Thursday, May 5, 2011

Today's Special -- Vanessa Kelly


We are so happy to have
Vanessa Kelly with us again today. Vanessa is not only a fantastic author, but a delightful person as well, as all the Dishes can attest to---one of the highlights of RWA is seeing our "old" friends and meeting new ones. Her third full length historical novel, My Favorite Countess was released on May 3rd. I'm reading it right now, and it is fantastic! Stay tuned for my review on May 9th. Please join me in welcoming Vanessa back to The Romance Dish. She's going to tell us all about her "bad girl" heroine, Bathsheba.




Redeeming The Bad Girl


Hi everybody! It’s great to be back with the gals who dish and I want to thank all of you for having me on. I’m so excited to be here because my latest Regency-set historical romance, My Favorite Countess, hit the shelves on Tuesday. And I’ll be honest with you—I lurve this book. It was so much fun to write, partly because the hero was so dreamy but also because the heroine presented me with a real challenge.


Bathsheba, my heroine, is a bad girl. Sometimes she can be a very bad girl, and that makes life interesting for the romance writer. We’re used to bad boy heroes. The reformed rake, the former delinquent who ends up as either a cop or a soldier, the vampire who falls in love and regains his soul, that’s something we’re all familiar with. And we love it, because a man like that is a four-square hero but he also brings a dark and dangerous vibe that usually works out pretty well for the heroine—especially in bed!


Nothing is more satisfying to a reader than to see a man who formerly walked on the wild side transform through the love of a good woman.


But reforming a bad girl? It’s not done very often, at least not in historical romance.


I didn’t deliberately set out to create a redemption story for the heroine of this book. It was Bathsheba herself who drove the narrative. For those of you who read my previous book, Sex and The Single Earl, you’ll remember that Bathsheba was the villainess of the piece. She was very nasty to the heroine, even going so far as to attempt to destroy Sophie’s reputation. That book needed a villainess and Bathsheba filled the role very well.


So how crazy was it that I decided to make Bathsheba the heroine of my next book? Real crazy, but even as far back as Sex And The Single Earl I could envision her backstory and the motivations that drove her to act like such a vixen. Those motivations had to be rock solid if I had any chance of redeeming Bathsheba, because who the heck wants to read about a beautiful but viper-tongued countess who leaves a trail of destruction in her wake?


Um, actually, I did! So I set myself the task of redeeming her. I gave her a compelling reason why she had to be so ruthless, and I made it one that would be sure to engender sympathy in the reader. Bathsheba has a great deal of courage in her own right, and she’s been forced into choices she never wanted to make. She also takes responsibility for her bad behaviour and doesn’t make excuses. I really like that about her. She does what she does because she believes it’s the right thing to do, and she’ll suffer the consequences if she has to.


And I do make her suffer the consequences. Bathsheba must tread a pretty steep path to redemption, but it’s the only way a reader could ever accept and forgive her past behaviour. Of course, I also made sure to give her a hero who could prod her to make that journey—Dr. John Blackmore, crusading slum doctor and all around good guy. He’s the exact opposite of everything Bathsheba though she ever wanted in a man, and he’ll force her to see that sometimes you have to make the truly right and good choice, even if it hurts.


Redemption is a classic and much-loved theme in romance novels, and I’d love to see more bad girls take that path. After all, why should guys have all the fun?


What about you, readers? Can you think of any other novels where the heroine must be redeemed from a path of wickedness, or at least naughtiness? Do you like that kind of story, or do you prefer your heroines to be as pure as the driven snow? One commenter will win a copy of My Favorite Countess.


Vanessa Kelly writes Regency-set historical romance for Kensington Zebra, and was named by Booklist as one of the new stars of historical romance. She also writes contemporary romance with her husband under the pen name of VK Sykes. You can visit her on the web at: http://www.vanessakellyauthor.com

68 comments:

  1. I've honestly not read anything where the heroine is previously introduced to readers as the villainess - so the book does sound interesting. I do tend to like books where the heroine isn't all prissy and innocent - but I'm not sure if I can connect with a heroine who is downright mean and becomes reformed...I guess I could...I do love to read about rakes being reformed...hmmm...gees! Now I have to put this on my TBR list because now you have me curious!

