Spotlight & Giveaway: Everything a Lady Is Not by Sawyer North

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Sawyer North to HJ!

Hi Sawyer and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Everything a Lady Is Not!

 
I know you have a million options for historical romance, and I know sweet romance isn’t for everyone. Thank you for taking a moment to become acquainted my new Regency romance novel.
 

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

Lucy’s iron-fisted social tutor, Henry, might be the death of her – if she can avoid falling head over heels in love with him. Even if she does, he remains the one man she can’t have.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

The arrival of important visitors drove Henry into his secret fortress—a tiny chamber tucked behind a hidden panel in the library. Though cramped and dusty, it provided the perfect refuge for a sullen and wounded twelve-year-old. A narrow slit of window above him admitted early afternoon light that battled the festering shadows.
“Why did you leave me alone, Mother?” he whispered. She did not answer, long-dead as she was. Resigned to solitude, he turned his attention to a worn copy of Robinson Crusoe and began reading where he had stopped during his previous withdrawal. So intent was his focus that he dropped the book when a girl spoke.
“Are you the boy?”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• The plot point of a duke attempting to disinherit his eldest son who’d married a commoner and run away to Italy is based on a real case from near the same time.
• Lucy knows several drinking songs that were common at the time, and sings one in the original Gaelic.
• The Bow Street Horse Patrol in which Henry serves wore top hats, long blue jackets, and red waistcoats that earned them the nickname “Robin Redbreasts”.
• Given the tutor/tutored relationship, I channeled My Fair Lady into the characters, but made Henry less of a curmudgeon and Lucy more polished from the beginning.
• Henry’s “wet nurse medal” was a real award, the Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword. Several British soldiers earned it during the wars against Napoleon.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Henry first notices her face and intense eyes, despite her rough clothing. In fact he is attracted by Lucy’s spirited wildness, even though he can’t bring himself to admit it for some time.
Lucy’s first impression of Henry is of how well he looks in a uniform. Because Lucy has grown up around thieves and scoundrels, she is attracted to the fact that he seems a decent and principled man.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe Hero and Heroine’s love affair?

Lost souls find each other.
 

The First Kiss…

Lucy leaps across a stream to a waiting Henry. When they fall into a tangled heap, she initiates a surprise kiss, but he finishes it well and good.

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

One of my favorite scenes is when Henry and his sister are teaching Lucy ballroom dances. At the end of the session, Henry offers a critique, and she unwittingly turns it on him.

Lucy glanced at him with concern. “Oh? What did I do wrong?”
“It is nothing, really, but in the interest of propriety, I would offer a slight correction. A noble woman moves from the hips downward, leaving her torso erect and unmoving. When you dance, your torso is a bit more…lively. And likely distracting to your partner.”
She put her hand to her mouth briefly before apologizing. “Forgive me. I was not aware of that fact. However, the presence of such a flaw only stands to reason.”
“Because?”
“Because I first learned to dance by imitating Madam Kamescro, the beautiful young gypsy wife of one of Steadman’s associates. What you say explains one of my longstanding questions, though.”
“And what question is that?”
“Why all the men watched with slack jaws when she danced. I always believed they regarded only her skill. Now, I know differently.”
Charlotte giggled. “And she showed you a gypsy dance?”
“She did, in fact.”
“How does it go? Will you demonstrate for us?”
“I do not believe that will be necess…” Henry began, but his words came too late. Lucy began to move in a gyration of hip, torso, shoulder, and neck that stole the words from his lips. Only after a few moments did he realize his jaw had gone slack. He glanced at his sister to find her blushing in fascination. He gripped Lucy’s shoulder to halt her movements.
“That, uh, will be quite enough.” He wiped his abruptly perspiring brow with the back of a hand. She gazed up at him with a frown, clearly wondering what she had done wrong. His frown turned up slightly.
“You most certainly did Madam Kamescro justice in your rendition of her dance. However, perhaps you should avoid such demonstrations when in noble company. I fear others would neither understand nor appreciate your unique gypsy education. And now, if you will excuse me, I desire a long walk.”
Without another word, he exited the ballroom on his way to the fields, more bewildered than ever.

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

Early in the story, Lucy surprisingly disarms Henry with a saber. Just before she must choose a suitor – one not him – they meet in the middle of the night in a fencing room for a rematch that exposes the ache of what will come next. The scene simultaneously shows the barrier between them and the desire to find a way through it.

Henry retrieved a pair of foils while she set the candle on the floor to one side. It cast a pitiful glow that barely reached the walls.
“Take care not to kick the candle,” he said. “My sister would never forgive me if I burned Ardmoore to the ground.”
“Of course.” She adopted a fencer’s stance. “Now, en garde!”
He matched her stance. They circled each other twice before she lunged. He easily deflected her foil and then counterattacked. She parried his thrust and circled away with a grin.
“Well done,” he said.
“And you.”
They repeated the intricate dance several times. She could tell he was holding back in an attempt to keep the contest equitable. His skills were even better than he claimed. She marveled again that she had managed to disarm him in the forest that day. Soon, sweat trickled between her shoulder blades and dotted her forehead. The candlelight caused the perspiration of Henry’s face to shine, illuminating his exertions. They both breathed heavily with the effort. Finally, he produced a lunge that caught her foil by the guard and he twisted it from her hand. She gripped her wrist to rub away the shooting pain of the twisting motion.
“Are you injured?” He dropped his foil and reached for her wrist. She glanced up quickly at his face just inches from hers.
“Only my pride,” she squeaked softly.
He held her wrist gently until she began to tremble. Her eyes locked with his while uncertainty and desire welled simultaneously within her. Without warning, he leaned to plant a gentle kiss upon her forehead. She froze as he held the kiss, wondering, hoping for what might follow. However, he released her wrist and leaned away, clenching and unclenching his empty fist.
“We are even.”

