Hallo, Hallo dear hearts, I am taking part in a special series of interviews!
I recently had the joy of sharing with you a conversation about my fascination and appreciation for #HistoricalRomances when I shared my interview with Rebecca Connolly! She wrote the Spinster Chronicles – of which I am reading the first two installments of her series this November! However, anchoured to the joyfulness of discovering her stories, this Autumn I had the pleasure of finding out about *Somerstone!* and the Regency House Party series!
This is one of those uniquely styled *round robin!* stories wherein each new author who steps into the story-line is picking up the threads of the previous author’s installment! Similar in the vein of why I am enjoying reading the Return of the Blackwell Brothers? Herein as we get a lovely introduction to Somerstone through a series of interviews and conversations I crafted together with the authors who make up this new series set in the Regency – one of my eras of preference for #HistRoms – we get to sort out what inspired the authors as they wrote their individual installments but also, get the chance to learn more about how the series was assembled!
Publishers (or in this case, the writers themselves!) create these nifty ‘mini-series’ and serial round robins not just to create a more unique environment for the reader to explore but also for their authors! There are several of these within my beloved #LoveINSPIRED Suspense I am slowly making my way through and finding out there is one for the Regency was truly a lift of joy to find! Especially as like most Regencies – when there is a ball or a formal party afoot, there is generally a heap more going on than what is generally taken on appearance alone! Where tucked away secrets can percolate to the surface and where everyone either knows someone directly or indirectly through their peerage, family or friends!
The beauty of course is going story by story, seeing how the arc of the series will continue to increase in climax and how each new writer who steps into an installment will put their own spin on the established narrative. The points of view could change or the mannerisms of the character(s) themselves could feel altered a bit – but if the whole of the mini-series maintains its rhythm and internal heart of centre, what you will discover dear hearts is a smashingly lovely respite to curl inside as the hours melt off the clock!
As this is a promotional tour focusing on the Digital First status of the novellas, I opted to host the series of interviews in lieu of reviews as I am eager for each of the novellas to become released into print. Although in theory, they might have already released – I haven’t checked on all the statuses when I shared my first interview in this series! It will take me a bit to gather them but I might also, lean on my local library to see if they might want to add this series to their card catalogue ahead of when I can bring a set home! Then, I shall have the same pleasure of joy of disappearing inside this series start to finish, finding what the readers on this blog tour have discovered and beyond! For the Regency holds a dear spot in my bookish heart!
May your #AutumnReads be as excitingly awesome as mine are becoming!
One can only be careless with so many hearts before he ends up breaking his own.
Lord Anthony is an outrageous flirt with a devil-may-care attitude. The last thing on his mind is settling down. When the Countess Du’Breven invites him to her house party, promising to see him married, Anthony finds the prospect diverting and accepts. But when he meets a damsel in distress unwilling to accept his help, Anthony realizes his attraction to her may be his downfall.
Isabel Townshend is at her breaking point, caring for her ailing father and her innocent younger sister. She has a family secret to protect and no time for handsome young men, even at a house party with so many eligible bachelors. When Lord Anthony disturbs her well-laid plans, Isabel realizes her determination to protect her family may cost her future happiness.
With hearts at odds and defenses drawn, will Isabel and Anthony be able to put aside their differences and find love at last?
An Unlikely Courtship is one of five books set in the Regency House Party Series. While each is a stand alone story, watch our characters mingle together with others from the books in the series. The stories can be read in any order.
These novels and stories set in Somerstone within the Regency House Party series were first serialised via RegencyHouseParty.com and were thus independently published afterwards.
Regency House Party: @RegencyParty | Instagram | Facebook Group
Published on: 19th August, 2018 | ISBN: 978-1719812603
Formats Available: Paperback and Ebook
Converse via: #Somerstone + #RegencyHouseParty OR #Regency and #HistRom
What unites the stories of the Somerstone series? Is it the setting, the characters or something not as obvious to observe?
Kimball responds: Somerstone Manor is the huge sprawling mansion where each of the characters are invited by the Countess Du’Breven. And then throughout the series, you’ll see characters from each of the stories. Sometimes a lot, sometimes a little. One of my characters has a bit of a tendress for a character another author created, which is pretty fun.
I love how each story builds on the last, which is why I can’t wait to read them as a collective whole verse trying to read them individually. I look forward to collecting them in print and then, delving into this world you’ve all created!! Now, I understand – the hostess invited everyone to congeal at one particular place and moment in time – then, everything evolves forward from there! I love too how you could choose to carry forward another character first created by another of the Somestone authors!
What was your first introduction into Regency Romances and what first drew a breathe of joy whilst you were reading the story or author which charmed your life with the beauty of the Regency?