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  2. I can't think of one,but I do not want my heroine to be too meek & mild.

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  3. Can't think of one perfect example, though Anna Campbell's My Reckless Surrender comes close. The heroine is the one who makes the mess and has to find a way to redeem herself.

    Either way, this book sounds great :D I'll love a copy!

    hilaryrules91@hotmail.com

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  4. Oh I am going to love this story, I can tell already, I even like her name. I think Victoria Alexander had a book with a villianess redeemed but this hour of the morning not all the brain cells are firing in sync.

    Can't wait to read this one.

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  5. Hi Ladies

    I don't think that I have read a book where the heroine has had to be redeemed but I do love the sound of it.

    Vanessa I have heard a lot about your books but as yet haven't read them I need to remedy this and get all of them

    Congrats on the release

    Have Fun
    Helen

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  6. I love feisty heroines! Victoria Alexander, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Catherine Coulter have some fantastic heroines.
    One of my favorites from way back is Shay a nude model from Sandra Brown's Tempest in Eden she gives the minister a run for his money and turns his life upside down. I like the sound of your book Vanessa!

    johnslake at usa dot com

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  7. It's been many years since I read about a villianess who turned to a heroine. It's a different type of story that you hardly ever see but sounds pretty interesting.

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  8. Morning All! Vanessa, welcome back to the Dish! It's great to have you with us today.

    I'm running out the door for an early morning meeting so have to make this quick. Diana, the heroine in Anna Campbell's My Reckless Surrender was the first to come to my mind too. She really walks the line between heroine and villain. It's a testament to Anna's writing that I was able to come to like her and cheer for her happy ending by the end of the book.

    Vanessa, I've heard so many wonderful things about My Favorite Countess. It's on my tbr and I can't wait to get started!

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  9. Dtchycat, Bathsheba is not an inherently bad person and her behavior is driven mostly by desperation. That's not to excuse her, of course! She does have to reform but, at heart, she's really a strong and courageous person. Just flawed, as we all are!

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  10. It is hard to come up with bad girl heroine books isn't it? Dianna, a friend reminded me of Victoria Alexander's book too, although I've not had enough coffee yet to recall the title either!

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  11. Good morning, Vanessa! I just finished MY FAVORITE COUNTESS last night. OMG! I loved it! It's one of my top reads of 2011. :-)

    You did a wonderful job of redeeming Bathsheba, and can I just say that I'm head over heels for John?! *g*

    I hope I can do it all justice when I write my review.

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  12. but I'm not sure if I can connect with a heroine who is downright mean and becomes reformed.

    Dtchycat, Bathsheba is not mean deep down, she just makes some mistakes. Vanessa has done a fantastic job of turning a former bad girl into a heroine worthy of her hero.

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  13. Marybelle, meek and mild Bathsheba is not. ;-)

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  14. romanceaddict91, I think Diana from MY RECKLESS SURRENDER would come close.

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  15. Dianna, I think you're going to love this book, too. I know I did!

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  16. Helen, what fun you'll have reading Vanessa's books back to back. :-)

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  17. Laurie G, I think I remember that Sandra Brown book.

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  18. Maureen, MY FAVORITE COUNTESS is just wonderful. I hope you enjoy it.

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  19. Gannon, I'm so thrilled that you loved the book! I really had a wonderful time writing it, and the charaters really came alive in my head. And John is pretty dishy, isn't he? Heck of a bedside manner!

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  20. PJ, always great to be with you gals on The Dish!

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  21. Hilary and PJ, Anna is the master of taking difficult characters and making you root for them.

