My first two historical romances

My first two full-length historical romances started a series that continued with Lord of Scoundrels and The Last Hellion.  My French publisher refers to the series as Les Débauchés, which I think is perfect, if not so easy to pronounce.  But in English, it tends to be referred to as the Scoundrels series.  I never gave it a name because I hadn't planned a series.  It just happened.

The last two books have stayed in print.  The first two, which were out of print for quite some time, have returned this year as eBooks.

Here's the series, in chronological order as written.  The stories themselves overlap in time.

(1) The Lion's Daughter

(2) Captives of the Night

(3) Lord of Scoundrels

(4) The Last Hellion

My traditional Regencies enter the 21st century

A little while ago I reported that my out of print books are now available as eBooks.

Readers often ask about the order in which they ought to be read.   As far as I'm concerned, you can read them in any order, because I try to make each book stand alone.  Still, some books are connected.  The first four Regencies came in pairs, as a secondary character from one book got his own story in the next.  The last two are not connected. 

Next time, I'll report on the first two historical romances.

(1) Isabella

 

(2) The English Witch

(3) Viscount Vagabond

(4) The Devil's Delilah

(5) Knaves' Wager

(6) The Sandalwood Princess

Germany, Indonesia, Italy editions

Here are the latest arrivals from outside the U.S.

Germany-Your Scandalous Ways

Italy-Don't Tempt Me

Indonesia-Miss Wonderful

At last! Out of print books return as eBooks

We've done it at last! All of my out-of-print full-length books are now available in Kindle and Nook—and are or will soon be released in other digital formats. The collection includes my very first full-length historical romance (as opposed to traditional Regency), The Lion's Daughter, which Barnes & Noble is featuring as a Nook First from 16 November to 14 December.

RT has provided some fun summaries of these older books on their daily blog.

For those of you who like to read books in order:

The Traditional Regencies are:

• Isabella, kindle | nook
• The English Witch, kindle | nook
• Viscount Vagabond, kindle | nook
• The Devil's Delilah, kindle | nook
• Knaves' Wager, kindle | nook
• The Sandalwood Princess, kindle | nook

The first two historical romances (part of the Débauchés series aka in English as The Scoundrels):

• The Lion's Daughter, kindle | nook
• Captives of the Night, kindle | nook

May yours be a wonderful holiday season, filled with good things—and many good books!

The Last Hellion, now in Italian

This arrived in today's mail, a delightful post-Thanksgiving gift:  the Italian edition of The Last Hellion, enticingly titled, L'ultimo libertino.  This is one of the few non-English languages I can read, though not well.  With the aid of a very large Italian dictionary, I can work it out at about one page per hour.

We're at Being Geek Chic

 

My blogging partner author Isabella Bradford* and I are featured on this week's Lady Geek of the Week at Being Geek Chic, "a blog for stylish geeks, sophisticated nerds, tech obsessives, literary hardcores, and those who look for the beauty in life."

Followers of Two Nerdy History Girls are well aware of where our geekdom lies.  But this will be an opportunity to get some of the secret inside info about how we came to be who and what we are.

It's also a great opportunity to discover a blog that's filled with all kinds of fascinating stuff, very much in the spirit of what we do, but about Today, where we're all about Many Yesterdays Ago.

*aka Susan Holloway Scott

Cover of Harper's Magazine, September 1893, Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

What about Lady Clara?

Readers have asked about Lady Clara, who has played a secondary role in my Dressmakers series.

Will she get her own story?
Will she get her happily ever after?

Originally, I'd imagined her story working out over the course of the series.  But the number of enquiries about her future has indicated that this might not be sufficient. Her own book or at least a novella would be sufficient.

Since it takes almost as long to write a novella as it does to write a whole book, I think she's going to get a whole book.  It's going to take some thinking.  But there's time for that.

Right now, I'm still working on Leonie's story.

2013?  I think that will be Lady Clara's year.

