Julia Kelly's Blog, page 14

Dear Readers of The Light over London

Dear Reader,

To live in London is to always have the memory of World War II with you, a whispered reminder of the unfathomable destruction and incredible bravery that was seen on the streets of this great city.

When I moved to London, the omnipresence of the war drove me to read as much about it as I could, trying to understand how it had shaped this place. It was when I picked up a book about the Gunner Girls and other British women who went into service, a seedling of a plot for The Light Over London began to grow. If you’ve never heard of the extraordinary women of Ack-Ack Command who manned the anti-aircraft guns defending London’s skies during World War II, it’s my privilege to introduce you to them.

Made up of the women from the Army’s Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the Gunner Girls were formed to fill out the ranks of the Royal Artillery’s anti-aircraft batteries stationed in Britain and across Europe.

By parliamentary decree, women were not allowed to load or fire the massive guns, but they did everything else. Each battery had a spotter who could identify German aircraft, as well as a team of women to operate the sophisticated instruments used to aim the weapon and set its fuse. These teams moved fast, executing a complex set of adjustments in a matter of seconds.

Working primarily at night, the Gunner Girls formed a special bond held together by the incredible danger of their jobs to shoot down enemy aircrafts amid air raids. They were also united in their knowledge that they were doing something few women had ever done before—standing down the enemy right in the path of bullets and bombs.

More than 350 Gunner Girls lost their lives during World War II, and their contribution and sacrifice when their country needed them most to win the war cannot be ignored. The Light Over London is my way of honoring the women of Ack-Ack Command and their incredible stories.

Sincerely,


Julia Kelly

Why This Heroine’s Very Bad Day Is Very Good for You

Meet Lavinia Parkem.

Her life is...complicated. 

She’s a talented seamstress on the eve of a royal visit which means she has lots of orders to fill. She’s also got a charming but disreputable brother, and a landlord who really wants her to become his mistress because he’s awful like that.

Oh yeah, and she was once engaged to her childhood sweetheart, Andrew Colter, but when he was presumed dead after being lost at sea she married someone else. And then Andrew showed up two days after the wedding.

Awkward.

Warning: This book contains spies, no nonsense seamstresses, a hero who's pulled back in for just one more job, enemies to lovers, childhood sweethearts, second chances, action, adventure, and a creative use of a cloak pin. (Keep reading for a sneak peek!.)

The Allure of Attraction releases on June 25th at these fine retailers: 

Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | Nook | Google Play

You can also add The Allure of Attraction on Goodreads and follow me on BookBub for all the latest sales news.

 

Your Sneak Peek of The Allure of Attraction

The delicate sleigh bells mounted above the front door jangled, and Lavinia prepared a wide smile. But when she turned around, it dissolved like sugar in water. Wark had come calling.

“Good day, Mrs. Parkem,” said the man, sticking his thumbs in the slit pockets of his waistcoat. The gesture had the unfortunate effect of emphasizing his paunch, which had been growing steadily since she met him, although she was certain the man’s vanity blinded him to the fact.

“Mr. Wark,” she said. “I suppose you are here about the rent.”

“Among other things. I’m delighted to find you alone,” he said.

“Is that so?” She kept her voice clipped and cold, hoping that Wark would realize he was not welcome. Of course, it wouldn’t work. It never worked.

“Do you know how rare it is to claim a moment of your time, Mrs. Parkem? I’d almost think you were avoiding me if I didn’t know any better,” he said.

“You don’t know better,” she said, adding an icy “sir” at the last possible moment so she couldn’t be accused of being unforgivably rude. The man might be odious, but he was still her landlord and could make her life very difficult indeed.

He laughed. “You’ve always been a coy one.”

And you’ve always been a slobbering brute.

“I can assure you that being coy is the last thing on my mind. I have a business to run,” she said, reaching for the banknote she’d stored under the counter just before the Fosters arrived. “Here is what I owe you.”

He took the note and folded it into thirds before slipping it into his pocket. He did not, however, turn and walk out the shop as she’d hoped he would.

“It’s always business with you, Mrs. Parkem. Tell me, what do you do for recreation?” he asked, sidling up to the gap in the counter.

She brought down the counter flap with a satisfying bang, cutting off his path to her. “I’m a shop owner. I don’t take recreation.”

“Everyone does something for pleasure,” he said, rolling his lascivious tongue around the last word.

