family and a small menagerie of pets--including Olive, an almost silent cat, Earl Grey, a very curious bunny, and a Shar-pei mix dog named Frenchie.
Blog: http://www.jennajaxon.com/
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Book Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GS54DPYB/ref=sr_1_2
Thank you for hosting AS LONG AS YOU'RE MINE.
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