Category: Delilah Marvelle

Posted on

Interview & giveaway with Delilah Marvelle & Maire Claremont

Books-n-Kisses is very excited to have the wonderful Delilah Marvelle and Maire Claremont on the blog today to chat about their new christmas anthology.  

Ladies, can you please share with us a little about yourself

DM:  I’ve been writing books ever since I could remember and love to really research the nuances of history.  Especially naughty history J  I created a blog, A Bit O’Muslin (www.DelilahMarvelle.blogspot.com ) after discovering some readers didn’t know dildos existed in the era I wrote in (1830).  Imagine how shocked they were to discover the oldest dildo is actually over 28,000 years old.  I’ve been trying to educate the world ever since, lol.

MC:  I  am a total gypsy. I’ve lived in multiple states, Ireland, England, and Scotland. I hope to keep moving. At present, I am touring the Pacific NW where I am orignally from, and will be staying near FORKS. I will keep my eye out for sparkling men. I have an M.A. in Theater and ADORE outdoor Shakespeare, having gone to Oregon Shakespeare Festival almost every summer of my young life!

Have you always wanted to be an author?

DM:  Always.  I got sucked into story telling as a kid when my dad would read books to me and found that I either didn’t like the way the story ended or I never wanted the story to end.  So I started writing my own endings and stories.  I haven’t looked back since.

MC: Oh. . . This is a tricky question because when I was five I probably didn’t know I could be an author! But I was writing stories. I didn’t “officially decide” to be an author until I was about 17. And at that time, I had decided would be the next Johanna Lindsay. (cough)

Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

DM:  My favorite authors are for the most part dead, lol.  Those authors include the Bronte sisters, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Edith Wharton, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.  Edith Wharton influenced my writing the most.  There was a wry tone to her stories that were just beautiful. 

MC: Oy. Well in Romance, some of my FAVORITE WRITERS ARE; Delilah Marvelle, Meredith Duran, Sherry Thomas, Joanna Bourne, JR Ward and Karen Marie Moning! As to influence? Delilah Marvelle is huge because she Cris all my work, taking out the nonsense. But what really sent me down the path of writing more richly tormented dark historicals was Meredith Duran’s first book The Duke of Shadows. If you haven’t read this, you MUST!!!!

How did you get into writing in this specific genre?  Have you ever thought about writing in a different genre?

DM:  In high school, I wrote horror (seriously).  I was convinced I was going to be the next Stephen King.  The problem was, my writing wasn’t scary at all and always had a romance in it.  I finally discovered what I was really writing and drawn to when I read my first historical romance by Judith McNaught’s, WHITNEY MY LOVE.  It changed everything, lol.

MC: I fell in love with the sweep of historical romance straighaway. I loved the larger than life characers, the houses, the horses, the costumes, and of course the heroes!!! I have thought about writing in other genres, but for now my focus is all HISTORICAL!

Can you please tell us about your latest book?

DM:  It’s my first Christmas story I’ve done, and I’m excited to be able to share in this anthology, ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS WIIS A DUKE, with Màire Claremont.  The whole concept is wondering what happened to the person you first fell in love with many, many years ago.  Ever wonder what would happen if you had a chance to meet them again when you were older and wiser?  Merry Christmas, Mrs. Robinson is about a very special re-union between two souls who weren’t ready to love when they first met but how Christmas is about to change that all for them.

MC:   Well, at present, I am releasing All I Want For Christmass is a Duke with Delilah Marvelle! My story is The Twelve Days of Seduction which features an author in the disguise of a governess who refuses to slink of when her employer, the Duke of Beresford discovers her masquerade! My first full length novel, The Dark Lady, comes out Feb 5 2013. The heroine has been wrongfully placed in an insane asylum and her childhood love comes back to rescue her! But of course the course of true love never did run smooth and they have a lot of conflict to face before love can triumph!

How did you come up with the idea for this story?

