Ah November is here, the stores have skipped right over Thanksgiving and put up Christmas items. So why not have Grace Burrowes stop by and talk about Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight! Welcome Grace!
GB: Welcome, and season’s greetings (well sorta).
Lexi: Yay, we get another one of the Duke of Moreland’s daughters! Out of them all do you have a favorite, or are you trying to not play favorites?
GB: Oh… must I? Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight is my favorite so far, though we have a couple daughters yet to go. Something about Sir Joseph, about the way he gets Louisa’s tenderheartedness when nobody else sees it, and the way she recognizes him for the romantic that he is… These two people are special, and their story is special too.
Lexi: I like picking favorites, and your hero Sir Joseph Carrington sounds like he could be a front runner for me. Reciting poetry, waltzing under the night sky, and a hot make out session. Sign me up! When writing Carrington did you wish you would end up under some mistletoe with him?
GB: As an author, I’m more likely to wish him under the mistletoe with the right fictional lady, but yes. If Louisa had failed to recognize her good fortune, I would have been at the head of the line waiting to console Joseph.
Lexi: Did you have to do a lot of research for this series? And if you did, have you found any fun Christmassy traditions you have added to your family’s routine?
GB: I’d never heard of the tradition of waiting in the manger until midnight to see if the farm animals truly speak, but my daughter liked that one (though no, the horses did not break out in Shakespearean sonnets). I suspect anything that keeps a kid up past bedtime is worth trying at least once, and the hot chocolate tastes better when you can’t feel your toes.
Lexi: Christmas is a wonderful holiday. So many events and traditions to pull family/lovers together. Do you like writing holiday themed romances, or do you find them trickier?
GB: Both. Readers have expectations for all genre fiction, but Christmas stories have a set of parameters all their own. That said, the tropes and traditions can also enrich the story significantly, and then too, there is that mistletoe…
Lexi: Tricky or not, we sure enjoy your holiday historical romances! So I do hope you continue to write them. Thanks for stopping by for a few questions Grace. I look forward to seeing your next release soon!
GB: Thank you, and as far as I know, the plan is to wind up the Windham series with Lady Eve’s Indiscretion in February 2013, and one more Christmas story next year, for Lady Jenny (October 2013). See everybody around the wassail bowl then!
LADY LOUISA’S CHRISTMAS KNIGHT BY GRACE BURROWES – IN STORES OCTOBER 2012
‘Tis the Season for Scandal...
Years ago Lady Louisa Windham acted rashly on a dare from her brother, and that indiscretion is about to come to light. She knows her reputation will never survive exposure. Just as she's nearly overwhelmed by her dilemma, Sir Joseph Carrington offers himself to her as a solution...
But Sir Joseph has secrets as well, and as he and Louisa become entangled with each other, their deceptions begin to close in on them both...
Praise for RITA-nominated Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish:
“An extraordinary, precious, unforgettable holiday story.” —RT Book Reviews, 4½ stars, Top Pick of the Month, Best Historical Romance, RT Book Reviews 2011 Reviewers' Choice Awards
“My Christmas wish for you is that Santa brings you this book...a joyful sensual read.” —USA Today Happy Ever After
“Supremely sexy, emotionally involving, and graced with well-written dialogue...a fascinating, enjoyable read.” —Library Journal
“Burrowes continues to write outside the usual Regency box with strong characters and humor similar to Amanda Quick’s.” —Booklist
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Burrowes is a bestselling and award-winning author of historical romances. Her debut, The Heir, was selected as a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year for 2010 in the romance category, and Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish won RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Historical Romance of 2011 and was also nominated for the prestigious RWA RITA award. The author of the bestsellers The Heir, The Soldier and Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal, Grace is a practicing attorney and lives in rural Maryland. She’ll conclude to the Windham Family Series with Lady Jenny’s story in October 2013, and will begin a new regency series with Darius in April 2013. Grace has also begun a Scottish Victorian series, with The Bridegroom Wore Plaid hitting stores this December! Please visit http://www.graceburrowes.com/ or follow her on Twitter: @GraceBurrowes for more information.
