The Truth - and the Duke - Is Out There!

by Anna Campbell

I'm so excited! It's exactly a year since I had a full-length new release and now, after that long wait, WHAT A DUKE DARES has hit the shelves.

This is book three of the Sons of Sin series (previous books are SEVEN NIGHTS IN A ROGUE'S BED and A RAKE'S MIDNIGHT KISS, with the novella DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES squeezed in between). A character who has intrigued me from the start is Camden Rothermere, Duke of Sedgemoor. Cam is the guy who always keeps his head in a crisis and who always hands out great advice. As a reader, I love seeing Mr. Cool, Calm and Collected tumble into chaos when he falls in love - and that's just what happens to Cam. I can tell you that particular character arc is fun to write too!

Cam's heroine in Duke is his childhood friend Penelope Thorne, a headstrong and passionate woman who leads Cam on a merry dance before they get their happy ending. Pen was fun to write too. I love stories about unrequited love, and Pen's got a really rotten case of the malady for Cam.


Here's the blurb:

A reputation at risk

 

What woman in her right mind would say no to marrying the dashing Duke of Sedgemoor? Miss Penelope Thorne, that's who. She's known Camden Rothermere since they were children - and she also knows she'd bring nothing but scandal to his name.

Cam can hardly believe Penelope turned down his proposal. But if she wants to run off to the Continent and set the rumor mill ablaze, he can't stop her. Then her brother's dying request sends him to bring home the one woman he thought he'd finally gotten over.

The only way they'll both get back to London without their reputations in tatters is to pretend they're married during the journey. That means kissing like they mean it and even sharing a bed - until it becomes hard to tell where the game ends and true desire begins...

 

Reviews so far have been wonderful. RT Book Reviews gave Duke a Top Pick, 4.5 stars, a Knight in Shining Silver (K.I.S.S.) awad and called it "an extraordinary read." Publishers Weekly commented on the "romantic fireworks" and a starred review in Booklist said, "With its superbly nuanced characters, impeccably crafted historical setting, and graceful writing shot through with scintillating wit, Campbell's latest lusciously sensual, flawlessly written historical Regency, part of the Sons of Sin series (A Rake's Midnight Kiss, 2013), will have romance readers sighing happily with satisfaction."

 

You can read an excerpt here: http://annacampbell.info/dukedares.html

 

Duke is available in print and digital everywhere good books are sold, including: 

 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/What-Duke-Dares-Anna-Campbell/dp/1455557900/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1387328558&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=what+a+duke+dares

 

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-a-duke-dares-anna-campbell/1117543455?ean=9781455557905

 

The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/What-Duke-Dares-Anna-Campbell/9781455557905

 

Booktopia;  http://www.booktopia.com.au/what-a-duke-dares-anna-campbell/prod9780732295141.html

Penelope Thorne, the heroine of WHAT A DUKE DARES, suffers from a major crush on her girlhood hero Camden Rothermere. Did you have a crush when you were growing up? Was it someone real or someone fictional like a movie star or a rock singer?

Rakes and Rogues and Midnight Kisses, Oh, My!

by Anna Campbell

Wow, I feel like I've had a lot of releases this year!

It's not long since DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES, my e-novella which is 1.5 in the Sons of Sin series (love that 1.5! It's like it's waiting to grow up and become a proper number), hit the digital shelves.

And this month, I'm delighted to introduce my latest effort (and it gets a nice round 2 in the series!), A RAKE'S MIDNIGHT KISS from Grand Central Publishing!

This is the story of rakish (well, he would be with a title like ARMK!) Sir Richard Harmsworth and virginal and scholarly vicar's daughter Genevieve Barrett, a woman with no time for rakes!

Here's the blurb:

It Takes a Lady

 

Brilliant scholar Genevieve Barrett knows how to keep a secret. Her identity as the author of her father's academic articles has always been her greatest deception-until a charming housebreaker tries to steal the mysterious Harmsworth Jewel from her. She doesn't reveal that she recognizes her father's devastatingly handsome new student as the thief himself. For Genevieve, this will be the most seductive secret of all...

To Catch a Thief

 

Sir Richard Harmsworth has been living a lie, maintaining a rakish facade to show society that he doesn't care about his status as a bastard. Yet long haunted by his unknown father's identity, Richard believes the Harmsworth Jewel will confirm his claim as the rightful heir. But when Richard sets out to seduce the bookworm who possesses the stone, he instead falls for its beautiful owner. But even as she steals Richard's heart, Genevieve will be in greater danger than her coveted treasure...

