Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I am wicked fascinated by the premise and the heart of the novel I am about to reveal a conversation with the author today on Jorie Loves A Story – as you might have observed by my readings of the Regency series: Spinster Chronicles throughout last week – which not only peppered through my readerly feeds on the twitterverse but I’ve become to release my reviews of the novels as I’m reading them – I have an affinity of joy for the Regency!
When I was a young reader – consumed to the hilt with a passion for Cosy Mysteries – I was also exploring the Romance genre, curled inside novellas and short stories featuring Christmas Romances from both the Regency and the Victorian era of England. I was caught up in the mirth of joy reading about the London Season, the holiday parties and the curious way courtship and dating evolved through the upper middle class of British society. There was something compelling about the formality of the Regency and the curious ways in which men or women alike were attempting to circumvent tradition – some were trying to be rebels within that structure of what was expected of them and even that I found wicked intriguing to read!
I first came to realise Entangled Publishing was releasing stories I would enjoy reading when I hosted one of their Sweet Romance authors Viv Royce during my chat @SatBookChat! She is better known by her Cosy Historical Mystery name of Vivian Conroy – actively tweeting out #HistFic love and hosting her own chat #HistFicChat on Thursday afternoons for those of us stateside (3p EST). The Saturday I hosted her – I had the joy of interacting a bit more with Entangled Publishing and learning more about how they are publishing Romances for every reader who loves to read them – this means they feature Sweet Romances for gentle readers (those of us who also read INSPY Rom), Historical, Contemporary and all the uniquely variant sub-genres you can think of where a romantic plot can reside!
I am keenly excited about requesting their stories at my local library to see which of these lovelies might become purchased – thereby, giving me the chance to read them! I know one day I’ll gather copies for my personal library but if I can inspire a library to carry their authors, I can also help local readers discover the joyfulness of this publishing house as much as I have had in hosting their authors!
As you embark on reading this conversation, be sure to have brewed your favourite cuppa and get ready to feel inspired on as we discuss the components of this intriguing Regency Romance which has just enough suspenseful bits to give you a wicked good thrill of a read!
A Lady Never Tells (Interview)
Subtitle: She's hiding in plain sight...
by Lynn Winchester
Source: Publisher via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
Richard Downing may be a viscount of impeccable character, but he’s bored beyond belief of dancing at balls, faking smiles, and making dull conversation. So when he stumbles upon a house maid with defiance in her striking blue eyes and a dagger hidden in her skirts…well, color him intrigued.
Raised with a rather…peculiar upbringing, Lady Victoria Daring is full of secrets and surprises. As part of His Majesty’s personal homeland spy network and as a master of disguises, Vic is charged with infiltrating high society to uncover the enemies hiding in plain sight.
But Richard is the first man to see through her disguises–and infiltrate deep into her heart. Too bad his family is at the top of her list of suspects…
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1692807603
Published by Entangled Publishing
on 12 September, 2019
Format: Trade Paperback
Published by: Entangled Publishing (@entangledpub)
Converse via: #Regency or #RegencyRomance, #HistoricalRomance or #HistRom
and #RomSusp OR #HistoricalSuspense + #WomenOfDaring
Available Formats: Trade paperback and Ebook
I personally love Historical Romances but I oft feel curious to know how writers came into finding a passion for developing Historical Roms – either the one-offs you dearly hope would have a sequel or the series in which we ache for more after they conclude. What first tempted you to tuck into this genre and what has kept you rooted inside it?
Winchester responds: The first romance book I ever read was one of those thick Zebra romances with half naked people on the cover. It was a historical romance that took place in Louisiana. I was shocked—SHOCKED, I tell you—with how they described all that love making. I think I was 13yo at the time. That hooked me, and I devoured every Harlequin Presents, Signet Regency, or whatever else I could get my hands on. I have always had a love affair with historical romance; it was my first literary love.
My kind of romances are the varieties you are writing yourself – relationship-based roms wherein at the heart of the story there is either a budding relationship or one already established throughout the course of the romance itself. What do you love most about showcasing these kinds of romances and what do you feel is more challenging about the conflicts when you are moving between Historical and Western Romances?
Winchester responds: I love that I am writing romances that appeal to people who’re in the same boat—romantically speaking. When writing romances as Lynn Winchester, I have to be careful to focus on the build-up of the relationship using emotions alone. When I write my sexier stuff as Rosamund Winchester, I can add all the sexual tension and sexy bits that can help wrap up the romance in heat and not just emotion. The struggle there is, though, is that I have to make sure that each of the stories, no matter the subgenre, has all it needs to actually bring the reader into the romance.
