Eleven Steps to Reading Heaven!

by Anna Campbell

It is my huge pleasure to invite back one of our most popular guests and a brilliant writer too, Sarah MacLean. Make sure you comment today because Sarah has very generously offered one of our buddies the chance to win signed copies of the ENTIRE LOVE BY NUMBERS TRILOGY!

Wow, wonder if hostesses are eligible! If not, can I adopt a false name? A moustache? Get botox?

What? You still recognize me? Sheesh! Being a master criminal isn't as easy as it used to be!

Sarah's latest historical romance from Avon ELEVEN SCANDALS TO START TO WIN A DUKE'S HEART is out on the 26th April (clearly an auspicious day for book releases, snicker!) and is dominating the bestseller lists as we speak. It's also garnering rave reviews, including a Top Pick review from RT Book Reviews, where Kathe Robin said:

The third book in the Love by Numbers series is a fast-paced, funny and tender read. You’ll love watching MacLean’s well-developed characters fall in love and define their relationship and enjoy the cameo appearances of her first two couples in this unforgettable story.

Here's the very cute trailer for ELEVEN SCANDALS:



You can find out more about Sarah and her fabulous romance novels on her website.

So without further ado, here's Sarah!

Thanks so much for having me, Anna! You know how much I like the pina coladas over here at the Bandits. *hic!* No more until the interview is over, though.

Sarah, put down that cabana boy! You can't have your dessert until you eat your vegetables! As you know I loved NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE. But I think I loved TEN WAYS TO BE ADORED WHEN LANDING A LORD even more. I was entranced by the characters in that story. Now ELEVEN SCANDALS TO START TO WIN A DUKE’S HEART has hit the stands (and my bedside table). Can you tell us about this story?

You have no idea how much it means to have *you* say such lovely things about my books...I am such a HUGE Anna Campbell fan...HUGE.

(Anna Campbell preens like a swan! Well, maybe like a goose, but she's a goose who likes to think she's a swan!)

As for Eleven’s story...this is the one that everyone has been waiting for. The heroine, Juliana Fiori, is the scandalous Italian half-sister of the heroes of the first two books, and she’s been slowly coming out of her shell while her brothers have been busy finding love. Readers have also met the hero, Simon, Duke of Leighton, who is the worst kind of cold, immovable, autocratic duke. Just ripe for a dressing down. And I mean that in all possible ways.

When scandal meets propriety, sparks fly...and that’s where Eleven lives.

Ooh, love it. I actually love immovable object, irresistible force romances and this sounds like a fantastic example! What’s next for Sarah MacLean?

My next series, THE FALLEN ANGEL quartet, follows four aristocrats, cast from society by scandal, now partners in London’s most notorious gaming hell--The Fallen Angel. The first book, A ROGUE BY ANY OTHER NAME, tells the story of Michael Lawler, Marquess of Bourne, who will do anything to rebuild his lands and fortune--including marrying a woman who is entirely too innocent for his wicked ways.

Sounds delicious! What made you choose the Regency as your setting? You obviously have a passion for early 19th century Great Britain!

I blame Johanna Lindsey and Judith McNaught. When you’re a kid growing up in Rhode Island, and someone puts WHITNEY, MY LOVE or GENTLE ROGUE in your hands...you never go back. It was only a matter of time before I was reading any Regency-set (the traditional Regencies were too tame for my teenaged self) historical I could get my hands on. By the time Stephanie Laurens and Julia Quinn and Eloisa James and Lisa Kleypas came along, I was already an addict...and they just made it worse.

So, when I finally set pen to paper to write my first book, Regency-set is what came out. And I knew better than to fight it.

You’ve been published now for a little over a year with FOUR books out in that time (“Where’s my hartshorn?” she shrieks in best Regency fashion). It must have been a total whirl. What do you wish you’d known before you published that you know now? Were there any surprises along the way?

LOL! I’m not sure I know anything more now than I did then! But here are three things that I have written on notecards in my office that I find help (or, at least, make me feel better!):

1) Every book is different. (This one helps when I think, “But the beginning of *that* book was so *easy*! I thought I *mastered* beginnings! Why does *this* beginning suck?!?”)

2) The darkest hour is before the dawn. (This one is necessary for the moment you get 300 pages into a manuscript and think, Oh, my God. What was I *thinking*? Usually it takes me a week of noodling and fixing and going back to the beginning before I break through and sprint to the finish.)

3) Someone will love this book. Someone will also hate it. (This one is for those stupid moments when you are a dumb author and look at reviews.)

