From SECOND DUKE’S THE CHARM by Kate Bateman. Copyright © 2023 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.     Chapter 4   Was she really doing this? Tess shook her head in disbelief as she followed the handsome stranger through the crowded rooms. The force of her attraction was both wonderful and terrifying. His opponent had called him Thorn, but was that his surname, or a nickname? Either way, it seemed oddly appropriate. There was a sharpness about him; a dangerous kind of beauty, like the perfectly-honed edge of a blade. Perhaps it was better not knowing his name. He still held her hand. He glanced over his shoulder with a smile that made her belly flutter. The crowds thinned out as they ventured deeper into the house. Couples pressed together in darkened alcoves. Tess glanced around for Ellie and Daisy, but there was no sign of either of them. The first room they entered was occupied. Tess heard a male bellow of outrage as the door slammed shut again, and she sent a silent apology to whomever they’d inadvertently interrupted. The second room was empty, lit with a solitary lamp. She glimpsed tall…

Book Title: THE GENTLEMAN’S GAMBIT  Character Name: Lady Catriona   How would you describe your family or your childhood? I loved my childhood, at first. My parents were academics, and I was part of their excursions and research activities since I took my first steps. It was always the three of us. Then my mother did during childbirth when I was nine years old. Everything changed. My father drifted into his own world, and I was alone in a Scottish castle. I fell into books. Books became my friends, my solace, and my teachers. I did have one real-life friend, Charlie, but he turned out to be a massive disappointment. I suppose you can say I wasn’t properly socialized. By the time my father noticed I was peculiar and needed guidance to become a lady, the ship had sailed. I did not last long at Mrs. Keller’s Swiss boarding school. My father and I are on good terms now, but it was a journey.   What was your greatest talent? I have an extraordinarily high pattern recognition. It has enabled me to teach myself languages from books by myself and to become a proficient linguist. It also means I can…

What is the title of your latest release? THE RAKE AND THE ROSE   What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A pamphlet writer determined to expose the world of rakes is shocked to find she’s falling in love with one!   How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Because of the subject matter, London was definitely the best choice! That’s where all the Clubs were!   Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Absolutely. She’s whip smart, kind, and strong.   What are three words that describe your hero? Determined, sexy, empathetic.   What’s something you learned while writing this book? That most of the exclusive clubs for mistresses to meet rakes were in St. John’s Wood during the period this is set in.   Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I am totally done and then go back!   What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? It changes. But I love hot baths and amazing books.   Describe your writing space/office! Anywhere I can dictate or bring my laptop! Usually, parks, my car (no really!), and coffee shops.   Who is an author you…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE DUCHESS AND THE WOLF 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Red Riding Hood meets the glittery underworld of Moulin Rouge! 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Susannah makes her first appearance as a side character in Cinderella and the Duke, and I knew that I wanted her as a protagonist. I also knew she wouldn’t be at all like Julia, my first main character. Susannah is very shy and dreamy, not a mover and shaker in society. I knew she’d want to get away from all of that—she would actually hate being married to a duke with the eyes of the ton on her. Since I had already written her as a talented musician, I decided that she’d seek her path to freedom through her music. That, in turn, led me to the idea of her living a double life as a debutante by day, nightclub musician by night. Everything flowed from there. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! Susannah’s forward thinking, very sweet, and artistic. She’d be a great friend. 5–What are three words that describe your…

1–What is the title of your latest release? EVERY DUKE HAS HIS DAY 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? LOL – I actually said it’s “Bringing Up Baby” done Jane Austen style. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’ve written approximately 50 books now, and probably 45 of them have been set during the English Regency period. I just love that time period, and I’m not finished with it yet. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? If I wasn’t intensely introverted, I would love to hang out with Bitsy. She loves parties, friends, and dancing, and she’s very popular. I personally find her exhausting. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Brilliant, Direct, Curious 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I had to do a ton of research about science during the Regency. It was fascinating, some of the things that had been discovered. Somehow they’d already measured the speed of light, and Michael Faraday, on whom my Michael is very loosely based, had discovered that chlorine exists as a gas and a liquid, and had done a ton of electricity and elemental experiments. 7–Do…

