Spotlight & Giveaway: The Lady Tempts an Heir by Harper St. George

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Harper St. George to HJ!

Hi Harper and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Lady Tempts an Heir!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Max Crenshaw has tried to help his sisters avoid their parents’ marriage plans for the past two books, never suspecting that his father would demand he marry next. When it looks like he can’t avoid his father’s demands for an heir for the family business, he turns to the only woman who can help him, Lady Helena March. They plan a fake betrothal that brings them together and slowly becomes more real than either of them had ever intended.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

Lady Helena March was inclined to dislike Maxwell Crenshaw without even having met him. There were several reasons for this, but climbing quickly to the top of her list was the fact that he was tardy. A glance at the clock on the mantelpiece revealed him to be a quarter hour later than she would have preferred.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I kept thinking of the song I Hate to Love You by Karmin as I wrote this.
• Because of all the social gatherings and balls Max and Helena have to attend, they were drinking champagne a lot. I pretty much had a craving for champagne the entire time. Lol
• At one point in the book, Max and Helena discuss contraceptives. This, of course, meant that I had to research contraceptives available in the Gilded Age. While selling contraceptives was illegal in the US at the time, Sears and Roebuck sold them through their mail order business. They were advertised as ladies sponges and antiseptic suppositories.

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

When I started writing The Lady Tempts an Heir, I knew both Max and Lady Helena from the previous books in the series. Max is the older brother of the heroines in the previous two books, and he had made an appearance in both books to attempt to save his sisters from unwanted marriages. Helena had befriended the Americans. So I knew their personalities pretty well and the fact that they respected each other, and there’s a thinly veiled unrequited attraction between them that leads to simmering tension. I also knew that this time Max would be the one facing marriage pressure from his parents. I had anticipated this pressure would make Max open up to Helena more and draw out her jealousy once she saw other women wanting to marry him. I did not expect that Max would come up with the entire fake dating scheme and convince Helena to be his fake-betrothed. That aspect of the story was a total (and delightful!) surprise.

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

The thing I love most about Max and Helena is how the tension and attraction between them spills over during normal events in their lives. Helena will find herself goading him just because she likes the way his brow furrows, and he’ll do the same to her because he thinks she’s adorable when she’s mad at him. The scene below is when they have already started their fake dating scheme and Max is pretending to court her at a social event. They flirt in between discussing a business deal he’s involved in. This scene perfectly demonstrates the give and take of their relationship.

Smiling up at him, she said, “I cannot decide if your heated glances are part of the ploy or real.”

He nearly stumbled over his own feet at her boldness. He loved that he never knew what she would say. Quickly finding his step, he noted the playful glint in her beautiful blue eyes. “Can’t they be both?”

Her cheeks colored prettily. “For someone else perhaps.” Facing forward, she added, “But you are Maxwell Crenshaw. Your passions are Crenshaw Iron and saving your sisters when needed.”

“You make me sound like an automaton.” He kept his voice light, but something about the remark hit him in the gut. It was true that his entire life had been about work, but that was only because running an enterprise like Crenshaw Iron demanded that sort of diligence. “But never fear, I do pursue my own interests outside of my family.”

“And what would those be?” she asked smoothly. “Accountancy and risk evaluation?”

“Horseflesh. I enjoy riding and caring for horses.” He owned several prized Thoroughbreds that he rode weekly in Central Park and in the summers at the family’s cottage in Newport.

By this time, they had reached the drawing room. She released his arm to accept a glass of champagne from a footman. He took one as well, but mainly to cover his disappointment at not having her touching him anymore. As he did, he was almost certain that she took in his legs. Her gaze settled in the general area of his thighs before moving up to his backside, except the fall of his coat would have obscured her view.

“That explains much,” she said, bringing the glass to her lips. Her eyes were filled with mischief.

A gentleman would have let the comment pass, but he couldn’t. He also didn’t claim to be a gentleman. “What does it explain?”

She blushed, having not been prepared for his challenge. “Only that your . . .” She hesitated over the next word before resolve settled over her features and she started again. “Your build is stronger than one might presume given your occupation.”

