Guest Blog with Miranda Neville
Please join me in welcoming Miranda Neville, historical author of THE DANGEROUS VISCOUNT.
Miranda, give us a quick overview of the premise of THE DANGEROUS VISCOUNT.
Diana Fanshawe wants to be a duchess – specifically she's set her sights on Lord Blakeney, the heir to the duke-next-door. To impress Blake, she bets she can win a kiss from his nerdy cousin Sebastian, a notorious woman-hater. Little does Diana know that Sebastian has fallen for her, hard. When he finds out about the bet, he transforms himself into an attractive and eligible bachelor, intending to break her heart as she broke his.
THE DANGEROUS VISCOUNT is part of the series The Burgundy Club that started with THE WILD MARQUIS. Tell us where you came up with the idea for The Burgundy Club and what the club is about.
The plot of The Wild Marquis centers around a rare book auction. The hero, a somewhat dissolute rake, hires the bookseller heroine to help him buy back a family treasure, the Burgundy manuscript. At the end of the book, a group of young book collectors form the Burgundy Club. This was based on the Roxburghe Club, formed after the sale of the Duke of Roxburghe's library in 1812 and still in existence today. Cain, the Marquis of Chase, and Tarquin Compton help Sebastian in his transformation from nerd to hottie.
Excerpt:
Sebastian swallowed hard. "I'm not very good at making myself agreeable in company," he admitted humbly.
Tarquin doubled over with mirth. "The first step to reform is to acknowledge its necessity," he said, when he'd finally recovered. "Luckily you couldn't have a better tutor than me. I shall teach you to cultivate address."
Sebastian nodded.
"And don't grunt at me."
"I do not grunt."
"It's your principal method of communication," Cain said though his laughter.
"That grunt has to go," Tarquin pronounced. "Ladies prefer to be addressed in identifiable words. Better yet, complete sentences."
Sebastian said nothing. Then a warning look made him realize he had, in fact, grunted again. "Yes, Tarquin," he said meekly. "Then what?"
"Then we shall go into dinner and get roaring drunk."
"Why?" Sebastian might not know much about ladies, but he'd always had the impression they deplored insobriety in men. He had a faint recollection of his mother weeping when his sire staggered home reeking of brandy.
"Think of it as a last supper. Tomorrow I'm taking you to my tailor."
Readers like to see characters reappear in subsequent books. What did you find the most fun about writing recurring characters? What surprised you? Did you find it challenging in any way? If so, how?
I love carrying characters over. It's great to have more than one book to develop a character and a treat to revisit old friends. When Cain and Juliana from The Wild Marquis reappeared in The Dangerous Viscount, I gave them both significant roles in the plot, rather than having them just pop in to say hi. There's even a little unfinished business between Juliana and Sebastian that gets resolved.
What surprised me as I finished The Dangerous Viscount was realizing the series was going to be four books instead of three. Diana's little sister Minerva just begged to be the heroine of her own book—and readers seem to agree. Diana's whole family turned out to be a lot of fun. Some of them reappear in the third book, and of course we'll see them in Minerva's story.
One has to be careful maintaining continuity from book to book, but I haven't had major problems yet. As I finish each book and make revisions, I look ahead to the next and see if there's anything I need to adjust
Are there other planned books for this series? If so, can you tell us a bit about the next one and when it will be out?
The third book collector, Tarquin Compton, gets his book next August. He's an exquisite dandy and leader of society with a tendency to be overbearing. I decided the only thing to do with a man like that was to undress him. He finds himself wandering on the Yorkshire moors, almost naked and in company with a governess who hates him.
The Season awarded THE DANGEROUS VISCOUNT a top pick. Romantic Times called it a "…highly entertaining tale of unconventional lovers, eccentric families, daring escapades and sizzling sensuality."
The response to The Dangerous Viscount has been really terrific. It's lovely hearing nice things about the books you've slaved over – you'll find out soon, Vicky. I can't wait to read HOW TO MARRY A DUKE. Thanks for inviting me onto your blog.
Miranda plans to give away one copy of THE DANGEROUS VISCOUNT, so be sure to leave a comment!
Cheers!
Congratulations to Marnee – you're the winner! Email: Miranda@MirandaNeville.com.
