Tag: Romancewriters

A Sudden Fortune

After a short break, I’ve started tackling my fifth novel, ‘A Sudden Fortune’. 

Abandoned in her youth, Claire Hastings has inherited a fortune from a guardian who rescued her from a convent. The riches are hers with one caveat – she must share the fortune with the impoverished Marquess of Kingston.

Of course, the new-found wealth is more of a burden than a blessing for a girl who has been a social pariah all her life. When the aristocratic family that abandoned her appears to claim the fortune, Claire’s troubles begin. A half-brother, step-brother, father, and a dowager Countess insinuate themselves into her life, and she discovers her origins and the reasons why she had been placed in a convent at an early age. 

Nelson Ridley had been holding his impoverished family together – just barely. With a mother, sister, and four nieces and nephews to support, he remains on the outskirts of society, earning a living writing stories for several popular periodicals. 

The Ridley household, with their unexpected fortune, find themselves thrown into the whirl of the Season, and Nelson is suddenly one of the most eligible bachelors in London.

None of the beautiful, wealthy debutantes tempt him. His heart is captured by the friendless, socially awkward woman whose inheritance has changed their lives. They become fast friends, and each yearns for more. . .

Inciting Incidents

In a writer’s forum not long ago, an author said that their approach to writing is simply creating ‘what if’ scenarios.

I suddenly realized thatI have exactly the same approach. 

For my first book, I wondered – what if your hopes and dreams are completely scuttled because of an incident beyond your control?  How do you get back on course? Or do you just give up?

For my second book, I wondered – what if you overhear a conversation that gives you an opportunity to change the course of your life? What happens if you seize the moment?

For the third book, I wondered – what if you walk into a room and see someone who could be your identical twin? It turns everything you knew about yourself into everything you didn’t know about yourself.

For the fourth book, I wondered – what if a family member’s reckless, narcissistic behavior changes the future you carefully planned for yourself? Do you make the difficult decision to cut ties with your family?

My next book will be – what if you suddenly inherit a fortune and discover tragedy and a deep, unsavory past? 

There are so many possibilities with ‘what if’ scenarios, and it is so much fun to create an inciting incident. 

A Rogue’s Progress

An enemies-to-lovers Victorian romance. 

She’s a debutante searching for a husband. He’s a gambler chasing redemption. When their worlds collide over a family inheritance, sparks fly, secrets unravel, and desires ignite. In a game of love, luck, and betrayal, who will come out on top—and at what cost?

After six long years of schooling, Eleanor Bucknell is more than ready to enjoy a London Season and a chance for flirtation, love, and marriage. There’s just one problem—her impulsive and greedy brother has gambled away the family properties and is bent on arranging a prosperous marriage for her. With her plans thwarted at every turn, Ellie determines to make her own way in life, all the while plagued by thoughts of the rakish son of an earl who now owns the Bucknell property.

Casper Whittaker is a gambler and a rogue who feels no remorse when relieving fools of their property at the gaming tables. Besides, he is on a mission to redeem himself in the eyes of his father for his role in the tragic event that took his older brother’s life. Winning the Bucknell properties was the chance he needed to make a new life for himself—even though the plight of the feisty young debutante tugs at his heartstrings. 

Ellie never expected her greatest adversary to be the one man who could steal her heart. When a fiery clash of wills ignites between her and Casper, their undeniable attraction becomes impossible to ignore. But with her brother’s devious schemes threatening to tear them apart, will love be enough to overcome the odds?

This is a closed-door, sweet romance.

It’s Finished – Looking for reviewers

Hello, lovely readers.
I have just completed my third historical romance novel. It is an Impossible Love trope.

If anyone is interested in being an ARC reader, here is the signup sheet.
Summary: An Unexpected Lady

She has a history to discover, and he has a mystery to unravel and a family to protect. Their love is thwarted by the sins of the past. A shy and awkward beauty unsure of her past, Charlotte Winterbrooke struggles to resist the man she is falling in love with. She will not commit to him until she finds out the truth of her birth—a scandalous truth that will destroy all chances of remaining in society and making a good marriage. Hopelessly in love with the bumbling beauty who he is sure is out to destroy his godfather’s family, Maxwell Shockley is in a losing battle to protect his loved ones and resist the beguiling temptress who he can not live without. With blackmail, scandal, and secrets surrounding them, can Charlotte and Max protect their deepening love and have a future together?
This is a fade-to-black romance with a Spice level 1.
TW: contains references to early childhood abuse.