She held up her hands to show him the tips of her fingers that had been scarred from being pricked over and over again. “These hands never stop making your mother’s dresses.”

Wark’s expression darkened with lust, rather effectively turning the contents of her stomach upside down.

“I can think of far better occupations for your hands,” he said.

One of these days I’m going to pop you in your fat nose.

“That’s funny, I can’t think of a one,” she said as she snatched up a pair of scissors she kept under the counter and held them up so that their blades caught the light. Caleb had been wrong. She would sacrifice a good sharp pair of scissors if it meant this lout would never bother her again.

The confident smile on Wark’s face wavered, and he took a tiny step back. From a safer distance, he said, “I’ve always found that women who play games are the most fun to catch.”

The blades opened with a sinister snick. “I’m not fond of games.”

The jangle of the front-door bells robbed Wark of his retort. Her gaze flicked past her landlord’s shoulder, and that was the moment hell froze over. It was the only explanation for how a stony-faced Andrew Colter had been induced to step across the threshold of her shop.

It was the first time she’d seen him since that horrible moment she’d last laid eyes on him—two days after her wedding to another man. She could still remember the breathtaking thrill of discovering he was alive and the crushing realization that, when he understood what she’d done, his fury would burn white-hot.

Now, caught between the present and the past, she watched the man who’d broken her heart into a million pieces take another step into the room, his gaze falling on the scissors. Then his stern expression transformed, replaced by a wry grin she remembered well and had never imagined she’d see again.

“Have I come at an inconvenient time?” Andrew asked.

“Actually you’re interrupting a rather important conversation,” Wark threw over his shoulder without bothering to turn.

Lavinia’s fingers gripped the scissors so hard that she wouldn’t have been surprised to find them a twisted wreck in her hands.

This is not happening.

With a weather-beaten face and hair more sun-bleached then she’d ever seen it, Andrew stood before her, not as she’d last seen him in the modest dress of a sailor waiting for his next voyage, but as a man of comfortable affluence. He’d always been tall and rangy, but now he seemed to fill the entire front room of her shop. He was forcing her to pay attention to him. To notice the way his jacket stretched over well-muscled shoulders. To fight a blush that spread as her eyes raked over his body, taking all of him in and finding him—despite her better judgment— just as attractive as the last time she’d seen him.

More.

“Why are you here?” she choked out.

“You know this man?” Wark asked, putting his body between Andrew and her.

She pushed out a breath as though she’d been forced underwater and only just allowed to bob to the surface. “I do.”

 

Preorder The Allure of Attraction and start reading it as soon as it releases on June 25th!

Amazon  | iBooks | Kobo | Nook | Google Play

 

The Royal Runaway

I'm always excited about the chance to brag about my brilliant friends' books, but today's particularly special because this book ties into the Royal Wedding!

Lindsay Emory, authors, HBIC, and host of the Women With Books podcast, is hosting a cover reveal for her upcoming book The Royal Runaway. I've already read this book and it's just fantastic. It's a funny, twisty-turny, action-filled romantic comedy.

Here's a look at the blurb:

Princess Theodora Isabella Victoria of Drieden of the Royal House Laurent is so over this princess thing.

After her fiancé jilted her on their wedding day, she’s finally back home after spending four months in exile—aka it’s back to press conferences, public appearances, and putting on a show for the Driedish nation as the perfect princess they expect her to be. But Thea’s sick of duty. After all, that’s what got her into this mess in the first place.

So when she sneaks out of the palace and meets a sexy Scot named Nick in a local bar, she relishes the chance to be a normal woman for a change. But just as she thinks she’s found her Prince Charming for the night, he reveals his intentions are less than honorable: he’s the brother of her former fiancé, a British spy, and he’s not above blackmail. As Thea reluctantly joins forces with Nick to find out what happened the day her fiancé disappeared, together they discover a secret that could destroy a centuries-old monarchy and change life as they know it.

Funny, fast-paced, and full of more twists and turns than the castle Thea lives in, The Royal Runaway is a fresh romantic comedy that will leave you cheering for the modern-day royal who chucks the rulebook aside to create her own happily-ever-after.

This book comes out on October 9th, but you can preorder it now in paperback or digital at these fine retailers:

Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | B&N | Google Play

Be sure to also add The Royal Runaway on Goodreads and follow Lindsay on BookBub to make sure you don't miss this book's release!

