#Giveaway + Excerpt ~ The Earl’s Cinderella Countess by Amanda McCabe… #books #HistoricalRomance #readers

Enjoy this friends-to-lovers romance set in Regency Bath

The one match

She doesn’t want to make…

The Earl of Fleetwood was Eleanor St. Aubin’s first love, but being a mere vicar’s daughter held her back from admitting her feelings. Now she’s a successful matchmaker, and the prospect of finding Frederick the wealthy wife he needs to settle his inherited debts is a nightmare come true! But returning from war, Frederick’s facing nightmares of his own. Eleanor feels compelled to help him, but could she ever be his Cinderella countess?

 

 

 

EXCERPT:

 

Staring down at the sparkle of the glorious view before her, Eleanor stumbled a bit as she descended the carriage steps.  Fred caught her before she could tumble down, lifting her high for an instant as she held tight to his shoulders, staring up in wonder at his familiar, unfamiliar, beautiful face.

He slowly, ever so slowly lowered her to the ground, a gentle slide, his gaze never leaving hers.  Eleanor didn’t want to let him go, yet the chatter of Penelope and Mary as they made their way up the path, the chirping song of the birds, pulled her back into the real world again.

She stepped back, flustered.  “Thank you.  So clumsy of me.”

“The last thing you could ever be, Ella, is clumsy,” he said hoarsely.  She noticed him running his damaged arm, as if he had wrenched it and didn’t want her to notice.  She felt so shy and awful that he had to worry about such things now!  Her strong, funny old friend.

They walked together behind Penelope and Mary and the footmen, toward a spot where they could spread out their picnic with the glorious view all around them.  Eleanor lost herself in the chatter, the wine and laughter, and soon felt easy again, as if she was with the old Fred and she the old Eleanor, reading poetry in the Moulton Magna summerhouse.

But they were not those people still, not really, and there was a new, taut awareness she could not deny.  He was at the other end of the blanket, far from her reach, yet Eleanor was achingly aware of him at every moment.  As they finished their repast, and grew quiet and drowsy in the sunlight, he glanced toward her and smiled.

“Shall we walk a bit, Ella?” he asked, popping a last strawberry into his mouth.  “I fear if I sit here any longer, I’ll quite go to sleep in this delightfully warm sun.”

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GUEST POST:

   Hello, and thank you so much for inviting me here today!!  I loved writing the first in my new “Matchmakers in Bath” series, The Earl’s Cinderella Countess, and I hope you love the story of Ella and Frederick and their lives in gorgeous Bath, England as much as I do.

    I was asked here to give some research tips, and I was practically giving jumpy claps at the idea.  I was an English major, and a research junkie.  I looovvvve diving into new worlds, and my problem is sometimes to stop researching and start the story, lol.  Here are some things I’ve found along the way:

1)  Give yourself a good, solid grounding in the time period and place.  My first love is 16^th century England, but I also adore Regency England and 18^th century France, as well as Renaissance Florence. These are all very different, so I have to remind myself where I am “living” at the moment!  But this is also really fun.  Read all you can about the times, what was happening in big and small ways (royal courts, people on the street, attitudes, fashions, anything)

2)  Then—have a plan!  I am such a pantser writer, I am never really sure what will happen until I dive into the story and get to know my characters, but I’ve learned I need to know what sort of people they are (dukes, shopkeepers, etc), what they are interested in, what they might encounter.  Figure out exactly what aspects you need for this specific story

3)  But don’t be afraid to stop and do some research as you go!  You might encounter something you didn’t expect in your story (your heroine loves roses?  Read up on period horticulture!)

4)  Organize your notes.  I pretend like I’m in college again!  (though back in the Olden Tymes, there was no Excel for me to use.  I had notecards.  I, ahem, still do).  What did you find in your research that you need in certain scenes?  What topics do you need to pull out right now?  There are MANY systems, one is right for you.  Also, keep track of sources.  I have so many books piled all over my house, I need to be able to find them quickly or I end up sitting on the floor re-reading books all day.  I love doing that.

5) Original sources are great!!!  Letters, diaries, newspapers and pamphlets.  I adore finding these, and archivists are overjoyed to share them.  (When possible.  I’ve written books set in 1920s Paris and in 16^th century Venice, the 1920s was much easier for this sort of thing!)

6)  Very important.  Don’t just look for facts.  The feeling of the time is the most important thing, and that’s where having a wide grounding in the time period comes back around for you

7)  Most important for—know when to stop researching and start writing the book!

I hope some of this was helpful!  Let me know any great tips you might have (or fun archives you’ve visited!)

 

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AUTHOR BIO:

Amanda wrote her first romance at the age of sixteen–a vast historical epic starring all her friends as the characters, written secretly during algebra class (and her parents wondered why math was not her strongest subject…)

She’s never since used algebra, but her books (over 100 so far!) have been nominated for many awards, including the RITA Award, the Romantic Times BOOKReviews Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Booksellers Best, the National Readers Choice Award, and the Holt Medallion.  She lives in Santa Fe with two rescue dogs, a wonderful husband, and a very and far too many books and royal memorabilia collections.

When not writing or reading, she loves taking dance classes, collecting cheesy travel souvenirs, and watching the Food Network–even though she doesn’t cook.

You can reach her at:

http://ammandamccabe.com

https://www.facebook.com/amandamccabebooks

https://www.instagram.com/amandamccabeauthor/

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GIVEAWAY:

Amanda McCabe will award a prize pack containing selection of Regency DVDs, teas, and signed copies of her books to a randomly drawn winner.

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