DM:  I was re-watching ‘The Graduate’ with my husband when my characters both whizzed into focus.  I simply *had* to a write a story about an older woman and a younger man set in Dickens’s era during Christmas.  In honor of her being the older woman (and the fact that the idea came to me as I watching ‘The Graduate’) I was totally going to call her Mrs. Robinson even if I had to marry her off to someone other than the hero (which I did).  The similarities between ‘The Graduate’ and my story, however, end there, lol.

MC:  Well, in regard to Delilah and my Christmas novella, we both knew we wanted dukes.  Because seriously, what could be a better present! And I adore Jane Eyre, so I saw this as a chance to give my nod to one of my very, very favorite novels!  In regards to The Dark Lady, quite truthfully, that story came to me in the middle of the night, and my heroine Eva, was SO demanding, I had to sit down and write the first chapter in the dark in my living room. She was quite a force, and I will never forget how intense it was to awake with such a story in mind.

 Open your book to a random page and tell us what’s happening.

 

DM:  The heroine is getting nailed.  (Not in a dirty way, people!).  It was a Twelfth Night tradition in the 1800’s that boys would go around with a hammer and nail and randomly nail the skirts of women and the coat tails of men to shop windows whenever anyone stopped.  It was their idea of a good time.  When I read about the tradition, I knew the heroine had to get ‘nailed’ to a confectionary shop.

MC: The hero and heroine are in a oak grove in the snowfall. He totally expects to seduce her. Instead, she gives him a lesson in etiqeuette, governess that she is!

What is your favorite Christmas/Holiday memory?

DM:  Going to downtown Chicago on State Street as a kid, going ice-skating and then getting hot cocoa and pop corn and walking from display window to display window of Marshal Fields (which no longer exists…sigh).  Everything just felt so magical then.   

MC: My best Christmas memory must be from when I was VERY little! I was sitting staring at the tree with the lights waiting for my parents to wake up. My dad stumbled out to make the coffee and found me with the tree, rapt by all the beribboned presents!

What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

DM:  The book that I’m *dying* to read but no one knows when the heck is coming out is Judith McNaught’s next historical romance.  There’s been talk of her coming out with another historical except it hasn’t happened.  Poo.

MC:     JR Ward’s latest!!! I can’t wait for Quinn and Blay’s story and Delilah Marvelle’s Forever A Lord!!! Lord Atwood is my favorite historical hero. ;D

 

 “Two SCANDALOUS reads, one low price!” Only $0.99

Amazon | B&NA Christmas anthology by two hot names in historical fiction…

Merry Christmas, Mrs. Robinson by Delilah Marvelle

Lady Jane left her father, the Earl of Chadwick, and the ton behind to experience life on the stage. After a disastrous marriage, the widow is living on the edge of poverty, determined to guard her heart, when a secret admirer from her past demands a second chance.

Shy and retiring Martin Nicholas Pierce, the Sixth Duke of Somerset, has carried a torch for Lady Jane since her youth, but he is five years her junior. When she married another man, he left for Europe, determined to put her out of his mind. After returning to find Lady Jane free, he vows to replace the memories of her cursed Twelfth Night with a new beginning.

The Twelve Days of Seduction By Máire Claremont

Alexander Hunt, Eighth Duke of Berresford, is aware his ward’s governess isn’t quite what she seems. Although Miss Flint is beautiful and intelligent, she misrepresented herself to gain employment, and he threatens to give her the sack mere days before Christmas.

Desperate to convince the sexy duke not to tear her from the little girl she’s grown to adore, Adriana challenges him to seduce her before the Twelve Days of Christmas have come to an end, although she fears it may cost her heart. Alexander accepts the challenge, unconcerned that he has as much to lose, if not more, than the delectable Miss Flint.