Can you take us through a typical Sarah MacLean day?

I’m not sure you can handle the excitement of my days, honestly. Brace yourselves.


8:30 - Alarm goes off. Snooze hit.
8:42 - Alarm goes off again. Snooze hit again.
8:44 - Dog stands over head, whining.
8:44:25 - I say, “No. Go away,” in firmest, most masterful voice possible (there has to be some cosmic problem with the fact that my first words most mornings are “No. Go away,” but let’s leave that for another time).
8:44:27 - Dog starts whining again.
8:45 - Husband’s alarm goes off. I give up on sleep.
10:00 - Teeth brushed, dog fed, tea poured, email checked, Facebook checked, Twitter checked. Husband gone, dog walked. Time to write.
11:00 - Spent additional hour on Facebook, reading Anna Campbell’s midnight posts and pretending to do important “authory” stuff. Really, though. Time to write. Receive new email. Sale at The Gap!
12:00 - Have bought new clothes, despite the fact that I spend all day in yoga pants and a tank top. *Now* must write. Turn off Internet (I have no willpower, whatsoever) for three hours. Write.
12:30 - Make more tea. Write.
1:00 - Time for lunch break. Telephone call with a) my best friend, b) my sister, c) my mother or d) all of the above.
1:30 - Write. Possibly, something worth reading.
2:30 - Dog begins whining. Time for a break, anyway. What can you really do in 30 minutes?
3:00 - Have done God knows what, but lost 30 minutes doing it. Back to computer. Time to write. Oh! Look! Internet is back. I’ll just check email for two quick minutes. Ooh! Sale at Nine West!
4:30 - Have checked every website known to man, bought shoes and twitpic’d dog doing something adorable, like sleeping on a stuffed hedgehog. Oy. Back to work. Internet off for another three hours. Write.
5:30 - Have I showered today? Shower.
6:30 - Consider the possibility that husband might want dinner. Sort takeaway menus. Return to desk. Write.
7:45 - Husband comes home. I realize that I was actually working and did not notice a) the Internet returning, b) the sun setting, or c) the fact that the house is now in a state of complete blackness. This means I actually got work done! Huzzah!
8:00 - Husband asks how day was. I tell the truth. I worked very very hard. And was extremely productive.
8:30 - Takeaway arrives. We watch an episode of The West Wing, which by now we could do without a television since we know all the words anyway.
9:30 - I return to office to write. Ooh! Anna Campbell is awake in Australia!
10:00 - Anna is a wicked, evil distraction, sent to ruin my writing career. Internet off. Write.
12:00 - To Bedfordshire.
Rinse. Repeat.

Bwahahahaha! My evil plan is working... Hold on, if you don't write, I don't get any new books from you. Goose Campbell returns to barn to ponder a NEW plan! Perhaps I should email Sarah and ask her how she thinks I should proceed - oh, that's right, she's buying shoes at Nine West and isn't on the Internet (snork! Or perhaps as I'm now a goose, honk?).

Sarah, do you have anything you want to ask the Bandits? And no, requesting a recipe for roast goose is not appropriate!

I just confessed that Johanna Lindsey and Judith McNaught were my gateway drugs to romance. Those Malorys! Those Westmorelands! I mean, seriously? How’s a girl to resist? So...time for you to fess up! Who were the authors (or what were the books) that got you hooked on romance? One commenter will win signed copies of the entire LOVE BY NUMBERS trilogy!Source URL: http://gbejadacosta.blogspot.com/search/label/Regency%20historicals
Visit Gbejada Costa for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Deb Marlowe on Friends To Lovers

by Caren Crane

My darling Banditas and Buddies, I am thrilled to welcome one of my very favorite people (and authors), Deb Marlowe, back to the Lair. Welcome, Deb!

Thank you for having me. You know I love you and the Banditas!

Believe me, the love is entirely mutual. I am very excited about your May 1 release, How To Marry a Rake. Tell us a bit about the hero and heroine of this new Regency delight.

Stephen Manning is one of the Fitzmanning Miscellany, the scandalous Regency family introduced in The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor. He’s not the same rakish boy we saw growing up in the anthology. He’s had some hard knocks and has had to learn that the world doesn’t revolve around him, as many young men do. He’s spent the last few years building a racetrack on his mother’s destitute estate, and he’s come to Newmarket determined to set his tenants’ lives back on course by bringing it to the attention of the racing world.

