Meet the Governesses!

I'm thrilled to finally be able to reveal the gorgeous covers for my new Governess Series, coming this fall!

This delightfully charming and saucy historical romance series features three best friends employed as governesses for different families, who all find themselves wanting loves they can’t have.

All of the books are now available for preorder from your favorite ebook retailer.

Elizabeth Porter is quite happy with her position as the governess for two sneaky-yet-sweet girls when she notices that they have a penchant for falling ill and needing the doctor. As the visits from the dashing and handsome Doctor Edward Fellows become more frequent, Elizabeth quickly sees through the lovesick girls’ ruse. Yet even Elizabeth can’t help but notice Edward’s bewitching bedside manner even as she tries to convince herself that someone of her station would not make a suitable wife for a doctor. But one little kiss won’t hurt...

The Governess was Wicked releases September 12, 2016

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Mary Woodward is London's own "fairy godmother," known for her expertise in transforming awkward, shy girls into marriageable society belles. Her new position teaching the daughter of Eric Bromford, the Earl of Asten, should be just another job — until she meets Lord Asten. He's just the sort of man to tempt her to break all her rules, and she does just that when she dons a mask and spends a moonlight night in a garden with the earl. Torn between the temptation of passion and the security of her position, Mary must risk it all for love in this retelling of Cinderella that gives the fairy godmother her happily ever after.

The Governess was Wanton releases October 10, 2016

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Governesses aren't supposed to lose their charges, but that's exactly what happens when Jane Ephram wakes up and realizes that her pupil, Lady Margaret, has eloped from their inn room as they're traveling. Even worse, Lady Margaret's taken Sir Nicholas Hollings's horse, and the disarmingly handsome gentleman is hell-bent on getting the beast back. Racing against time, Jane and Nicholas take to the road again, determined to find the errant Lady Margaret — and maybe even love — along the way.

The Governess was Wild releases November 14, 2016

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October Reading Wrap Up

Sometimes you just need a good binge read. This month has been full of historical romances for me, and I've got a couple to recommend as well as a book that touches the paranormal, fantasy, literary, and romance genres.

The Duke and I

by Julia Quinn

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I bow down to the mistress of Regency romance dialogue. That is all.

The Wicked Wallflower

by Maya Rodale

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Around mid-October I was looking for something fun to read. I picked up The Wicked Wallflower and subsequently binge read six of Maya Rodale's books in a row. I loved The Wicked Wallflower because it's fun, light, and features a pretty fantastic rake of a hero. There's also a Hunger Games-based house party which amused me to no end.

A Discovery of Witches

by Deborah Harkness

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When a friend pops up on your gchat and demands that you read a book because she loved it so much and wants someone to gush about it to, you do. My friend Caitlin got lost in A Discovery of Witches, so I decided to give it a shot too. It follows a historian named Diana who is on a research trip to Oxford who calls up an enchanted manuscript. Diana is a witch and not happy about it, so she tries to ignore the manuscript but it sets a series of supernatural events into motion that she can't stop. Throw in an erudite, attractive, alpha vampire love interest and even I -- not known for being a huge vampire fan -- was sucked in. I bought the second volume in the trilogy on Tuesday and plan to use it as my post-NaNoWriMo reward.

Defending the Marriage of Convenience

This article first appeared in RWA-NYC's September Keynotes newsletter as part of the tropes issue. I love a good historical marriage of convenience romance. I just do. I know some people find the trope tired—like an old friend you’ve seen one too many times—but my love for the “we have to get married because we just do” storyline will never die.

Historical settings are removed enough from my every day life that I can easily accept that there might be social and economic reasons for a hero and heroine to marry even if they don’t love each other. Take the Regency period. Between securing a woman’s financial future and ensuring a man’s lineage through heirs, you’ve got plenty of reasons why a man might ask a woman to marry him whom he hardly knows—let alone loves.

As an author, getting the wedding over and done with achieves a few things. The marriage immediately creates conflict because these two relative strangers must now figure out how to live together as a couple. At some point, the barriers between them start to fall. Even though they might resist, affection grows between them. And the best side effect of the marriage of convenience? Our hero and heroine no longer have to worry about those pesky societal rules saying they can’t kiss or, you know, have sex. Often it is that physical intimacy that shows the hero or heroine that they’re falling in love even as they try to resist.

Now, you might notice that I’ve only talked about historicals so far. I generally have a tough time enjoying marriages of convenience in contemporary settings because I’m always left asking why?

Why would a modern hero and heroine who are intelligent, attractive, independent people have to get married if they don’t want to? If a man said, “My inheritance is dependent on us getting hitched,” to me I’d probably run in the opposite direction the moment I realized he was being serious. Likewise, when I read about a man who must get married because his corporate environment only trusts so called “family men,” my first thought is always, “It’s time for a new job.”

The problem with using the trope in contemporaries is that it becomes a lot harder to justify forcing the hero and heroine to wed. Let’s take a look at some of the common external conflicts forcing historical couples together. Pre-martial sex has become the norm in this country. With entails a thing of the past, how many families are really desperate for a male heir these days? And even better, most women now have the means to hold a career, own property, and manage their lives as they see fit.

So what is a contemporary author who wants to play with the marriage of convenience trope to do? Get creative.

The key to using a marriage of convenience across genres of romance seems to be finding new, interesting ways to twist and update the trope. If you set off to write a marriage of convenience romance, ask yourself what you can do to avoid sending the hero and heroine down the normal path to love. Breathing new life into the old trope can help keep readers racing to the end to see how your hero and heroine will finally fall in love.