Guest post by Maggie Robinson + Giveaway

Filed in featured , Giveaways , Guest Post , Maggie Robinson , The Latin Lover Posted on July 11, 2013 @ 7:00 am 29 comments

It is a great pleasure to welcome back to Book Lovers Inc. Maggie Robinson, author of many deliciously steamy historical romance series like the Courtesan Court or London List series. Maggie stops by BLI today to tell us about her brand new series, the Ladies Unlaced series, and more particularly its first book: In the Arms of the Heiress! In the Arms of the Heiress is a fake marriage trope in a historical setting, and since I just LOVE the fake engagement/marriage one, I was curious to know what made Maggie choose it? Why did she want to write a fake marriage story in a historical romance? So please give a warm welcome to Maggie and read on, you could even win a copy of the novel!

Summer 2013 Tour

Thanks so much for having me here! While I am totally honest (unless I really have to lie), I’ve always been intrigued with clever fibbing. One of my favorite movies is “True Lies” (even though it’s got Arnold Schwartzenegger in it—he lives a double life as a spy and no one suspects). I think writing romance lets me stretch my “let’s pretend” muscles perfectly.

How better to stretch than have a heroine who’s a bit of a fantasist, a young woman who lives in her own dream world to escape the unpleasant reality of her family life? Some might call Louisa Stratton a liar; I say she’s just got a great imagination.

And when she needs to be “married” in the hopes of keeping her interfering family off her back, creating Maximillian Norwich is literally child’s play—that was the name of her girlhood imaginary friend. Maximillian is inhumanly perfect, and with each letter Louisa writes home, he becomes harder and harder for her to resist.

As Louisa’s eventual faux hired husband, Charles Cooper has a discussion about their “marriage” with her:

“Mrs. Evensong is tutoring me as to proper husbandly behavior, but I’m sure you can instruct me far better.”

“Oh, I don’t have the first idea what a real husband does. Maximillian has ruined me for any other man,” Miss Stratton said sweetly. “He is entirely considerate of my feelings, always at my elbow ready to be helpful. We discuss art and history and philosophy and he takes my opinions as seriously as his own.”

Aye. The girl was definitely off her onion.

Who can live up to such a reputation? And that’s where the fun begins. Charles is naturally concerned he will not be able to transform himself to this paragon of manly virtue:

He felt a little like a prize bull at the fair, only he wouldn’t be getting the bonus of getting cozy with the cows once he’d won his blue ribbon. A day under Mrs. Evensong’s roof had not been sufficient to rope him back into civilization, and he was making a hash of this husband business already, unless they were to be a bickering couple.

That he thought he could manage. This Maximillian sounded like a moony moron that bore no resemblance to anyone he knew, and Rosemont was bound to be perfectly awful. He’d probably break the china and piss in a corner before it was all done.

As miserable as Charles has been since he served in the army, he accepts the challenge. For Louisa is irresistible herself:

“I suppose I’m a bit nervous about going home,” Louisa said, surprising him. “I haven’t seen my family in over a year. And it’s absolutely essential you understand the role you are to play. I thought we just might brush up on the details we discussed with Mrs. Evensong.”

“Rembrandt. Louvre. You were the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen.”

Her golden brows knit. “I’m sure I never told you to say that.”

“It’s my own invention. You want Max to be your devoted dog, don’t you?”

“Not at all! I would never want a man who could be led around on a leash. Maximillian is much too much of a man to allow me to dominate.”

Charles flashed back to his mental image of a near-naked Louisa, her creamy flesh encased by a rigid corset. Bound. Helpless. Perhaps with a gag over those lovely ever-mobile lips. He shifted in discomfort on the seat. What the hell was she doing to him?

It was so much fun to orchestrate the push and pull between Charles and Louisa. They are perfect for each other despite their disparate backgrounds and experiences. It only took one little white lie to start it all.

In the Arms of the Heiress by Maggie Robinson

Book #1 in the Ladies Unlaced series

It’s all fun and games until someone falls in love…

Independent heiress Louisa Stratton is going home to Rosemont for the holidays, and at the family’s request, she’s bringing her new husband—Maximillian Norwich, art connoisseur and artful lover, the man she’s written of so glowingly. There’s one hitch—he doesn’t exist. Louisa needs a fake husband, and fast, to make the proper impression.