Here Comes the Royal Bride

With the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle just days away—and the speculation over who will wear what at the wedding of the year at its max—I thought it would be the perfect time to take a look back at four of Britain's royal brides of the Victorian era. 

Queen Victoria

10th February 1840: Queen Victoria (1819 - 1901) and Prince Albert (1819 - 1861) on their return from the marriage service at St James's Palace, London. Original Artwork: Engraved by S Reynolds after F Lock. Courtesy of WikiMedia Commons

Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg on February 10, 1840, in the Chapel Royal of St. James Palace. She famously proposed to him, befitting her status as the monarch. Queen Victoria's wedding is also notable for setting the trend of wearing a white wedding dress.

Victoria, Princess Royal

The Marriage of Victoria, Princess Royal, 25 January 1858, Courtesy of WikiMedia Commons

Queen Victoria's eldest daughter was married to Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia (the future German Emperor and King of Prussia Frederick III). The marriage was arranged by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Frederick proposed to Victoria in 1855 when she was 14 years old. Their betrothal was announced in 1857, and the wedding took place on January 25, 1858.

Alexandra of Denmark

The wedding of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), and Alexandra of Denmark, London, 1863, Courtesy of WikiMedia Commons

Princess Alexandra of Denmark, or "Alix" as she was commonly known to her family, married the Prince of Wales on March 10, 1863 at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. That same chapel will play host to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding.

Princess Louise

 Princess Louise at her wedding, 21 March 1871, Courtesy of the Royal Collection.

Princess Louise (my favorite of Queen Victoria's daughters for her work as a sculptor and her love of the arts) married John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne and the heir to the Duke of Argyll. This was extraordinary for a few reasons:

Louise chose her husband, expressing no desire to marry a prince as had been proposed by several members of her familyIt was the first marriage between the daughter of a sovereign and a British subject that had been given official recognition since 1515

The pair were married at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on March 21, 1871. Her veil was made of Honiton lace which she deisgned herself.

Publishing, Happily Ever Afters, and the #MeToo Movement

I was lucky enough to be asked to be a guest on the Always Take Notes podcast this month. Kassia and Simon host the show created by, for and about writers. They ask journalists, publishers, screenwriters, novelists, and agents to talk candidly about their work and career paths, and it makes for fascinating listening every time.

In my wide-ranging interview, I invited Kassia and Simon into the world of romance and genre fiction. We spoke about how I came to write my first books, the importance of marketing and social media for writers, and the pros and cons of self-publishing in this genre. I also talked about the impact of the #metoo movement on the world of romance.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or SoundCloud

It's one of those funny things that we recorded this podcast a couple months ago and so much has already changed. You'll hear me say that The Light over London will be out in November in paperback. It's now getting a full hardcover release in January 2019. I also talk about not knowing what I'm writing next. I do! In fact, this weekend I scribbled away and came up with the synopsis for my next book which I'll be pitching to my editor through my agent this month.

If you want to stay up to date with all of my book news, you can sign up for my newsletter, add The Light over London to your GoodReads shelves, follow me on BookBub, and join my reader Facebook group.

Happy reading (and listening)!

Murder in the Stylish '60s

I’ve talked a lot about my love of murder mysteries, British television, and historical clothes. Would could be better than something that combines all three?

Endeavour is a TV show set in the early 1960s in Oxford. It followed Endeavour Morse in his early career as a police detective, long before he becomes Inspector Morse, a character made famous by the wonderful John Thaw.

Each episode (about 90 minutes long) features an often brutal murder, often connected through complicated ways to corruption or vice in and around Oxford University. At the center of it all is a wonderfully complex performance by Shaun Evans, with Roger Allam as his mentor Thursday.

While Endeavour doesn’t have the polish and glamor of some ‘60s period dramas like Mad Men, it still has a distinctive style. The clothing is more every day, with students, nightclub singers, detectives, and professors all dressing in a way that precisely reflects where they sit in the town’s socio-economic structure. The result is a moody, affecting atmosphere fitting for a twisty, complex show.

Celebrating the Woman With Two Birthdays

A very happy birthday to the woman who has, well, two birthdays!

“Queen Elizabeth II; Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother” by Marcus Adams. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery

Queen Elizabeth II was born on this day in 1926. It’s her actual birthday, but she also has an official birthday or June 9 when the weather is usually better for Trooping the Colour. This has been a common practice among the British monarchy for several rulers.