Heat coiled like a wound spring in his stomach. “You’ve been looking.”

Somehow her face reddened even more. She looked across the room, and without meeting his eyes, she said, “Perhaps.”

“Tease,” he whispered.

She grinned and gave a barely perceptible shrug as a couple walked by, exchanging greetings with them.

When they had passed, he said in a low voice, “Before we’re interrupted, I wanted to tell you that I have good news.”

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

I hope readers take away the idea that there are a lot of different ways to have a happily-ever-after. It doesn’t have to look any certain way, and in fact will look different for everyone.

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

The Lady Tempts an Heir comes out February 22. I’m currently writing book four in The Gilded Age Heiresses series. The Duchess Tempts an Heir will feature Camille, Duchess of Hereford, and Jacob Thorne. Camille was the first American heiress in my series to be unhappily married off to a much older duke. I’m happy to say that she will finally be getting her much deserved happily-ever-after.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: One print copy of THE LADY TEMPTS AN HEIR for a U.S. only winner.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: This is the first fake dating romance that I’ve ever written. It was a lot of fun, particularly because I really haven’t read that many fake dating romance in historicals. I loved putting the hero and heroine together in different circumstances and watching them squirm their way out of them. Which tropes are your favorite to read about in historical romance?

 
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Excerpt from The Lady Tempts an Heir:

Max sighed and sat back in the chair, stretching his long legs out before him and crossing them at the ankles. The upholstery creaked in protest. At six feet and three inches in bare feet and with a solid frame, protesting furniture was a common problem. There was no escaping what was coming, so he might as well get comfortable. “I believe I know where this is heading, but say it anyway.”

“We need to begin thinking about the family legacy.” The lines on his face seemed to deepen.

Max had been prepared to suffer through a monologue about the need for him to take the lead in their European venture, which would have effectively taken that role from August. While Papa had been somewhat supportive of her role in the company, he considered it an indulgence and wasn’t above taking it away. Max was not prepared for this. “The what?”

“The legacy. I would like to have a hand in guiding my grandchildren through the ranks of Crenshaw Iron. I must admit that this . . . spell has given me cause to consider the fact that I may not be immortal as I had once hoped. In fact, I wonder if I will live long enough to see grandchildren through the ranks at all.”

Max swallowed against a lump threatening to clog his throat. “Don’t speak that way. Violet is with child now and due to deliver in the new year. August could-”

“August has informed me in no uncertain terms that she plans to wait to have children. Besides, her firstborn son will be too busy learning how to be a duke to run Crenshaw Iron. The same goes for Violet’s child, and neither of them will be Crenshaws. They won’t carry the name, and they’ll have responsibilities here.”

Max wasn’t entirely insensitive to his father’s suggestion. All his life he had embraced the Crenshaw legacy, begun by his grandfather, and imagined his own son taking over the reins of the company-though now that August had proven herself so adept, perhaps that mantle could be picked up by a daughter. While he had welcomed the idea, it had always been one that would be realized far into the future. Into his thirties. Not now at the age of twenty-eight when his life was so busy. He had assumed he would have another five years at least before considering the responsibilities of a wife and child.

“Let’s talk about this later, Papa. As you said, you will recover.”

The older man shook his head, his groomed and oiled hair shining in the lamplight. “We must speak of it now. While I do believe I will recover somewhat, I am not so foolish to believe I will be as good as before. I’m old, Max, but I still know a thing or two about planning for the long run. We must begin laying the foundation now. I want you married by the end of the year.”

“Good God, Papa, that’s not even two months!”

Papa held up a placating hand. “Yes, I’m aware. I’ll settle for an engagement.”

Max regarded his father through a narrowed gaze. The man was shrewd when it came to negotiation. He would bargain with the Devil himself to get what he wanted, and Max felt no relief in the knowledge that he was his son. One only had to look at how Papa had negotiated August into accepting her marriage to see that. There would be consequences if Max chose not to agree to his father’s terms.

His jaw clenched in anger, he said, “You’re trying to manipulate me, to use me like my sisters.”

