The Breathless List – Pandemic Style

And an update from the Breathless in the Bush ladies

(Sorry in advance! This is a long one)

Normally, in January each year, the Breathless in the Bush ladies reveal their favourite ANZ romance read of the year.

But, let’s be serious, 2020 wasn’t a NORMAL year.

Adobe Stock - SharlottaU - 338693547

And so, while we didn’t want to leave you hanging without a list, we did take a slightly different approach this year – compiling a list of the books (or not books) that got us through 2020 (and, we do note that they are not all Aussie or Kiwi this year).

First up, our book reviewer extraordinaire, Miranda who, when asked which books helped her survive 2020 gave us the following great recommendations;

I found The Great Escape From Woodlands Nursing Home by Australian GP Joanna Nell a terrific example of the endurance of the human spirit, friendship, and love. This book is a story of connection in a nursing home, an environment most people don't want to find themselves in, told with great warmth, empathy and lovely gentle humour. It gives hope that no matter what the circumstances, others are also going through tough times, and there is always a kindred spirit who understands - or has an inkling - what you are going through. Every time I think of the book, I smile. The perfect thing to read in lockdown. 

Another wonderful pick-me-up romance to read in these troubled times is Marry in Scarlet by Anne Gracie. This book is the end of a 'Marriage of Convenience' series, so I'd met and been highly entertained by these characters before (although you can read this stand alone - but why would you when you can have 4 delicious books to inhale?). I think the anticipation of reading the fiery marriage of the icy cool duke and the wonderfully independent and slightly reckless, impetuous George (Lady Georgiana) was just fabulous. She turned every stuffy outdated thought he had on its head, and made him completely rethink the way he treated women and marriage - for the better (yay!). In the process she was still honest and 'herself' to the core, a complete heroine. I absolutely loved their rocky road to love; the story showed that love changes everything. The romantic in me loves that!

For the wonderful Breathless lady, Lynne, she discovered the wonderful Natasha Lester and devoured all of Natasha’s backlist. Lynne said:

I read all her wonderful books taking me to what I have found to be a most romantic time in history.

Amongst all the dangers and atrocities, there are incredible stories of love and survival and Natasha has certainly recreated wonderful stories in this time frame.

So hard to pick a favourite but if pushed would have to say The Paris Secret which combines a compelling romance with an intriguing mystery.  Definitely a can't put down story which I found to be case with all her books.

Lynne also told me that as long as there are books like Natasha’s to read, lockdown can go on forever.

Yeah, nah Lynne… I love your thinking, but I cannot be stuck in my house FOREVER 😉

And then the fabulous historical romance author Cassandra found solace in Amy Rose Bennett’s How to Catch a Sinful Marquess. This story is book three in Amy Rose’s Disreputable Debutantes series, described by the author as: a reserved debutante and a former soldier make an unlikely but fated match as they hasten for the Isle of Skye and, I mean, who doesn’t like disreputable debutants, soldiers and Scotland! Cassandra said that this book was "just the tonic I needed after finding it hard to read anything."

And finding it hard to read ANYTHING was certainly an affliction suffered by others in the Breathless in the Bush team. Both Jayne and Alyssa reported finding it hard to find the energy to read with everything else happening – whether that was writing work, work work or family and friends. Jayne did find some escape in Tricia Stringer’s The Family Inheritance – which, she says, highlighted the importance of family and communication. Jayne said:

 

One thing I really felt through Covid was how lucky I am to have my family all living in Australia, even though I wasn't able to see them as often as normal due to living in different states, at least I knew they were safe and close. A few friends of mine have family overseas and I couldn't imagine how painful it must be knowing that it could be years until they would be able to easily visit each other in person again. 

Alyssa, on the other hand, commented that she had found some solace in work. Working as a speech pathologist in the day job, Alyssa noted that it was good to know she was helping, and that there was plenty of variety coming in her front door!

And then there was Marilyn, who struggled with romance and happily ever afters in 2020 (SHOCK! HORROR! KIDDING!).

Finding it hard to find romances that interested her, Marilyn turned to other genres to fill her well but (OF COURSE!) returned to romance via a Barbara Erskine dual timeline historical romance, Sleeper’s Castle. Marilyn LOVES time slip stories, and said that she had been meaning to read this one for a long time as Barbara is the QUEEN of time slips (at least according to Marilyn!). Marilyn said:

'Two women, centuries apart. Linked in a place haunted by its history' is the tagline that drew me in, that and the fact that it's set in Wales (we had to cancel our third trip there in mid-2020, and I am so missing it!). It's a haunting tale with one heroine's story set in the 1400s, the other, a modern-day heroine. 

