When The Scoundrel Sins by Anna Harrington (Interview + Review + Giveaway)
WHEN THE SCOUNDREL SINS
A Capturing the Carlisles Novel
Title: When the Scoundrel Sins
Author: Anna Harrington
On Sale: August 29, 2017
Series: Capturing the Carlisles: Book 2
Publisher: Forever
Genre: Historical Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Price: $7.99 USD
Links: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Google Play | Kobo | Goodreads
Synopsis: Six years ago, a childish prank perpetrated by the reckless Quinton Carlisle ruined Annabelle Greene’s reputation and any chance she had at securing a successful marriage. Incensed, she moved to her beloved estate on the Scottish border and has reveled in the solitude…until now when the contents of a family will are revealed. Suddenly, Belle’s single status may cost her the only home she’s ever known. Now, with her only marital prospect a horribly greedy and completely undesirable man, Belle knows just the person to rescue her-the one person who owes her for his bad behavior…
There’s nothing Quinn Carlisle wants more than to get out from his older brother’s shadow and make a name for himself abroad. So when a mysterious letter arrives, promising adventure, he rushes to the Scottish border…only to find that Belle laid a trap for him. The awkward, shy bluestocking whom he so enjoyed tormenting is gone, replaced by a graceful, elegant woman who ignites a desire in him he can’t resist. Can Quinn help her save her home-and win her heart in the process?
Q & A Interview
Can you tell us a little about you and your current release?
Anna: Well…by day, I’m a college humanities professor, and by night, I write spicy Regency romances. I love to travel, hike, fly airplanes, explore news places and meet new people—I’m always on the go! Even when I’m at home, I’m constantly in motion…working in the garden, doing some kind of project, or just being out and about in the city and mountains. So it’s hard for me to force myself to sit at the computer and write. Thank goodness mankind invented portable laptops!
My current release, WHEN THE SCOUNDREL SINS, is my seventh book and the second in the Capturing the Carlisles series. Quinton Carlisle meets his match in Annabelle Greene, a old friend who is determined to keep the estate she loves, even if it means doing the unthinkable—marrying. Marriage, convenient or otherwise, is the *very* last thing Belle wants, but if she doesn’t marry by her 25th birthday, she’ll lose her inheritance of the only home she’s ever known. But as her options of saving her estate slip through her fingers, the only person who can help her save it is Quinn…the scoundrel who broke her heart and ruined her reputation six years earlier. The same scoundrel who has been tasked with finding her a husband. But Quinn is on his way to a new life in America, and the last thing he wants to do is play match-maker for a bluestocking, one who soon has him thinking about “home” in all kinds of new—and surprisingly tempting—ways. And one who has him reconsidering everything he thought he knew about love.
Have you always been drawn to historical romance and the regency time period?
Anna: I started reading Regency romances about five years ago, and I was immediately hooked on the world created inside them. I’d already known a lot about the time period, but mostly about architecture, military events, and political history. So to discover the social rules that governed so much of Regency life, regardless of social class, opened my eyes to a whole new area to explore. Who knew that the petticoat politics of society balls were just as intriguing as Parliament debates? And I dare anyone to claim that a marriage-minded miss doesn’t approach the season with the same determined skill as generals waging a military campaign.
What do you enjoy about it? What do you find difficult about writing in it?
Anna: I love being transported to another world, but unlike fantasy novels, this one actually existed. I like taking modern sensibilities and the same problems that plague people today and superimposing those onto the Regency World. People don’t change—fashion and technology change, civilizations come and go, but basic human desires remain the same. Especially when it comes to love and happiness. (I also like that transportation takes days, each bedroom has a romantic fire, candlelight warms many kisses and hearts, and NO CELL PHONES!!!)
What is difficult about writing it is that the Regency was a world in flux, and so it’s hard to get the historical details right because so much was smack in the midst of change. I also find myself resisting the urge to slip in bits of historical research or facts just because I find them interesting but which have no importance to the story. It’s easy to become bogged down in the history and start sounding like a textbook rather than a romance.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
Anna: I don’t research before writing the book, but that’s because I’ve not yet written a book that wasn’t about something I already know a great deal about. But I’m certain that day will soon come when I need to! I usually research while I’m actually writing and need to know things like…What do they call that little perch where the tiger sits on the back of the carriage? How was fever treated? How much indoor plumbing would a new townhouse have? Things that aren’t really essential to the plot or setting but add enough historical realism to ground the reader in the Regency world I’m creating.
