We've got a guest!!

I am so excited today! It is my first author interview!

My guest today is award winning, reviewer and reader acclaimed! (How often does that really happen?)

 Readers have called her stories fun and fabulous, her characters charming and endearing. And I have to call her love scenes scorching!

I am delighted to introduce you to Bronwen Evans!

She is touring some fantastic blogs this month to promote her latest release; To Challenge The Earl of Cravenswood

(from the publisher)

New Zealander Bronwen Evans grew up loving books. She’s always indulged her love for story-telling, and is constantly gobbling up movies, books and theatre. Her head is filled with characters and stories, particularly lovers in angst. Is it any wonder she’s a proud romance writer?

She writes both historical and contemporary sexy romances for the modern woman who likes intelligent, spirited heroines, and compassionate alpha heroes. Her debut Regency romance, Invitation to Ruin won the RomCon 2012 Readers Crown Best Historical and was an RT Reviewers’ Choice Nominee Best First Historical 2011. To Dare the Duke of Dangerfield was a FINALIST in the Kindle Book Review Indie Romance Book of the Year 2012. Look out for her first Entangled Publishing Indulgence release in late 2012, The Italian Conte’s Reluctant Bride.

Nice Girl: Hi Bronwen, Welcome to the blog! This is my first author interview, so I hope you'll excuse the excitement. The blog's a little dusty so brush off the cobwebs and have a seat.

Bronwen: Hi Morgan, thanks for letting me stop by and introduce myself and my latest Regency romance release, To Challenge the Earl of Cravenswood, book #3 in the Wicked Wagers trilogy.

First, here’s the blurb for the story

To Challenge the Earl of Cravenswood (Wicked Wagers Book 3):

To live happily ever after...

Henry St. Giles, the Earl of Cravenswood, longs to find his soul mate. Now that his two best friends, both reformed rakes, are happily married, the need becomes an obsession. When they challenge him to find a wife by the end of the season or marry his neighbor, the innocently alluring Lady Amy Shipton, he can’t believe his luck. He wins, either way. But a darkened garden, a case of mistaken identity, a drunken kiss, and a dropped emerald earring, leads Henry on a Cinderella hunt. He knows the woman he held in his arms could be the one he's searched for all his life. He just has to find her.

Lady Amy Shipton is determined to marry for love instead of sharing her husband like her mother did. So why did she let her handsome neighbor and romantic fantasy, the Sinful Saint as he's called for his bedroom prowess, seduce her in his garden? And what can she do when in the middle of their passionate encounter; he whispers another woman's name. Now Henry is hunting the owner of the earring Amy left behind, and she's determined to retrieve it before her identity is revealed. She's not about to give her father the ammunition he desperately wants to force her down the aisle.

Available for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo

Or read an excerpt: http://www.bronwenevans.com/bronwen-evans-books/cravenswood.html

Nice Girl:  I received a copy of the book for review and I could not put it down! The characters had wit and spark and even their names were unique (no clichéd Nicholas and Sophie here!). The plot rolled along and the fact that this was a fun spin on Cinderella was very much appreciated. This is not your daughter’s fairy tale; this is for grown up big girls only!!

Since, we are all grownups here (or at least we pretend to be), what is your favourite adult beverage?

Bronwen: Pimms and Ginger Ale. Pimms is a very English drink which I believe is gin based. They make up large jugs of it with ice. It’s a summer drink with loads of mint and strawberries thrown in the jug. They drink it at Wimbledon, Henley and Ascot etc... It’s very dangerous because it’s like drinking a soft drink (pop) but it’s full of alcohol. Here’s a link to learn more – it really is delicious

http://britishfood.about.com/od/drinkingtraditions/a/pimms.htm

Nice Girl: That sounds delicious! I have heard of Pimm’s and ever so often a celebrity chef with offer it off as a cocktail, so I always have an eye out for it, I’ve wanted to try it for ages!

When writing the book, did you have certain celebrities in mind for the characters? On that same now, are the Character's names influenced by celebs in any way?

Bronwen: I usually don’t picture a celebrity until after my heroes have invaded my head. Once I’ve got to know them better I sometimes compare them to a living person.

Henry would definitely be played by Philip Winchester, Leontes in Camelot (in Regency historical romances the men are always a bit older). I think he’s so sexy. Amy would be played by Nina Dobrev from The Vampire Diaries. Sassy, strong and gorgeous. Can you see them together?

As for their names – they usually just come to me and once I’ve named them that’s it. I can’t think of them as anyone else. My agent once wanted me to change one of my hero’s names and I just couldn’t!

Nice Girl: As a fellow Canadian girl, I love your choice of Nina Dobrev, she’s perfect for the character! I just had to Google and ogle Philip Winchester. Very nice pairing!

Have you ever found yourself falling in love with your Hero?

Bronwen: I fall in love with all my heroes. It makes for a very happy life. Seriously if I don’t’ fall in love with them, why would my readers? What I find really sad is that when each book is completed, I have to leave them behind while I begin another love affair with my next hero. That’s why I love writing a series. I get to keep my band of gorgeous men for a while longer!

Nice Girl: You've traveled the world, but returned to your home of New Zealand; do you have a favourite spot along the way that holds a place in your heart?

Bronwen: I love so many different countries for much different reasons. I did a safari in Kenya and I loved it because it was with my mother who is a zoologist. She’d always wanted to see Africa and it was a delight to travel with someone so knowledgeable. I had a month long stay in Turks and Caicos – a small island in the Caribbean. It was paradise on earth and I met rock bands and film stars (it’s a tax haven). I did a trip to Russia in 1989 and saw firsthand how communism didn’t work. I’ve never seen such happy people who had so little. Each place is special because of someone I met or something I learned or the people I traveled with.