Learn more about Delilah and Maire here:

Delilah:

Facebook | Twitter |   Video Newsletter

Maire:

Facebook |  Twitter | Newsletter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted on

a review of Forever & a Day by Delilah Marvelle

Forever & A Day by Delilah Marvelle
Book 1 in the Rumor series
Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: HQN Books; Original edition (December 20, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373776365
ISBN-13: 978-0373776368
Amazon | B&N 

From the Author
Dear Reader,
I love New York City.  The people are damn serious about the way they live life.  They work hard and play hard and needless to say, it got me thinking. Were the people of New York City just as hard core back in 1830 as they are now?  You better believe they were.  And those poor bastards didn’t have our modern conveniences, either. Back in 1830, people were trying to pave dirt streets with gold, even though they had nothing but sweat.  So what happens when an American-Irish woman named Georgia with only coal clutched in each hand meets a British aristocrat who only ever had gold?  You get a story known as the Prince and the Pauperette.  But why stop there?  After all, there is so much more to a story than poor vs. rich.  I wanted to get down and dirty and twisted, digging into the real facets of life back in 1830, while giving you a good laugh and a good cry.  As a writer, I get to play god (bwahahaha) and the idea of a person starting over against their will has always fascinated me. So I took away the hero’s memory and made him crawl back to the basics in life.  Basics he forgot to appreciate.  Basics he never thought he’d be able to return to.  And he does it all while touching the life of one very special woman who makes him realize true love is not only real but priceless.  I hope you enjoy my historical version of the Prince and the Pauper.        
Much love,
Delilah Marvelle
From the Back Cover
Roderick Gideon Tremayne, the recently appointed Duke of Wentworth, never expected to find himself in New York City, tracking down a mysterious map important to his late mother. And he certainly never expected to be injured, only to wake up with no memory of who he is.  But when he sees the fiery-haired beauty who’s taken it upon herself to rescue him, suddenly his memory is the last thing on his mind.
Georgia Milton, the young head of New York’s notorious Forty Thieves, feels responsible for the man who was trying to save her reticule from a thief. But she’s not prepared for the fierce passion he ignites within her. When his memory begins to return, her whole world is threatened, and Roderick must choose between the life he forgot and the life he never knew existed….

My thoughts:
Oh my sweet, sweet Delilah, you had me perplexed in this book, but in a good way.  From the get go I was trying too hard to figure out who everyone was from Forever mine.  And when I finally found out, I bawled like a baby.  Oh course I can’t say what or who, but OH MAN!!!!
Forever & A day is book one in Delilah Marvelle’s Rumor series released on Dec 20, 2011.   In Forever & a Day we find Georgia suddenly in charge of a man with no past, well he has a past he just can’t remember it.
The struggle that Georgia and Robinson go through to understand, cope and ultimately love each other was great. Georgia is a strong and feisty woman who knows what and who she wants out of life.  Unlike Robinson who doesn’t remember anything of his past life.  But he does know that he doesn’t care who he was, all he know is that he wants Georgia.  That is until he learns who is really is…..
If you loved Delilah’s Scandal series you will love the Rumor series.  So go grab this book and learn how Rumors get started. 
Posted on

Winter’s Favorite Giveaway Day 12

Welcome to day 12 of Winter’s Favorites.
Today I have 2 of my absolute favorite authors on the blog today.  I have had the great pleasure of meeting both of these wonderful ladies and spend a great deal of time with each of them.
So without further ado please welcome the Super Sweet Laurie London and the Scandal Queen Delilah Marvelle.

Please welcome Laurie London:
Thanks, Kelly, for having me on today!
I wanted to share with your readers a very special recipe I make for the holidays.
If you’ve read my books, you’ll notice there’s usually an important scene that revolves around food. It might be a sexy scene, one where secrets are revealed, or just two people getting to know each other. For instance, in Enchanted By Blood, my story in the anthology A VAMPIRE FOR CHRISTMAS, Trace and Charlotte first talk at an all-night diner over coffee and stale doughnuts.
Food connects us to our past and helps keep memories alive. My grandma used to make this wonderful Eggnog Pie for the holidays. I’m thankful she contributed her recipe to the Cedar Creek Grist Mill Cookbook, published in 1991, because otherwise, I wouldn’t have had it.

