Spotlight & Giveaway: To Wed an Heiress by Karen Ranney

Posted March 28th, 2019 by in Blog, Spotlight / 37 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Karen Ranney to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

New York Times bestselling author Karen Ranney returns to her royally seductive and heart-stirring series as a runaway heiress and an impetuous earl fight for love against scandal, ruin, and a shadowing danger

 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Rebellion drove Mercy Rutherford to Scotland to escape the possessive grip of her fiancé. But it’s fate that lands her in the crumbling highlands castle of Ross Caithart. A dreamer with visions of inventing airships, he’s most certainly mad. Handsome beyond words, he’s also causing an irresistible flutter in her stomach beyond reason. When Gregory arrives to see their arranged marriage to its bitter end, Mercy desperately turns to Ross with an offer of her fortune—and her hand in marriage.

The Earl of Morton has a reputation for being a daredevil eccentric, but even he is hesitant to engage in such a rash proposition—no matter how utterly beguiled he is by the wildly independent American heiress. And yet, with so much at stake, how can he possibly say no? But when their unconventional union grows into a passionate and inseparable love, more than Gregory’s obsession threatens them. Now, Ross and Mercy will have to risk more than their hearts to save it.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

“It’s a monster!” Ruthie screamed. “One of those Scottish monsters, Miss Mercy, just like the
stories we heard.”
“It’s nothing of the sort, Ruthie,” Mercy Ruther- ford said, trying to calm herself and, by
extension, her maid. Ruthie, however, was having none of it. She grabbed Mercy’s right arm with both hands and was practically atop her, straining to see out the window on the left side of the carriage.

 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

  • The heroine proposes to the Earl!
  • The Earl is a true “daredevil”!
  • The heroine, Mercy Rutherford, already has a fiancé!

 

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

I confess that I’m always surprised by the characters. Writing is still almost magical to me – a combination of channelling, perhaps, and subconscious awareness. I grow to know the characters as the book progresses.

Mercy had everything anyone could desire – except a sense of self. She wanted to be her own person, live a life that she had some part in, and her act of rebellion in traveling to Scotland was the only way she thought she could attain that goal.

Lennox always thought he knew who he was and what he wanted until he had to step into his older brother’s shoes and found the fit rather snug and uncomfortable.

Together, Mercy and Lennox find both their own identities and each other.

 

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

I think the first scene when they meet. Mercy is furious and Lennox is pre-occupied with other, more important, matters. They’re each, in their way, alone and determined. Yet the spark of interest was still there beneath the bluster.

Ruthie was crumpled on the other side of the carriage. One of her arms was outstretched and her head was pillowed on it, almost as if she were asleep. But she was entirely too pale and when Mercy called her name she didn’t respond.

Mercy managed to inch to the other woman’s side.

The roof of the carriage abruptly opened, almost as if it had been peeled back by a gigantic hand. No, not a giant. Only a man.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I don’t believe so, no.”

“You’re an American,” he said.

She squinted at him. “Was it you flying the dragon?”

“The what?”

“Dragon. Monster. Whatever it was.”

“It’s an airship.”

“Whatever it was, you’re insane.”

He didn’t respond to her comment. Instead, he frowned. “You’re bleeding.”

She raised her hand and placed it on her cheek. When her fingers came away they were bloodied. Not wine after all.

“Are you going to faint?”

“If I do it’s what you deserve,” she said. She was intensely furious at him, but the effort of saying so seemed suddenly too much.
“You’ve killed Ruthie,” she added. “You’re not only insane, you’re a murderer.”

“Hardly that,” he said. “She’s still breathing, but we do need to get her out of there.”

He pulled off the remainder of the roof easily, dragging it away from the rest of the carriage.

Ruthie, thankfully, surfaced from her faint as he and the coachman were pulling her free of the wreckage.

Mercy had decided to refuse his help, idiot that he was, and make her own way out of the vehicle. She was reminded of her mother’s words a few minutes later when she realized that she couldn’t pull her foot free.

