Spotlight & Giveaway: Drawn to the Marquess by Bronwen Evans

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Bronwen Evans to HJ!

Hi Bronwen and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Drawn to the Marquess!

 
Thank you, it’s fun to be here. New Zealand is in the middle of a cold winter so I can pretend I’m spending an afternoon in the USA and get some hot weather.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Stephen Hornsby the Marquess of Clevedon is going blind. His father went bind and shot himself when Stephen was fourteen. He’s struggling with acceptance of his condition and what that will mean for his life and his title—can he inflict this hereditary condition on a son?

As a young girl, Penelope Fisherton fell for the wrong man. As the daughter of a wealthy Duke she had a large dowry. Seduced by a rogue, she eloped with a man she thought loved her as much as she loved him, only to be proved sadly wrong.

When Penelope’s husband dies in suspicious circumstances, and her brother-in-law tires to incriminate her in his death, she turns to Stephen for help.

As they work together to uncover the truth about her husband’s death, Penelope learns to trust her heart one again, and Stephen faces up to the truth about his condition and his father’s death.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

There he was. Penelope’s mind raced at the audacity of her plan.
Stephen Hornsby, the Marquess of Clevedon, looked as handsome as the devil. Her information source had not exaggerated.
The words of Lady Diana, Clevedon’s latest mistress, echoed in her head. He is a sin to be indulged but a man never to bestow your heart upon.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I was amazed at how advanced eye surgery was in the early 1800’s. Of course infection sometimes killed the patient but not as much as in other operations because the eye with the tear ducts could also self clean and protect against infection.
• My story is set on the coast near the sea, and I had to learn all about rips and undertows—they are two different things! As a swimmer you have to know the difference.
• Did you know that a daughter of a Duke could keep her own name if she married beneath her? If she marries a commoner, a baronet, or the heir to an earl, viscount, or baron, she may, if she chooses, retain her “Lady <Firstname>” title. Penelope remained Lady Penelope Fisherton and did not take the name of her husband Mr. Carmichael when they married.

Please tell us a little about the characters in your book. As you wrote your protagonist was there anything about them that surprised you?

Stephen is a man who carried a lot of guilt. This only came to light about half way through the story when I learned what had happened in his younger days when he in the military. If you’ve read Addicted to the Duke (Imperfect Lords book #1), you’ll know Stephen’s best friend, Alex was captured when they fought in the Turkish Anglo war. Stephen blames himself for Alex’s capture and his two-year internment. It was the first time he realized his sight was affected. As look out, his faulty peripheral vision had not let him see the Turks creep up on them. In this story, when Alex asks him to become his newly born son’s guardian, he can’t bring himself to accept.

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

When you have two people with guarded hearts you need to have that spark of attraction. There has to be something that makes them want to face their fears. So, I guess I would have the opening scene at Sotheby’s auction house where they two of them meet.

“I see Clevedon’s here. I perfectly understand how Lady Diana ended up in the man’s bed. I must admit I’m very tempted myself.” At Penelope’s alarmed look at her widowed friend, Charlotte added, “Of course not until he has helped you.”
“You may play with him all you like as soon as I’m finished with him.”
Penelope saw Charlotte take a second look. “I shall certainly look forward to that.” She giggled. “And not simply because with his help you’ll be safe. By the way, no woman is safe with that man. He’d tempt a nun.”
“Stop looking at him. I don’t want to be noticed.”
“When will you learn, darling, that a little flirtation gets women like us almost anything we want. You could have him twisted around your little finger with a smile.”
Penelope pinched the bridge of her nose and wished she were at home as a headache began to pound behind her eyes.
“If this plan doesn’t work,” her friend continued, “then you could always offer yourself.”
Her head jerked up and her jaw tightened. “No. I will have to find another way. I will never allow a man power over me again.”
“Oh, darling.” Charlotte turned to stare at Lord Clevedon once more. “I suspect you’ll actually enjoy his bed. But if you’re that certain then there is always your brother. He would help, surely?”
She shook her head until her bonnet almost dislodged. She had her reasons for wanting Lord Clevedon. To pacify her friend she uttered, “If my brother gets involved . . . Sandringham would think he could control me too. I want to live my life my way. No men commanding me.”
Charlotte sighed. “Then you best hope this man can save you, painting or no painting. With his reluctance for anything more permanent than a couple of nights of pleasure from his lovers, even if he does request you in his bed, it won’t likely be for long.”
That did not make the idea of intimacies with the Marquess of Clevedon any more appealing.

“The Richard Wilson landscape is up next, my lord.”
Stephen Hornsby, the Marquess of Clevedon, did not move a muscle, not a twitch of his face, nor a curve of his lips, nor a jerk of his hand. No one must guess his interest in the Wilson landscape. Besides, he was too busy smiling at the woman who kept turning around and smiling at him. Her friend beside her had not looked his way since he’d walked in and that roused his curiosity while the smiling redhead with her aroused something else.

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

That love is what is important in life. We always remember those we love, we will do anything for them, as love enriches our world. Love really does conquer all.

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

I’m currently finishing ATTRACTED TO THE EARL book #3 in my Imperfect Lords series.

Guy Neville’s elder brother has just died, elevating him to the Earl of Argyle. Trouble is he has never learned to read and write. He’s dyslexic, which of course was an unknown condition in the early 1800’s. His father tried to beat the words into him and threatened him with the asylum on a regular basis. Now Guy’s cousin is trying to learn Guy’s secret so he can be made trustee of the estate. Guy’s determined to prove to his dead father that he’s quite capable of running his estates, and he’s definitely never going to let his cousin learn he cannot read–that is until a spy in the most tempting shape of Abigail Pinehurst arrives at his estate to sketch the rare Ghost Orchid.

