Mary Jo here. Today I'm delighted to interview my sister Word Wench, Anne Gracie about her new book, The Scoundrel's Daughter, the first in her new series, The Brides of Bellaire Gardens.
Reviews so far have been very positive. On Book Page it was called "an excellent new romance" and concludes "Within these two love stories, Gracie paints a beautiful portrait of two women becoming fuller, happier versions of themselves." The blog Flippin' Pages gave it 5 stars and said: "This delightfully romantic and entertaining book has it ALL! Wonderful characters, wit, laugh-worthy humor, a despicable, shrewish harpy who definitely gets her comeuppance, TWO swoon-worthy romances, three adorable little girls, and it is all set a very realistic and well-described Regency London."
MJP: Anne, your cover is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen and it reflects the setting of the book. Romance series most often are built around family members or groups of friends, yet you've chosen a physical setting, Bellaire Gardens, a place so charming that we Word Wenches chose it for the setting of this year's Anniversary Blog, part 1 and part 2.
Anne: Thanks, Mary Jo — I feel very blessed to get that beautiful cover. The Berkley Art Dept. has done a wonderful job. I sent them the photo below of a wisteria arch and they clearly liked it.
As for the setting, I wanted something a little bit different to connect the various characters and, since I've always loved gardens, I chose a large private garden, surrounded by houses and only accessible through each house's back gate. Each of the women in the series live on Bellaire Gardens, and of course, they each will become brides.
MJP: Often in romance, words like scoundrel, rogue, or rake are used to describe charming but basically honorable heroes. Not in this book! Please tell us about Octavius Bamber, who is genuinely despicable.
Anne: Bamber is the catalyst to the whole plot — and yes, he's not a nice man. My heroine, Alice, has just finished her obligatory one year of mourning after the death of her unpleasant husband, and after paying off the debts he left, is preparing to live a quiet, peaceful life — pleasing herself for a change, instead of other people.
Then Bamber turns up, brandishing letters that she could not bear to be made public, but instead of money (which she doesn't have) he wants her to bring his daughter out in society and get her married to a lord. But the daughter, with whom he's had very little contact for most of her life, wants nothing to do with society or lords. Does he care? Not a bit. He wants the lordly connection to enhance his own status. (You can read a bit of the scene where Alice first meets the scoundrel here.)
(The photo here and below are of the Ladbroke Estate, which was one of my many sources of inspiration.)
MJP: The Scoundrel's Daughter has many heartwarming relationships, including two different romances and an unexpected and transformative friendship between two women. How much of this is planned in advance? For example, the two romances are pretty much opposite in how they evolve. Did these relationships just manifest as you were writing?
Anne: Thank you. Mostly characters and their relationships develop as I'm writing, rather than being the result of pre-plotting. I might try to plan things ahead, but characters will often surprise me in what they say or do and while that can derail the plot I had in mind, it almost always makes the story better. For instance I wasn't expecting Lucy (the scoundrel's daughter) to act up the way she did at first, which resulted in her and Alice taking an initial dislike to each other — and that developed into the "unexpected and transformative friendship between two women" that you mentioned — and thank you for those very kind words.
As for the two contrasting romances — one is all sparks and banter and a good dose of mischief, and the other is slower and more emotional and intense — Alice, remember is a disillusioned widow. But her hero is a man who understands love and refuses to give up on her. So I really enjoyed exploring the two different love stories.
MJP: Could you give us an enticing sample of your story?
Anne: In this scene Alice's nephew, Gerald meets Lucy (the scoundrel's daughter) at a party in his honor. He doesn't realize that he's met her before, and she has no intention of enlightening —or encouraging— him. . .
“Have you been in London long, Miss Bamber?” Gerald asked.
“Not long.” Lucy plied her fan and gazed across the room, apparently uninterested.
“Have you seen many of the city sights yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Perhaps I could show you some of them—with Aunt Alice, of course, or some suitable companion.” Alice was surprised by his offer. Gerald never squired young ladies around. He couldn’t possibly be interested in Lucy, could he?
“Perhaps,” Lucy said vaguely. Her gaze wandered over the crowd.
“Are you interested in art? I’m told the Elgin Marbles are very popular.” Then, when Lucy didn’t respond, he added, “Or perhaps you prefer flowers. Kew Gardens has some remarkable specimens from all over the world.
“Mmm? Flowers? My godmother has flowers in her garden,” she said in a seen-one-flower-seen-them-all kind of voice.
Alice didn’t know whether to laugh or weep. On the one hand, she was relieved that Lucy was showing no interest in Gerald. But oh, she was being so naughty.
Gerald persisted. “Perhaps Astley’s Amphitheatre would be more to your taste. They put on some quite spectacular shows.”
Lucy gazed at something over to the right and didn’t answer.
“Miss Bamber? Did you hear me?” Gerald sounded annoyed. He was not used to young ladies ignoring him. Quite the contrary. “I asked you about Astley’s Amphitheatre.”
For a moment Lucy didn’t respond at all, then she said in an awed voice, “That woman over there is wearing the largest turban I’ve ever seen in my life. I wonder how she makes it stay on.”
MJP: What comes next in The Brides of Bellaire Gardens?
Anne: The next story is called The Rake's Daughter, and it's about two young women — half sisters — whose neglectful rakish father is now dead. They come to London to enter society, but the guardian their father appointed (by mistake) insists that only one of them can enter society, and that people would be scandalized by the presence of the illegitimate sister at their exclusive ton events. The sisters set out to prove him wrong. It will be published next year.
MJP: Will there be a giveaway?
Anne: Yes indeed. I'll give a copy of The Scoundrel's Daughter to someone who leaves a comment or answers this question: The Scoundrel's Daughter is set in a beautiful garden at the beginning of spring. What's your favorite spring flower?