Nice Girl:  Sounds like you have had some amazing experiences.

My daughter and I went to a book signing recently (YA Paranormal) and she was thrilled to be able to ask her favourite authors a question, so I'll ask you her same question, do you have a favourite genre of books that you like to read? (yes, she really used the word genre)

Bronwen: I do read across loads of genres BUT I LOVE Regency historical or historical in general. The world was in major change in the 1800’s. It leads to really rich worlds and fascinating characters.

Nice Girl: I agree! 

I love that this is a Cinderella story; do you have a favourite story princess? Or is there one that you relate to the most?

Bronwen: Great question! I love Drew Barrymore’s version of Cinderella-Ever After. I have it on DVD and I watch it a lot. She’s sassy, intelligent, strong, and of course what’s not to love about her hero played by Dougray Scott. He’s gorgeous. And I love his Scottish accent.

Nice Girl: Oh, yes! A world of yes! LOL

Thank you so much for stopping by the blog Bronwen, it was so much fun!!

To celebrate the release of To Challenge The Earl of Cravenswood, Bronwen has some giveaways!  

For visiting today, comment below, and tell us your favourite Cinderella story, and we’ll draw one lucky winner who’ll receive an eBook copy of To Challenge the Earl of Cravenswood. 

Open internationally.

There is an overall blog tour grand prize of a $30 Amazon or B&N gift card.

Open internationally

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway will run until November 30th.

Want to check out Bronwen’s other books?

(From the publisher)

Invitation to Ruin:

One Good Lady Is About to Go Bad. . .

The only thing Miss Melissa Goodly has ever wanted out of a marriage is love. But any hope of that dissolves one wild night, when she loses herself in the arms of the most irresistible--and unobtainable--man in all of England. For when they are discovered in a position as compromising as it is pleasurable, she has no choice but to accept his proposal.

Avowed bachelor Anthony Craven, Earl of Wickham, never meant to seduce an innocent like Melissa. Yet now that the damage is done, it does seem like she'd make a very convenient wife. After all, she is so naive he won't have to worry about ever being tempted. Or so he thinks, until the vows are spoken and they are left alone--and his new bride reveals a streak just as brazen and unrestrained as his own. . .

Available in paperback, as well as for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo

To Dare the Duke of Dangerfield (Wicked Wagers Book 1, Novella):

Let the Wicked Wagers Begin...
Lady Caitlin Southall's temper has finally got the better of her. She's challenged Harlow Telford, the Duke of Dangerfield, the most notorious rake in all of England, to a wager. She wants her house back. The one her destitute father lost to Dangerfield in a card game. But if she doesn't win their bet, she not only loses her home, she loses her dignity and pride and damn it all, maybe her heart... For the handsome Duke has decreed, when he wins, she must spend the night in his bed.

Harlow Telford is amused by his hellion neighbor, Caitlin, or Cate to her friends, who seem to encompass everyone on earth except him. When she bursts into one of his private gatherings, he mistakes her for the entertainment. Her slap across his face sets him straight and raises the absurd desire to seduce the unconventional beauty into his bed. When she issues her daft challenge to win back her father's pile of rubble, the terms are set. And he'll do anything to win--except fall in love...

Available for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo

 To Wager the Marquis of Wolverstone (Wicked Wagers Book 2, Novella):

They Say Revenge is Sweet…

Marcus Danvers, the Marquis of Wolverstone, is renowned for his cynical demeanor. It's rumored that long ago, a beautiful woman broke his heart. Now he lives life for pleasure. He’s the consummate, handsome rake. If anyone tries to get too close—let’s just say his bark is as bad as his bite. That is, until the beautiful, as she is deceitful, Contessa Orsini re-enters his life with a wager he cannot resist. When he wins, he’ll have Sabine exactly where he wants her—in his bed and at his mercy.

Forced to return to England and avenge her father’s death, Sabine knows the one person who can help her is the only man she has ever loved—Marcus. The man who hates her with as much passion as he once loved her. But Marcus doesn’t know that by winning the wager he’ll also be getting his revenge. For there are some secrets best left buried…

Available for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo

Invitation to Scandal:

Her secrets are coming undone...

Plagued by scandalous rumors, Rheda Kerrich will stop at nothing to restore her reputation and make an honest living for herself-and she's determined to do it without a husband. But times are hard, and smuggling is a risky though profitable trade. So when a dashing agent for the English government catches her in the act, she desperately resists his charms and conceals her illicit profession. Until she realizes he may be the key to her ultimate freedom-and unbridled passion...

Rufus Knight, Viscount Strathmore, has never had trouble beguiling the ladies of Kent. When his search for "Dark Shadow," a cunningly elusive smuggler, leads him to alluring and headstrong Rhe, her objections to his amorous advances merely incite a tantalizing game of cat and mouse. Soon, they'll find the very secrets driving them apart could ensnare them in a love they can't escape...

Available in paperback, as well as for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo

Want to know more about Bronwen? 

Visit her Website, Find her on Twitter stalk her of Facebook, she is also on Goodreads! Or, if you feel like it, she loves to hear from her readers, send her an email romance@bronwenevans.com

Don’t forget to check out tomorrow’s stop on Bronwen’s Wicked Wagers Blog Tour, Romantic Crush Junkies!