Guest Blogger, Jennifer Haymore

Today I’d like to welcome author Jennifer Haymore as the guest blogger here today at Thoughts in Progress as she begins her blog tour.

“A Touch of Scandal” is Jennifer’s second book and it’s scheduled for release in April. Here’s a brief synopsis of the book: The last thing Garrett, Duke of Calton, expects to find while tracking his sworn enemy is the delectable, mysterious Kate. This beautiful servant girl rouses a longing the battle-scarred ex-soldier had never hoped to feel again. But when she turns out to be the sister of the man he seeks, he's convinced he's been betrayed.

Kate knows her duty to her family, yet how can she ignore Garrett's powerful pull on her heart? Or the heady temptation of his stolen-and sizzling-kisses?
Scandal has followed the duke since the war. Now the greatest shock of all is on its way-the one that can separate Garrett and Kate forever.

Thanks to Jennifer, and Anna and the folks at the Hachette Book Group, I have five copies of “A Touch of Scandal” to giveaway. Please see the end of the post for more information on the giveaway.

Jennifer stop by today to talk about why she writes historical romance.

If you asked me when I was 5, 15, or 25, what my favorite books of all-time were, I would have listed historical fiction books at the top. When I was five, I loved the Little House on the Prairie series. When I was fifteen, my tastes were more eclectic but still historicals were up at the top—I loved everything from The Witch of Blackbird Pond to Mary Renault’s books set in ancient Greece. And then when I was twenty-five, I’d have probably said Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and River God by Wilbur Smith. 

 
At first, I didn’t know that there was such a great market for historical romances with UK settings. Before I started writing seriously, I was obsessed with genealogy, and I learned that just about every one of my ancestors was from England. 

I visited there and was enthralled by the historical sites, by imagining my ancestors living, breathing, fighting, and loving in these places. 
 
So while I love the history of the world and of all the places in it, it seemed natural for me to turn to the homeland of my ancestors to write about.
 

So my tastes always leaned towards historicals. I love history—I love how so many things that have happened in history are truly stranger than fiction. I think writing in a historical context lets me explore so many interesting and exciting events, cultures, and ideals while still staying true to the core of humanity and the thrill of falling in love.

 

Thanks Jennifer for stopping by today. It’s always interesting to learn why authors write in the genre they do.

Now for the giveaway, I have five copies of “A Touch of Scandal” to giveaway. The giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada and no post office box addresses can be accepted. The deadline for entering the giveaway is Wednesday, April 14. To enter, send me an e-mail (mcbookshelf@gmail.com) with “Win Scandal” in the subject line and include your name and address in the body of the e-mail. 

For a little background on Jennifer, as a child she traveled the South Pacific with her family on their homebuilt sailboat. The months spent on the sometimes-quiet, sometimes-raging seas sparked her love of adventure and grand romance. Since then, she's earned degrees in Computer Science and Education and held various jobs from bookselling to teaching inner-city children to acting, but she's never stopped writing.

You can find Jennifer in Southern California trying to talk her husband into yet another trip to England, helping her three children with homework while brainstorming a new five-minute dinner menu, or crouched in a corner of the local bookstore writing her next novel. To learn more about Jennifer visit her website: www.jenniferhaymore.com.