1–What is the title of your latest release? MAD ROGUES AND ENGLISHWOMEN, book 5 of the Highland Brides series. 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A reclusive English painter and a roguish Scottish journalist banter and buss their way into intrigue in turn of the 19th century Edinburgh in the last book of the critically acclaimed Highland Brides. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I already had my Highland Brides series, which was mostly set in the Scottish countryside, but a wonderful trip to Edinburgh (in the years before Covid) with some fellow writers convinced me to set the book in Auld Reeky, as the city is affectionately called. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! Archie Carrington, the youngest-ever editor of the Edinburgh Review, is actually based upon a friend from my own youth, who was at that time an idealistic young journalist, full of the righteousness power of the pen. He was handsome and dashing and full of brio, just as a hero ought to be, and I’m happy to say he’s still handsome and still a friend, who has gone on to a brilliant, long…

The Scandals and Scoundrels of Drury Lane hits ereaders this week with the release of the first book in the series, THE DUKE OF DRURY LANE by Tammy Andresen. Each Tuesday through October, another of the 8 novellas about the backstage shenanigans of a Regency theater company will be released, until the joint cast of characters finally get their production on stage. Here at Fresh Fiction, we thought it would be fun to get to know the series a little better by asking the 8 authors a little bit more about their characters. Most likely to bet his salary on a card game? ANSWER: Florizel Holland from THE DISASTER OF DRURY LANE. Bet his salary on a card game? Flory bets himself in a card game…and loses. Most likely to win a dockside barfight? ANSWER: Kit Hollingsworth, the Earl of Kentwell from THE SCOUNDREL OF DRURY LANE because he was forced to live in servitude as a convict in Australia under very rough conditions and was hardened by seven years of that life. Most likely to keep secrets? ANSWER: Lady Mercy Ainsworth from THE DEVIL OF DRURY LANE. As the daughter of an earl, Mercy hides her artistic gifts behind…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE DUKE AND THE DRESSMAKER 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? When a dressmaker borrows money from a notorious money lender to help her little sister, her life is about to fall apart. . . But a duke devoted to justice steps in and just might steel her heart. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I adore the early Regency period and Lily is a character from The Beast and the Bookseller, so I knew the book would take place in London. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely. Both of them. They are fun, love to laugh, and both very wounded. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Determined, intelligent, grit. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? The Lock Asylum was a place of voluntary admission! Though the Lock doesn’t play heavily in this book, I thought it was very interesting. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I write the whole thing then go back usually, or in sections. 8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? Chocolate cake all the way!…

1–What is the title of your latest release? My latest historical romance was TWELFTH KNIGHT’S BRIDE! If you read it, then you’ve already met Brighde MacDonald from my newest release, A HIGHLAND ROGUE TO RUIN, as well as heard of Tormund MacLeod. And my latest contemporary was THE COWBOY’S TEXAS HEART, book 3 of that series. 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Tormund MacLeod, the “Demon of the Seas,” is bent on revenge for the death of his brother, when a bonny angel throws him off his guard. Too late, he realizes she’s the sister of the man he wants brought to justice. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’d already established Brighde and Tormund as side characters in my Scottish historical, Twelfth Knight’s Bride, as well as hinted at an annual Inverness faire each summer. So it made sense to set this book in Inverness, and make the faire the summer harvest festival called Lughnasadh! I like the idea of holiday traditions and events being used to bring people together. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! Brighde would be fun, sweet, and such a loyal friend….

Douglas awoke on the singular thought that somehow during the night, whilst he’d been asleep, and without him even waking because of it, someone had clubbed him over the head with a cudgel. He stirred, tried to swallow, his mouth wanting water. Just the effort of opening his eyes to squint against the muted light of the dawn caused him to set his teeth, top to bottom, together. Any noise—the lads working in the stables outside, muffled voices coming from the downstairs taproom, the simple closing of a door down the hall—all of it took on a volume that thrummed, throbbed, ached. Why the devil had he drunk so damned much whisky? He’d not woken to a morning thus since he’d been a lad of fourteen, the day after he and his younger brother, Iain, had stolen their way into their uncle’s underground distillery. They’d been two green boys who’d wanted to play at being men and Douglas had learned then that while the drink of his ancestors went down quite smoothly, it came up with a violence that could make a grown man—or a fourteen year old lad—weep out loud. He’d spent two days afterward hanging over a chamber…