Historical Romance Weekend: The Nexus series by Tracey Devlyn (Interview/Giveaway)

Welcome to our Historical Romance weekend! Today we have a relatively new HR author, her second release Checkmate, My Lord came out in February. Know who our guest is? Tracey Devlyn!

Lexi: Historical Romance brings to mind beautiful gowns and lavish balls. The genre makes you think of simpler times when men were gentlemen. Do you find yourself wishing to live in the past?  

Tracey: Yes and no—LOL! I love how the gentlemen cared for their families. How they treated their ladies with respect and delicacy. Manners, at the time, were impeccable. Everyone knew what to do (or what not do). Outside of all the glamour and good manners dwelled a darkness. Unfaithful spouses, lost fortunes, unfair laws, wars on reputations, unsanitary conditions, and huge disparities in wealth between the different classes, to name a few. Having said all that, I think it would be great fun to go back for a single day. Enough time to ride through Hyde Park at the fashionable hour, grab an ice at Gunter's, and dance the night away with one handsome nobleman after the other.

Lexi: Life is never simple. Especially for your hero and heroine in Checkmate, My Lord. The Nexus series is filled with spies and nefarious villains, high drama. Is it easier to write larger than life characters in a historical context, where the imagination can romanticize every day life? 

Tracey: Good question! Since I've never tried to write a contemporary romance, I'm not sure if it's easier or not. I would imagine both historical and contemporary have there own separate challenges. Perhaps the characters can seem larger than life in my historicals because the reader doesn't expect members of the nobility to be intelligence gatherers. Individuals who will do anything to complete their mission. All I know is that they're fun to write!

Lexi: The third book in the Nexus series is A Lady’s Secret Weapon and comes out October 1st. Involved in the plot is the heroines daughter. Do you enjoy weaving kids into historicals? 

Tracey: Sophie Ashcroft's big debut actually starts in Checkmate, My Lord. In Checkmate, she provided crucial comic relief to a tension-filled story. She also had the ability to bring out the softer side to Sebastian Danvers—Spymaster and Chief of the Nexus. When I mentioned earlier that the Nexus agents would do anything to complete a mission, they learned that part of their job from Sebastian. He's ruthless. He has to be in order to keep Napoleon Bonaparte from invading England. Despite the lengths he would go to save his country, he has a soft spot for kids. And little Sophie exploits the fact with abandon. I loved writing Sophie's character. She makes a brief appearance in A Lady's Secret Weapon—long enough to terrorize Ethan deBeau, who doesn't know the first thing about children and doesn't understand why Sophie's always climbing onto his lap or wrapping her boney arms around his middle.

Lexi: Tracey, if you were to describe why Historical Romance speaks to you what would you say?

Tracey: I love the formality, the manners, the etiquette. I love the stark differences in how men and women dressed (very masculine to very feminine). And I love breaking breaking each and every one of these "rules." :)

Lexi: I for one am glad you chose HR as your genre. I adore reading about your spies and the intricate plots they find themselves in. Thanks for joining in on our Historical Romance weekend! With your beautiful book covers and gripping plots your books just had to be included!

Tracey: Lexi, thank you for your lovely words! I'm so glad you're enjoying the Nexus series. I've loved spending time with these characters. Sourcebooks does have beautiful covers, don't they?!! Thanks so much for inviting me to join your Historical Romance Weekend. Hugs, Tracey

A Lady's Revenge

Nexus #1

by Tracey Devlyn

Mass Market Paperback, 432 pages

Published August 3rd 2012 by Sourcebooks Casablanca

ISBN 9781402258220

British agent Cora deBeau has spent the last three years seducing secrets from the most hardened of French spies while searching for her parents’ killer. When her latest assignment goes awry, she suffers at the hands of her French captor until Guy Trevelyan, the Earl of Helsford and master cryptographer, saves her during a daring rescue. Scarred and wary of men, Cora shies away from the one man who could heal her savaged heart.
After rescuing Cora from a French dungeon, Guy discovers it was one of his deciphered messages that led to her captivity. Guy strives to earn her forgiveness while outwitting their enemy. But will he find the scars on her wounded soul run too deep?

Goodreads

Available for Purchase at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and The Book Depository

Checkmate, My Lord

Nexus #2

by Tracey Devlyn

Mass Market Paperback, 394 pages

Published February 1st 2013 by Sourcebooks Casablanca

ISBN 9781402258251

A desperate mother falls in love with the spymaster she’s sent to betray.
Spymaster Sebastian Danvers, Lord Somerton, has spent the last decade protecting England’s shores against a French invasion. Known for his cold logic and ability to sacrifice anything for the greater good, few can outwit him, and even fewer dare challenge him. Until now.
After being exiled to his country estate, Sebastian is surprised when his beautiful, no-nonsense neighbor turns her seductive wiles on him. But years of intrigue have left him wondering why a respectable widow would risk scandal for a few nights in his bed. Sebastian takes his time unraveling the widow’s secrets, for he quickly realizes she might be the one sacrifice he is unwilling to make.
Living a quiet existence at Winter’s Hollow, Catherine Ashcroft spends her days doing little more than caring for her precocious six-year-old daughter and negotiating her neighbors’ various complaints against their absentee landowner, the enigmatic Earl of Somerton. But, all her boredom comes to a searing halt after learning her newly returned neighbor might have had something to do with her husband’s murder.
Catherine's orderly existence soon upends and she now finds herself in a desperate bid to save her daughter’s life. But she must betray the earl to do so, even though she no longer suspects him of foul play. Lauren succumbs to the the earl’s passionate kisses and recognizes the same loneliness she has felt for years lurking in his hard, crystalline eyes. As her lover’s enemies close in, will Catherine be able to save both her beloved daughter and the handsome spy who has stolen her heart?

Goodreads

Available for Purchase at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and The Book Depository

~*GIVEAWAY*~

These books look good don't they. Well, since Tracey is so nice she is offering to give one of our lucky readers a copy of Checkmate, My Lord! To enter leave a comment for Tracey, what draws you to Historical Romance or any comment about her Nexus series. Then fill out the Rafflecopter below (US and Canada only please). Good luck!

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