Your Scandalous Ways at a special price for August

This month, Avon is offering a dozen eBooks at a special price:  $1.99

One of these Sizzling Scandals books is mine:  Your Scandalous Ways.

You can find out more about the story here at Two Nerdy History Girls, and you can see many illustrations at my Pinterest board dedicated to the book.

 

Publishers Weekly 7 Smart Romances

So wonderful to find my book on this list, in such good company!

Silk is for Seduction—the French edition

Another interesting take on cover art.

Lord of Scoundrels in Croatia

I love getting the international editions of my books.  Today's mail brought the Croatian edition of Lord of Scoundrels, in both hardcover and paperback.

You can see it on the publisher's page by scrolling down here.

RT nominates Scandal Wears Satin

Over at RT Book Reviews, my second Dressmakers book, Scandal Wears Satin, has been nominated for Best Book Cover of the month.  You can add your vote by clicking here & scrolling down to the "Vote" button.

I'm delighted to report that the book was also one of the nominees for RT's July Seal of Excellence.

Talking with RT

At the RT Booklovers Convention not too long ago, I sat down with Morgan Doremus for an interview. 

It went live this afternoon, part of today's launch of Scandal Wears Satin. 

Morgan was a great interviewer, who made me feel completely at ease.  I hope you enjoy it, and that it answers some of your questions, too.

Scandal Wears Satin on sale now

Today's the big day. 


Scandal Wears Satin, the second Dressmakers book, is now available.

This time it's Sophy's story—and those of you who've already read Book One, Silk is for Seduction, will probably not swoon with astonishment when you find out that the hero is...

Right. Him.

You can read an excerpt at my website...or you can just go take a wild chance & get the book & see what happens.

And if you'll kindly bear with my bragging a little in small print, Scandal Wears Satin received starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist as well as 4-1/2 stars and a Top Pick from Romantic Times.  And other nice reviews elsewhere, but a dose of discretion, I think, never comes amiss.

Silk is for Seduction in Spain

Just received my author copies of the Spanish edition of Silk is for Seduction.  And here, for your viewing pleasure, is another of Cisne's beautiful covers.

The Romance Reviews nominates Silk is for Seduction

I'm happy to report that The Romance Reviews has nominated Silk is for Seduction for Best Historical Romance of 2011.

Voting starts today, 16 March, and continues until 31 March. Results will be announced on April 2.

If you'd like to vote, please go to the main voting page here, sign in or sign up or log in via your Facebook account, and make your choice(s).

Interview & Giveaway at Paperback Dolls

Please join me and my hostesses today at PaperBack Dolls.  I'm helping them celebrate their 2nd annual Month of Love with an interview and book giveaway.

The interview?  Covers many topics.
The giveaway? An autographed copy of the first book of my Dressmakers Series, Silk is for Seduction.

Interview and Giveaway at Ex Libris Today!

Ex Libris

Why historical romance?  Why me?  Where would I time travel to if I could?  The answers to these and other questions—along with some delightful illustrations—appear today at Ex Libris, along with a chance to win a print copy of Silk is for Seduction or an e-ARC of Book Two of the Dressmakers Series, Scandal Wears Satin.

Please join us in celebrating Ex Libris' 2 Year Blogoversary!

Scandal Wears Satin

 Here's your sneak peak at the cover, which isn't yet up at Amazon.

And some advance news of interviews:

23 February at Ex Libris, to help celebrate their second Blogoversary (book giveaway included).

28 February at Paperback Dolls, to help celebrate their second annual Month of Love (book giveaway here, too).

Scandal Wears Satin is coming this summer

A great many people have asked about Book 2 of the Dressmakers series.  I've postponed updating my website until I have the final cover from my publisher.

But here's a brief update:
Scandal Wears Satin, featuring Sophy Noirot & Lord Longmore, will be a July book from Avon.
The official release date is 26 June 2012.

The building above, which stands on St. James's Street, London, is the one I chose to play the part of Maison Noirot.  It isn't No. 56, that building being very modern and completely unsuitable.