Great characters, fabulous settings. If only we could travel back in time... 

And then, unlike many of us, who did not get the memo until Netflix launched Bridgerton on Christmas Day, Sharon found the Julia Quinn bandwagon early in 2020! She, of course, started at Book 1 with The Duke and I but then read through all 8 of the Bridgerton books and followed those with the Rokesby series. Sharon said:

I loved escaping from the worries of the pandemic year into a world of romance, particularly Regency romance. Julia Quinn’s characters are the sort of people I would love to know well, and her novels are real page turners. Of course, my Regency romance year culminated with the release of the first series of Bridgerton on December 25. I’ve watched it twice already.

Then, last but not least, is the gorgeous Enisa, who returned to an old fave, Nora Roberts (Queen Nora, if you please!) and a new series, The Chronicles of the One. Enisa said:

Part fantasy, part romance, part adventure, the series (written over 3 years just before 2020), starts in Ireland with an event that causes the outbreak of a deadly virus that kills off most of the world's population (an eerie echo of Covid-19). Many who survive discover they have abilities stemming from 'magick.' This magick creates fear and hatred in those who aren't left gifted and wars break out, threatening humanity. It is up to one such gifted girl, and the boy who is her destiny, to save her new people. Loved, loved, loved this series. 

That the book was about a virus pandemic that has love fighting hate drew me in. I'm a sucker for stories where good wins against evil.

Who isn’t a sucker for good winning against evil? Seriously? Who isn’t?

Oh, yeah. And then there’s the book that got me through 2020.

I actually read more than I thought I did this year, but I did tend to read in fits and starts rather than consistently. And when I read – I binged authors and backlists. Katee Robert, Kylie Scott, Amy Andrews, K. Bromberg and Helena Hunting all have lots of entries on my ‘have read’ list. Yet, when I looked at my list I can’t say that any single book got me through 2020 – it was probably a podcast that saved my sanity – the Fated Mates podcast with Sarah Maclean and Jen Prokop (hey, I’m writing the list, I can go off track if I want!). If you aren’t already listening to this podcast, what are you waiting for? There are THREE seasons to catch up on. Sarah and Jen are knowledgeable, honest and if you don’t laugh at least five times during each show, I don’t know what’s wrong with you!

An update from Breathless in the Bush

On 19 March 2020 I (Kristine), like who knows how many other people lucky enough to be able to do so, I started working from home.

Adobe Stock - Petra Richlii - 377598177

Since that day I’ve been into the office on less than 10 occasions (most of them actually in January 2021). Like almost everyone in the country I’ve spent innumerable hours staring down the barrel of my laptop’s camera, on Zoom, Skype, Teams and Facebook Messenger, ‘virtually’ talking to all the people I’d usually be seeing face to face. I’ve been entertained by and wanted to strangle my mother* in equal measure (we live together), I’ve missed family dinners, Easter and Christmas gatherings, conferences, travel and hoarded just a little toilet paper. 

I even started watching Netflix (yes, I was LATE to that party…).

Others have lost friends and family members, or have not been able to see and spend time with loved ones, whether those loved ones were in aged care homes, interstate, or across the world. They’ve been sick and they’ve been scared. This virus has been serious business. Honestly, I don’t know how many times I’ve been just a little thankful that my father passed away in November 2019 and not November 2020 because I DO NOT KNOW how I would have said goodbye from such a distance. 

Love your family and friends peeps. From a safe distance. With masks. And hand sanitiser.

And yes, in saying all this, I recognise how lucky we have been in Australia. Less than 1000 dead is still too many, and yet still much better than the numbers we’re seeing in the US, UK and Europe. We’ve also had significantly less people fall ill and, like always, we’ve recognised the Aussie spirit – pulling together off the back of floods and fires, to manage this virus as best we can.

But, 2020 has also invited us all to rethink our relationships with work, families, friends, and, importantly for us Breathless in the Bush ladies, writing. I don’t know about you but the one benefit I saw of working from home – avoiding the commute and WRITING ALL THE WORDS, funnily did not materialise in the way I’d imagined 😉 Yes, clearly I can still procrastinate like a boss.