Charles Cooper, a captain in the Second Boer War and far from silver spoons or gilded cages, is so hard up that even this crazy scheme appeals to him. It’s only thirty days, not till death do them part. What’s so difficult about impersonating a husband, even if he doesn’t know a Rembrandt from a Rousseau?

The true difficulty is keeping his hands off Louisa once there’s nobody around to see their ruse. And then there’s the small problem of someone at Rosemont trying to kill him. Keeping his wits about him and protecting Louisa brings out the honor he thought he’d left on the battlefield. But when Louisa tries to protect him, Charles knows he’s found a way to face his future—in the arms of his heiress.

Read an excerpt here

Buy at AmazonKindleBook Depository

Maggie Robinson is a former teacher, library clerk and mother of four who woke up in the middle of the night, absolutely compelled to create the perfect man and use as many adverbs as possible doing so. A transplanted New Yorker, she lives with her not-quite perfect husband in Maine, where the cold winters are ideal for staying inside and writing hot historical romances.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*~*Giveaway*~*~

Maggie has generously offered to give away a copy of In the Arms of the Heiress or any other book from her backlist to one lucky commenter!

All you have to do is leave a comment and tell us:

Are you a fan of the faked engagement/ marriage trope? Why do you like/dislike it?

(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please be sure to include a valid email address in the comment form (need not be in the actual body of the comment).

This giveaway is open to all!

Giveaway ends on Saturday, 20 July 2013; we will announce the winner on Sunday.

Good luck!

 

About Stella


Stella is a proud bookaholic and a self-taught multilinguist in training. Besides reading, her other great passions are travelling and baking. When she is not globetrotting she lives in sunny Budapest, where she loves to spend her free time preparing (and feasting on) delicious cookies or devouring equally yummy books. Her favourite genres are urban fantasy and romance and she couldn't live without her daily dose of sunshine. Besides being the Latin Lover on BLI Stella also blogs about books and a bookish life on Ex Libris.

Share This Post

Subscribe and stay up-to-date

Via E-Mail:

Follow us via RSS, twitter and facebook:

29 Comments

Join the Discussion
  • Lori Meehan July 11, 2013 at 7:58 am

    I love fake engagement/marriage romance books. It’s just fun to watch them fall in love. :))

    • Lori Meehan July 11, 2013 at 7:59 am

      Forgot email: lorimeehan 1at aol dot com

  • Sharlene Wegner July 11, 2013 at 7:58 am

    I am a fan of this trope because, in most cases, it ends up with the 2 fakers actually falling in love. I love to see how that unfolds.

  • Lori H July 11, 2013 at 8:15 am

    I like the fake engagement/marriage situations in books as long as there’s an HEA. I’m looking forward to reading this book.
    Thanks 🙂

  • laurie g July 11, 2013 at 8:37 am

    I love fake engagement/marriage romance books. It’s just fun to watch them fall in love. 🙂

  • Ora July 11, 2013 at 9:44 am

    I absolutely love your books. I love fake engagements/marriage plots. I enjoy reading how the story unfolds to the reason why it happened and when love starts to blossom between the characters,

  • Melody May July 11, 2013 at 9:51 am

    They are my absolutely favorite types of stories next to marriage of conveince.

  • JenM July 11, 2013 at 10:19 am

    For me, it depends on how well their growing connection is written and how compelling a reason they have for staying together. If that’s done we’ll, then I find this trope very fun to read.

  • Maggie Robinson July 11, 2013 at 10:43 am

    Good morning, everyone! Thanks so much for hosting me and my characters today. 🙂 This book was so much fun to write. I do love two strangers forced into a situation and realizing they have more in common than they thought!

  • Diane Sallans July 11, 2013 at 10:43 am

    It can be a lot of fun – it gives the couple a bit of time to get used to the idea of marriage.

  • erinf1 July 11, 2013 at 11:19 am

    I like them 🙂 It’s fun to see them fall in love for reals. Congrats to Maggie on the newest release! Thanks for sharing!

