The winner of Nicola Cornick’s book, DESIRED, is Tina Rucci.  Congratulations!  I’ll be in touch.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by the blog. Remeber to keep following the Grand Tour to win the main prize, a $200 Gift Card and 30 + signed books.

It's my very great pleasure to introduce wonderful Regency romance author Nicola Cornick. I discover Nicola's books in early 2011. I think the first romance of hers  I read was Mistress by Midnight. I LOVED it! Since then I've read all her books. Nicola is one of the authors who have kindly donated a signed copy of DESIRED to the GRAND PRIZE of the tour. (PS. Happy Mothers' day for the Americans.)

Welcome, from across the seas,  Nicola.

Give us the elevator pitch for your latest release, DESIRED.

DESIRED is a hot Regency historical! Tess Darent, the heroine, is a wanted criminal climbing out of a brothel window to escape government agents when she quite literally falls into the arms of the man sent to hunt her down. Their subsequent cat and mouse game is full of danger and desire.

Why did you have to write this story?

Tess’s character had been demanding that I write her story for quite some time! Both Tess and Owen the hero, had featured in earlier books in the Scandalous Women of the Ton Series and the more I got to know them the more intriguing they both became.

Tell us more about your series Scandalous Women of the Ton? What do you love about it?

I’ve loved writing the whole six book series. It sprang out of the idea that there were so many women in the Regency period who did different and unusual things with their lives and weren’t constrained by society’s rules. So Joanna in book 1, Whisper of Scandal, travels abroad at a time when it was pretty shocking for a woman to go further than Bath. Her sister Merryn works for an enquiry agent and Tess draws caricatures for the radical newspapers. I loved that they are all strong women doing interesting things and that they needed strong and sexy heroes to match them.

What do you enjoy about the Regency period in particular?  

I love the contrasts. I love all the glitter and the glamour and the gowns, whilst knowing that beneath that there lurks a darker underworld. It’s an endlessly fascinating era full of change, danger and elegance, luxury and squalor and it provides huge inspiration for a writer. [CLUE FOUR: SHADOW]

Tell us how Owen Purchase, Viscount Rothbury, your hero came to be a sea captain. What are his best attributes?

Owen starts out in Book 1 of the series as an American sea captain and an adventurer. He’s fought with the British at Trafalgar and against them in the 1812 War. Then he unexpectedly comes into a title through the British side of his family and has to get used to being a member of the ton. Owen’s defining qualities are his honor and his integrity and I adore him for that. He fights for what he believes in and he is a true gentleman.

Tess Darent, the heroine, requires a very special husband – one who has neither the desire nor the ability to consummate their marriage? Interesting? What’s all that about?

Tess is looking for a marriage in name only to give protection to herself and her stepchildren. She has been married three times before and her experience with men has made her terrified of intimacy. She has some big issues to overcome. She hears rumors about Owen suffering a war wound and believes that as a result he won’t be able to consummate their marriage. Unfortunately she hasn’t checked out whether or not this is actually true and it leads to some misunderstanding on the wedding night!

What’s your favorite scene in the book and why? Can we have us a sample teaser?

I love the first scene, where Tess is hiding in a brothel to escape the government agents sent to catch her. She shins down a rope out of the window and straight into Owen’s arms. Here’s a teaser:

“When she was still some distance from the ground she ran out of her impromptu rope and swung gently backwards and forwards in the autumn breeze. She could see Mrs. Tong peering over the balcony above her still grumbling about the damage to her sheets. Below there was a drop of at least four feet to the darkened street. For a moment Tess hung there, trying to decide whether to shin back up the rope or risk the jump to the ground. The sheet creaked and slipped a notch.

Then, abruptly, the reticule and slippers were plucked from her hand and a moment later she was seized about the waist and placed gently on her feet.

“Splendid as the view was,” a lazy masculine voice murmured in her ear, “I thought you might appreciate some help.”

Caught.

Panic fluttered in her throat. So she had been right all along. There was no escape.

She tried to steady her breath. Something in his touch unsettled her but deeper than that, deeper and more disturbing still, was the sense of recognition. He had come for her and she could not escape. She knew it and it made her tremble.

He still held her, not by the waist but lower, his grip firm and strong on her hips. His touch sent an odd shiver rippling through her. He drew her into the pool of light thrown by the window and released her with meticulous courtesy, standing back, sketching a bow.
The laces of the perfidious gown chose that precise moment to snap and slid from Tess’s shoulders crumpling artistically about her waist before sighing down to the ground like a swooning maiden. As she was left shivering in her bodice and drawers, her companion laughed.

“What a perfect gown,” he said.

“It’s a little premature,” Tess said coldly. “We have only just met.”

Wow. Nicola's a geat writer, isn't she? I LOVE the cover of Forbidden. What’s the September 2012 release, Forbidden about, can you give us the blurb….

Forbidden is a rags-to-riches Cinderella story!

Margery Mallon has been a maid to all the other scandalous ladies and suddenly finds herself swept up into a world of unimaginable luxury when she is discovered to be the lost heiress to a title and fortune. Henry Wardeaux is the man whose inheritance she has taken and now he has to teach her how to behave in society.  Margery and Henry clash at every turn but they are also shockingly attracted to one another and when scandal threatens to ruin Margery, Henry is the only one who can save her.

Thank you so very much for visiting with me today. One lucky commenter will win a copy of Nicola's latest romance - DESIRED. (Open internationally).

About Nicola:

Bestselling UK author Nicola Cornick studied history at London University and Ruskin College, Oxford. She writes historical romance for Harlequin HQN Books in the US and MIRA Books UK. She is also a historian working for the National Trust at the seventeenth century hunting lodge, Ashdown House. A triple nominee for the Romance Writers of America RITA award, Nicola has been described by Publisher’s Weekly as “a rising star of the Regency genre.”

You can find out mroe about Nicola's fabulous books on her website.

Find her books on Amazon.

Bronwen's Book Tour Grand Prize – A $200 Amazon, or B&N Voucher, PLUS… A Book Basket of 30 ‘SIGNED by the AUTHORS’ books…

 There are 30 clues that must be collected to be eligible for entry into this contest.  Collect all the clues and spell out a paragraph relating to Bronwen’s 1 May 2012 Regency release – INVITATION TO SCANDAL.