So, in light of 2020, and on behalf of all the BitB clan, I’m writing to share an announcement.

Breathless is NOT going anywhere but, at least for 2021, we will be a little less prolific, publishing our blog every second month or so, rather than pretty much every week. We love everyone in our community – and we love blogging for you, but it’s just not feasible for us to keep up this pace!

We will be back later in February with our stalwart, Enisa Haines, leading the charge. We’ll then have posts up in later in February and around mid-month in April, June, August, October and December and, last but not least, OF COURSE, will be Miranda with her annual, and irreplaceable, Christmas round up. 

If you haven’t already read 2020’s round up, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? IT’S HERE.

We might also pop by from time to time when we have NEWS to share… a fabulous read, a celebration (when, finally, I’ve FINISHED a manuscript!) or just something funny (because, frankly, we need more funny in 2021). But we won’t be in your eyeballs every week.

We hope that you, our amazing community, understands our need to take a little breath (tee hee, see what I did there…) and we hope you’ll stay with us – and share with us in the comments below some of the reads (or other things) that got you through 2020.

Kristine xx

* PS, just to be clear, I don’t REALLY want to strangle my mother. It’s a turn of phrase… Don’t call the cops on me!

Kristine Charles writes sexy tales where coffee (and red wine) is abundant, designer shoes and handbags are cheap, chocolate has no calories and men always put the toilet seat down. Find her at www.wordsbykristinecharles.com, or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

LOVE TO LOVE: the Aussie romance writing, and reading community, who all pulled together in 2020.

LOVE TO LAUGH: At quarantine jokes… Come on, tell me these (from Fatherly) don’t elicit at least a chuckle…

Ran out of toilet paper and started using lettuce leaves. Today was just the tip of the iceberg, tomorrow romaines to be seen.

After years of wanting to thoroughly clean my house but lacking the time, this week I discovered that wasn't the reason.

The World Health Organisation announced that dogs cannot contract COVID-19. Dogs previously held in quarantine can now be released. To be clear, WHO let the dogs out. 

And yes, thank me for putting that earworm in your head. Woof! 

LOVE TO LEARN: Or, at least, to sign up for learning. I’ve signed up for MasterClass, and Babbel in the last year or so and yet… I still procrastinate by watching reruns of The West Wing… go figure.

Regency Bad Boys

Amy Rose Bennett is an Australian author who has a passion for penning emotion-packed historical romances. Of course, her strong-willed heroines and rakish heroes always find their happily ever after.

A former speech pathologist, Amy is happily married to her very own romantic hero and has two lovely, very accomplished adult daughters. When she's not creating stories, Amy loves to cook up a storm in the kitchen, lose herself in a good book or a witty rom-com, and when she can afford it, travel to all the places she writes about. Welcome, Amy Rose!

Regency bad boys… Are you a fan of the alpha-historical-romance hero with a bit of a bad-boy edge? I know I am. In fact, one of my absolutely favourite historical romance heroes is Lisa Kleypas’s Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent in The Devil in Winter. He’s just so wicked and alpha and delish!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7939893-the-devil-in-winter

In my soon-to-be released Regency romance How to Catch a Wicked Viscount—Book 1 in the Disreputable Debutantes series with Berkley—the wicked viscount in question is Nate Hastings, Lord Malverne, a devil-may-care rake who maintains he is ‘not the marrying kind’ whatsoever. While the Disreputable Debutantes series focuses on the trial and tribulations of a small group of aspiring debutantes who are expelled from a young ladies’ academy for ‘conduct unbecoming’, it’s also equally about Nate and his rakehell friends who fall head-over-heels in love with these resilient young women. 

After Miss Sophie Brightwell—the shy, bookish heroine of How to Catch a Wicked Viscount—and her friends find that the academy scandal continues to cling to them even after three years in exile, they reason that the only eligible men likely to overlook their stained reputations and consider them as potential wives are the real ‘bad boys’ of the ton with even worse reputations—rakehells. Indeed, Lady Chelmsford, the aunt of one of Sophie’s closest friends and academy-scandal-partner-in-crime, Lady Charlotte Hastings, maintains that reformed rakehells make the very best husbands. But as Sophie rightly points out, how does one make an elusive, marriage-averse rake fall in love with you? Thus, begins Sophie’s quest to capture the heart of wicked Lord Malverne, Charlotte’s older brother, who she has a huge crush on.

