WHEN THE SCOUNDREL SINS: Interview and Excerpt with Author Anna Harrington
"Delightfully charming! Ms. Harrington brings charm and passion together in this enjoyable Regency romance."
The Carlisles are back…and England will never be the same! Known as the "Scourge of Mayfair," the infamous brothers enjoy nothing more than having a good time and striking fear into the hearts of marriage-minded mamas. But when the three brothers cross paths with three very special women, they've finally met their matches--in more ways than one.
WHEN THE SCOUNDREL SINS
A MOST INDECENT PROPOSAL Annabelle Green needs a husband-and quickly. To inherit the only home she's ever known, she must be married by her twenty-fifth birthday. But finding a suitor has been next to impossible after a reckless rogue named Quinton Carlisle seduced her into a scandalous midnight tryst. Her reputation in ruins, Belle now needs a rather large favor. And she knows just who to turn to . . . Quinn can hardly believe that the shy bookish girl he teased as a child has grown into such a brazen beauty. The very idea of marrying Belle to right the wrongs of his past is downright shocking . . . and deliciously tempting. Too bad marriage, convenient or otherwise, is the last thing Quinn wants. He'll help Belle find a husband and be on his way. But if he can't control his attraction to the bride-to-be, this marriage could go up in flames-of wicked desire.
"Harrington knows there is nothing quite like a reformed rake to make readers' hearts beat wildly. The latest Capturing the Carlisles is a heartwarming charmer. Not since Courting Miss Hattie have kisses been so sensual and arousing. Harrington spins her tale with care as she gives her memorable characters a lively plot and depth of emotion that captivates her fans, who can't wait for the next chapter." ~RT Reviews, 4-1/2 stars TOP PICK
Q&A with ANNA HARRINGTON
Which actor/actress would you like to see playing the lead character in When the Scoundrel Sins?
For Quinton Carlisle, the answer is Chris Hemsworth…the answer is *always* Chris Hemsworth. :) For Annabelle Greene, it would be Keira Knightley, but in the roles when she has more caramel blond hair than brown.
What is your favorite quote?
Life is either a grand adventure or nothing. – Helen Keller. After all, what’s the point of living if we don’t live grand, grab up every experience we can, and enjoy it?
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
In the summer, when I’m not teaching, I can write a 95K word book in about 5 weeks. Then, I’ll spend another month revising it, and another month with copyedits and page proofs. But all that could be spread out across an entire year, as getting the revisions and proofs is determined by my editor. It usually takes at least a year from the time the publisher contracts a book until it’s released.
How do you select the names of your characters?
I have lists of traditional male and female names from England in the early 1800’s, and when I need to name a character, I try to keep a really strong visual of that character in my mind, then go down the list, name by name, until one of them clicks. Sometimes that doesn’t work. I once tried to write a character named Ian, but it just wasn’t working…until I realized that his name was really Nate. I changed names, and the book ended up just flying onto the page then.
What is your favorite scene in When the Scoundrel Sins?
My favorite scene is the first library scene when Belle meets Quinn at midnight (SPOILERS!) in order to propose to him. The scene has so many layers in it. There’s flirtation and longing because they both have feelings for the other but refuse to admit to them, the conflict is fully established between them during this scene, and there’s lots of humor, too. We come to realize why leaving for America is so important to Quinn, and why Belle loves being an unapologetic bluestocking. Did I mention that there’s also lots of kissing?
ENJOY AN EXCERPT FROM
When The Scoundrel Sins
Prologue
Mayfair, London
April 1816
Eyes widening, eighteen year-old Annabelle Green stepped back from Quinton Carlisle, against whose hard front she’d so scandalously pressed herself. She brought her hand against her lips. Swollen, hot, wet, throbbing…Oh heavens, he’d been kissing her.
Dear God, she’d let him!
Let? She bit back a groan of self-recrimination. She’d encouraged the midnight embrace in the St. James’s garden, practically falling into the scoundrel’s arms. And she’d enjoyed it, too.
