All's Fair with Beverley Kendall!

by Anna Sugden

I'm delighted to welcome back a Lair favourite and a great supporter of the Banditas, Beverley Kendall!

Beverley has joined us today to tell us all about her fab new novella All's Fair in Love and Seduction.

So, without further ado, let's get right to the important stuff.

Lovely to see you here again, Beverley.

Thanks Anna, and the rest of the Bandits, for hosting me on your lovely blog. It’s always great to be back in the Lair. :)

We're excited about your novella. Can you tell us about it?

I'd love to. Here is the blurb:

With her seduction she hopes to gain his affections

For Miss Elizabeth Smith, sharing her first kiss with the charming Lord Derek Creswell is nothing short of a dream come true...that is, until she is spotted by one of the most influential gossips of the ton. With scandal nipping at her heels, to avoid total social ruin, Elizabeth must present a fiancé by the end of the Season. But when the viscount proves reluctant, Elizabeth is forced to employ a seduction of a different sort...

With his seduction he is determined to ruin her

Viscount Derek Creswell believes Elizabeth set out to trap him into marriage. After all, her sister attempted the very same thing with his brother six years before. Now the delectable Miss Smith expects a betrothal and a ring, while Derek finds her ruination infinitely more appealing...

But as Derek sets out to seduce only her body, Elizabeth is intent on claiming his jaded heart.

Oooh! Sounds delicious. What inspired you to write this story?

I started writing this novella because there was going to be a year gap between my first book, Sinful Surrender and A Taste of Desire (the first and second book in The Elusive Lords series) and I wanted to put something out in between to keep readers interested in the series. Unfortunately, that didn’t occur so I decided to move the story so it occurred between A Taste of Desire and An Heir of Deception (the final book in the series).

What a fun idea! I know readers will be thrilled that they have something to tide them over until An Heir of Deception is out.

What did you particularly love about Derek and Elizabeth?

I really love that Derek is so torn when he discovers who Elizabeth is. His initial instinct is to seek revenge but that begins to war with his growing feelings for her. I love that even though he doesn’t intend to, he defends her, instinctively protecting from slander and gossip.

I love that Elizabeth is a woman who knows what she wants and she allows her heart to lead the way. And like Derek, she has a loyalty streak a mile wide. She’s vulnerable, which to me, is a good thing as that vulnerability makes her human and not wimpy or missish. Yet she has a steel spine and takes her knocks in stride.

Together, the two are combustible and that’s what made writing them so much fun.

What appeals to you about historical courtship?

I love the formality of a historical courtship. There is an interesting challenge not being able to just throw them into each other’s company at any given time or day. I love having to make my hero and heroines work to be alone together—which is no small feat.

Do you have to read your other books before reading this one?

No, readers don’t have to read the other books to follow this book. However, I will say, you will meet characters in All’s Fair in Love & Seduction who you will immediately sense had their own book. Hopefully, spending just a little time with these characters will have new readers eager to go back and read their love story. ;)

What’s next for you?

Right now I’m working on An Heir of Deception, the first three chapters of which are included at the end of All’s Fair in Love & Seduction). This is probably the most anticipated book of the series and it is definitely the darkest. This book will tell the tale of the tumultuous relationship between Alex and Charlotte. This story is my personal favourite.

After An Heir of Deception, I will start a new connecting series—The Temptresses. The first book in the series, Twice the Temptation, will feature Catherine (Charlotte’s identical twin sister) and Lucus Beaumont, the gorgeous American Charlotte befriended in New York.

Lots to look forward to! And, we're especially glad to know that you have a new series coming up soon.

All's Fair in Love & Seduction is an ebook and is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smash Words, All Romance eBooks and The Season.

Beverley has graciously offered one lucky commenter a $15 eGift Certificate and an entry for the Grand Prize Drawing (December 17, 2011) of an iPad 2. All you have to do is tell her how you like to read connected books or books in a series. Do you prefer to wait until they’re all out and read in one sitting or read them as they come out? Do you have to start with book one or are you happy to start anywhere in the series and catch up later?

Beverley Kendall has lived on two continents, in three countries, two provinces, and four states. She stopped her nomadic existence and settled in Georgia with her young son. All things artistic feed her creative passion, but none more than writing. Readers can visit her at: http://www.beverleykendall.com/, follow her on twitter: @beverleykendall, friend her on Facebook or on her review site and blog http://www.theseasonforromance.com/

Beverley's Winner!

Thanks, everyone, for giving Bev such a lovely warm welcome this week. We all had a ball in the lair, including Bev (she told me!).

Congratulations to:

DANIELLE DO NASCIMENTO!!!!!

