Inteview + Giveaway with CHRISTY ENGLISh!!

I had the immense pleasure of interviewing Amazing Author Christy English

 

and am delighted to share her insightful answers with you here today!  Christy has written a new historical romance novel that will be particularly exciting for readers of my blog, since the book is based on the Napoleonic era!

LOVE ON A MISDSUMMER NIGHT

This book for Giveaway by Sourcebooks to one of my lucky readers - Thank You! (Look for Entering details after the interivew:)

Without further ado, Please welcome Christy English!

       EBJ:  What made you interested in writing about the Napoleonic period?

 C. E: Unlike the characters in my novels, I have always been a huge fan of Napoleon. Ever since I first read DESIREE in high school, I have been a bit obsessed with the Empire and all Napoleon did, at home and abroad, to usher in the modern age. For example, Italy still uses the flag he gave them, and France still uses his system of public schooling today. 

            But before I go off on a Napoleonic tangent, I must say that I have always been caught up in the romance of the period. The world as it had been, the Old Regime, had been swept away. Anything could have happened. Napoleon is what ended up happening, both to France and to the world.

            What I love best about tying my stories to Regency England is that their world was on the brink of change. Industry was taking hold and men of business and trade were beginning to be a force in Parliament. The earls of my novels still held sway, but for the first time their hold was slipping. My characters are blissfully unaware of this change, for the most part, but their days are numbered.

  EBJ:      What do you love most about the two main characters in LOVE ON A MIDSUMMER  NIGHT?

  C.E.: I love that Arabella and Pembroke never stop loving each other. Like Captain Wentworth and Anne in Jane Austen’s PERSUASION, they’re separated by others for ten years, but still, the flame of their love does not die. Though Pembroke is the biggest womanizer of all my heros, he is also the most faithful. He never gives his heart away to another, so when he and Arabella meet, they can begin again.

I love to see my characters get a second chance at love. It so rarely happens in real life, I enjoy watching it happen on the page.    

  EBJ:  What other novels are in the works- and can you give us a brief peek into these?

  C. E.: The next novel is the third in my Shakespeare in Love series, called MUCH ADO ABOUT JACK. This book is loosely based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, one of my favorite plays. The reluctant lovers Benedict and Beatrice keep the audience hanging on their banter, and I hope to do the same with my characters, Angelique and James.

            The villain from LOVE ON A MIDSUMMER NIGHT returns in this one, and the Duke of Hawthorne does all he can to make Angelique Beauchamp’s life a misery. Meanwhile, she tries to salvage her best friend’s reputation while keeping her own shipping business afloat. Unlike many of the haute ton, Angelique gets all her money from trade. Just one more reason she is scandalous.

While all that’s going on, she finds herself falling in love with a Scottish sea captain who recently of the Royal Navy. James Montgomery is just the tonic Angelique needs after years of dealing with men who just don’t value her.

 It’s fun to see Angelique in her element, away from Anthony. Though of course, as with so many ex-lovers, Anthony is never that far away. Watching her deal with Anthony Carrington two years after he left her for his wife Caroline is a lot of fun.

            I won’t give anything away, but let’s just say that she gives as good as she gets. If not better.

 THANK YOU SO MUCH CHRISTY ENGLISH!

 Author Bio:

After years of acting in Shakespeare's plays, Christy English is excited to bring the Bard to Regency England. When she isn'tdrinking tea, hiking or chasing the Muse, Christy writes historical novels (The Queen's Pawn and To Be Queen) from her home in North Carolina. Please visit her at http://www.ChristyEnglish.com

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

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Good Luck!!!