On the blog today we have the amazing, incredibly talented and very accomplished author Raven McAllan talking about her love of the Regency period and her new book The Scandalous Proposal of Lord Bennett.
Thank you for inviting me over to
chat about The Scandalous Proposal of Lord Bennett
Regency times have always interested
me. I know beneath the so-called glamor of
the ton, life was hard and the ton made up only a very small proportion of the population,
but even there, intrigue and hardship occurred. It night not have always been
obvious, but not every one conformed and not everyone sailed through life
unscathed by trouble or tragedy.
I wanted to write a book, where
although my characters were bound by convention, they managed to turn
convention on its head to suit themselves. It was how they did so that
interested me. Plus of course how they achieved their happy ever after.
And believe me at times I
wondered if they ever would.
I’m very character driven when I
write and Lady Clarissa Macpherson and Lord Theodore Bennett (known as Ben)
sent me crazy. They are both so strong willed. But at least it made for an
interesting storyline (well I hope it did)
And boy, I loved the research…
A Quick Peak:
To have and to hold?
Reluctant debutante Lady Clarissa
Macpherson has never forgotten the forbidden kiss she shared with notorious
rake, Lord Theodore ‘Ben’ Bennett, all those years ago. Even now, he’s the one
man who sets Clarissa’s pulse racing and her skin tingling – no matter how hard
she tries to ignore it!
Yet, when Ben rescues her from
the unwanted advances of a drunken Lord at a society ball, she finds herself in
a most scandalous predicament – engaged, to the most eligible bachelor in
London!
Wedded? It appears so, but
bedded? Clarissa demands more from her marriage than simply surrendering to her
new husband’s sexual desires, especially when she realises she’s falling deeper
in love with him every single day. Ben must prove that she’s the only woman for
him – and surrender his heart!
Yet resisting her new husband’s
delicious seduction may prove the hardest thing Clarissa has ever done…
And a wee tease…
With a glance and a grimace in
the mirror, she left the room and returned to the bedchamber. Thence to stop
suddenly. Ben was sprawled across the bed on his back, naked as the day he was
born. He’d kicked the covers down to his ankles and not one part of his front
was hidden from view.
Oh, what a view.
Clarissa gulped and stared at the
thick staff that stood proudly up from his body, and waved hello. Now she was
able to study it carefully, and unobserved, she was both fascinated and, in a
strange way, repelled. That was supposed to fit into her? Oh, it had felt large
when she’d grasped it earlier, but not that size, and in the moonlight she had
decided her vision emphasised the size rather than diminished it. Now she
realised her mistake. There was no chance that could be accommodated inside a
woman. Someone surely had their facts wrong?
‘Do you like what you see?’ Her
husband was awake and watching her through hooded eyes. ‘Shall I show you
more?’
Her hands went to her warm
cheeks. Now was a time she could have done with a fan, and not for coy or
flirtatious purposes either. His eyes, although still cloudy, had a look in
them, which her governess would have called devilry, and Clarissa decided was
studied wickedness. If she didn’t stand up to him now, she never would.
‘Why?’ She feigned nonchalance,
and thought she may well have succeeded. ‘You have shown me nothing so far to
make me wish to see more.’
His eyes cleared and dark lights
of fire flashed. Then his mouth firmed in a straight line. ‘Really? I must be
slacking.’
She shrugged. ‘Perhaps fine wines
and brandy have that effect on you, my lord. Make you slack. You sampled enough
to discover whether my words are true or not.’ Clarissa ignored his snort of
outrage and his muttered oath and swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. She wanted
no more than to reach for the glass of water next to the bed. However, she knew
enough about men to know Ben would see it as a sign of weakness, and pounce on
it like a cat with a mouse.
To give herself time, and to rid
the room of the noxious smell of stale alcohol, Clarissa walked over to the
windows, pulled back the curtains, and pushed up the sash, thence to let warm,
fresh air and sunshine fill the room. It was lucky this room overlooked a
pleasant and tidy garden, filled with scented flowers and not the road, where
the aromas would certainly not be fresh and sweet.
Ben groaned. ‘Woman, you are
trying to kill me.’
‘Fresh air never killed anyone,
my lord. And if you persist in smelling like a cast-off from a tavern, you’ll
need the benefits. To put it bluntly, you stink worse than any privy.’ She
dusted her hands together and after a brief, very brief glance down his body,
stared at his face. Her words seemed to have little effect on his body.
Clarissa willed herself not to blush.
buy links
http://www.amazon.com/Scandalous-Proposal-Lord-Bennett-ebook/dp/B013L2OHW0/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1439208106&sr=1-2
Bio…
Well
what can I say?
I'm
growing old disgracefully and loving it.
Dh
and I live on the edge of a Scottish forest, and rattle around in a house much
too big for us.
Our
kids have grown up and flown the nest, but roll back up when they want to take
a deep breath and smell the daisies so to speak.
I
write in my study, which overlooks the garden and the lane. I'm often seen
procrastinating, by checking out the wild life, looking—only looking—at the ironing
basket and assuring tourists that indeed, I'm not the bed and breakfast. That
would mean cooking fried eggs without breaking the yolks, and disturbing the
dust bunnies as they procreate under the beds. Not to be thought of.
Being
able to do what I love, and knowing people get pleasure from my writing is
fantastic. Long may it last.
https://www.facebook.com/rmcallan
(my page)
https://www.facebook.com/ravenmcallan (author
page)