“Annabelle?” he asked softly, bewildered concern thickening in his deep voice. The noise from the crowded ball barely reached them beneath the thick rose bower at the rear of the garden, where dark shadows cocooned them together.
She stared at him, for the life of her not knowing how to answer that simple question. A few minutes ago, she’d slid out the library terrace door to escape the heat and crush of the party for the cool peace of the dark garden. To take a short turn around the brick path. To simply give herself a few minutes when she wasn’t the object of whispers and laughter from the other ladies at the ball who thought she was overreaching. She was only a lady’s companion after all, with no real right to wear silk and jewels and dance with eligible gentlemen—
Then she’d come across Quinton Carlisle in the shadows. And then she’d found herself in his arms, being given the most incredible kiss imaginable.
“Are you all right?” he pressed. If the expression on his shadowed-darkened face was any indicator, he was just as shocked as she was at their encounter.
“You—you kissed me,” she whispered around her fingers, still pressed to her mouth.
“I certainly did.” A devilish grin quirked at this lips. “And you kissed me back.”
“I did not!”
He arched an amused brow at that wholly obvious lie, and Annabelle groaned. It hadn’t been only a kiss, either. It had been a full-out embrace, eager and hungry, with nibbles and sucks and wandering hands—
“I’d like to do it again.” He stepped forward and closed the distance between them. His hot gaze dropped to her mouth. “Very much.”
Her hand fell away from her lips, not to encourage him but because she was utterly bewildered. What on earth had come over them? “But we don’t even like each other!” she squeaked out.
Well, he didn’t like her, at any rate. He was Quinton Carlisle, for heaven’s sake. A man she’d known since she was ten, with a quick smile that always sent the butterflies swirling in her belly and a golden handsomeness she was certain would have made Adonis jealous. And since he was graduated from university this past spring, one of London’s most charming scoundrels and a man who turned heads of bored society widows and wives everywhere he went, even at just twenty-one. Belle would have had to be dead or eighty not to be attracted to him.
But he was also the bane of her existence this season. A man who never seemed to tire of teasing her and playing jokes on her, just as he had since they were children. They were friends, certainly, but this season he seemed to take great delight in angering her until her eyes blazed and flames could have shot out of her head. While she might have fantasized about him, he certainly never gave a second thought to her except how to make her miserable.
Until tonight. When his arms had been around her, his hard body pressing into her soft one and his lips on hers, teasing kiss after kiss from her until she thought she might explode from the ache he sent spinning through her.
And oh, what a delicious mouth he had, too! No wonder all those urbane women in the ton practically threw themselves at him. When he knew how to kiss like that, who cared about his reputation as one of the wild Carlisle brothers?
& the BOOK GIVEAWAY
A LESSON IN SEDUCTION
Miranda Hodgkins has only ever wanted one thing: to marry Robert Carlisle. And she simply can’t wait a moment longer. During the Carlisle family masquerade ball, Miranda boldly sneaks into his bedchamber with seduction on her mind. Soon she’s swept into rock hard arms for the most breathtaking kiss of her life. But when the masks come off, she’s horrified to find herself face-to-face with Sebastian, the Duke of Trent—Robert’s formidable older brother.
Shocked to find Miranda in his bed, Sebastian quickly offers her a deal to avoid scandal: he’ll help her win his brother’s heart if she’ll find him the perfect wife. But what begins as a simple negotiation soon spirals out of control. For the longer this reformed rake tries to make a match for Miranda, the more he wants to keep her all to himself.
Forever is giving away 10 copies of WHEN THE SCOUNDREL SINS!
"This is exactly what romance is. This is everything a romance should be. It should be filled with the right amount of love-hate, sexual tension, and the feeling of desire between two characters that make them destined for each other. When the Scoundrel Sins by Anna Harrington made me fall in love with historical romance all over again."
~Goodreads Reviewer
MEET THE AUTHOR
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. Visit her website at www.AnnaHarringtonBooks.com or follow her at @aharrington2875.
Genre: Regency Romance | Pub Date: August 29, 2017 | Page count: 352pp
Series: Capturing the Carlisles, Book 2 | Publisher: Forever