The corner of Papa’s mouth quirked upward again. “Aren’t you and August always harping on me about equality among the sexes? Well, I have taken your words to heart. A son should marry just as a daughter should.”

“I don’t know what you have planned, but I will choose my wife. I won’t have some brainless pawn served up to me.”

“You would never stand for that. I would have nothing less from you. Despite how you might feel about my machinations in the past, I do appreciate the fact that when I’m gone August and Violet will be left in good hands. I have only wanted what is best for them.”

Now Max was genuinely bemused. “I don’t understand. If you don’t have someone in mind, then why-?”

“Oh, I have several young women in mind. Amelia Van der Meer for one.” Max was already shaking his head, but Papa continued. “Her father is a good friend and respectable businessman.”

“Is she even Violet’s age?”

“You mean the Violet who is now married with a child on the way?”

“I won’t marry someone so young.” He needed a wife he could talk to about his day over dinner, not one who would smile mindlessly at him as she fell over herself to see to his needs. The memory of the one time he had been foolish enough to allow Amelia to corner him at a party sent him to his feet in a state of agitation. Rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, he walked to the pitcher on the bureau across the room and poured himself a glass of water. Miss Van der Meer had all but pawed at him in her bid to keep him to herself.

“I understand,” said Papa, but Max rather thought he didn’t. “That’s why I don’t want to suggest anyone. It’s not so much who the lucky young woman is as long you marry soon.” There was a brief pause, then he added, “Any woman you choose would need to be respectable, of course. Wealth would be a boon, but not necessary. Did you have anyone in mind?”

Unbidden, an image of Helena came to mind. She was looking at him in disapproval, with a slight smile curving her generous lips, after he had just informed her that she had been wrong. Violet had run away with Christian, and Helena had insisted they go to his Scottish estate to find them. But none of the staff there had heard from the wayward couple. After that, he and Helena had spent several days combing the countryside for his sister before finding her with Christian in a small village outside of York.

Nothing untoward had happened between Max and Helena on the trip; they had both been too worried for Violet’s safety to entertain a flirtation, except something had happened. The devil if he knew how to describe exactly what. He had become familiar with her every emotion and how each of them reflected on her lovely face. He admired her intelligence and her quick humor, and in the months since, he’d been unable to stop thinking of her.

She wouldn’t want to marry him, though. She was settled in London and Somerset, and her family was here. It wasn’t as if he knew her well enough to even consider marriage, but he liked what he knew about her. There would be no vapid dinner conversations with her.

No. She was a lady who inhabited a completely different world.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

A fake engagement brings together a lady with bold and daring dreams, and the heir whose heart she captured.

Tall, dark, and brooding—to say that American Maxwell Crenshaw stood out in the glittering ballrooms of London is an understatement. He vowed never to set foot in England again, but when a summons from his father along with an ultimatum to secure his legacy has him crossing the Atlantic for the last time, reuniting him with the delectable Lady Helena March, he can’t deny the temptation she presents. Or the ideas she inspires…

Lady Helena March is flirting with scandal. Instead of spending her time at teas and balls in search of another husband, as is expected of a young widow, Helena pours her energy into The London Home for Young Women. But Society gives no quarter to unmarried radicals who associate with illegitimate children and fallen women, and Helena’s funding is almost run out. So when the sinfully seductive Crenshaw heir suggests a fake engagement to save them both—him from an unwanted marriage and her from scorn and financial ruin—Helena finds herself too fascinated to refuse the sexy American.

As their arrangement of convenience melts oh so deliciously into nights of passion, their deception starts to become real. But if Max knew the true reason Helena can never remarry, he wouldn’t look at her with such heat in his eyes. Or might the Crenshaw heir be willing to do whatever it takes to win the one woman he’s never been able to forget…
 
 

Meet the Author:

Harper St. George was raised in the rural backwoods of Alabama and along the tranquil coast of northwest Florida. It was a setting filled with stories of the old days that instilled in her a love of history, romance, and adventure. By high school, she had discovered the historical romance novel which combined all of those elements into one perfect package. She has been hooked ever since. She lives in the Atlanta area with her family and loves to hear from readers.
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