Mae Halford has spent the intervening years abroad, mending her heart and broadening her horizons after Stephen’s rejection broke her heart. She’s in Newmarket, too, where her father is determined to find a stud for both his brood mare and his daughter. Mae’s ready to launch her Marriage Campaign, an effort to have a say in what sort of husband she ends up with. The last man on earth she wishes to see is Stephen—which makes it a certainty that he is the first one she bumps into!

Deb, Mae and Stephen have a long history together before the book begins. Was it just a deeply hidden sadistic streak that had you fling Mae and Stephen together again?

Would you be surprised if the answer was yes? :-) I think all writers have to have a sadistic streak. We create characters we love and admire and in whom we see such great potential for growth—but unless we put them in difficult and uncomfortable situations, then there is no spur for growth and change—or for the chance at true love!

It seems that Mae and Stephen had a serious falling out before she left England. Will Stephen find Mae much changed after her European tour?

Yes! In many interesting and frustrating ways. Mae has grown up. She's the same in that she knows her own mind, but she's learned how to be subtle in going after it. Also, she truly feels that she's over her feelings for Stephen. And he, being typically male, doesn't want her to want him, but is taken aback when she doesn't.

So tell me, is the theme of friends becoming lovers one you have wanted to explore? It was one I found most intriguing when I was a teenager and I find myself, here in my dotage, interested in it still. It seems being friends could both aid and hinder the development of a romance.

Friends to lovers is one of my very favorite themes. It's a classic fantasy, isn't it? I think many of us have an old friend we might wonder about, or think about in terms of what if? But it's also a theme that lends itself to greater and more immediate intimacy and one which can make for a rich, emotional story. The stakes are higher when someone knows all the scoop and scandal, strengths and weaknesses of your past, but I think the payoff can be that much bigger.

Do you have a bit of How To Marry a Rake you would care to share?

Well, if you insist...

Stephen was happy. She felt his contentment flow into her, warming her blood, crawling into her very sinews and bones. It was beautiful. It made her feel beautiful, and whole.

Her eyes slid closed. For long minutes she lost herself to the glory of the music and the moment. Stephen gave in to it as well; she could feel his surrender in the grip of his hands, in the intimate press of her legs to hers, and in the graceful, floating ease with which he guided them about the dance floor.

And that was when she knew she’d come full circle. Her campaign was forgotten, her plans and strategies left behind. Here she was, right back where she’d started, two years ago, wanting Stephen Manning with all of her heart.

Yet, thankfully, not everything remained the same. There were new levels to their friendship, their partnership. So easily had he come to share his victory with her tonight. So naturally had he assumed she would take part in the next step. He was the one who gifted her with appreciation and acceptance and passion and all the things she’d vowed to have in a husband.

Perhaps she needed a new campaign, with new strategies designed to win his heart. Because she longed for it, and for his unfathomable blue eyes and his maddening imperious ways and his warm acceptance and his heated kisses.

But there was one other thing that was different now, too. She wasn’t that young girl anymore, happy to accept whatever part of himself Stephen was willing or able to give. She wanted all of him. And no campaign of hers was going to be successful in flushing it out. She sighed. He had to choose to give it.

Oh, my! It sounds like Stephen won't stand a chance against the woman Mae has become. I do believe Mae will get her man! I hope everyone will run out and snap up a copy of How To Marry a Rake. Many of us have been waiting for the 'sibling' books to the The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor for ages! Deb, thank you so much for giving us the inside scoop on Stephen and Mae's book. (And here, for your delectation, is a dude Deb thinks should totally play Stephen in a movie version of How To Marry a Rake!)

Now, do you have a question you would like to pose to our Banditas and Buddies today?

But of course I do!

Do you guys have someone in your past who makes you go What If? Do you like friends-to-lovers-themed romances? Can you name a favorite "Friends to Lovers" couple? A randomly selected commenter will win a copy of How To Marry a Rake!

Ooh, we do love a giveaway! Deb, thank you so much for being with us today. I'm off to search my memory banks for my very favorite pair of Friends Who Discovered Benefits!Source URL: http://gbejadacosta.blogspot.com/search/label/Regency%20historicals
Visit Gbejada Costa for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

When Kieran Kramer Met the Banditas...

posted by Christine Wells

It's my absolute pleasure to introduce Kieran Kramer, who is taking the romance world by storm with her "Impossible Bachelors" series. It's wonderful to have Kieran with us. I'm thrilled to announce that Kieran is offering some very special prizes to our Bandit Buddies today. So get commenting for a chance to win!

1. Kieran, a warm welcome to the bandit lair and congratulations on your debut! Your Regency historical, WHEN HARRY MET MOLLY is out this month, to be followed closely by DUKES TO THE LEFT OF ME, PRINCES TO THE RIGHT. Can you tell us a bit about the books and your inspiration for writing the series?