For those nerdy history persons who like to know about such things: There actually was a dressmaker  at No. 56 St. James's Street early in the 19th century. 

Happy Birthday, Mr. Dickens

Today, 7 February, is Charles Dickens's 200th birthday.  He was and continues to be my inspiration.  Every year I reread at least one of his books, for the sheer fun of it as well as the re-setting of impossibly high standards.  No matter how many times I reread his stories, I always discover something new.  This was a writer who could give a chair a personality. 

He inspired my love of English history and taught me to love a city I'd never seen—London—and set off that writer's itch that keeps me going and enriches my travels and makes me endlessly curious about the past, especially the world he grew up in and lived in and wrote about.

I am not sure I would have written a single novel, if not for him.

Thank you, Mr. Dickens, for all you've given us & all you've given me.

And a very Happy Birthday to you, wherever you are.

The illustration of a young Charles Dickens (about age 30 if the info is correct), is from Wikipedia—and quite a different look from the more familiar portraits of his older self.

A really nice review of Silk is for Seduction

This one, at The Romance Reviews (TRR)  was so positive & enthusiastic, it made me blush.  Thank you, Carol Ann!

French edition of The Last Hellion

This just arrived.  I particularly love the series title the French editions have given my first four historical romances—The Lion's Daughter, Captives of the Night, Lord of Scoundrels, and The Last Hellion.

In France, the series is Les Débauchés.

Now why didn't I think of that?

Silk is for Seduction a RUSA top pick

I'm delighted to announce that "the expert readers’ advisory librarians on the Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) Reading List Council have made Silk is for Seduction their 2012 top pick in Romance.  You can read the complete list here.

Time to vote in All About Romance Reader Poll

The Bookworm and her Favorite Book

I'm slow with this, as with most things.  Luckily for me, the voting goes on for another week.

It's that time again.  All About Romance is conducting its 16th Annual Reader Poll.  This is your chance to voice your opinions of new books published in 2011.  But you don't have forever.  The poll ends Sunday 29 January.  

Here's your ballot.   Now please, opine!









Illustration:  Will Houghton, The Bookworm and her Favorite Book, 1914, courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540.  Please click on caption for details.

The Sandalwood Princess a Desert Isle Keeper at AAR

Reviewer Jean Wan has given my last traditional Regency, The Sandalwood Princess, another look, and honored it with a DIK review at All About Romance.

Though currently out of print, and out of stock in my private stash of OOP books, The Sandalwood Princess is in lineto be digitized this year. 

Original Avon edition

Signet double

Color your own ball dress for January 1808

I posted La Belle Assemblée's color plate for January 1808 at Two Nerdy History Girls.  This interesting ball dress, alas, appears only in black & white.  I've come across this before:  hand-colored plates for colorful fashions, and black & white for white dresses.  It's not a rule, by any means—one often sees hand-colored fashion plates of white dresses—but, especially in the earlier part of the century, maybe it made more sense to reserve hand-coloring for colorful clothes.  Still, you can make yours a different color, if you like, or maybe just add touches of color here and there.

No. 3.—A BALL DRESS IN THE PARISIAN STYLE.
A Neapolitan robe and petticoat, of white, or coloured satin, made quite plain. Armorial vest of white satin, beaded in gold stripes. A cestus d-la-Cleopatra, composed of wrought gold and amethysts. Hanging sleeve, gathered in front of the arm, with brooches of the same. The hair confined from the roots, the ends flowing in irregular curls, leaving the forehead and temples exposed. An Indian casque of tissue, with amethyst ornaments. A long veil of gossamer gause, rounded at the end, and embroidered in a delicate border of silver, or silk, flowing from the centre of the crown, over the right shoulder, and forming a drapery in front of the figure by the attitude of the left hand. Pear ear-rings of amethyst or pearl. Necklace of pearl, with amethyst star in the centre. White satin slippers, edged with silver beading, and white kid gloves above the elbow.
—La Belle Assemblée, Volume 3, 1807