Several years after she passed away, I was missing her and made the pie for my grandpa at Thanksgiving, using my own chickens’ eggs. It made him so happy that I started making it for all the holidays.

Gommo’s original recipe calls for making a regular pastry crust. I did that at first but found we all preferred a graham cracker crust. Sorry, Gommo! (Even Poppo liked it this way too.) It’s even easier.

1 tsp. Knox gelatin
1 Tbsp. water
1 c. milk
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
Pinch of salt
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. heavy cream, whipped
Nutmeg
1 graham cracker crust pie shell

1. Soak gelatin in the water to soften. Set aside.
2. Scald milk in top of double boiler.
3. Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add to scalded milk and cook until smooth, stirring constantly.
4. Stir small amount of hot mixture into the eggs to temper them, then return to the double boiler and cook three to four minutes longer, stirring constantly with a whisk.
5. Remove from heat. Add gelatin mixture and butter. Whisk till smooth. Cool.
6. Add vanilla. Fold whipped cream into custard mixture. Pour into pie shell and sprinkle with nutmeg. Chill pie until ready to serve.

Enjoy!
You can find Laurie here: Website | Facebook | Twitter
Please welcome Delilah Marvelle:
12 Things I Love about Winter
Born and raised in Chicago where winter not only nips your nose but your ass straight through your jeans, you better believe a girl like me has to find joy in
winter or just altogether die from it.  I prefer to find joy in it and what better way than by sharing it with the world.  So in honor of what we know to be the 12 days of Christmas,
I’m doing my own version of 12 Things I Love about Winter.
1.)  I can stay in the house, remain dressed in flannel Pj’s, write and drink tons of hot chocolate spiked with hazelnut and vodka without coming across as a slob, a recluse and an alcoholic.
2.)  I can wear a warm, fuzzy hat on my head so I don’t need to spend time straightening my hair or messing with it.  I stay warm AND look good with no hassle.  Imagine that.
3.)  Boots, boots, boots!!!  I’m a boot girl and I get to pull out all 10 pairs of my boots that sit in my closet and wear them all (though not at the same time….obviously).
4.)  I get to bake.  Gingerbread girls with short skirts and gingerbread men with buff arms (you think I’m lying?!).  I loooooove baking.  As a culinary chef who worked with a top notch pastry chef before my writing swept me away from it, I learned how to do everything from ganache to apricot glazes sage cookies to glass windows for ginger breads houses made out of sugar.  I love how my house smells like cinnamon and sugar cookies naturally, instead of those plug in wall thingies that would kill you if you tried to lick it…
5.)  I get to buy sweaters!  Every winter, I buy two new sweaters to snuggle into.  Call it a winter tradition, but I love nestling into a sweater when the cold rolls in.
6.)  Sledding.  Omgosh, as a girl, I loved tugging up that sled and feel the rush at the cost of nothing but my sore legs going up and down the hill.  And I still love it!!  Only now, I get to do it with my kids (and realize I’m getting old when they beat ME up the hill…)  Sadly, in Portland, Oregon snow is rare, but we have mountains we can hunt down within an hour’s time.  AND it does snow on occasion.  When it does snow, I love running out with the kids and feeling like I’m in the movie Edward Scissorhands and seeing snow for the first time.  It feels new every year I see it, especially with me now living in Portland, seeing snow is rare.
7.)  I get to make stews and soups galore and no one complains about it (because they all want comfort food right along with me!).
8.)  Winter means my favorite holiday is coming: Christmas.
9.)  I get to ice skate, ski and snowboard!  Ice skating I’ve done in downtown Chicago since I was old enough to walk, but skiing?  The first time I ever hit the slopes was when I came to Oregon and hit up Mount Hood at the age of 23.  We don’t have mountains in Chicago and they don’t let you ski off the Sears Tower (Sigh.  I know.).  My first experience was…scary as hell.  My husband (Mr. Ski pro) bought me skis and together we took the lift up the mountain (because I’m like ‘Bring it.’  Heh).  That’s right…no ski experience whatsoever and I decided to take on Mount Freakin Hood like some city girl wearing heels on ice.  And I not only took on Mount Hood but I did the BLUE run instead of the easy Green.  Because I just had to impress my husband.  It took me over an hour to get down that mountain (it took my husband 15 minutes).  Every breath I thought I was going to die or that my legs were going to snap and when I saw a guy in front of me lose control and disappear off somewhere, that’s when I took off my skis and trudged down the mountain before I ended up like him.  But guess what?  I put those skis back on and went up again…and again…and again until I no longer took off my skis but actually went down the mountain.  I’ve been hooked ever since.
10.)  Seat warmers in the car go on.  It sounds totally stupid but having the seat warmer on in the car makes this girl HAPPY.  Who knew having a warm butt could bring so much joy?
11.)  The skies at night look so much crisper and cleaner.  I don’t know why, but I get this “I’m alive feeling” when I walk around at night and it makes me SO happy.
12.)   And my favorite…I get to bundle up in bed with my hubbie. I love bundling up with him in bed. The guy is like Jacob from Twilight, he’s always unusually warm at night (high metabolism). During the summer, it sucks, and I roll away from him because I’m trying to stay cool, but during the winter? You better believe I get in extra snuggle time. He keeps me warm alllllllll winter long and that alone is why I love winter 🙂
You can find Delilah here: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Laurie is offering a signed copy A Vampire for Christmas. 
Delilah is offering a signed copy of her upcoming release Forever & a Day. 
To enter please tell Laurie & Delilah your favorite thing about winter and then head over to the MAIN Winter’s Favorites page (<<—– click link) and enter on the main page. 
Posted on