Image courtesy of: Berkley Romance

I, for one, can attest to Lady Chelmsford’s belief as I’ve been blissfully wed to my own ‘reformed rake’ for twenty-six years. My dear hubby is a former military pilot, and yes, I’ll happily confess that when we first met, I was drawn to his bad boy image, plus the fact he rocked a pair of aviator sunglasses (and still does).  

Image courtesy of: http://gph.is/1X80W12

Nate, Lord Malverne and his rakish friends also have military backgrounds; they all served in Wellington’s army and fought at the Battle of Waterloo. They’ve all been adversely affected by their time on the battlefield to some degree and on their return to Polite Society, they all ‘party’ a little too hard i.e. they spend most of their days indulging in ‘wine, women, and song’ and challenging each other to wicked wagers. For instance, at the beginning of How to Catch a Wicked Viscount, Nate and the Earl of Langdale (the ‘errant earl’ hero of Book 2 in the series, out in April next year) are tasked with stealing an item of underwear from a married countess with her own scandalous reputation. Indeed, Lord Langdale ends up having an adulterous affair with the countess (yes, he’s a very bad boy, but you’ll have to read How to Catch an Errant Earl to see how he’s reformed by the bluestocking heroine, Miss Arabella Jardine).

In How to Catch a Wicked Viscount a terribly foxed Nate accidentally compromises Sophie, a compromise that has him striking a wicked bargain with Charlotte: to avoid a scandal and the parson's mousetrap, Nate must help Sophie snare a husband. But as Nate fulfills his obligation and begins to instruct the lovely Sophie in the art of luring rakes, he soon finds himself battling his own fierce attraction to her.

Of course, the real rakehells of the Regency and Georgian period could be very wicked indeed and were infamous, not just for drinking and gambling to excess and fornicating with impunity, but sometimes engaging in outrageous debauchery that was beyond the pale. A prime example is Lord Byron—the English peer, Romantic poet, and revolutionary—who was famously described by one of his lovers, Lady Caroline Lamb, as ‘mad, bad, and dangerous to know’. Byron, who was well-known for his sexual escapades (apparently with both men and women) was rumoured to have had an incestuous affair with his half-sister, Augusta Leigh. They scandal was so great, his marriage to Anne ‘Annabella’ Millbanke broke down and in 1816, he was driven from England. He remained abroad until his death in 1824 in Greece during the Greek War of Independence. Even though Byron’s thoroughly wicked reputation endures to this day, I do love some of his poetry. She Walks in Beauty is one of my favourite poems (and indeed, it features in a scene or two in How to Catch a Wicked Viscount).

Image courtesy of: Wikimedia Commons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron#/media/File:Byron_1813_by_Phillips.jpg)

So, inquiring minds want to know: how bad do you actually like historical Romancelandia’s ‘bad boys’ to be? Is there any behaviour that you can’t forgive in a rake before the heroine manages to turn him into an adoring, devoted partner-for-life? And do you have a favourite Regency romance rakehell? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

For lovers of rakish heroes, How to Catch a Wicked Viscount is out on August 27th:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L7SS1GT/

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2SDHLQG

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/2A0iOZ1

Apple: https://apple.co/2Eladnf

Google Play: https://bit.ly/2y5t54y

Amy's website and social media links:

Website: http://amyrosebennett.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amyrosebennett.author

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmyRoseBennett

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/amy-rose-bennett

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Amy-Rose-Bennett/e/B00JP0VMBM/

Love to love… the Regency romance genre and its wicked rakehells.

Love to laugh… with my own reformed ‘bad boy’ husband every single day.

Love to learn… about the fascinating lives of real historical figures.

Four Magic Words - Christmas Holiday Box Set - Just What Does Go into Making One?

Guest Post by Amy Rose Bennett

Holly and Hopeful Hearts: 

A holiday box set with a difference.

Holly and Hopeful Hearts is the latest release from the Bluestocking Belles—Jude Knight, Jessica Cale, Sherry Ewing, Nicole Zoltack, Susana Ellis, Caroline Warfield, and me, Amy Rose Bennett. Our Regency Christmas anthology features eight original novellas centred in and around a Yuletide house party and New Year’s Eve charity subscription ball that takes place at Hollystone Hall, the country estate of the Duchess of Haverford.