You can read an excerpt here: http://annacampbell.info/rakeskiss.html

As you can probably tell, we're in TO CATCH A THIEF territory. The charming moocher with the hidden agenda and the smart woman who pretty quickly works out that all is not what it seems with this particular lounge lizard.

And as in TO CATCH A THIEF, our detached, outwardly self-serving hero finds himself having to step up to the plate and become a hero in truth when it becomes apparent that there are genuinely dangerous men on the block after the treasure - and the girl!

I had enormous fun writing this story. After the gothic drama of the first Sons of Sin book, SEVEN NIGHTS IN A ROGUE'S BED, this one is much lighter.

It was so enjoyable watching these two characters fall in love much against their better judgement. It was also fun seeing more of Jonas and Sidonie from ROGUE and the other people who populate the Sons of Sin world, like Camden Rothermere, the Duke of Sedgemoor, a man upon whom I have a huge writerly crush at the moment (occupational hazard, falling in love with our heroes!).

So do you have a favorite rake from a romance novel? The reformed rake is such a stalwart of the Regency genre, but we never seem to get enough of him. Why do you think this particular breed of man is so popular with readers? I've got a signed copy of A RAKE'S MIDNIGHT KISS (ebook or print) for someone who comments today. Good luck!

Taking a Rosy View of Things!

by Anna Campbell

I have a new release this month. Hooray!

So I thought I'd celebrate with a GIVEAWAY here!

DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES is being billed as Sons of Sin 1.5 (love that!). It's an e-novella featuring Lydia, the Duke of Sedgemoor's younger sister, and her childhood sweetheart Simon.

Even better, it's available at all the usual suspects like Amazon and Barnes and Noble for the BARGAIN price of 99 cents!

By the way, don't you just adore that cover? 

Here's the blurb:

Lady Lydia Rothermere has spent the past decade trying to make up for a single, youthful moment of passion. Now the image of propriety, Lydia knows her future rests on never straying outside society's rigid rules; but hiding away the desire that runs through her is harder than she could have ever dreamed. Now as Lydia prepares for a marriage that will suit her family, but not her heart, Lydia must decide what's more important: propriety or passion?

Simon Metcalf is a rake and adventurer. But for all his experience, nothing can compare to the kiss he stole from the captivating Lydia Rothermere ten years ago. Simon can scarcely believe he's about to lose the one woman he's never forgotten. The attraction between them is irresistible, yet Lydia refuses to forsake her engagement. With his heart on the line, will Simon prove that love is a risk worth taking?

You can read an excerpt here: http://annacampbell.info/daysofrakes.html

The events in the novella take place before those in SEVEN NIGHTS IN A ROGUE'S BED (Sons of Sin 1) so Jonas is still in curmudgeon mode and Sidonie hasn't yet appeared in the characters' lives. But we get to see quite a bit of Sir Richard Harmsworth, the hero of Sons of Sin 2, A RAKE'S MIDNIGHT KISS, which is out on 27th August. And we get to see even more of Camden Rothermere, the Duke of Sedgemoor, a man who is the subject of my current writerly crush.

Prior to writing DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES, I had only written one reunion story (my e-novella THE WINTER WIFE), although as a reader, I love them. There's something really life-affirming about giving two people a second chance when either fate or their own mistakes have separated them.

In Simon and Lydia's case, her ambitious father is to blame for breaking them up in the first place, but ten years apart and Lydia's recent engagement make for a stormy homecoming for our wandering rake. Scandal has shadowed the Rothermere family and Lydia has learned through bitter experience to toe the line - can she risk everything to follow her heart? And is the man she fell in love with so many years ago worthy of her trust? After so long apart, he should be merely a handsome stranger.

How does it work out for our two star-crossed lovers? You'll have to read the story to find out!

So are you a fan of reunion romances? Do you have a favorite? 

I've got a download of DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES for one commenter today. If an international reader wins, for reasons of geographical restrictions, the prize is your choice from my indie novellas, THESE HAUNTED HEARTS or THE WINTER WIFE.

Chocoholics Unite!

by Anna Campbell

It always surprises me what gets a strong reaction on social media.