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Well...we always do Christmas party AFTER christmas. That way, we aren't all as rushed and everyone can make it.
ReplyDeleteWe don't celebrate Christmas at our house due to my mother in law's religion. Bummer.
ReplyDeleteBut before I got married and my mother in law moved in and my daughter moved out, my daughter and I would go down every year and choose a child from the Salvation Army's Angel tree and go shopping.
We like to open our presents at midnight instead of Christmas morning.
ReplyDeleteWe open our Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas morning that way everyone gets to sleep in on Christmas without all the hoopla.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the fun post and giveaway! We always open gifts on Christmas Eve and have my mom's homemade lassagne :)
ReplyDeleteHi that sounds like an awesome read for the holidays. We have several Christmas traditions but my fave is that we stay home all day so we don't spend all day traveling and exhausted. We started this one year when our older 2 children(now 19 and 17)were moaning because they couldn't "just stay home" and play with their new toys. So everyone's invited to come see us but I don't cook that day either but we just enjoy time together and just playing with our toys :)
ReplyDeleteWe open one small gift on Christmas eve and have family and friends over for snacks.
ReplyDeleteWe open our Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas morning too!
ReplyDeleteWe open one small gift on Christmas eve and the rest on Christmas morninng. My kids are older now but they all manage to make it over on Christmas eve for their gift :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this amazing giveaway!
sandersknc@yahoo.com
I can't remember where I heard about this, but I started doing it with my older sister many years ago and we continued up until I moved across the country. We'd jump in the car after Christmas dinner and check out the lights and decorations all over town, especially in her neighborhood. Now I get my son to go with me when I can, I still love it.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember where I heard about this, but I started doing it with my older sister many years ago and we continued up until I moved across the country. We'd jump in the car after Christmas dinner and check out the lights and decorations all over town, especially in her neighborhood. Now I get my son to go with me when I can, I still love it.
ReplyDeleteMay, your tradition reminds me of the English custom of visiting back and forth on Boxing Day, December 26. It lets everybody admire each others' presents, too.
ReplyDeleteLisa, sounds like you made Christmas for others, and wouldn't it be nice if somebody would make a little Christmas for you?
Jane--When I was older, we'd open presents after Midnight Mass, which meant 3 or 4 am. It meant the rest of the day was completely discombobulated, but my parents at least got a quiet morning.
Jyl--Sleeping in on Christmas morning, what a lovely idea! Particularly for the cook who has to get dinner both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Erin-- I love a spicy lasagna. Don't suppose you could use one more for Christmas?
Beautiful--My dad used to say he wanted his kids to settle just far enough way that they weren't tempted to drive home for Christmas when winter weather threatened. He wanted his children to make new traditions with their own spouses and children, and he had a point.
Sheryl--Snacks and friends sounds wonderful. Particularly if those snacks include Christmas cookies!
Yad--My mom used to make sure each kid got a few little things (socks and undies), but also something they'd been wanting. The rule was, you couldn't open that bigger present unless Mom was there. Oh, the anticipation!
Cheryl S--How lovely, to see the kids, and then have some peace and quiet.
Barbara--I've done that with my daughter. She is an only child who grew up with an only parent, and we had to sometimes improvise. Amazing what some people will do to their yards and houses in the spirit of the holidays.
When our kids were younger we would trim the tree together and have eggnog.
ReplyDeleteI don't celebrate Christmas, but friends of ours always went for Chinese food (it's usually the only type of restaurant open), so now we do that also.
ReplyDeleteMy father always handed the gifts out one at a time (not counting the unwrapped Santa gifts, of course), and each person received and opened a gift before everyone received another. This made for a much more sharing experience, so I continued it with my family.
ReplyDeleteWe celebrate with my side of the family on Christmas Eve by first going to a candlelight church service and then opening presents at our house. On Christmas Day we drive a couple of hours to my in-laws' house for a big family gathering.
ReplyDelete