  • blodeuedd July 11, 2013 at 2:56 pm

    I am a fan of the faked romance trope 🙂 Why? Well they will totally bicker and then fall in love and I will be all yay

  • Jess1 July 11, 2013 at 4:56 pm

    I enjoy this trope too. The couple are able to interact a lot more and get to know each other better, plus more conflict or attraction tension etc.

  • miki July 11, 2013 at 5:05 pm

    i’m not a fan but i don’t dislike them either i just didn’t have read a lot of books with that element of the plot so i still need to make my opinion on this

  • ki pha July 11, 2013 at 5:12 pm

    Fake engagement/marriage? Heck yeah. I love reading about couples having to pretend to be in love (when they really dislike each other) and then really falling hard for each other because of all the little nice and adorable things they do. Awww yes I love this trope.

  • Susan July 11, 2013 at 7:32 pm

    I liked the Courtesan Court series, and this new book sounds like a hoot, especially Charles. I think I especially like the fake engagement/marriage scenario when they’re handled with humor and the reader gets to “watch” while the lies become more and more entangled and things start to go horribly awry.

  • Jen B. July 11, 2013 at 8:38 pm

    I have read a lot of stupid fake engagement stories so I am a little leary. However, when they are done well, they are so fun! Watching the bride and groom decide that they ARE in love after all is awesome! jepebATverizonDOTnet

  • donna ann July 11, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    the fake marriage/engagement can make for some fun & humorous situations in a book as well as sexual tension. 🙂

  • Jeanne Miro July 11, 2013 at 9:35 pm

    Hi Maggie –

    I love to read stories where the two main characters are pretending to be engaged/married! I think it so much fun to see all the trouble they get into while trying to convince others that their situation is real!

    Of course it may just be because I’m married to a man who has always introduced me to others as his “first wife”! Even after being married for 43 years I still help but think it’s fun to see the arched brows and the odd looks from the people he introduces me to that way!

    Of course I think the best thing about these stories are the happily ever after that hopefully happens in the end I’m always chuckling at the end and I already know I’m going to love reading Louisa and Charles book!

    Congratulations on the up-coming release of Lady Anne’s Lover the end of the month!

  • Barbara Elness July 11, 2013 at 11:08 pm

    Yes, I’m a fan of the faked engagement/marriage trope because it gives the couple a reason to be thrown together and get to know each other better. There are lots of opportunities to be alone because they’re supposed to be in a relationship already, and things happen. 😀

  • Chelsea B. July 11, 2013 at 11:30 pm

    I am a fan, yes! Because the pretending usually last, like, five seconds before the real emotions move in 🙂

  • Mary Preston July 12, 2013 at 3:34 am

    I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with a faked engagement or marriage. Sounds likes fun though.

  • Julia July 12, 2013 at 4:19 am

    I am a fan,yes. I really think that as long as he or she is trating you with respect,love will come.

  • aurian July 12, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    I do love the trope, the couple has no intention of falling in love, but being in close proximity all the time and forced to get to know each other, is enough to start respect, and or course lust, then love.

  • Filia Oktarina July 13, 2013 at 2:24 am

    I do like faked engagement/ marriage trope, the story usually fun to read and wacth two of them fall in love 🙂

    filiafantasy at gmail dot com

  • Angel Cullen July 13, 2013 at 9:34 am

    I Love it!!!
    I especially love to see them acting like they love each other and then how that turns into the real deal 🙂

  • bn100 July 15, 2013 at 10:57 pm

    yes, only if they work out in the end

  • Krista July 16, 2013 at 2:46 pm

    Yes I do because it gives the couple and excuse to have instant intimacy.

  • JessS July 18, 2013 at 7:35 am

    I’m not really a fan because I don’t like the deception of it, and it always puts such a pressure on their relationship that makes it different when they do start to like one another. That being said, it really does depend on the book, and while I don’t usually search out the trope I’ll still enjoy it.

Previous Post
«
Next Post
»
Luvo designed by Internet Marketing In conjunction with Template Wordpress , R4 DS , Best SUV.