Danielle, you won a signed copy of Bev's debut historical romance SINFUL SURRENDER and a signed copy of her latest release A TASTE OF DESIRE! Just drop Bev a line with your snail details to Beverley @ beverleykendall.com (no spaces)and she'll get your fabulous prize off to you!

Beverley Kendall Gives Us a Taste of Desire!

by Anna Campbell

I'm delighted to welcome back a great supporter of her fellow romance writers and an all round super gal, BEVERLEY KENDALL.

Bev is here to talk to us about her wonderful new historical romance A TASTE OF DESIRE. She has very generously offered one lucky commenter today TWO books, A TASTE OF DESIRE and the first in the Elusive Lords series, SINFUL SURRENDER. So good luck, people!

Cathy Maxwell, NYT Bestselling author, says A TASTE OF DESIRE "is deliciously intense, intelligent and fast paced. Once I start a Beverley Kendall book, I don’t put it down until I’m done."

Sarah MacLean, NYT Betselling author, says A TASTE OF DESIRE "is just what one wants in romance—a vibrant heroine and an irresistible hero, combined with finely-wrought emotion and blistering dialogue that makes the pages turn faster and faster until it's over...and you're wishing you hadn't read so quickly!”

Check out this fun trailer for A TASTE OF DESIRE:



You can find out more about Bev and her books on her website:
http://www.beverleykendall.com/

Bev also runs the wonderful Season website for lovers of all things romance novel.

So here's Bev!

The Art of the Back Cover Blurb

If you’re a writer—aspiring or published—you’ve come across these before. For the aspiring writer, it’s the query letter you write to pique the interest of either an agent or editor in hopes they’ll want to read your manuscript.

For the published author, it’s the summation of your book by the marketing department to do what the query does except its target is the general public, the readers.

Pique. Intrigue. Compel. These are some of the things we hope it will inspire in the reader.


I’ve written my share of queries. Is six a lot? It seems a lot to me. I’ve experienced only two back cover blurbs and I was pretty happy with both.

For my debut, SINFUL SURRENDER, I thought the back cover blurb made the book sound much lighter in tone than it actually was. Even if I wanted to write a very light book, I don’t think I could pull it off. The part of me that loves my stories darker and angstier always surfaces. So if you bought SINFUL SURRENDER thinking you were getting a light, fairly uncomplicated story of a young woman’s unrequited love for her brother’s best friend, you may be—dare I say—pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised.

Below is the blurb for my new release, A TASTE OF DESIRE. What kind of story would you expect given the back cover blurb?

She Challenged His Pride...

Lady Amelia Bertram may have a reputation as the most brazen beauty of the ton, but she shocks even herself when she accidently—and loudly—derides one of society’s most eligible bachelors in the middle of a crowded ballroom. The timing of her faux pas couldn’t be worse, for her father is seeking someone to take her off his hands that very night…

He Challenged Her Willpower...

But when Thomas Armstrong overhears the so-called “Lady” Amelia slandering his sexual prowess in public, he cannot help but accept the dare implicit in her words. To her father’s great delight, he offers to take her to his secluded country estate—properly chaperoned, of course—to teach the girl a lesson in ladylike behavior…

Have you ever bought a book based mostly on the back cover copy and felt it was completely misleading? If so, did it end up being a better or worse reading experience?

Comment to enter to win a copy of the first two books in The Elusive Lords series, SINFUL SURRENDER and A TASTE OF DESIRE.

Thanks, Bev. The new book sounds delicious! Good luck, everyone!

Beverley's Winners!

Thanks to everyone for a fantastic day in the lair! Beverley has picked her two winners for the signed copies of SINFUL SURRENDER. And they are:

MARIELLE

LIBRARYPAT

Congratulations, girls! Please email Bev on beverley@beverleykendall.com with your snail mail details and she'll send your signed books off to you!

Surrender to Beverley Kendall!

By Anna Campbell

It's my week for hosting fabulous debut authors!

I'm delighted to welcome to the lair a wonderful writer and a fabulous advocate for the romance genre (especially historical romance, yay!), Beverley Kendall! SINFUL SURRENDER, her first historical romance for Kensington, has just hit the bookstores!

Bev has very generously offered TWO signed copies of SINFUL SURRENDER as prizes to people who comment today. So get commenting, people, while I go and pour Bev a margarita and find her a cabana boy. They've been a bit nervy since Courtney's visit so I might have to sneak up on one and throw a net over his head!

You can find out more about Bev and her books on her website: www.beverleykendall.com

Bev also runs a wonderful romance website called The Season which is mainly, although not totally, about historical romance. There are contests and news and a fabulous bulletin board where you can talk other romance fanatics. Check it out! http://www.historicalromancereleases.com/tableofcontents_1qtr.html

Bev, huge congratulations on your debut SINFUL SURRENDER which is a fantastic read. That's a lovely cover too! Yum! Can you tell us something about the story and the inspirations behind it?

I've always adored the stories where the heroine is in love with her brother's best friend, so when I was thinking up a plot for my first historical, it just naturally came to mind. I love a story when either the hero or heroine is pining for the other. I love the angst of it. And you know one of them for whatever reasons, is trying to resist. And the relationship between the heroine’s brother and the hero is something that can live or die depending on how the brother feels about the match. I think most brothers who are a bit wild themselves and hang out with equally rakish friends, don’t think said friends would be suitable for their sisters. That is instant conflict right there, and I love it!


How delicious! Here in the lair, we love call stories. Can you give us yours?

My call story was a little surreal to me. I was sitting at my desk at home, working on my second book, THE GAUNTLET. I’d given up on selling SINFUL SURRENDER as I couldn’t get an agent for it. The phone rang and I noticed it was a New York City area code. My mind immediately went to all the people I knew in New York and my old work place. I quickly dismissed that any of them would be calling me. I answered the phone cautiously. This very lovely female voice asked to speak to Beverley Kendall. Kind of formal, you know. I identified myself. She said this is Hilary Sares from Kensington, and I swear to you that’s all I heard. My mind started racing. Why on earth is Hilary Sares calling me? You see, I’d received a rejection letter from Kensington for the first version of SINFUL SURRENDER months before. I’d sent a ‘better’ version off a week before I received that rejection letter, so when I got the letter, I thought it was dead in the water. Well, apparently she liked the second version and wanted to buy it. I know at one point she started to laugh because I was babbling, and I remember she laughed and said she loved making these kinds of calls. I don’t know that I was coherent for the rest of the call. But I did say I wanted to try and get an agent before I accepted the offer. I asked for a week and she said fine. That’s what I remember about the call that changed my life.

What’s coming up next for Beverley Kendall?

My next book, and the second book in the series, is THE GAUNTLET. Now, that title WILL change as I've been told it's not sexy or romantic enough to remain. LOL. But THE GAUNTLET is the story of Missy's (heroine in SINFUL SURRENDER) brother, Viscount Thomas Armstrong and Lady Amelia Bertram. They appear together very briefly at the end of SINFUL SURRENDER and their introduction is far from amiable. There will be lots of sparks (the good and bad kind) in this book.

I look forward to that. You write in the Victorian era. What appeals to you about this period in history?

To me it was the perfect median between what I felt wasn’t modern enough (hot running water, water closets, better lighting and heating) for a person to be comfortable and too modern to come even close to the industrialization and technological advances of the twentieth century. Does that make sense?

It does indeed! You run a fabulous website for romance readers called The Season, which largely although not entirely concentrates on historical romance. Can you tell us about the site and what inspired you to set it up?
The Season was inspired in part by something Kris Alice, who works for a romance review magazine in Germany, said on Twitter one day. She started following me on Twitter, announced that she’d found another debut author, and said she wished there was a place she could go to find out about all the new authors coming out. My sister then latched onto to that little nugget and suggested I create a site that featured only debut authors. I didn’t think that a site that narrow in scope would work, so I said what about a site that features all historical releases. And so The Season was born. Now it’s expanded to include four contemporaries and paranormals per month and other fun things. I’m trying different things out right now. If they work, I’ll keep them. If they don’t, I’ll stop.

Bev, you’re one of these superwomen who juggles work outside the home, a romance writing career and motherhood. Can you give us a peek at your usual day? Do you have any tips on time management?

LOL. No, I have no tips because I don’t manage them well at all. I feel like various things in my life are getting short changed like cleaning. LOL. Currently, I don’t have a full-time job (paying) as I was laid off last summer. But I work more than full-time hours. I usually work on the site and blog at least three hours every day. I try to write at least three (doesn’t always work out that way). My son gets home at 2:30 so I better have all those things done by then. After he’s in bed, I will go back to working on the site or writing. It’s honestly more work than I’ve ever done in my life. I need another five hours in a day to feel like I’ve truly accomplished everything that needs to be done. Promoting is another strenuous activity. LOL.

Do you have any advice for unpublished writers?

Don’t follow rules. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t right about this or that, or that that story won’t sell. And worry more about writing a great, entertaining story than anything else. Although, you must get through an editor to get your story out there, at the end of the day, the readers have the last say as to how good a job you’ve done.

Bev, what a great interview! Now do you have a question for the Banditas and Bandita Buddies?

I see phases in historical romance. Like right now I’ve been seeing more courtesans as heroines. What type of heroine or hero would you be interested in reading about? Do you have a favourite now?

Bev has very kindly donated TWO copies of SINFUL SURRENDER as prizes today for people who comment. Good luck!