Forever Mine by Delilah Marvelle

Forever Mine 
by Delilah Marvelle

Dear Reader,
In this Prequel, you will be introduced to a series of events that will drag you steadily closer to the truth behind a most ominous rumor.  Rumor has it that in the year of 1800, a ten year old boy, British heir to the Sumner estate disappeared in New York City & was never seen again.  Rumor also has it that 30 years later, details pertaining to his disappearance
have resurfaced.  What will it lead to?
Only you, the reader, will ever know. 
Delilah Marvelle  


My Thoughts:
Okay I have to start by saying a HUGE thank you to my girl Delilah for allowing me to read Forever Mine early.  And now I am going to curse her, because now I have to wait until early 2012 to read the next book Forever & a Day.

Forever Mine is the pre-quel novella to Delilah’s new series The Rumor Series (add Link).  Forever mine will be a free read the month of December.  Followed by book 1 Forever & a Day (Jan 2012) book 2 Forever a Lady (Aug 2012) and book 3 Promise me Forever (Jan 2013).

Forever Mine takes place in New York 1800 & then in London 1802.  We meet Lady Augustine and her very dysfunctional family.  After a strange man is found lurking outside the children’s window night after night, Augustine tells her father.  While he is not pleased he is not worried, he states that the man is his friend and will not case them any harm, but will ask him to leave.  When the man doesn’t show up the next night Augustine is relieved.  When the next morning breaks her worst fears are realized her brother is missing, not missing Gone.  Augustine fears her father has had something to do with it.  Augustine’s life will never be the same.

For being a novella, Delilah is able to pack so much emotion into this story.  I really didn’t want this story to end.  I have so many questions. I hope that they all get answered in the next three books. 
I just adore Delilah and her books they are fun, witty, hot and always filled with scandals and rumors.

Watch my blog for details on how to get a free read of Forever Mine and a chance to win book 1 Forever & a Day.

Want to read an excerpt?  Click HERE