Spotlight & Giveaway: His Chosen Queen by Bella Mason

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Bella Mason to HJ!

Hi Bella and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, His Chosen Queen!

 
Hello! Thanks so much for having me back on Harlequin Junkie!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

His Chosen Queen is a royal romance between the reluctant king and the palace librarian. Vasili is the spare and and a rebellious prince. His brother who is king dies so he is forced to take the throne and since his brother’s wedding was meant to be in a couple weeks, his advisors push for him to marry on the same date. Out of grief and rebellion he picks the librarian to be his queen. Helia agrees because she sees an opportunity to help the forgotten and the orphans of Thalonia, just like she was. They very soon realise they have intense chemistry and they have to find a way to navigate that because Vasili cannot love her and she doesn’t want to lose her heart to him.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

There are two and I honestly can’t choose between them. The first is:

“Be sure you want to go through with this, Helia. The crown… this world… It is not made up of good people. It’s full of people like me.”

I love that we get to see a bit of how tormented he is. That he doesn’t see himself clearly or think he is good or loveable. It’s a peek into what Helia is up against.

And the second quote is:

“Maybe I always knew it would be you. Maybe I was fighting a truth that already existed. You and I—we’re inevitable.”

It’s the fairytale that they’re destined to be together and he finally sees it!
 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

I was initially having some trouble figuring out my king and the one day was scrolling through Instagram and saw a reel from a male influencer and just thought “THAT is him!”. Vasili came together pretty quickly and easily after that.

I also listened to “End of Me” by Ashes Remain A LOT to get into the headspace to write Vasili. The chorus goes, “I ran away from the pain
Always breaking down inside
Incomplete
But now I see
This won’t be the end of me” and it helped frame his rebellion and what stems from and then his choice to be something different.

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

Helia first sees Vasili in riding leathers when she starts working at the palace, he’s still just a prince at that point and thinks that he’s so unusual and sexy. She sorts of develops a crush on him but knows he will never look at her. Until one day when he does…

Vasili only notices Helia because she is in the library when he snaps and says he’ll marry her, but after he does that, he notices everything about her.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

I always chuckle when Helia calls Vasili’s motorcycle a death machine! It’s especially funny because I love bikes… basically most things that go really fast!

“‘You were wearing black leathers and climbing on to your motorcycle. I thought you were rather sexy. Unusual, but sexy.’ She could feel herself blush.
‘You did, did you?’ He smirked.
‘I also thought your ego probably didn’t need inflating.’
‘Lie.’
‘What?’
‘That was a lie, Helia. I’ll let it go this time. If you like, I could take you on a ride.’
‘A king out on a motorbike?’ she scoffed.
‘Why not? Who’s going to stop me?’
Helia held her glass between both hands as she leaned towards the King. ‘You know, you say you don’t want to be King, but you seem to have taken to it just fine.’
Vasili shrugged.
‘Also, there is no way I’m getting on that death machine.’
‘Scared?’ he taunted.
‘Yes! I can’t even drive a car, and that has four wheels. You’re out of your mind if you think I’m getting on two.’”

Readers should read this book….

if they’re looking for a little bit of a fairytale. A maiden plucked from obscurity to become the beloved queen.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I just finished writing my fifth book which is about an Italian billionaire and a runaway heiress. It’s set in Australia and Italy. I’ll be sharing more on it soon!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A signed copy of His Chosen Queen along with a personalised note from yours truly

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Who is your favourite Harlequin hero or heroine and why?

