Wednesday, September 19, 2018

#Giveaway Shadows and Silk Series (Three Lessons in Seduction/Tempted by the Viscount) by Sofie Darling





GENRE:   Historical Romance

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BLURBS:

Three Lessons in Seduction blurb:


Lord Nicholas Asquith needs his wife. Too bad he broke her heart ten years ago.

Can he resist a second chance at the love he lost?

When Mariana catches the eye of the man at the center of an assassination plot, Nick puts aside their painful past and enlists her to obtain information by any means necessary, even if it means seducing the enemy agent.

Even if the thought makes his blood boil.

Only by keeping his distance from Mariana these last ten years was he able to pretend indifference to her. With every moment spent with her, he feels his tightly held control slipping...

Can she trust the spy who broke her heart?

Mariana spent the last decade forgetting Nick. Now she has the chance to best him at his own game, an opportunity she can’t resist, even as her view of him begins to shift. Increasingly, she wants nothing more than to seduce her own husband . . . 

It’s only a matter of time before mad passion ignites, a passion never convincingly extinguished. A passion that insists on surrendering to the yearning of the flesh and, quite possibly, of the heart.

Tempted by the Viscount blurb:


London, April 1825

Lord Jakob Radclyffe left his past behind in the Far East. Or so he thinks until a ruthless thief surfaces in London, threatening to ruin his daughter’s reputation. With the clock ticking, Jake needs the scandalous Lady Olivia Montfort’s connections in the art world to protect his daughter’s future.

Olivia, too, has a past she’d like to escape. By purchasing her very own Mayfair townhouse, she’ll be able to start a new life independent from all men. There’s one problem: she needs a powerful man’s name to do so. The Viscount St. Alban is the perfect name.

A bargain is struck.

What Olivia doesn’t anticipate is the temptation of the viscount. The undeniable spark of awareness that races between them subverts her vow to leave love behind. Soon, she has no choice but to rid her system of Jake by surrendering to her craving for a single scorching encounter.

But is once enough? Sometimes once only stokes the flame of desire higher and hotter. And sometimes once is all the heart needs to risk all and follow a mad passion wherever it may lead.
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Excerpt:

“Unbutton your dress?” Nick repeated. It wasn’t possible he’d heard those words in that order.

“Have you spent a single minute of your life bound within layers of corset, shift, and tightly buttoned dress? Has this ever been required for one of your spy missions?”

He couldn’t miss the scorn in her voice. “Never.”

“Then you’ll have to trust me when I suggest that it’s a bloody fantastic idea for you to unbutton me. You’ve done it before, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“I haven’t,” he said, his voice incapable of more than a low, gravelly rumble.

She blinked, and a moment passed.

Reason bade Nick exit the room and abandon the entire proposition. Under no circumstance should he close the distance between them and place his hands on Mariana’s body. Paper thin layers of chartreuse silk and muslin between his fingers and her skin wouldn’t be enough.

A few quick steps could carry him to her.

A few quick steps could undo him.


INTERVIEW

Where do you get your ideas?

            I usually find new and inspiring ideas for plot, characters, and settings when I read outside the genre I write.

What is your writing process like?

            I’m a plotter. There’s this misconception that plotting is drudgery, but, for me, it’s the opposite. First, I tape together several sheets of paper and draw a line across it lengthwise. Then I grab a stack of yellow stickies and start jotting down scene ideas, snippets of conversation, and whatever comes into my head that will go into the story. When I start arranging and rearranging the stickies on the line—voilà!—the story begins to form. For me, this is the most fun and free part of my writing process.

What advice do you have for writers?

            Read lots. Write what you love. Know your own worth.

What is the first book that made you cry?

            Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. Oh, how I wept for those hounds. My first adult book cry was The Age of Innocence by Edith Warton. Star-crossed love gets me every time.

Do you find it easier to write character and dialogue for the opposite sex because you are the opposite sex? (A woman writing a man’s part and dialogue for example).

            Honestly, I haven’t had this problem. I think if a writer takes the time to really get to know a character before he or she sits down to write, the character’s perspective will just flow. At least, that’s been my experience.

What is your writing Kryptonite?

A noisy house. I need to have ambient music playing through my earbuds when I’m writing, if anyone else is at home.

Have you ever gotten reader’s block?

I get reader’s block every time I finish a book that I loved. It can be difficult to believe I’ll ever love another one so much. Then I do!

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing, if at all?

The first round of edits I ever received from my editor was a whopper. It was a real eye-opener in terms of my use of adverbs and over-used words. It influenced me to write cleaner and more concise.

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

Since I write historical romance, I do a good bit of research about historical settings and, specifically, what was happening politically, socially, and artistically in a particular setting in a particular year. It grounds the story into time and place. Also, I read and listen to audiobooks of non-fiction just to get the general feel for the time. Recently, I dove into The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf, which chronicles the life and scientific influence of Alexander von Humboldt. Of course, reading fiction from the time period counts as research, and it happens to be great fun, too. :)
Thank you so much for inviting me over today! Xo, Sofie




AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Sofie spent much of her twenties raising two boys and reading every book she could get her hands on. Once she realized that she was no longer satisfied with simply reading the books she loved, that she must write them, too, she decided to finish her degree and embark on a writing career. Mr. Darling and the boys gave her their wholehearted
blessing.

When she’s not writing heroes who make her swoon, she runs a marathon in a different state every year, visits crumbling medieval castles whenever she gets a chance, and enjoys a slightly codependent relationship with her beagle, Bosco.

WEBSITE:
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