Sometimes I'll post something I think people will find really interesting - and the punters kinda shrug their shoulders and go on with their business. Then I'll put up something that I think is either silly or dull or of interest basically only to me, and I get a really strong response with lots of people weighing in to share an opinion.

Oh, well, the world would be a dull place if it was always predictable, wouldn't it?

Just before Christmas, I posted a comment on my Facebook page about eating chocolate for breakfast and was it wrong. Now, I don't think this is a world-shaking issue (although I was feeling rather guilty for attacking the Ferrero Rochers at 7am!). Over 80 comments and a whole stack of people liking the comment.

I have no idea why people enjoyed talking about this - although I have to say I had fun confessing to my self-indulgence. By the way, just to let you know, EVERYBODY said there was absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of chocolate noshing at that hour, especially considering the time of year.

Perhaps it's the magic word 'chocolate'!

I know a lot of my writer friends fuel their creativity on chocolate. I'm not quite that bad but when I'm having a rotten time with the writing, I tend to raid the pantry for those little bits of luscious goodness. My next book A RAKE'S MIDNIGHT KISS was fueled by some lovely Toblerone that my critique partner Annie West sent to speed me on my way. There's definitely a blog in that.

All this got me thinking about preferences in chocolate. I have to say my current favorites are Toblerones and Ferrero Rochers although there's an Aussie company called Haigh's that makes the most beautiful high quality chocolate, well worth checking out if it's available near you.

I'm also partial to a KitKat. Do they have them in America? They're a wafer biscuit coated in chocolate (I like the wafer in the Ferrero Rochers too)and they're popular here and in the U.K. where I used to have one as a treat when I worked at Covent Garden Markets in London now and again.

Given how close we are to Valentine's Day, it's a great time to be talking about chocolates. I imagine tons of the stuff will be sold in the next week.

So Happy Valentine's Day! What's your favorite chocolate? Or can't you stand the stuff? Bleuch or nom, nom, nom? 

The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring, Tra La!

by Anna Campbell

As promised last month, today I've got a stack of photos of Ballarat's beautiful Royal Botanical Gardens to share with you all.

I hope you're in the mood for spring flowers!

Here's the website for the gardens if you'd like more info on this beautiful corner of Australia: http://www.ballarat.com/botanicgardens/gardens/index.htm

At the start of October, I had a week of travel. I had a weekend in Melbourne and then went out to stay with good friends in Ballarat.

The last time I was in Ballarat, it was a dust bowl. They hadn't had rain for years. The huge lake in the center of town was a paddock with a muddy puddle in the middle of it. Trees that were hundreds of years old were dying for lack of water. All very tragic.

This time I visited after Victoria has had extensive rainfall and it was a different place. Lush and verdant and teeming with life. You would honestly think you were in England, some of these fields were so green and pleasant.

I had a lovely morning at the Ballarat Botanical Gardens and went wild with the camera. These are some of the shots!

You'll notice that there's a definite European flavor to the plants and design of the gardens. Deliberately so. Ballarat is a town that was founded on the fortune in gold discovered in the area. In the Victorian era, it was packed with homesick and well-to-do Britons who wanted to recreate a corner of their homeland in what they saw as an arid and alien landscape.

So we get roses and poppies and camellias and magnificent European trees. Because of Dutch elm disease, the elms in Victoria count as one of the last places in the world where you can see mature versions of these magnificent trees.

A treat at the Ballarat Gardens is Adam Lindsay Gordon's cottage. ALG was an early Australian poet who is the only Aussie writer featured in Westminster Abbey, quite an honor.

Here's his Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Lindsay_Gordon

He had a difficult and tempestuous life full of drama and incident. This scion of an aristocratic Scottish family was famous as a jockey and a wild boy.

Here's a picture of his statue which currently stands outside the Victorian parliament in Melbourne. That's a saddle at his feet, in tribute to his abilities as a horseman.

His poetry is full of vim and vigor. One of my favorite quotes of his is the one that many people know, even if they don't know who penned it:

Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone -- 
Kindness in another's trouble, Courage in your own.

It's not a bad philosophy, is it? The Queen quoted it in her Christmas message a few years ago - which I thought was a nice tribute to Adam Lindsay Gordon.


But enough  literary stuff, let's look at pretty flowers! It's spring down here in Australia. Let's celebrate!

What's your favorite flower? Do any flowers have a sentimental meaning for you? I must say I love a lot of flowers, but I think my taste tends to lean toward the traditional. I particularly love roses and peonies. What about you?