Friday, April 9, 2010

A Touch Of Scandal by Jennifer Haymore blog tour review & giveaway


The last thing Garrett, Duke of Calton, expects to find while tracking his sworn enemy is the delectable, mysterious Kate. This beautiful servant girl rouses a longing the battle-scarred ex-soldier had never
hoped to feel again. But when she turns out to be the sister of the man
he seeks, he's convinced he's been betrayed.

Kate knows her
duty to her family, yet how can she ignore Garrett's powerful pull on
her heart? Or the heady temptation of his stolen-and sizzling-kisses?
Scandal has followed the duke since the war. Now the greatest shock of
all is on its way-the one that can separate Garrett and Kate forever.


My Thoughts:

Jennifer Haymore has an ability to make a new book have a classical feel. A Touch of Scandal was entertaining, amusing , and all together a fun historical romance. With strong characters and a cleverly devised plot. This book is defiantly worth a reread.


Five Fun Facts About A Touch Of Scandal
. The heroine from A Touch of Scandal, Kate, has a younger brother, Reginald. Reggie suffers from severe asthma—something I understand, having been through it as a child and now watching my own son fight it. It’s truly a painful and frightening illness. I can’t imagine what it was like for children before proper medications were available. The prescription the doctor in A Touch of Scandal orders—prussic acid—was a common remedy for asthma. But like many medicines of the time, prussic acid has since been proven to be very poisonous—even deadly. No wonder poor Reggie didn’t improve while he was taking it!

2. In the first drafts of A Touch of Scandal, there were three “villains.” I thought that was at least one too many, so I changed one character to soften her up a bit, even almost redeeming her at the end. She’s still not a very likeable character, but she’s no longer the equivalent of the Wicked Witch of the West! Can you guess who this is?

3. I’ve been to England several times, but I have not been to Kenilworth Castle. I researched it as thoroughly as I could while writing A Touch of Scandal, and it’s definitely on the itinerary for my next visit to the UK!

4. The James family seat, Calton House, is located in the Yorkshire dales. I feel especially bonded to this part of England—I think it’s because several of my ancestors immigrated to Canada from Yorkshire. I’ve driven through the county once, and I loved it. It’s a special place.

5. One of the main characters in A Touch of Scandal is Becky, the younger sister of the Duke of Calton. I have loved writing about her, because she is the one character whose growth you can really see from the beginning to the end of the series. She is immature and compulsive in A Hint of Wicked; she crashes back to reality in A Touch of Scandal; and in the third book, A Season of Seduction, she really comes into her own and finally finds the man that will lead her down the (very rocky!) road to a happily ever after



I’ve been writing since I could pick up a pencil….

Wait, no…that’s what every other writer says! I started writing just before my eighth birthday, and it wasn’t on my own volition. I was sailing with my family in a 42-foot sailboat across the Pacific, and since there were no local schools (except those pertaining to fish) nearby, my mother homeschooled me. She was a strict taskmaster! A veritable slave driver! She demanded a new story every day.

So I’d sit in the boat’s galley and write. And stare out the porthole, and write some more. And doodle, and write some more. By the time we arrived in Hawaii the following year, I had a portfolio of stories, and I was hooked. Since then I haven’t stopped. (Well, much. I did take breaks now and then, for things like college, young kids, and a master’s degree.)

I love to read just as much as I love to write, and actually the reading bug hit me at about the same time my mom was cracking the whip over my head and commanding me to write. What else to occupy your time with when there are no other kids to play with and nothing to do but stare at the endless sea? Some of my most recent favorites: The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, River God by Wilbur Smith, and anything by Laura Kinsale and Loretta Chase.



I have 4 copies to giveaway.
To enter please leave your name and a valid email address.
Contest open to residents of the US and Canada.
Sorry no P.O. Boxes
Winners will be selected on April 29

4 comments:

Bookie said...

I love historical romance. Count me in please.

dawnpnr at aol dot com
Donna

misskallie2000 said...

I love this book already. Historical romance is one of my favorite reads.

Thanks for the giveaway and opportunity to enter.


misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com

Jayne said...

thanks for the giveaway
applebabe at rocketmail dot com

couponmom said...

I love romance historical and otherwise.

formycontests@gmail.com