Spotlight & Giveaway: How to Grieve Like a Victorian by Amy Carol Reeves

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Amy Carol Reeves to HJ!

Hi Amy and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, How to Grieve Like a Victorian!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

When Dr. Lizzie Wells, a professor of British Literature, finds herself suddenly widowed, she turns into a hot mess. She decides to grieve Victorian-style—dressing in all black, carrying a bird urn, asking everyone to handwrite notes rather than e-mail her at work; she almost kisses her husband’s best friend; and after a meltdown in class, she hares off to London. What follows is a romantic adventure where she meets new friends and learns to embrace joy again.
 

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

“I thought I would learn how to grieve and honor him as I walked a prescribed path to closure. I didn’t know the path is ongoing, the journey never really over. I didn’t know I would unravel layers of myself in this process and rekindle love and relationships in new ways.”

“I’m a wid-hoe!”

“He’s proud of me beyond words. Just getting out of bed at all is a victory. He tells me there’s no cancer; it’s festering grief, and gradually, day by day, I’ll feel more joy and the sting won’t be so sharp.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I’ve been to London several times, but never Brontё country. While revising the book, I went there, hiking the path Lizzie walks with my daughter. It was beautiful and amazing. When I returned home, I revised and edited those particular scenes for accuracy.
• I met my now-husband, Henry, after I wrote the book. It was a little strange dating someone with the same name as Lizzie’s love interest. I sometimes joke that I MAN-ifested my IRL Henry.
• Having Lizzie embrace Victorian widowhood while still staying rooted in the main world was a challenge. She had to pull off the Victorian widowhood practices, but obviously, she also needed to drive, take antibiotics, text, etc. As I wrote and revised, I constantly tried to fine tune this.

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

Henry and Lizzie initially bond through their mutual grief over losing Philip. They both loved him so much. They’ve known each other for years, so for each of them there’s a security and shared history. Henry admires Lizzie’s wit and strength, and she feels comfortable with him. She admires him because he’s authentic and caring. They’re both startled when one evening, early in the novel, they almost kiss. Scared, grieving, and confused, she hares off to London. He checks in with her from across the pond, and they both gradually realize that their feelings are changing into something else and that almost-kiss might not have been such a mistake after all.

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

Definitely that almost-kiss scene. I think it was because Lizzie is reeling from her grief, and she’s neurotically trying to make all the right, “proper” decisions and then she almost kisses Henry. She spirals a little that evening, showing up at her priest’s house wanting to “confess.”
I think I like it because part of Lizzie’s journey is learning that there really isn’t a “proper” way to grieve and the more she tries to stick to rules and rituals and propriety, the more she veers off course.

Below is the scene of the almost-kiss:

But I like this smell. It’s vaguely earthy, like he’s been outdoors working in a garden. He kind of stiffens, but I feel him breathing hard. We sit like that, frozen in a strange spell where thoughts and words won’t work.

Gingerly, he puts his hand, warm, calloused, on my cheek.

I lean closer, inhaling his scent, feeling his warmth.

“Lizzie….”he mutters as my mouth brushes his beard.

Bonnie stands up loudly, and we both jump away from each other.

“God, what am I doing?” I clap my hand over my mouth, horrified at myself.

He’s blushing deeply, as shocked as I am.

Readers should read this book….

Because the book explores the journey of grief with romance and humor. Dr. Lizzie Wells learns that there is life and love after hitting rock bottom.
 

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

I’m working on a wickedly fun romantic comedy called, The Best Revenge. My main character, Hannah, is a librarian who has given everything to her relationship with her struggling writer-boyfriend, Chad. Then he steals her book idea, leaves her for his agent, and becomes wildly successful. Furious, Hannah teams up with her twin sister and other women Chad has wronged to get revenge. Unfortunately, she also falls for her new hunky colleague, James. But he’s just come out of a bitter divorce with a vindictive ex-wife. He’s against bad blood of any kind. Hannah finds herself trying to hide her comeuppance plan from James with hilarious results.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 1 print copy of HOW TO GRIEVE LIKE A VICTORIAN (US & Canada Only)

To enter Giveaway, please share this post (FB – Twitter) and Leave a comment to this Q: How might Henry and Lizzie be on separate journeys of self-discovery? In which ways are their journeys similar? In which ways are they different?