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  22. And John is pretty dishy, isn't he? Heck of a bedside manner!

    LOL @ Vanessa! I think none of us would mind being sick if we had a doctor like John. *sigh*

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  23. Well, John is a combo of Dr. McDreamy from Grey's Anatomy and Hugh Jackman, so it's no wonder he makes Bathsheba swoon!

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  24. Good grief..YES... one of the best romances of all times had a real villaness.... "Gone With The Wind"!! We're not sure in the end if she gets the Hero... but we are left to dream.
    I am so looking forward to reading your new book!
    Betty

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  25. Hey, Betty! The Booklist review of MFC said that Bathsheba could give Scarlett a run for the money. I was pretty thrilled about that!

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  26. Dr. McDreamy and Hugh Jackman?! SWOON with a capital 'S'!

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  27. I don't think I've read a story where the heroine starts out bad and has to be redeemed. I've seen secondary characters start out iffy and get redeemed but not a heroine...lol. I think that I might like to read a book like this though, it would be different and perhaps open up a new way to think of the heroine for me:)
    Thanks for the contest

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  28. I usually like my heroines pure as the snow but every once in awhile I like to shake things up a bit. One of my favorite bad girl heroines was Ophelia Reed from Johanna Lindsey's The Devil Who Tamed Her. She was very nasty in the first of the series and I loved watching her get "tamed."
    I loved Sex and the Single Earl and can't wait to read Bathsheba's story! Thanks for sharing with us today!

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  29. Just to clarify my earlier statement - for me, its hard wanting to see anything 'good' happen to Bathsheba because I so hated her in Sex and the Single Earl...now had she been a male and done the exact same things (well, not exactly the same things, lol, but the situation been reversed and it was a male who was standing between Sophie and Simon), I would be running out and buying the book immediately (and I can thinks of at least a half-dozen books where the male was the villian in a previous book and I couldn't wait for their story) - somewhat sexist on my part, huh? So it should be interesting how Vanessa goes about reforming her.

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  30. I believe that there has to be at least a little "bad" even in a good heroine to make her interesting. I have read books in the past where the "villainess" has appeared in a book as a "minor" character and later been featured in a book as the heroine where you find out the reason she had previously acted like she did. I think it's interesting to reflect on how as readers we may judge someone from a "basic" premise without really knowing the "full story" just like people do in every day life.

    One of the things I love about Vanessa's stories is that you can always find something in one of the characters that you can identify with personally. Unfortunately for me it's usually the chaperone sitting in the corner by the potted plant but I least that way I get to hear all the gossip!

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  31. I'm very interested in reading about Bathsheba's redemption. Book characters should be like real people--we all have some good and some bad. I think her issues will make her all the more appealing for readers.

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  32. I loved My Favorite Countess! I had the privilege of reading Sex and the Single Earl well before its publication, and I was intrigued by Bathsheba then and eager to learn more of her history. MFC met and exceeded my expectations. I especially loved that although Bathsheba becomes a better person, she remains essentially Bathsheba. And John is definitely an extrordinary, heart-stealing hero!


    Redeemed heroines are rare in romance. I'm not sure I buy Scarlett as a redeemed heroine. I think GWTW ends with her on the threshhold of redemption. Redeemed heroines whose books are on my keeper shelves include Lady Annabelle Wylde from Edith Layton’s To Wed a Stranger and Lady Helena Stapleton from Mary Balogh’s The Christmas Bride. And then, of course, there is the inimitable Sugar Beth Carey in Susan Elizabeth Phillip's Ain't She Sweet.

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  33. Hi Johanna! Once you start thinking about it, there are some examples of bad girls gone good in romance. Just not that many!

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  34. Dtchycat, Bathsheba was truly awful to Sophie, there's not doubt about that. But that's what made her so interesting to me - why do people do some of the things they do? In Bathsheba's case, all her motivations are driven by the need to protect her own family, and by the fact that her husband had abused her. I did want her to be a fully realized person, and not just have some miraculous and easy redemption.