If you’d like to celebrate the queen’s actual birthday, I strongly recommend you head to The Court Jeweller. The blog chronicles the royal jewels of royal families across the world and, as you can imagine, the queen features heavily.

Queen Elizabeth II opens the new Queensferry Crossing over the Firth of Forth in Scotland, 4 September 2017 (

Celebrating the Woman With Two Birthdays

A very happy birthday to the woman who has, well, two birthdays!

Queen Elizabeth II was born on this day in 1926. It's her actual birthday, but she also has an official birthday or June 9 when the weather is usually better for Trooping the Colour. This has been a common practice among the British monarchy for several rulers.

If you'd like to celebrate the queen's actual birthday, I strongly recommend you head to The Court Jeweller. The blog chronicles the royal jewels of royal families across the world and, as you can imagine, the queen features heavily.

Queen Elizabeth II opens the new Queensferry Crossing over the Firth of Forth in Scotland, 4 September 2017 (

Hollywood’s Underestimated Woman

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved the glamor and drama of old Hollywood.

It probably started with To Have and Have Not. I watched it when I was around 12. There was something about Lauren Bacall, all smolder and vulnerability, with her beautiful hair and deep voice. I wanted some of her grown-up sophistication for myself, and so I snapped up as many of her movies as I could find. The Big Sleep, Key Largo, Dark Passage, How to Marry a Millionaire.

From there I discovered Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story, Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in Notorious, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night, Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews in Laura. (One of my favorite movies.) The list goes on and on and on.

As I got older, I began to learn more about the other side of Hollywood that is often sordid and sometimes tragic. I’ve listened to most of You Must Remember This, an excellent podcast about the film industry, Los Angeles (where I grew up), and the people who created the movie myths we still believe today. However, I only knew bits and pieces of one of its most extraordinary women.

Hedy Lamarr was widely recognized as one of the most beautiful women in the world during her heyday in the 1930s and 1940s. An Austrian actress, she was scandalous and alluring. She was also an almost unrecognized genius, but the documentary Bombshell is trying to change that.

Lamarr was an inventor with an inquisitive mind. During World War II, she came up with a technique called frequency hopping that would allow the navy to deploy torpedos that couldn’t be jammed by German submarines. Her invention, largely neglected at the time, has become the basis for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and military technology being used today.

Her fascinating, sometimes deeply sad story, is told through interviews with Hedy, her family, and others. You get a picture of a woman who was pigeon-holed into being just a beautiful face because, to paraphrase one interviewee, you don’t get to be Hedy Lamarr and be smart. She was difficult and complex and funny and so many things, and now the movie-going audience who loved her films is getting a chance to see a more complete version of her.

Hollywood's Underestimated Woman

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved the glamor and drama of old Hollywood.
It probably started with To Have and Have Not. I watched it when I was around 12. There was something about Lauren Bacall, all smolder and vulnerability, with her beautiful hair and deep voice. I wanted some of her grown-up sophistication for myself, and so I snapped up as many of her movies as I could find. The Big Sleep, Key Largo, Dark Passage, How to Marry a Millionaire.

From there I discovered Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story, Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in Notorious, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night, Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews in Laura. (One of my favorite movies.) The list goes on and on and on.

As I got older, I began to learn more about the other side of Hollywood that is often sordid and sometimes tragic. I've listened to most of You Must Remember This, an excellent podcast about the film industry, Los Angeles (where I grew up), and the people who created the movie myths we still believe today. However, I only knew bits and pieces of one of its most extraordinary women.

Hedy Lamarr was widely recognized as one of the most beautiful women in the world during her heyday in the 1930s and 1940s. An Austrian actress, she was scandalous and alluring. She was also an almost unrecognized genius, but the documentary Bombshell is trying to change that.

Lamarr was an inventor with an inquisitive mind. During World War II, she came up with a technique called frequency hopping that would allow the navy to deploy torpedos that couldn't be jammed by German submarines. Her invention, largely neglected at the time, has become the basis for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and military technology being used today.

Her fascinating, sometimes deeply sad story, is told through interviews with Hedy, her family, and others. You get a picture of a woman who was pigeon-holed into being just a beautiful face because, to paraphrase one interviewee, you don't get to be Hedy Lamarr and be smart. She was difficult and complex and funny and so many things, and now the movie-going audience who loved her films is getting a chance to see a more complete version of her.