This giveaway closes 3 days from the date of this post.

Excerpt from How to Grieve Like a Victorian:

After arriving in London, Lizzie takes up with a rougue-ish, bestselling British author, August Dansworth. Below is an excerpt from a flirty, boozy date the two share one afternoon:

I sit down across from him, hoping he can’t see how much my hands shake as I set my purse down. It’s a ridiculous thought, but I wonder if Philip can see me somewhere, see me on this date (?) with another man. I hope he knows I still love him. I finger the jet necklace, panic rising in my throat.

“What are you thinking about getting?”

“I don’t know. I’ll probably just go with a nice, chilled glass of Pinot Grigio since it’s afternoon and so hot . . .”

“No, I won’t hear of it. You can’t come all the way to England for bloody Pinot Grigio. Let me order for you.”

He calls the server over, asking for two double shots of Irish whiskey.

He leans forward. “This single malt is best to drink neat, and it can get us in a lot of trouble.”

I chuckle, remembering how years ago I once had a double Irish whiskey at a women writers conference at the University of Virginia. I’d tested the old theory that Emily Dickinson’s poems can be sung to the Gilligan’s Island theme song with a delightful older scholar named Edna.

“How’s your book coming along?” I ask as our drinks arrive, and we both take a sip.

“Ahhh, swimmingly. Really great. I met my deadline on the last one, and it’s full speed ahead on the new one now. As you know from reading Blood Oath, Inspector Hall tups Penny Bledsoe after getting pissed on too much gin. It was a mistake and . . . take care, I’m about to give you privy writer information . . .”

He leans toward me a little, his breath smelling like the pear-and-spice-heavy whiskey we’re drinking. “If you’ve been reading the sequel, Blood Ties, you see it’s not a great love match. He stays with her for a while before learning that she’s not all that—all fur coat and no knickers—nothing close to an Irene Adler. But there’s a baby and that will all come to light in Blood Offspring, so stay tuned.”

Ahhh . . . good call, Ms. Fernsby!

He takes another sip. “Now, enough about my books, I want to hear more of your story—not the fantastic Heathcliff Saga, but you. To be honest, I’m fascinated. I’ve literally never, ever been on a date with a widow. I snogged one at uni years ago. She was a bit older, and her name was Brenda . . . no, it was Barbara. But it wasn’t a date—she was my best friend’s mum.”

I arch my brow. “Are you really this much of a cad, or is it all smoke and mirrors?”

He puts his hand over his chest and gasps in mock-hurt then recovers and leans forward. “Elizabeth, you’ve been through a lot, and I promised you from day one I was going to get you outside of your mind while you’re here, and that’s what I intend to do.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Cad, I am not. Free spirit, I am.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Dr. Lizzie Wells, professor of British literature and bestselling author, is not okay. She wasn’t consulted when her beloved husband died unexpectedly, so she’s going to grieve however she damned well chooses. Keeping a lock of his hair in a choker around her neck and donning widow’s weeds. You bet. Notifying colleagues and students that she will only accept paper letters instead of email. Why not? Very nearly kissing her late husband’s best friend, Henry. Unfortunately, er…yes.

So when she’s offered a trip to London, Lizzie grabs it. What better place to escape, heal, and be reborn than in the same city where Queen Victoria famously mourned her beloved Prince Albert? Encouraged by new friends to be bold, have champagne and oysters before noon, and celebrate the beauty and the messiness of life, Lizzie begins to embrace it all.

Still, there’s that almost kiss with Henry she just can’t forget. Their cross-Atlantic ‘check-ins’ turn into FaceTime hangouts and their friendship evolves into something more. When Henry shows up in London, Lizzie fears she’s falling in love with him… Will she bravely embrace this second chance, too?
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Meet the Author:

Amy Carol Reeves has a PhD in nineteenth-century British literature and finds joy in teaching classes and writing. She has published several academic articles as well as a young adult book trilogy. She lives in Indiana with her three children.
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