Amanda Forester Q&A and giveaway

I would like to welcome Amanda Forester to Royal Reviews.

Question 1- Tell us something about yourself, so that we can get to know you a bit better…

Hi! Thanks for inviting me here today! I am excited to be celebrating the release of my first book in a new Regency series. A few years ago I would have never considered being published or even writing a book. It wasn't until I went through the anxious time of having my husband deployed to Iraq that I ever considered it. I was super stressed and needed some kind of relief. Basically, it was either writing or taking up the bottle. I'm so glad I started to write!
Question 2- Your romance novel, A Wedding in Springtime, is out now—congrats!  Could you tell us about it?

Five minutes into Miss Eugenia Talbot's presentation at court, notorious rogue Mr. William Grant makes her laugh before the queen, ruining her debut. To hush up the scandal, Genie needs to make a brilliant marriage, and fast.  Genie's aunt hires a matchmaker to find a suitor—anyone except the infamous William Grant—but amiable Genie shows a disturbing tendency to follow her heart.  When a traitor creeps closer, threatening to ruin more than just her reputation, Genie and Grant are drawn into a dangerous world of deceit and intrigue, where losing their hearts could mean their ultimate undoing.
Question 3- This is the first book in your new Marriage Mart series. Could you tell us more about this new series?

This series follows a matchmaker as first she finds first a match between the amiable Eugenia Talbot and confirmed rogue William Grant in A WEDDING IN SPRINGTIME. Next the matchmaker takes on the difficult case of the uncouth American Harriet Redgrave and the reticent Scotsman, Lord Thornton in MIDSUMMER BRIDE. Finally, the matchmaker herself, Miss Penelope Rose, finds true love in the final book in the series, WINTER WEDDING. All the while, spies and traitors have infiltrated London society during this dangerous time in the Napoleonic war, and our heroes and heroines must work together to defend against them and reveal their true nefarious character.
Question 4- This is also your first book set in the Regency era, what inspired you to set this series in this era?

Shhhh - don't tell my husband but I have a deep and abiding love for Mr. Darcy. If Darcy didn't live in the Regency (and wasn't a literary character) my marriage might be in trouble! I fell in love with the time period from reading the masters: Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. The Regency is a unique period of time that represents the crossroads between the opulent abuses of the 18th century and the strict morality of the Victorian era. This intriguing blend provides a wealth of opportunities for interesting plots, characters, and love stories.
Question 5- While doing research for this book did you find anything odd or interesting that stuck with you?

I did some interesting research on how young ladies with introduced to the Queen, which opened doors in society, and was the stamp of approval for a young woman to enter adult society. Many rules governed the presentation, including a very specific dress code, which consisted of a pink or purple silk gown, the more elaborate the better. Presentations lasted no more than a few minutes for each debutant, but these few minutes were so important more than one Regency mama hired special tutors to help their daughters have a smooth presentation. One of the most tricky aspects was to make a full courtly bow while wearing elaborate headgear and then walk backwards (one never turned their back to their queen) without tripping on the train of the gown.
Question 6- What can readers expect next?

A WEDDING IN SPRINGTIME was just released and will be followed by MIDSUMMER BRIDE this fall and WINTER WEDDING in the fall of 2014. In order to create a bridge between my medieval Highlander series I will also be releasing some novellas, set in medieval Scotland, which feature the medieval ancestors of my Regency heroes. The first one, HIGHLAND BRIDE'S CHOICE, will be available as an e-book this fall.

Amanda Forester holds a PhD in psychology and worked for many years in academia before discovering that writing historical romance novels was way more fun. She lives with her husband and two energetic children in the Pacific Northwest outside Tacoma,Washington.

 

Her Timing Couldn't Be Worse...

Miss Eugenia Talbot's presentation to the queen is spoiled by a serious faux pas—the despicable William Grant made her laugh, right in front of Her Majesty. Now Eugenia is ruined and had better marry—someone, anyone—at once...

And His Couldn't Be Better...

Roguish William Grant has never taken anything seriously in his life. Until he meets Eugenia Talbot, who makes him feel and do thing he never thought he would.

Now Eugenia's great sense of humor and kindheartedness may be her undoing, unless William can help her find a husband. To his surprise, that's the last thing he wants to do...

One lucky winner will win a mass-market paperback of A Wedding in Springtime

To enter, please leave your name and a valid email address

Giveaway is US only

Will end on May 20

The Yard by Alex Grecian

Title: The Yard
Author: Alex Grecian
Publisher: Putnam Books
Genre: Historical Mystery
Pages: 422
How I Read It: ARC received from the publisher – The views expressed in my review are mine alone and I have received no compensation for these opinions.

My Rating: 4 Crowns

Synopsis: 1889, London.  Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror is finally over, but a new one is just beginning…

Victorian London is a cesspool of crime, and Scotland Yard has only twelve detectives – known as “The Murder Squad” – to investigate thousands of murders every month.  Created after the Metropolitan Police’s spectacular failure to capture Jack the Ripper, the Murder Squad suffers rampant public contempt.  They have failed their citizens.  But no one can anticipate the brutal murder of one of their own…one of twelve…

When Walter Day, the squad’s newest hire, is assigned the case of the murdered detective, he finds a strange ally in the Yard’s first forensic pathologist, Dr. Bernard Kingsley.  Together they track the killer, who clearly is not finished with the Murder Squad…but why?

*Synopsis taken from the back of the book

My Review: It’s difficult for me to imagine a time when police work didn’t involve fingerprinting and the forensics we have today, but we all know that time existed.  The Yard takes us back to that time, with Jack the Ripper fresh in the memory of the public, and a lot of people calling into question the ability of the police.

This novel opens with the discovery of a body in a trunk at a train station.  The body belongs to Inspector Little, and no one knows why he is dead, just that it likely has something to do with his work.  Without the use of modern technology, even determining what weapon might have been used to kill someone is difficult, let alone tracing down the person who did the killing.

Due to his newness to the squad, Inspector Walter Day is tapped to head up the investigation into who could have murdered one of their own.  This gives Inspector Day the chance to prove himself and hopefully answer the question – is London really for him?  He’s joined by a doctor who has taken it upon himself to start studying the dead, an Inspector who vouched for him for no real reason, and a Constable who is pulled into the investigation for purely personal reasons.

This story is a mystery in the sense of wondering if and how the police will figure out who their killer is, and worrying about what else might happen along the way.  As the reader, we know who the killer is somewhat early on, but that didn’t make it any less suspenseful for me.  Something I thought very early on was…why leave this body in a trunk at the train station, where it’s sure to be found relatively quickly?  Why not throw it in the Thames?  But we’re dealing with a madman, and there are no real logical answers in that sort of situation.

I was fascinated by how the police work was done in this novel.  It seems pretty accurate, even for today – you get talented people looking into things, but it also comes to luck and the knack for being at the right place at the right time.  Whether any of this was accurate or not isn’t necessarily important to me.  I was entertained and I enjoyed the ride.  I didn’t want to put the novel down, despite the gruesome nature of some of the scenes.  An all-around lovely suspense story!

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