What inspired the Women of Daring series and how many installments do you foresee being inclusive to the serial? Also how will the series progress – through secondary characters or characters inter-related to the leads?
Winchester responds: I love telling this story—Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. My inspiration for this series came when I watched that movie. I was THRILLED that these genteel ladies were also kick@$$ fighters who spoke Mandarin! So, I took the basic idea, added all that historical background (Opium Wars), and then added Imperial espionage to boot. You’ll be glad to know that each of the Daring siblings is getting their own story, including Love, who gets a daring woman of his own.
How did you want readers to view Richard Downing differently than the roguish bloke they might mistake him for as they first become introduced to him?
Winchester responds: That’s the beauty of the character; we see him at the beginning of his self-propelled desire to be a man of substance. Certainly, he is a titled lord, he could gad about if he wanted to, but he wants more, wants to be more. Then he meets Victoria and he wants to be more FOR HER.
When it came to researching the espionage angle of “A Lady Never Tells” – what were your most curious discoveries and how did those researched nuggets of joy intersperse into Lady Victoria Daring’s story-line?
Winchester responds: One of the things I researched was codes (though I don’t use that information in this book), and how they can be pretty much anything. For this book, though, I researched the basics of how a spy organization is formed. I took that info and created my own.
As you’ve written a Historical Romantic Suspense series within the Women of Daring – how did you counter spy aspects of the novel with the romantic? Did the balance evolve organically or were there intentional segues where you purposefully planned out where each would feel integrated into the pacing of the novel?
Winchester responds: It takes some doing to make sure that one doesn’t overtake the other, which was hard enough in the first book of a series where I had to introduce the organization AND the enemy group. It was fun, though, having Richard there when Victoria was doing her duty of kicking @$$. I loved writing about his admiration for Victoria and her skills, but I also enjoyed him bringing out her softer points. THAT was one of the hardest things to balance; Victoria’s steel spine and her soft heart.
As this is a series rooted in family – how did you want the family of the Daring’s to show evolution of growth in the series itself and in their inter-personal relationships with each other?
Winchester responds: They are all siblings, so there will be falling outs, misunderstandings, disappointments, etc. The growth will come individually as each Daring faces their own crises. Of course, their siblings will be there to aide them, love them, tease them, and fight for them. We will see the most growth in Love, however, since his book is last and he will have the most to learn as the future Earl of Gadstoke.
Every writer has a favourite secondary character in their stories – who is yours – they can be in this first installment or in one of the next chapters of the Women of Daring series. What draws you to them and why are they your favourite?
Winchester responds: My favorite secondary character is Lady Ashland, Richard’s aunt. Gawt, she was so much fun to write. I’d like to think of her as my quirky great-aunt who can slice you to shreds it her tongue but then offer you a spot of tea. She will feature in all the books because she is close friends with Lady Daring, Victoria’s mother.
We first learnt that Victoria Daring was raised in the Far East and then, her life re-shifts back to England – how did you showcase her unconventional upbringing and how did her roots in the East influence her re-acquaintance with British life?
Winchester responds: I showcased her unusual upbringing in the first chapter. How many Regency romances start with a barefoot lady sword fighting? I enjoyed researching the different aspects of British citizens in China in the 1800s. When the family moved to England, you see the Daring siblings stumble a bit, not having been immersed in their OWN culture, so, to them, the crowded balls, the need for chaperones, the food—all things that made the Daring kids cringe.
What is something which would surprise your readers about Victoria Daring?
Winchester responds: There are a lot of surprising things…they’ll have to read the book!
This series is set in the Regency – was aspects of the Regency did you love bringing into the background of the novel and what attributes of life within the Regency do you wish you could experience if you had a way to time travel?
Winchester responds: Because the Daring children are experiencing London for the first time, I enjoyed bringing all of the aspects of the Regency into the book. I loved writing how they all dealt with what they were seeing, hearing, and doing for the first time. I was a refreshing take—seeing it through their eyes. If I were a time traveler headed to Regency England, I’d want to attend a country party!
As I recently crossed paths with your publisher (Entangled Publishing) through my chat with Vivian Conroy (as she is writing a Contemporary series with them as Viv Royce) during @SatBookChat – how did you discover them and what led to your choice in seeking publication with them?
Winchester responds: Originally, I’d heard about Entangled through my employer when I worked for a PR company. Then, I attended RT in Atlanta in 2018, where I sat in on the Entangled publisher presentation. I listened as Liz Pelletier spoke about the company and what they were planning for the future, and what they were looking for, and I KNEW in my blood and bones that I HAD to write for them one day. By God’s grace, one year later, my dream had come true—I was working with the amazing Stacy Abrams on my first Entangled: Amara book.
