Archive February | Christy English

Archive for February, 2014

Tasty Authors Weekend

Wednesday, February 26th, 2014 | The Writing Life | No Comments

I am super excited…I’ll be heading to Wilmington, NC for the Tasty Authors Weekend. I’ll be hanging out with fun romance readers and writers, talking about hot men, true love, and what makes an historical romance fun. I am thrilled to have the chance to meet Laurin Wittig in person, and have a session with her on Saturday about writing historical romance. Her Highlanders live in the Middle Ages, one of my favorite periods, so it really is a match made in heaven. If you’re in Wilmington on Saturday, pop by the Hilton. We’ll be signing books and chatting until 5PM.

Lauren and I both wrote a take off on The Taming of the Shrew…we’re going to have a ball talking about that too 🙂

Regency Friday: I Need A Dress!

Friday, February 21st, 2014 | Regency Fridays | No Comments

I have decided that I need a Regency gown…and amazingly enough, there are a ton of people who make them and sell them on eBay! Amazing!

Now all I need is a hot JACK or a Mr. Darcy to dance with me… 😉

What I Read While Stuck in the Snow

Wednesday, February 19th, 2014 | Uncategorized | No Comments

I had a blast as everybody does when they are trapped by snow. Yes, I got a bit stir crazy before long, but I did get a lot of reading done.

First I read the lovely debut novel MUST LOVE DUKES by Elizabeth Michels. I don’t know if we must love every duke, but I fell in love with Devon on the first page. Watching him and Lily fight their way to a happily ever after made me laugh out loud. Elizabeth’s second book comes out next month, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

I moved on to another Sourcebooks romance, ONE ROGUE TOO MANY by Samantha Grace. Now, to my mind, two rogues for one woman is just about right, but Gabrielle has a good time making her chosen lover Anthony squirm by letting another hot man court her. She has both alpha males jumping through hoops, which is always a good thing.

I had the best time with both of these books…now I want more from both of these authors. Luckily, Samantha Grace has a backlist and Elizabeth is building one pretty fast. So if you love a fun romance, grab one or both of these. You won’t be sorry.

Winners of the Grace Burrowes Give Aways

Monday, February 17th, 2014 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

I am thrilled to announce the winners of the Grace Burrowes give aways from last week!

The winner of the iPad is:

BETTY HAMILTON !

And the winner of the MacGregor novels is :

JANIE C!

Thank you all so much for participating…and many thanks to Grace for her generous gifts 🙂

Grace Burrowes, Author of THE MACGREGOR’S LADY and a Give Away

Tuesday, February 11th, 2014 | Uncategorized | 70 Comments

I am thrilled to host the lovely Grace Burrowes for an interview. I have been a huge fan ever since I picked up my first Lonely Lord. I am reading THE MACGREGOR’S LADY now, and I love it! Grace, thank you so much for coming on my blog today. We are all addicted to your books. 🙂

1) What drew you to write your Highland Victorian series, the MacGregors? What do you love best about the Highlands as a setting for your books?

Grace: An author can benefit from a change of scenery in her writing, the same as in the rest of life. I’ve loved every one of Jennifer Ashley’s Scottish Victorians, and when I was looking around for a series to complement my Regency stories, Victorian Scotland called to me. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert considered the Highlands their familial refuge, and that lent the setting additional depth for storytelling purposes.

The Highlands are beautiful, of course, and full of history, song and good whiskey. Throw in some kilts and that accent, and what’s not to love?

2) One of the things I love about your series is that I don’t always have to wait six months for the next installment to come out. How do you manage to write so beautifully, but so quickly?

Grace: I’m not that fast, but I did spend several years writing, writing, writing before it occurred to me to pursue publication. I’m fortunate that my publisher, Sourcebooks, was willing to adopt the monthly publication schedule to ensure those backlogged stories could reach my readers in rapid succession. And while I’m still very much learning my craft, I can apply what I know how to the polishing of what I wrote several years ago.

3) How did you come up with the concept of the Lonely Lords series? Which one of these gorgeous men is your favorite? (Mine is Douglas, so far)

Grace: The Lonely Lords is only loosely a series, with some books being more closely related than others. These are some of my earliest manuscripts, and they follow a sort of spider plant evolution. One book might have two spin-offs, another pair of books deals with two brothers. The secondary characters unify the series, as do some familial associations. I can see the series eventually stretching to fifteen titles, easily.

As for my favorite—Douglas is a dear, which is probably why he shows up in several other books as the voice of compassionate reason. Guinevere thinks he’s lovely, too, and she’s a discerning woman.

4) In your real life, you are a lawyer as well as an author. How do you balance the law with writing fiction?

Grace: My area of legal practice is child welfare law, and my role is to represent the children in abuse and neglect proceedings. This is meaningful work, but it can be grueling and occasionally disheartening. I’ve always been a voracious reader of romance, but once I started litigating regularly, my need for the respite of a fictional happily ever after became imperative.

The progression from reading those happily ever afters, to writing them was natural, and while I still read a lot, I also rely on the writing to recharge my emotional well. The legal work gives my mind something to focus on when I need a break from the writing, because you can’t pursue child welfare cases lackadaisically. An odd synergy, but there it is.

Grace Burrowes’ THE MACGREGOR’S LADY in Women’s World

To celebrate the release of The MacGregor’s Lady, Grace Burrowes is giving away EIGHT iPads during the first two weeks of February! To enter to win, leave a question for Grace to answer in the comments. A random commenter will be chosen as the winner and notified via email. US and Canada only.

A second commenter will also be chosen to win a prize pack of The MacGregor Series books: The Bridegroom Wore Plaid, Once Upon a Tartan and The MacGregor’s Lady. US and Canada only.

Be sure to follow along in February for your chance to win an iPad from New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Grace Burrowes. She’s visiting some blogs and chatting with fellow Sourcebooks authors!

2/3 Carolyn Brown

2/4 Jayne Fresina

2/6 Fresh Fiction

2/7 Debbie’s Book Bag

2/10 Jade Lee

2/11 Christy English

2/12 Bad Girlz Write

2/14 Megan Mulry

THE MACGREGOR’S LADY BY GRACE BURROWES – IN STORES FEBRUARY 2014

What if the steps they take to avoid marriage…

The last thing Asher MacGregor, newly titled Earl of Balfour, wants is a society wife, though he has agreed to squire Boston heiress Hannah Cooper about the London ballrooms. When he’s met that obligation, he’ll return to the Highlands, and resume the myriad responsibilities awaiting him there.

…Lead instead to impossible love?

At her step-father’s insistence, Hannah Cooper must endure a London season, though she has no intention of surrendering her inheritance to a fortune hunter. When she’s done her duty, she’ll return to Boston and the siblings who depend upon her for their safety… or will she? The taciturn Scottish earl suits her purposes admirably—until genuine liking and unexpected passion bring Asher and Hannah close. For if the Scottish earl and the American heiress fall in love, an ocean of differences threatens to keep them apart.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes hit the bestseller lists with her debut, The Heir, followed by The Soldier and Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal. She has a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, and Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish was awarded Best Historical Romance for 2011 by the RT Reviewers Choice Awards. Burrowes is branching out into Victorian and contemporary romances with Sourcebooks, as well as short stories. Grace is a practicing family law attorney and lives in rural Maryland. For more information, please visit http:///www.graceburrowes.com.

To purchase The MacGregor’s Lady:

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