 
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Excerpt from His Chosen Queen:

This is from the scene where Helia and Vasili get married even though he really doesn’t want to:

“Vasili lost the battle of trying not to touch her, grazing his finger along what was hardly a sleeve. He pulled his hand back as the bishop let out an amused chuckle. He barely heard the man speak. All he could concentrate on was Helia. So he took her hands in his, and immediately the calm he had felt in her presence before descended upon him.
It was more than calm. It was as if every ounce of his attention was being drawn to one place. Helia. To that hum between their bodies. To the current travelling along their skin. There was temptation here.
‘Vasili…’ Helia whispered with a tiny smile, urging him to pay attention.
He heard the bishop gently clear his throat.
He was so focused on Helia that he hadn’t even noticed it that the moment in which he would have to promise himself to her was upon them. The moment when he would have to say words he didn’t believe in. He still did not want to be married, but there was no way around this, so with great effort he held his frustration at bay and made his vows.
He slid a large blue gem onto her finger. The French cut blue diamond reflected the light infinitely, like crushed ice, as the two smaller white diamonds on either side twinkled prettily in their platinum setting. The jewel had been in his family for generations, but none of the previous Queens had worn it. All had opted for something far more garish, but he couldn’t think of a better suited choice. Helia was different from all those who had come before her, and that was something worth celebrating.
‘Vasili…’ Helia’s voice rang out sweet and clear. ‘I take you to be my husband, for better, for worse, to love and to cherish. And to stand by you alone, for all of our days.’
He didn’t understand the feeling that overcame him at hearing those added words.
Helia had fire in her and would not bend to the will of others. Not easily at least. Understanding her message, he couldn’t help but smile. She would stand by him alone. Not by Andreas or Carissa or the demands of the crown. She had just announced to all of Thalonia that she intended to be his partner.
You are King now. The crown can be whatever you want it to be.
He would have her support to do just that.
‘You may now kiss the bride.’
Vasili heard the words. The moment he had craved and dreaded was upon him. For two weeks he had wanted to kiss her. Images of her against the door of his office flashed in his mind once again. He had wanted a taste of her then, and after replaying that moment so frequently he wasn’t sure that he would be able to stop once his lips met hers.
So, with her hands still in his, Vasili mustered every bit of control he had and leaned in, placing a chaste kiss upon her lips. But as if it were a trap, designed just for him, that one simple touch caused the very air to snap around them.
He couldn’t stop kissing her if he tried.
A buzzing warmth trailed over him from the contact of their lips, winding through his body, until his arms went around her and her hands found their way to his chest.
He couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. This innocent kiss was more overwhelming than any he had had before. Every other kiss he’d experienced in his life had been a means to an end. Merely a seduction to make the pay-off greater. Every one of those fell into the shadow of this one.
Without even realising it, he brought up a hand to cup her face, angling his head to kiss her more deeply. And, as if they had danced this particular dance before, she moved with him, opening to him as his tongue caressed hers. Igniting his blood.
He swallowed the sigh she breathed into him.
He’d thought there was nothing sacred about this wedding, but he found the divine in Helia’s pillowy lips. She was soft and sweet and tentative. Everything he realised he had been imagining she would be, but more. Calm and crazed. Trapped and free. This embrace devoured him. Her eager responses spurred him on to kiss her harder, deeper.
He was utterly lost to the current that swept them both away, and it was only the sound of polite clapping and an amused chuckle close by that broke through the haze, wrenching him back.
With careful tenderness he pulled away, noticing the look in Helia’s eyes, like a raging sea. And he knew she was just as affected as he was.
Maybe there was an up-side to this marriage after all.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Book Info:

The spare has become the heir…and he needs a queen.

Playboy Prince Vasili was never intended for the throne of Thalonia — and never wanted it. When tragedy promotes him to king, palace advisors insist he secures the line of succession. Vasili’s choice of bride is his final act of rebellion…

The palace librarian to marry His Majesty? Ridiculous, thinks Helia Demetriou. She finds solace in books, not ballgowns! Although becoming queen might help those growing up orphaned, as she did…except with their first binding kiss, Helia realises her royal dilemma: she’s wildly attracted to her strictly convenient king.
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Meet the Author:

Bella Mason has been a bookworm from an early age. She has been regaling people with stories from the time she discovered she could hold the dinner table hostage with her re-imagined fairy tales. After earning a degree in Journalism, she rekindled her love of writing and she now writes full time. When she isn’t imagining dashing heroes and strong heroines, she can be found exploring Melbourne, with her nose in a book or lusting after fast cars.
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