After this I’m writing THE SEDUCTION OF LORD SIN book #1 in my LADY BACHELORETTES series. Here’s the WIP blurb

Widowed Lady Charlotte married for duty as all good ladies are taught to do. Love is for the poets, not for the peerage. With her elderly husband dead, she decides it’s time to marry again—she wants children. Given she’s no longer a blossoming flower, her pool of likely husbands is growing ever smaller. So she studies the current batch of ton bachelors, those she knows are looking for a wife and decides to hold a house party at her estate. The catch is, it’s a men only party, and at the weeks end, one of the Lords she’s invited will be her fiancé.

Lord Marcus Roberts, Duke of Sinclair, or Sin to his friends, has no idea why he agreed to accompany his friend to Lady Charlotte’s house party. Known as the ton’s most notorious rake, he is decidedly bored with the season’s entertainments. So it’s not surprising that he’s highly amused to learn the eccentric, but beautiful, Lady Charlotte has organized a husband hunting party and he settles in to see what poor man is caught. Only as he gets to know Charlotte, suddenly the idea of any of these men marrying her stirs the jealous beast, and soon he’s all to eager to be the one to try and win her heart.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: eBook: DRAWN TO THE MARQUESS (Imperfect Lords) by Bronwen Evans

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Excerpt from Drawn to the Marquess:

Eyes still on his, Penelope quietly said, “Don’t put me up on a pedestal. You’ll be sorely disappointed. I warn you now. Carmichael changed me into a bitter woman who looks out for only herself.”
Stephen’s face didn’t alter, but his eyes grew softer. His voice still held that magic purr. “Says the woman who is protecting someone. I don’t know who but it’s not you.”
“What makes you say that? Why would I need to protect anyone?”
“After my father shot himself I made a pledge. It caused my mother immeasurable pain. Not just his death, but the scandal that erupted because no one believed that he had been killed by accident. My mother stuck to that story. There was no way she was tarnishing his memory by letting the world know he had killed himself.”
“Are you sure he did? You were very young . . .”
“Because she hid the truth, rumors abounded.” His eyes locked with hers. “Many thought he’d been caught cheating in cards. Some said he’d gotten some local lass with child and she’d killed herself and he could not live with the shame. The stories grew in fancies. I had to go back to school with all the gossip hanging over my head. My mother made me swear I’d tell no one about my father’s eyes. Or his death. She loved him so much she wanted to protect him in death too.”
“Telling would have halted any further talk.”
“I think my mother knows more than she has told me. Did she suspect I would lose my sight too? Perhaps she did not wish to alarm me, or she wanted to ensure the chance of good marriages for us all was not put in jeopardy.”
“Indeed. A mother protecting her children I can understand.” She nodded and smiled warmly. “Your father’s death must have affected you terribly at such a young age.”
He repressed a shudder. “I found him. In his study. I heard the shot and . . .” Her hand found his and she squeezed. He told her, “We will do almost anything to protect the ones we love. My mother taught me that. She cleaned up the mess and staged it so it looked as if the gun had accidently gone off while he was cleaning it. All the while she was wiping his brains off the desk and crying for the man she loved.”
“She must have loved him with all her heart.”
“We find the strength to do anything for those we love. If you are protecting someone you need to tell me. Your life is at stake and no one would expect that of you . . . to take the blame.”
“I would tell you if I was protecting anyone, I swear. But tell me this. Are you not giving up your life to protect the ones you love?”
He frowned. “How so?”
“I suspect you are thinking about taking your life when you go blind. But I tell you this. Killing yourself like your father did is not protecting those you love. Your family will be devastated just as your mother was. If you choose to throw away the life you have been given, the only person you are protecting is you.”
A horse’s kick could not have made her words hit home any harder.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 

Book Info:

Destined to go blind, a rake sets his sights on the toast of society, lighting a fire of passion that scorches the night, in this captivating novel from USA Today bestselling author Bronwen Evans.

Stephen Hornsby, the Marquess of Clevedon, has one goal: to see every exquisite thing he can before he goes blind. His greatest joy, watching a woman shuddering in the throes of passion, will be gone. But before the darkness descends, he is determined to seduce a magnificent widow, Lady Penelope Fisherton. Unfortunately, his rakish reputation has preceded him; Lady Penelope spurns his advances. Being a man who relishes a challenge, however, her reluctance adds only luster to his desire for the last beautiful sight he’ll ever see.

Considered the belle of London society, Lady Penelope was married to a scoundrel who cared for no one but himself. Now that she’s free, she wants nothing to do with love, passion, or desire—emotions that abandoned her with a cruel husband. So why does her body react when Stephen smiles? As much as she’d like to avoid the rogue, her brother-in-law wants her fortune, and he’ll kill to get it. Stephen is willing to help, but he’ll take only one thing in return: Her. In his bed.

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Meet the Author:

USA Today bestselling author, Bronwen Evans grew up loving books. She writes both historical and contemporary sexy romances for the modern woman who likes intelligent, spirited heroines, and compassionate alpha heroes. Evans is a three-time winner of the RomCon Readers’ Crown and has been nominated for an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award. She lives in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand with her dogs Brandy and Duke.
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