When you are not writing and researching your novels what uplifts your spirit the most?
Winchester responds: Reading, of course.
I had such a wickedly giddy time reading through Ms Winchester’s responses to my questions – I am hoping my readers and the visitors who are threading their way through the lovely blog tour hosted by Ms Bruno @ HFVBTs will appreciate her candor, her wit and the lovely way she helps us feel as if we know a bit of keen insight into her writerly style & her characters ahead of picking up her Women of Daring series!!
I truly enjoyed putting together this interview – I only regret that I had a bit of a mix-up happen today to where I am revealling the conversation in mid-afternoon rather than in the morning! I definitely can’t wait to see if my library is going to be adding this title to their catalogue and if they do – you know you’ll be hearing back from me about how this story resonated with me and how keenly brilliant it was I could “meet” the Daring siblings at long last!
This blog tour is courtesy of:
Follow the Virtual Road Map
as you visit others participating:
As this particular one has a bookaway along the route:
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. This also extends to Book Spotlights & Book Blitzes which I choose to highlight which might have content inclusive to the post materials which I did not directly add a contribution but had the choice whether or not to feature those materials on my blog.
{SOURCES: Book cover for “A Lady Never Tells”, book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Lynn Winchester, the tour host badge and HFVBTs badge were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers 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 banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2019.
I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life
.@SatBookChat during @VivWrites's #SatBookChat we happily were introduced to lovely NEW publisher (@entangledpub) for #RomanceReaders seeking #Romance; I'm spotlighting their author @LynnWinWesterns via interview on #JLASblog for #HistRom?#HFVBTBlogTours https://t.co/UFQKwXupOf
— #SatBookChat (@SatBookChat) October 9, 2019
Hey there, I came across this post and was already intrigued by story when I read that the idea came from watching Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! Did I not tell you yesterday (over Twitter) how much I loved the movie? Now, I am definitely reading this series. :D
Hallo, Hallo Hina,
Would you believe after the library purchased this novel for me it was the worst timing once it arrived to be read? I’ve been waiting for it to circle back to me as I’ve been dearly curious about what I found inside it! I was thankful my local library could purchase it in print – they’ve been especially kind to me this past year and blessedly starting in 2020, they’ve accepted my last seven requests; five fiction, two Non-Fiction for healthy cookbooks. I must admit – the one film I *knew!* I couldn’t personally handle was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! I sort of have this thing which makes me feel an aversion to Zombies? #JustDontGetIt However, I know a lot of people love them and stories involving them – so on that note, glad that tipped your interest in this novel! Top cheers!
Did you get a hold of a copy of this story yet? We could do another buddy read for it?
What a fabulous interview! I absolutely LOVED this book & can’t wait for more from Lynn! Thank you for hosting A Lady Never Tells!
Amy
HF Virtual Book Tours
Hallo, Hallo Ms Bruno,
You’ll be happy to know – as I was talking about this on Twitter a bit earlier in the afternoon on Thursday – I submitted a purchase request for this novel! I am hoping my library can acquire it as I dearly have been itching to *read this lovely!* ever since I first spied it on your homepage for HFVBTs!!
This publisher is fastly becoming one on my bookish radar, too as they are publishing a LOT of Romance stories I am keenly interested in reading! So happy you *loved!* reading this – hopefully before the close of the year I can read it and talk to you about it!
Hosting was a delight of joy for me – thanks for including me on the tour!
I’d have loved to do a buddy read for this one as well but I have yet to get my hands on a copy. :(
Sadly, I couldn’t find it anywhere.
Ooh dear… I feel your frustration Hina! :( This happens to me quite regularly – especially for older titles I can’t suggest for purchase. It has become especially more difficult now that they re-arranged our ILL services (ie. interlibrary loan) as it used to be far easier to fetch materials (ie. books, audiobooks, seasonal dvds and motion pictures) than it is now. Still. I am thankful whenever I can source a book (or film, tv series) through the library as otherwise I’d have to have it on a list of what to gather ‘further down the road’.
Keep me posted in case you find one as like I said, I’m down in the queue whilst others are reading it.
Will do. I just realized that I replied to someone else’s comment!
lol I know… I hadn’t realised it at first, until I saw it wasn’t threading right… and I thought it was a technical glitch on my end? Then I saw what had happened and realised it was alright! I mean, it was still on the right post, and truly its easy to click the wrong reply button! Don’t even stress on it! I was just happy we could chat and reply to each other!!