Many holiday box sets are released this time of year, so why is the Bluestocking Belles’ anthology a little different? Well, we like to think it’s special as all of the Belles have worked together to produce a series of cleverly interconnected stories. They are linked, not just by the setting and the central character, the Duchess of Haverford, but as you’ll see, in many other ways as well.

The Duchess of Haverford

So, you might be wondering, how did we make this all come together? Whilst it was a lot of fun, and very fulfilling as a joint project, it has taken a good deal of planning and commitment from all of us, to say the least! One of the main challenges was for the Belles to come up with a setting, time frame, unifying theme, and an ensemble cast of characters that we could all work with. Our main story arc—the Yuletide house party culminating in a charity ball—was actually envisaged in January this year. Then over the next few months, we began to add other unifying details—the characters, the Duchess of Haverford (a creation of Jude Knight) and her personal assistant, Miss Cedrica Grenford, appear in every novella. In fact, Miss Grenford has her own story; A Suitable Husband by Jude Knight is an ‘in-between the novellas’ romance. A house party planning committee meeting that takes place at Miss Clemens’s Book Palace and Tea Rooms is another central event that joins the novellas. And then as we began to write our stories, we all had to work out the finer details including other ‘cross-over’ scenes and characters...

For instance, three of our novellas—Valuing Vanessa, A Kiss for Charity, and Dashing Through the Snow—have heroes and heroines that attend the same Grand Masquerade event at Vauxhall Gardens on the 26th August, 1812. During the course of the Yuletide house party, many characters also visit a local orphanage and attend a costume ball. To coordinate scenes such as this, we were diligent in sharing as many details as we could. Some of the methods we employed included creating a master list of characters (complete with physical descriptions) and a daily Hollystone Hall house party activities spreadsheet. We also created a document with descriptions of the rooms and the grounds at Hollystone Hall—several of us have written key scenes that take place in the Duchess of Haverford’s personal study and in the gardens. Some Belles also made use of a ‘story-telling writing cave’—a private Facebook group—when we wanted to draft and co-write certain scenes together.

Miss Cedrica Grenford

One very sweet, unifying thread in all the novellas is the inclusion of a litter of mischievous kittens—so look out for a kitten in each story. Other cross-over characters include my villainess from Dashing Through the Snow, Lady Stanton; she appears in Jude Knight’s story, The Bluestocking and the Barbarian. And Jude Knight’s Weasel Winderfield, a male character who is often up to no good, appears in Artemis, The Bluestocking and the Barbarian, An Open Heart, and Christmas Kisses.

Research for this box set was a team effort as well—aside from sharing information about Vauxhall Gardens (the layout and events), charity subscription balls, and Yuletide and New Year’s Eve traditions in the Regency period, we even shared the 1812 calendar and regional weather reports from that year!

The Bluestocking Belles proudly support the Malala Fund charity
25% of the proceeds of Holly and Hopeful Hearts will go to the Malala Fund.

All in all, producing Holly and Hopeful Hearts was an ambitious undertaking by the Bluestocking Belles but with great teamwork, patience and a good dose of humour, we did it and we are all very proud of what we have created. We hope readers will enjoy our stories too!

What’s your favourite type of romantic Christmas read? 

Do you like longer stories, short and sweet (or spicy) novellas, or holiday box sets? And do you have an all-time favourite Christmas story?

I love to love... celebrating Christmas with my wonderful husband and family.

I love to laugh... with my husband. He makes me smile every single day.

I love to learn... about the craft and business of writing whenever I can.

Heat rating: G-PG13

Buy Links for Holly and Hopeful Hearts:

Amazon US  Amazon AUS  Kobo  B&N  iBooks

ABOUT THE BELLES

The Bluestocking Belles, the “BellesInBlue”, are seven very different writers united by a love of history and a history of writing about love. From sweet to steamy, from light-hearted fun to dark tortured tales full of angst, from London ballrooms to country cottages to the sultan’s seraglio, one or more of us will have a tale to suit your tastes and mood. Come visit us at http://bluestockingbelles.net and kick up your bluestockinged heels!

BLUESTOCKING BELLES ON THE WEB: Look for us online...

Website and home of the Teatime Tattler: http://bluestockingbelles.net Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BellesInBlue Twitter: www.Twitter.com/BellesInBlue Pinterest: www.Pinterest.com/BellesInBlue Amazon Author page: www.amazon.com/author/BellesInBlue

Please note, the Bluestocking Belles profile picture is taken from ‘In the Library’, a public domain painting by Auguste Toulmouche (1872).