Have you ever cried while writing a scene in a book? If so, which book?
Anna: The first scene I ever cried over while writing is in WHEN THE SCOUNDREL SINS, when Belle is explaining to Quinton why Glenarvon means so much to her. The part that always chokes me up is when she says,
“What do you know about home? You—who grew up in the same house, sleeping in the same bed every night, surrounded by family who loved you…So don’t talk to me of home and what that means when you’ve always had one. Because you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Anna: Make time to exercise, no matter what, and watch your posture You’re going to want to spend hours and hours slumped over with your butt in the chair, cranking out those pages, but your health MUST come first. (This is something that I’m still not very good at but am working toward improving.)
* * *
Thank you so much for being here today, Anna! We loved getting to know more about you, your process, and your newest release, When The Scoundrel Sins!
Readers you can find When The Scoundrel Sins online at:
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When The Scoundrel Sins by Anna Harrington
Book Review
The second book in author Anna Harrington’s Capturing the Carlisles series, When The Scoundrel Sins is a second chance love story between the devilish Quinn Carlisle and the desperate young woman he once tormented in childhood, Annabelle Green.
In order to inherit the estate she loves, Belle must marry before her twenty-fifth birthday and since she has put it off for so long, she only has a month left to go before she loses her home. Quinn has been called in by his aunt to help Belle with her husband search, but with the past twisting up between them and the attraction they feel toward each other still present inside them, things do not go as easy as Quinn or Belle would like.
When The Scoundrel Sins is a fantastic historical romance with witty humor and long-denied chemistry between its lead characters. Well-written and entertaining, Belle and Quinn’s love story is an enchanting, intriguing read that I could not put down.
If you’re looking for a fun, new historical read, be sure to pick up When The Scoundrel Sins by Anna Harrington. It’s a fabulous book and the characters are so much fun to follow. An excellent addition to the Capturing the Carlisles series, and one I seriously loved reading.
5 Stars
Links: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Google Play | Kobo | Goodreads
Book Excerpt
From WHEN THE SCOUNDREL SINS:
“You look much more like your father now,” she commented, nervously licking her suddenly dry lips but only serving to draw his attention to her mouth. Which made her even more nervous, so nervous that she couldn’t stop the trembling of her fingertips as they wrapped into the skirt of her night rail. “But you’re still a troublemaker.”
A faint smile played at his mouth. “And you’re still a bluestocking,” he countered. Unintentionally simmering a slow heat low in her belly, he reached up to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. “Still retreating to the sanctuary of your library.”
“Because books are usually more pleasant than most people,” she answered, swallowing hard when he trailed his fingers down the side of her neck. She forced out, not at all as firmly as she’d hoped beneath the soft touch of his fingers,
“And more trustworthy.”
Ignoring that jab, he slid his hand lower to let his fingers play at the edge of her shawl. “Yet there are things that people can do that books can’t.” His fingers tugged gently at the shawl and pulled it down her shoulder to reveal the scooped neck of the nightdress beneath. His gaze flicked to the small patch of revealed skin at the base of her throat, then back to her eyes. “All kinds of interesting things.”
She should stop him, swat his hand away, shove him back—but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Just as she couldn’t hold back the hot shiver that swept through her or the gooseflesh that formed on her skin. His touch was proving to be as equally intoxicating now as that night six years ago.
“Then I have no interest in learning them,” she countered, although from the way her blood hummed, her body was very interested.
Madness—that after what he’d done to her, she could ever want to be in his arms again. Yet she desired just that, although that could never happen. Kissing him once had ruined her reputation. Kissing him again might destroy her entire future.
She thrust her chin into the air. “I know of your reputation.”
“Thank you,” he half purred.
His finger hooked beneath the wide shoulder strap of her sleeveless nightgown and slid it slowly down her arm. But this time, with a stretch of bare shoulder revealed to his eyes, he didn’t bother feigning propriety by looking away and instead flamed a prickling heat beneath her skin everywhere he gazed.
She pulled in a deep breath to steady herself. Oh, why did she always go light-headed when she was alone with him?
“That was not meant as a compliment.”
“Wasn’t it?”
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ABOUT ANNA HARRINGTON
Anna Harrington fell in love with historical romances–and all those dashing Regency heroes–while living in London, where she studied literature and theatre. She loves to travel, fly airplanes, and hike, and when she isn’t busy writing her next novel, she loves fussing over her roses in her garden.
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