    It is interesting how we're willing to give guys a pass on bad behavior, but tend to be harder on women. Maybe that's because women are generally hard on themselves, too. I know I'm always kicking myself when I don't achieve the sometimes unrealistic expectations I set for myself.

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  35. Jeanne, I love chaperones - they always know where the dead bodies are buried. One of these days I'm going to write a chaperone story.

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  36. Janga, thank you so much! You are the best.

    I had forgotten Sugar Beth Carey. I think I must have been trying to channel her a bit when I wrote Bathsheba - she's a great character!

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  37. Hello Vanessa and congratulations on your newest release! Your book sounds great based on the heroine and the fact that the hero is from a different social circle than her. I can't wait to read it!

    As far as redeming heroines... Sugar Beth from SEP's "Ain't She Sweet" popped into my mind as well.


    Also:

    "She also writes contemporary romance with her husband under the pen name of VK Sykes."


    I don't know how everyone feels, but I find this so sweet and romantic.

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  38. I can't think of a book like this would love to read it. I know I want my heroines to be strong and not all innocent. I don't like the weak.


    lead[at]hotsheet[dot]com

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  39. Antonia, what a nice thing to say - thank you! Hubby and I have a lot of fun doing it, too. Plus, he's a really good writer!

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  40. Hi Virginia! I like strong heroines, too, and Bathsheba certainly fits that bill!

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  41. Sometimes it's fun to read about the troublemaker getting her turn to shine and find out what love's all about. (turn about is fair play after all) If a villian can be turned into a hero and be well loved (Devil in Winter by Kleypas for example), why not the herione.:) Susan in "Too Sinful to Deny" was a bit of a pain in the side of the h/h in the prior book by Erica Ridley "Too Wicked to Kiss" and enjoyed watching her "grow up" in her own book. I've read and enjoyed plenty of books where the heroine has at least a rep of being a troublemaker or getting into scraps on a regular basis, if they're all pure as new snow it can get kinda dull.

    congrats on the release and it's reivews :)

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  42. Maria, there aren't many "bad girl heroines gone good", so that's one of the reasons that this book is exceptionally good.

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  43. I usually like my heroines pure as the snow but every once in awhile I like to shake things up a bit.

    Very true, Johanna!

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  44. Dtchycat, I never thought about us being more accepting of the bad boy hero vs. the bad girl heroine, but you may be right. That being said, Vanessa does show Bathsheba's reasons for all that she has done, so it works for me.

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  45. Unfortunately for me it's usually the chaperone sitting in the corner by the potted plant but I least that way I get to hear all the gossip!

    Jeanne, I love that! It's always good to know the gossip. *g*

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  46. Book characters should be like real people--we all have some good and some bad. I think her issues will make her all the more appealing for readers.

    Well said, LSUReader. I think that is most definitely true. It makes it easier to relate to and sympathize with the characters.

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  47. I especially loved that although Bathsheba becomes a better person, she remains essentially Bathsheba. And John is definitely an extrordinary, heart-stealing hero!

    Janga, I'm so pleased that Bathsheba was still herself, only better. And John is just divine!

    I love Sugar Beth from AIN'T SHE SWEET. No matter what she does, you just can't help but like her. SEP is always an auto-buy for me.

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  48. Antonia, you should read Vanessa's V.K. Sykes book, CADDYGIRLS, that she wrote with her hubby. Loved it!

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  49. Virginia, wimpy heroines just aren't appealing.

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  50. If a villian can be turned into a hero and be well loved (Devil in Winter by Kleypas for example), why not the herione.:)

    Hear, hear, gamistress!

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  51. Thanks, gamistress! I totally agree. If St. Vincent can be redeemed, anyone can!

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  52. I absolutely agree, LSU Reader. Even little flaws can make a character more interesting.

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  53. Gannon, you are so good for my ego!

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  54. