Spotlight & Giveaway: Cinderella and the Duke by Lydia Drake

Posted January 6th, 2023 by in Blog, Spotlight / 38 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Lydia Drake to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi Lydia Drake and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Cinderella and the Duke!

Hello there! It’s great to be here.
 

Please summarize the book a la Twitter style for the readers here:

Pride and Prejudice meets Cinderella with a Regency twist!
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

Julia knelt upon the floor, making the final adjustments to her ballgown. She took the last pin from her mouth and stood, surveying her work with pride.
“There,” she said. “You couldn’t find better on Bond Street.”
Her mother’s gown might have been old, but elegant simplicity made it timeless.

 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

  • I pitched this originally as Cinderella meets Pride and Prejudice.
  • When I showed the cover to my dad his only response was, “If he’s a duke shouldn’t he be able to afford a shirt?”

 

What first attracts your main characters to each other?

While they both find each other physically attractive, it’s the wit and intelligence that truly draws them together. Julia and Gregory rarely get to verbally spar with an equal partner, and bantering is as much of a turn on for them as more physical charms.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe your main characters”love affair?

Marriage of convenience turned real.
 

The First Kiss…

Happens during a ball! Julia has just rescued Gregory from a potential duel, and Gregory is too taken by Julia’s beauty and wit to let her get away that easily.

 

Without revealing too much, what is your favorite scene in the book?

Julia and Gregory engage in a lot of passionate arguing. One of my favorite bits has them stuck out in the rain after Julia falls from a horse. They’re both annoyed but also smitten with each other and trying to fight the attraction. I love it because it’s a scene where they trade some of their sharpest verbal blows that also shows the emerging tenderness and vulnerability between them. It’s where Julia finally opens up about some of the more painful details of her past to Gregory.

“Then I suppose we’ll have to take our time with this.” Gregory gave a growl of impatience, but she felt no pressure from it. “I won’t have that imbecile sully another moment of your life.”
“He wasn’t an imbecile.” Why should Julia defend such a man? “I only mean that he was very intelligent. Rather witty.”
“Wit doesn’t matter if a man is weak.” Gregory made her face him, and Julia saw gray fire in his eyes. Though the rain had stopped and she was warm with his coat around her shoulders, she began to shiver. He held her tight, as if he would never let her go. She couldn’t recall ever feeling so secure. “I don’t care if he ran off with an heiress or got eaten by a bear on his way to claim you. The man was a bloody idiot, and I’m only grateful he didn’t succeed in making you his wife.”

 

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would be absolutely crucial to include?

There’s a scene towards the end of the book that has a little Cinderella-influenced dialogue that I think is so central to understanding the two characters’ relationship that it would just need to be included!

“Well. One glass slipper seems like a lavish but pointless gift.” She finally took it, though.
“Indeed. One glass slipper would be a most ostentatious and ridiculous object,” Gregory replied. “However, I came to reunite it with its mate. I believe two such ridiculous objects become something quite wonderful when paired together.”

 

Readers should read this book …

If they love fairy tale retellings with a twist, if they enjoy plenty of banter, and if they enjoy headstrong heroines and reformed rakes.

 

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I’m currently working on a sequel to Cinderella and the Duke which will feature Susannah, Julia’s stepsister. Without giving away too much it also stars a roguish club owner who has a cameo in CATD, and in keeping with the fairy tale theme it’s a loose retelling of Red Riding Hood.

 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: I’m giving away three paperback copies of Cinderella and the Duke! The giveaway is worldwide, so everyone is welcome!

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What other fairy tales would you like to see interpreted as Regency romances?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from Cinderella and the Duke:

“You’re detaining me, sir. That puts my reputation at considerable risk. A gentleman would care, but such a thing hasn’t crossed your mind. Given what Lady Weatherford has told me of you, that hardly surprises.”
“Oh? She’s spoken of me?” The duke lifted his brows. “What a shame. She’s failed to mention anything of you.”
“Why should she?” Julia’s pulse pounded. She became so aware of the small distance between their bodies. It felt as though heat were building in that space, a spark about to ignite. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“I doubt that you and the word ‘nothing’ are in any way acquainted.” The Duke of Ashworth prowled about her with sinuous grace that left Julia breathless. She could leave if she wished, but her feet seemed rooted to the floor. It wasn’t that she felt helpless in this man’s presence. Rather, she did not want to miss out on the challenge of trouncing him. “Indeed,” he said. “There’s a very ‘something’ about you.”
Julia looked the duke in his wicked, storming eyes.
“And you, sir, are a man who must have everything, it seems. The married women of London no longer interest you, so you toy with the spinsters as well.”
“Yes. That raises a significant question.” He seemed genuinely curious. “How is it a woman of your considerable gifts hasn’t secured a husband?”
The truth only irritated her. Besides, why should she tell this man her private struggles?
“I’ve yet to find the man who matches me,” she replied.
“Now that I can believe.” The duke took one step nearer. Though she was tall, he was well over six feet. Julia rarely had to lift her eye’s to meet a man’s gaze. She felt, for the first time in years, that a worthy opponent had presented himself. Her blood was fire in her veins. “You must allow me to show my gratitude. With actions, not words. Come.” The duke held out his hand. “A dance, perhaps? A waltz, to thank you for my rescue.”

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Miss Julia Beaumont has exactly one night to find herself a husband…

The Weatherford ball is the last chance Julia Beaumont has to escape the clutches of her horrid stepmother. Any potential husband will do–rich, poor, even a reasonably well-groomed walrus. But all of Julia’s matrimonial chances are completely obliterated…thanks to the actions of an infuriating and utterly rakish duke.

Gregory Carter, Duke of Ashworth, would never risk his cherished bachelorhood by flirting with marriage-starved debutantes. But one look at the luscious and refreshingly clever Julia, and he simply can’t resist a stolen kiss–scandal be damned. Then just as things start getting deliciously interesting, the lady flees…leaving only a slipper behind.

And it must have been one dandy of a kiss. Because now Julia has proposed to him. After all, the lady needs a husband, and this roguish duke will certainly do. It’s simply a matter of making him the perfect scandalous offer…
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Lydia Drake is a reader of all things romance and a drinker of all the tea. A New Jersey resident, her favorite activities include taking the train to New York City, scouring used bookstores, spending time with her family and wrangling her hyperactive cockapoo puppy. Cinderella and the Duke is her debut novel.

 
 
 

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38 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: Cinderella and the Duke by Lydia Drake”

  2. EC

    I’ll always love retelling of Snow White, Beauty & the Beast, and Cinderella. I think I would like a retelling of Jack & the Beanstalk, the Frog Prince, and Hansel & Gretel.

  4. Anita H.

    Love reading Regency versions of Rapunzel, The Princess and the Pea, Beauty and the Beast. Goldilocks and the Three Bears would be a fun take too

    • Rachael

      Cinderella and snow white.
      I’ve read a few that have done beauty and the beast.

  14. Amy R

    What other fairy tales would you like to see interpreted as Regency romances? Beauty & The Beast

  22. Mary Preston

    I agree with BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. A great favorite, as you can see.

  26. Latesha B.

    Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, The Little Mermaid and Rumpelstiltskin. Thank you for being here today.

  27. Patricia B.

    It has been done many times, but Beauty and the Beast is a favorite. It would be interesting to see how The Little Mermaid could be handled.

  33. Terrill R.

    Beauty and the Beast is my favorite type of retelling. I like to see creative retellings that aren’t too on the nose.

  34. joab4424

    I would like to see The Little Mermaid, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and, like everyone else, Beauty and the Beast as retellings.