Book Description:
Mirabella can hardly remember the man she married as a girl. And it’s just as well. She feels nothing but contempt for the man who married her for her fortune and promptly forgot she existed.
Since then, Bella’s had no use for the company of gentlemen — until temptation appears in the form of an olive-skinned stranger with haunting eyes the color of a turbulent sea.
Sebastian has been apart from his child bride since their wedding day, after a teenaged marriage forced upon him to rescue his family from certain ruin. His attempt to honor his vows to his absent wife have earned him the nickname, “The Saint.”
But when he encounters an enchanting impish beauty at the opera, Sebastian cannot resist learning who she is. He is thrilled to find she is none other than his long-ago bride.
Already resentful of his early abandonment, Bella is suspicious of her husband’s unusual activities —mysterious midnight outings and apparent liaisons with pretty servant girls. Then there is the mounting evidence that Sebastian is not who he claims to be.
Guarding the painful secret of his true identity, Sebastian is entranced by Bella. Delighted by his good fortune, he is eager to make her his wife in truth. But he soon realizes the beguiling lady has no intention of coming meekly to the marriage bed!
Excerpt:
Uttering an uncharacteristically terse thank you to the butler, Sebastian took Bella’s arm to escort her above stairs. His rigid posture, the intransigent set of his expansive shoulders, the very deliberate click of each boot step, all belied that otherwise calm exterior.
He was angry. Furious even.
The hair on the back of her neck tingled. She’d never seen him truly out of sorts. His demeanor brought to mind that ominous lull before a natural disaster strikes.
He hastened his steps, practically dragging her up the stairs. When they reached her chamber, he did not leave her as he usually did. Instead he stepped in behind her.
“Thank you, Louisa, that will be all,” he said to the sleepy girl, who’d waited up for her mistress. “Go and seek your bed.”
As soon as he closed the door behind the maid, Bella spun around to face him, her heart clamoring. “I did not give you leave to enter my bedchamber. Please show me the courtesy of departing at once.”
He pulled off his cravat and folded it in a slow deliberate manner, as though he hadn’t heard her. Removing his tailcoat, he placed it neatly over the back of a chair.
Alarm trilled down her spine. “Why are you disrobing?”
Unbuttoning his waistcoat, he said, “Take off that dress.”
“I beg your pardon?”
He advanced toward her, the muscles in his thighs flexing powerfully as he did so. “You heard me.”
Hugging herself, she stepped back from him. “I will do no such thing. Leave or I will scream.”
Cold anger glittered in his eyes. “Take if off or I will take it off for you.”
Thanks so much for stopping by. So, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?
Thanks for having me! Let’s see...I’m a former television reporter who decided to start writing romance novels after falling in love with the genre when I discovered it about six years ago. I live on the East Coast and am married with two sons. I also still work in journalism, as a Web Editor for an international news organization.
How did you get started writing?
I’ve loved to write for as long as I can remember and, as a journalist, that’s been something I’ve done in my career. I’ve always thought how great it would be to be a writer but I never had any idea of what type of book I could write. However, once I discovered historical romance novels, something clicked in me and I thought, “I want to write this.”
What was the inspiration for your book?
Tempting Bella was inspired by a romantic true story I came across during my research for another book. It is the story of Lady Sara Cadogan and Charles Lennox, the Earl of March, who later became the Duke of Richmond. At the age of thirteen, Sara was forced to marry the heir to the dukedom in order to settle a gaming debt between their fathers. The groom was very unhappy about being forced to marry the plain girl but he went through with it. After the ceremony, the bride and groom went their separate ways. He took his Grand Tour of the continent while the bride returned to her mother. Years later, March spied an enchanting beauty at the opera and was thrilled to learn she was his wife. The two came together and were known to have a very happy marriage. They had twelve children. The duke died in his late forties and the duchess died one year later. It was said that she died of a broken heart.
What’s the one genre you haven’t written in yet that you’d like to?
I haven’t published a contemporary romance yet but it is next on my list. I’m currently writing one and am having a lot of fun doing it. There’s a real freedom in it because I don’t have to keep checking to see if a certain word, phrase or object is historically correct in the same way I have to with the historicals.