SIGNUP SHEET

Happy Reading

Excerpt from a deleted scene Marry Me, Duke

“He slipped the ring onto her finger, sealing their promise and giving her a light kiss, and then the pressure was gone, and her lips were cold from his absence.
As she walked out of the chapel, hand in hand with her new husband, he glanced down at her with that same impassive and steady look in his eyes. “It’s for the best,” he said, perhaps seeing her doubt. “I promise you. We will make it work.”
He sounded as though he were trying to convince himself, and deep within her being, she knew that Hugh’s love for her was fragile—if it existed at all. In that instant, a chilling realization struck her, unraveling the dreams she clung to—she was on the brink of a grave mistake.”

A Writer’s Corner – What happens in the third draft

Working on the third draft of a novel is the most nail-biting stage of the writing process. This is where I cut out scenes that aren’t necessary to the story arc and start working on better prose. It’s a total immersion by getting into the skin of the characters and fine-tuning the dialogue and pace. I see what’s missing and what is superfluous and add gestures and facial expressions. It’s the most important draft, and I expect to do a read-through out loud in the next draft with no major changes.

A Writer’s Corner – Writing Love Scenes

The love scenes are the most difficult scenes to write. In my books, I thought I handled the emotional part of desire very well but did not handle the Instalove and obsession well at all. This is so much a part of the romance genre, and it has always felt very unconvincing to me. It is very juvenile, yet it is so popular.
My characters are more ‘mature’ in that they don’t fall in love immediately. They are attracted, intrigued, and often baffled by this. There is a lot of wariness and uncertainty until the very end.
It’s hard to identify the moment when real love happens. We don’t even see when that happens in real life, so how can we capture that moment in a novel?
There’s a scene in my most recent novel, Marry Me, Duke, where the female main character all but begs her new husband to make love to her. That was such an enjoyable scene to write. For one, you don’t often see this in historical romance novels. Her lust and curiosity seem very real to me—as is his rejection. When they finally do make love, she takes the lead at first. And after that point, he gradually falls in love with her. That, to me, felt more realistic than Instalove/lust would have.

What makes a relationship romantic?

Affection: Expressing affection through gestures, words, or physical touch helps maintain the romantic connection. Small acts of kindness and affectionate behaviors contribute to a loving atmosphere.
Affection is expressed in so many beautiful ways in historical novels. The casual brush against a woman’s hand, tucking wayward curl behind her ear, and gifts of flowers are very common in these novels and are fraught with meaning.

What makes a relationship romantic?

Shared Goals and Values: A romantic relationship flourishes when both partners have common goals, values, and aspirations. I love it when the two main characters are working together for a common cause. I love mysteries, and I’m a sucker for a good historical mystery where the female main character pairs up with a detective, and they work together, and sometimes against each other, to solve a crime, unravel a mystery, or save someone.

A Writer’s Corner – Should a person who is not a romantic write a romance novel?

An editor in the R/writing sub Reddit asks the intriguing question, “Who are you writing for?”
They went on to say that they’re not writing for themselves because their goal is for other people to read their work. I totally get that. And OP goes on to say that they’re not writing for others either because they don’t want other people and those opinions to affect their work. I get that, too.
“However, without a clear picture of for whom I’m writing, I am still writing.”


That’s the thing, isn’t it? Sometimes, we just don’t know what motivates us to write. But this post got me thinking.
Initially, I started writing purely for myself. I needed to get all of these characters and scenarios out of my head, so I thought, why not publish them? It’s an exorcism of sorts.
Then I discovered that the process was a lot of fun—more fun than doing my other hobbies. It became the most enjoyable use of my spare time.
I love developing the characters, getting into their minds, and building their world.
Then, I published my first book and discovered the world of self-publishing. I was immediately resistant to marketing and branding. I hated the idea of using social media to promote my book. I told myself that, though sales would be nice, the lack of sales wouldn’t stop me from writing. But I found myself checking every day to see if the book had any traction at all.

I found that as much as I like writing, I absolutely loved the idea that someone else might enjoy my book as much as I enjoyed writing it. I found that I wanted the reader’s opinions as much as I feared those opinions.
It became a balancing act. I have to confess that I altered my writing somewhat to fit my reader demographic. Historical romances traditionally have a happy ever after—I know that. I’m too much of a realist to want or to even buy into the happily ever after. For the most part, they also have alpha males as the hero. This makes me think that maybe someone who is cynical by nature shouldn’t be writing romances. I’m not enamored of the alpha male trope. Nuanced male characters are much more intriguing. I love the flawed heroes who show their vulnerability: the ones overcoming family baggage, the ones who are scarred by war and other trauma. I deep dive into the feelings.
So, while common tropes frame the narrative, my characters don’t quite fit into the trope. My female characters are bolder and somehow more self-assured—even those who are shy have confidence in some areas of their lives.

The OP in the sub-Reddit ends his post by asking again who I should be writing for. My answer would be to write for yourself, and hopefully, you will find your audience.