Kimball responds: The first time I ever read a regency romance was when I was 15 years old and I had the chance to choose Pride and Prejudice out of a selection of books for my sophomore English class. Once I got into it, I could not put it down. The weekend I was reading it we were on a family trip and I’d even invited along a friend, but all I wanted to do was finish it because it was so fabulous. I loved the awkward scene at Pemberly where Elizabeth is so thoroughly embarrassed. Jane Austen pulled me into the Regency world and never really let me go.
I wish I had read PRIDE sooner than I had – I honestly waited til Keira Knightley was releasing her adaptation to theaters – I am still making my way through the rest of her canon, but I agree with you about how PRIDE is a story and world of the Regency in of itself. There is something magical about how she curated this story and for me, I readily admit it is one of my personal favourites. I could literally reside in the Regency (and Victorian) eras in literature for quite a long while before shifting out into other eras and generations. There are so many wonderful lovely stories to feel wrapped inside and that is a credit to all the writers who enchant us with these particular entries into eras we love most to read!
What did you enjoy the most about writing about a rogue who was indifferent to love but couldn’t quite help himself becoming smitten by a woman who took him unawares? (as generally is the case!) What is it about developing the background for a rogue which excited you the most? As they are such a fixture of the Regency!
Kimball responds: I love that you appreciate Lord Anthony as he deserves to be appreciated :) I think it was fun (and hard) creating a real character that was roguish but still likable. I liked creating Isabel’s secret that intrigued him enough to be willing to try and get to know her. Creating Lord Anthony’s background was harder than I thought it would be . . . but I think he is real in that there are things from his past that shaped him into who he is presently . . . and it is Isabel that ultimately helps him decide to change and shape him into something else.
As I was reading about Lord Anthony (ahead of reading the novel) these thoughts struck me as being of his nature and I felt I had a good feeling about who he was as a character. Thank you for confirming I had stumbled into his identity and what he is like once I get to meet him in the story itself! I look forward to seeing how you wrote in the layers and how you dealt with having a challenge in creating Lord Anthony past and present to honour who he is as we see him now.
What is it about the Regency and Victorian eras do you feel continue to breathe life into a reader’s heart and draw them back for more stories set within these two generations where romance & chivalry were abundant?
Kimball responds: I think the absolute subtlety of these periods are what people love. It is the secretive glance, the tiniest touch while dancing rather than the overt and flashy trends of our world today.
I couldn’t agree more!! Sometimes it is the gentler ways romance evolves through ordinary life that is much more enlightening than anything ‘flash and glam’ as you said. Romance doesn’t have to be overt to be tender nor does it have to be something over the top to be treasured.
How did you carry forward the other characters’ moving in and out of the series into your own story? What was your favourite part about this clever serial collaboration and are you planning to work with these authors again?
Kimball responds: The character integration was so much harder than I expected it to be! But it was so much fun trying to figure out how to weave them in and out, and one of my characters unexpectedly fell in love with another author’s character in the process. I definitely plan to work with all of these authors again – they are fabulously talented and we have so much fun working together. We joke about how someday we’ll publish our group chats as extra material so people can see what creating this series looked like behind the scenes.
OOH that would be a keenly brilliant idea!! You should do that – compile your chats as “Behind Somerstone: How the Stories Created Themselves” or something like it!! Almost like how they publish screenplays for tv series and films? It would be the kind of behind-the-book release which would give a new impression of how five writers came together and found a heap of joy in creating stories in a shared universe! I love that idea! I hope you guys run with it!
Also, I am loving how my series of interviews are knitting together – so much so – I can’t wait to finally resie in Somestone one day myself! I truly appreciate the time you took to give my readers and I a bit of insight into your installment but also, how the series as a whole was developed through the art of sisterhood friendship and a conjoined passion for the Regency!
About Heidi Kimball
At a young age Heidi perfected the art of hiding out so she could read instead of doing chores. One husband and four children later, not much has changed. She has an abiding love for peanut butter M&Ms, all things fall, and any book that can make her forget she is supposed to be keeping her children alive.
Heidi currently lives just north of Boston, in a charming old town in southern New Hampshire.
This Blog Tour Stop is courtesy of SLB Tours:
Follow the Virtual Road Map
by visiting the blog tour route:
especially as this is a tour offering a special giveaway
Similar to blog tours where I feature book reviews, as I choose to highlight an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog. I provide the questions for interviews and topics for the guest posts; wherein I receive the responses back from publicists and authors directly. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them; I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers.
{SOURCES: Book cover of “An Unlikely Courtship”, synopsis, author photograph of Heidi Kimball, author biography, the blog tour banner and SLB Tours badge were all provided by SLB Tours and used with permission. Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Conversations with the Bookish and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2018.
I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life
I personally ADORE the #Regency – as soon as I discovered there was a SERIES of #cleanromances w/in this era of interest, I couldn't wait to host a sequence of author interviews in a round robin style of my own!
1st convo feat. @MLLPennington
✍️https://t.co/Qn55IIqsCw | #HistRom pic.twitter.com/6jr44wVAU7— Jorie Story | #amwriting?? (@joriestory) November 11, 2018
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