by Mary Jo
Due to stealth and cunning, I was able to acquire an early copy of Word Wench Anne Gracie's The Spring Bride, third in her Chance Sisters series. I volunteered to interview her about the book, which gives me an opportunity to gush about it. <G>
I love the Chance Sisters, and I'm not alone in that. The first book, The Autumn Bride, made several "best of the year" lists including Library Journal and NPR, and was also a RITA finalist. The Winter Bride received several starred reviews, an RT top pick, and was voted Favourite Historical by members of the Australian Romance readers Association. The Spring Bride received 4 1/2 stars from Romantic Times, and I think it may be the best Chance sister book yet.
MJP: Anne, could you tell us how the Chance Sisters came to be?
AG: Firstly thanks for those very kind words, Mary Jo. As for how the Chance Sisters came to be — sometimes ideas for stories come to me just as I'm falling asleep or waking up — that semi-dream state is a fertile time for me. It's almost like a film is rolling in my head, and I get images and dialogue — quite vivid.
So, in this semi-dream there was a young woman climbing through the window of an old mansion at night — I knew she was desperate and intending to steal something, and I knew she'd never done anything like this before. Inside the room she finds an aristocratic old lady, bedridden and in dire straits. So I wrote it all down in the notebook I keep by my bed, and it's pretty much word for word the scene in The Autumn Bride where Abby meets Lady Bea.
The rest came from brainstorming and nutting things out. <g>
MJP: The heroine of Spring Bride is Jane, the young biological sister of Abby, heroine of the first book. Up to this point, she wasn't too developed, being mostly rather quiet and very beautiful, in the way that causes trouble. Can you talk about how you developed her into such an interesting protagonist?
AG: Yes, in the earlier books Jane was very much the baby sister. She had lived a fairly sheltered life — in an orphanage from the age of six to eighteen, and then was with her sisters, so she was both young and inexperienced. Really it was just a matter of digging around in her backstory — those early childhood memories of the time she and Abby were struggling to survive had had a huge influence on Jane's personality. She wants a home and children and she's determined to keep them safe —safer than she and Abby ever were — so she's ready to make a sensible convenient marriage. She's a very conventional good girl at the start. But she really develops during this story, and I think readers will be cheering for her by the end. (That's the Australian cover on the right.)
MJP: The delightful hero, Zachary Black, hasn't appeared in the series before. Please tell us about him!
AG: I'm glad you like him — I had fun with Zach! When I was planning the series, I had another hero in mind for Jane, but when I realized who she'd become, I knew that she needed a different hero — one who would challenge her and force her to grow. And Zach was just the ticket — a charming rogue who apparently has no home, no income, and is, to all intents and purposes completely and utterly impossible. And yet . . .
Zach left his home under a cloud when he was sixteen and he hasn't been back. He's been drifting around Europe, doing a bit of spying for the government during the war, and now has returned to England to find himself caught up in a legal tangle. Nothing much matters to Zach — he takes life lightly — but as the story progress, he realizes he can't keep drifting. Apart from anything , there's this girl . . .
MJP: There is also a dog…..
AG: Ah, yes. The dog brings these two unlikely people together. Jane was the girl, you may remember, who was responsible for bringing the cats to Lady Beatrice's house. In this story she rescues a dog from being kicked to pieces by a group of young thugs. And when the thugs turn on her, a certain tall, dark gypsy comes to her rescue.
MJP: You're the one who taught me how effective an excerpt can be, so please give us one!
AG: This takes place immediately after the dog rescue. The gypsy (Zach) has routed the young thugs and Jane is investigating the state of the dog.
Judging the moment right, she reached out to touch the dog.
Again, the gypsy grabbed her, this time by the wrist.
Jane jumped. The dog flinched and growled again.
She froze a moment, staring down at the big hand holding her wrist so firmly. Warm, brown, masculine fingers wrapped around her bare skin. She would have imagined a gypsy's hands would feel rough but his didn't. She tried to remember how those hands had smashed into those young thugs. His grip was strong, but he wasn't hurting her.
With dignity, she turned her head to glare at him. An unhand-me-sir sort of glare. A society-lady-to-gypsy sort of glare.
It ought to have put him in his place.
It didn't.
Their gazes locked for an endless moment. Gray-green eyes bored unapologetically into hers, warm hard fingers gripped her firmly. The noise of the city, the dismal reek of the alleyway, even the dog faded again from her awareness. Such bright, hard, unsettling eyes. Soul-stealing eyes. She swallowed and fought to maintain her composure.
*There are more snippets on my website and blog. On my website you'll see the "enter the hero" moment, and see just what a rogue Zachary Black is.
MJP: The Spring Bride is wonderfully romantic and full of surprises and great secondary characters. So now of course I want to know about the next book, The Summer Bride! And is it my imagination, or might there be another couple of characters in the background who might move to center stage in the future?
AG: The Summer Bride is, of course, Daisy's story. I love Daisy. She's gutsy and earthy and vulnerable and she has a passion for creating beautiful clothes. I'm having fun with her story as well.
As for these background characters you mention, I'm not sure who you mean. I always battle with characters who spring to life and want stories of their own. <g>
MJP: You're just born to conjure heroes, Anne! Thanks so much for telling us about The Spring Bride. (I totally love the cover, by the way, and the Australian one is also lovely.)
AG: Thanks for interviewing me, Mary Jo, and for giving me such lovely feedback about the book. As for the cover, I've been lucky there, I think.
MJP: Anne will give away one copy of the book to someone who leaves a comment or a response by midnight Tuesday to this question:
Do you like or dislike animals in stories? Do you have a favorite?