Readers should read this book …

Readers should read this book if they like adversarial banter, the Pygmalion trope, sweet romance, and a twist at the end. And of course, happily ever after.

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

Everything a Lady Is Not is the first in a three-book series featuring the men of Bow Street and the women who tie them into romantic knots. I’ve finished the second book and am plotting the third.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Three $5 Amazon gift cards!

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Lucy frequently exposes the inequality of rules as applied to men versus women. What doubled standards does our society still preserve?

 
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Excerpt from Everything a Lady Is Not:

Before Henry takes Lucy to meet her grandmother, a duchess, he first buys her a dress to make her presentable. This scene takes place in the dress shop of French dressmakers Phillipe and Jacques, and is the first time Henry sees past Lucy’s wildness to the beautiful woman and promise beneath.

“Mademoiselle, if you would please remove your garments and wash yourself…”
“In the presence of three men?”
Phillipe smiled and grasped the curtain she had not seen initially. “After I close the curtain, of course. We are dressmakers, not brothel keepers.”
Lucy glanced sheepishly at Henry and stepped inside the alcove, after which Phillipe drew the curtain. She did as he requested, stripping to her undergarments and scrubbing arms, legs, face, and neck. Then she called through the curtain.
“I am finished. What now?”
An arm protruding through the curtain startled her, and she nearly upset the basin. Phillipe spoke from behind the arm.
“Put this on.”
She stared in horror at the corset in the man’s hand. “But I cannot!”
Henry’s exasperated voice rose from outside the curtain. “Come, Miss Locket. You behave as if you have never worn a corset.”
“But I have never worn…” Her explanation died, leaving awkward silence. Henry cleared his throat.
“See here. It is merely an article of clothing and not so very dangerous. What is that compared to a duel with swords?”
She swayed a few times before reluctantly yanking the item from Phillipe’s hand. The arm withdrew. After first stepping into the torture device backward, she managed to draw it up in the proper orientation.
“I have donned the corset. Now, what shall I do?”
Phillipe slipped through the curtain. “I must lace the corset…”
Lucy shrieked and shoved him back through the curtain with such force that he tumbled to his backside. She threw an arm across her chest and yanked the curtain closed.
“Sacre bleu!” Phillipe cursed. “She is a devil woman!”
“Do not come in here!” Lucy shouted.
The next voice she heard was Henry’s, and he performed an admirable job of suppressing his impatience. “Miss Locket, please. Phillipe means no offense. He wishes only to help you fulfill your plan.”
“But I am naked!”
Henry chuckled. “I hardly think so. Regardless, view him as a physician simply executing his duty.”
She paused to consider the advice. “Very well, then. He may enter, but he alone.”
As she turned her back to the curtain, Phillipe entered warily. She stared at the ceiling while he laced the corset but otherwise laid not a finger on her. When he finished, a yellow dress appeared at her peripheral vision.
“If you would, mademoiselle, don this dress. I will wait in safety beyond the curtain.”
When Phillipe exited, Lucy slipped the dress over her head and smoothed it against her figure. The fit proved superior to any dress she had worn in more than a decade. Inhaling a deep breath, she slipped aside the curtain and stepped from the alcove. Henry’s eyes went wide when he saw her. She frowned.
“What is wrong? Does the dress look so terrible?”
He exhaled a pent breath and slowly shook his head. “No. It looks perfectly well. I believe the dress will serve sufficiently for meeting the duchess.”
“Perfectly well?” Jacques blurted. “No! It is magnifique! I need only take it in a bit here.”
The Frenchman put his hand on Lucy’s waist to show the spot. Her palm laced his cheek before she realized what she was doing. The man fell back in surprised pain, holding his reddening cheek.
“Mademoiselle!”
Henry stepped near to her. “As a physician. Remember.”
She flushed with embarrassment. “My apologies, Mr. Archambeau. I am not accustomed to the hands of men upon my person. Please forgive me. You may resume.”
Jacques dipped his head in wincing acknowledgment. While he and Phillipe carefully took in the dress with rapid stitches, Lucy repeated silently, “Physicians. Physicians. Physicians.”

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Book Info:

Lucy Locket, the long-lost granddaughter of a duchess, has never been a part of Society. One day, she was living a secluded life as the prisoner of a criminal, and the next day she was an heiress in a world she did not even remotely understand. She does not embody the typical qualities of a well-born lady…at all. She can’t curtsy, she doesn’t hide her emotions, she’s too clever by far. But in three months, she must marry a suitor with a royally-bestowed title, or she forfeits a fortune—leaving her and the duchess in dire straits.
All Henry Beaumont wants is to prove himself to Society and step outside of his half-brother’s shadow. So when the duchess asks him for a personal favor involving her newly found granddaughter—with a hefty thank you reward at the end—he leaps at the opportunity.
It seems as if Lucy is trading one prison for another. Henry has now become a permanent fixture as her charming yet iron-fisted taskmaster and tutor in the ways of High Society. Like oil and water, Lucy and Henry spar in an epic battle of wills—and even rapiers. But Lucy’s past and her surprising, undeniable feelings for Henry may doom their undertaking if he declares his love for her…because without a title, he can never be hers.
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Meet the Author:

I didn’t begin reading romance novels until I turned 50. All those years, wasted. Do you have a list of books you wish you’d never read so you could read them again for the first time? That’s me, right now, all the time. It didn’t take me long to transition from writing science fiction to writing historical romance. After a couple of unpublishable manuscripts, I finally found my rhythm and discovered a publisher willing to take a chance on an unknown male romance writer. My wife is very happy about this, as we are finally reading the same books.
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