Are there any genres you won’t read or write in? Why?
I won’t write paranormals because I don’t enjoy reading them, and so I don’t think I would be very good at it!
So, what are you working on right now? Got any releases planned, or still writing?
Thank you for asking! I have two books I mentioned earlier coming out for my Accidental Peers series. Compromising Willa will be available this December, to be followed by Engaging the Earl (Edward’s story) in April 2014. Readers have asked me if the other Stanhope brothers will be getting their own stories. There are no plans for more books in this series at the moment, but I do have a storyline in mind for Basil, the wise-cracking, wickedly handsome youngest Stanhope brother. So it could happen at some point.
Alright, now for some totally random, fun questions. Favorite color? It’s a tie between yellow and purple.
Favorite movie? It’s a throwback: “Baby Boom” starring Diane Keaton. This had everything I enjoy in a movie: a great leading lady, fantastic clothes and sets, a hot leading man and a terrific message of empowerment for women and mothers.
Book that inspired you to become an author? Probably the first romance I ever read as an adult. I picked it up by chance while waiting in line to check out books for my kids at the library. I don’t remember the name but it was written by Shirlee Busbee. I still love her books!
Alright, you have one superpower. What is it? The ability to fly. I think that would be amazing.
You can have dinner with any 3 people, dead, alive, fictitious, etc. Who are they? Thomas Jefferson, Jane Austen and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Last question: Which of your characters are you most like and how/why?
My friend reads everything I write and says I am most like Willa, who makes a quick appearance in Tempting Bella and gets her own book, Compromising Willa, in December. Of course, Willa is 1,000 times more fabulous than I am, but there is a reserve with strangers and an openness with friends and family that I think I do share with Willa.
That’s all from me, thanks so much for taking the time to stop by!
Thanks for having me! It’s been fun.
Schedule:
September 30 Guest blog - Musings of Mistress of the Dark Path
September 30 Spotlight - Paranormal book club
October 1 Spotlight - Reviewing in Chaos
October 1 Spotlight - Book Suburbia
October 2 Spotlight - Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance
October 2 Spotlight and review - Share My Destiny
October 3 Spotlight and review - Wicca Witch 4 Book Blog
October 3 Interview - Pembroke Sinclair
October 4 Interview - The Simple Things in Life
October 4 Interview - Bitten by Love Reviews
October 7 Guest blog and review - Ebook Escapes
October 7 Spotlight - Rookie Romance,
October 8 Interview - Manga Maniac Café
October 9 Interview - Dalene’s Book Reviews
October 10 Guest blog - Sarah Ballance
October 10 Interview and review - Sharing Links and Wisdom
October 11 Interview - Adrienne Woods Books and Reviews
October 11 Spotlight and review - Ramblings of a Book Lunatic
October 11 review - Provocative Pages
October 14 Guest blog and review - What's Beyond Forks?
About the Author:
Although I’ve always loved reading and writing, I’m not one of those people who has always known I want to be an author.
I discovered my love of romantic fiction about four years ago, while picking up summer library books for my two boys. I noticed a historical romance by Shirlee Busbee on the end cap and picked it up to browse through while waiting in line to check out our books.
That’s all it took to hook me.
I spent that summer reading every historical romance I could get my hands on.
A few months later, I was motivated to try writing my own story, which resulted in my first manuscript, Compromising Willa.
Now I cannot imagine not writing.
I guess you could say I’m a late bloomer.
I’m now working on my fifth manuscript, which is my first foray into contemporary fiction.
When not bent over my laptop or trying to keep up with the laundry, I enjoy reading, spending time with my family and dream of traveling much more than my current schedule (and budget) allows.
Online, you can find me on Twitter @Diana_Quincy and over at The Dashing Duchesses, where I blog about history and romance with a talented group of authors.
I am a proud member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA), Washington Romance Writers (WRWDC) and the New Jersey Romance Writers (NJRWA).
I am fortunate to be represented by Kevan Lyon at the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
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