[MOU1]
Your father’s pride gets him in trouble, sometimes, Mercy. It’s a good thing to be proud. But it is not a good thing to be excessively prideful.[MOU2]
 

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

A warm and fuzzy feeling because they enjoyed the love story.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: A copy of TO WED AN HEIRESS and the previous All for Love novel.

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Do you think it’s okay for a woman to propose to a man in this modern age, or is it better to stick to traditional gender norms, even if both parties are the same age and equally advanced in their careers?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Excerpt from To Wed an Heiress:

It might not be a monster, but it was one of the oddest things she’d ever seen. A boat with
wheels and a tail hanging from a massive sail. The most surprising and alarming thing was that the contraption was aloft like a giant misshapen bird and was now headed straight for them. “I knew it, Miss Mercy. I knew it. Didn’t I tell you when I saw those three magpies that something terrible would happen?” Ruthie saw omens in everything.
“If it isn’t a monster, Miss Mercy, then what is it?” Mercy didn’t know. She’d never seen anything Like Adams. If screaming would do any good, she would join her voice to the horses and now Ruthie. It wouldn’t do for everyone to lose their minds. Someone had to remain calm.
The dragon was lower and closer now, directed by a man seated in the boat-like part of the craft. “Turn,” she said. Of course he couldn’t hear her, but perhaps God could. “Make him turn.”
The man was still headed directly toward them.
Would anyone be able to convey the information that she’d perished to her parents? She’d written them a letter explaining this forbidden journey, but if she failed to return home would they be able to find out what had happened to her? How odd that she’d never thought to die in Scot- land. Lennox Caitheart swore as he pulled one of the ropes controlling the tail of his airship. There wasn’t supposed to be a carriage in the road. There was never a carriage on this road.The road was the unofficial boundary between his land and the Macrorys’ and he was careful never to venture on the other side of it. Ben Uaine didn’t count. The mountain belonged to Scotland, not the Macrorys, although they’d claimed dominion over everything they saw.
No, the carriage shouldn’t have been there and now he was heading directly for it. The wind gusts had been exactly what he planned. He’d kept the air sock and pennant in place for weeks now, measuring the difference in the wind between the morning, after- noon, and evening.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Meet the Author:

Karen Ranney began writing when she was five. Her first published work was The Maple Leaf, read over the school intercom when she was in the first grade. In addition to wanting to be a violinist (her parents had a special violin crafted for her when she was seven), she wanted to be a lawyer, a teacher, and most of all, a writer. Though the violin was discarded early, she still admits to a fascination with the law, and she volunteers as a teacher whenever needed. Writing, however, has remained an overwhelming love of her life.
Website | GoodReads |
 
Buy: https://www.avonromance.com/book/9780062841070/to-wed-an-heiress-5/
 
 
 

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37 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: To Wed an Heiress by Karen Ranney”

  1. Mary Preston

    I must admit to being a traditionalist, but I see no reason why the woman can’t propose.

  2. Lori Meehan

    I’m traditional but I see no reason why a woman can’t purpose to a man.

  6. Silver

    Generally speaking it’s okay, but I’d never do it. I’d rather wait and see if he eventually proposes, instead of him feeling pressured to say yes even if he’s not 110% sure.

  7. Karina Angeles

    I prefer the traditional way. A man needs to propose. It’s judt more romantic that way.

  14. Karen M

    I think it’s okay for a woman to propose to a man in this modern age, but I would prefer to have a man propose to me.

  17. Natasha Persaud

    Nah imma stick to tradition I for one would never propose to a guy

  18. erinf1

    totally!! Whatever works for their relationship. No one should tell them what to do 🙂 thanks for sharing!

  23. Nicole (Nicky) Ortiz

    I’m more of a traditional person, but I don’t see anything wrong with it.

  34. Patricia B.

    Why not. If their relationship has reached that point and he can’t seem to move forward, why shouldn’t she pop the question?

  36. Terrill R.

    I’m kind of old-fashioned, but at the same time, I like that a woman can feel confident in themselves and what they want.

  37. Rachael

    Depends on the couple I suppose. Nothing wrong with the women asking the men. Don’t know if I would ask the guy or not.