Hi! I'm so glad to be here! My four-book series, The Impossible Bachelors, is about four super sexy Regency-era bachelors who are convinced they're not destined for the marriage altar. But of course, they're all wrong!

Don't you just love when Cupid's arrow strikes someone who's running away from love? I know I do. It's diabolical of me, perhaps, but I can't help thinking, "YES!" when they realize they can't live without the women who are driving them crazy. :>)

2. You've worked for the CIA and as a freelance journalist, among other things. What drew you to write Regency historicals rather than, say, thrillers or non-fiction?

I like a lot of things. What drew me to the CIA and to working for a newspaper was my sense of adventure. As for my writing life, I find it more exciting to make up stories. I'm into character way more than plot, and thrillers are very plot-heavy for me. And yes, truth is stranger than fiction, but rather than report on real occurrences, I'd rather spin some tall tales!! That's just more fun for me. Of course, everyone's different. Thank goodness we DO have thriller writers and journalists! Let me write my lighthearted fiction stories, and I'll leave them to their sort of writing.

3. We love hearing call stories in the lair! Would you care to tell us yours?

Oh, I love my call story, so I'll be glad to share! I was riding along a narrow country road, heading to jury duty in the small town next to mine, thinking,"Gosh, I'm bored," and yawning and dreading sitting still like a good girl in the court room… when I got a call from my fabulous agent. She proceeded to tell me the series had sold and blahblahblah--I'm sorry. I have NO idea what she said next. All I remember now is that my hands were super sweaty on the wheel of the car, and I was sort of shaking all over, so I told her I had to hang up before I drove off the road into a corn field. And then I threw the cell phone down, drove with TWO hands, and got to the courthouse, where I had to be super quiet and respectful, when I really wanted to shout and dance. And then, when asked my profession, I stood up and told the judge and the lawyers and the jury pool that I was a professional writer. I know I was I grinning from ear to ear! Somehow, I didn't get selected, and I got to drive a whole half hour home and tell my family and neighbors the unbelievable news and went running around on the streets, because I think we should all do that every chance we get--running around on the streets and yelling about how great life is.

4. What are three things you want readers to know about your stories?

a) I want you to laugh and have fun with them.
b) They reflect my honest belief that love is EVERYTHING and that the good guys are always gonna win in the end!
c) They're always about Girl Power, too. I like my heroines to be brave, to be honest, and to put themselves out there--to risk it all!

5. Tell us 5 quirky things that people might not know about you.

Oh, this'll be fun.

1) My favorite breakfast of the year is the morning after Thanksgiving, where I wake up, and before the sleep is even out of my eyes, I cut myself a large piece of pumpkin pie (smothered in Cool Whip) and a slab of pecan pie (I put a dollop of real whipped cream on that) and dig in. Mmm-mmm!

2) I talk to my pets in a sort of weird baby voice that would make you sick if you heard it.

3) I wear the same khaki skort over and over every day in the summer, and I wonder when it's going to wear out from all the washings and when my neighbors are ever going to approach me and ask me why I can't buy a new skort or shorts or skirt or dress or something!

4) I love Raisinettes so much, you'd better hide them if I come to your house.

5) Whenever I'm with people from foreign countries, I start adopting their accent almost immediately. It's so embarrassing!

LOL, I can identify with a couple of those! Thank you so much for being with us today, Kieran! Now, what would you like to ask our readers?

First of all, I want to say I had so much fun answering your questions! Thanks for having me. I'm going to give away TWO ARCs of Dukes to the Left of Me, Princes to the Right and ONE final copy of When Harry Met Molly.

And the question I'd like to ask your readers is…(drum roll)…

WHAT HAS MADE YOU LAUGH SO HARD THAT IF YOU WERE DRINKING CHOCOLATE MILK, IT WOULD HAVE COME OUT YOUR NOSE? OR MAYBE DID?

I'll start: It happened when my dad tried to lower my brother via a pulley rope slung around a giant tree branch onto the back of a stubborn mule named Jack who wouldn't let anyone NEAR him! (is my family weird, or what?) Jack won. Brother lost. Jack, who was eating a strategically placed pile of delicious mule treats beneath the tree branch, bucked and kicked as soon as my brother got close to straddling him and then ran as fast as his hooves could carry him away from those rude humans!Source URL: http://gbejadacosta.blogspot.com/search/label/Regency%20historicals
Visit Gbejada Costa for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection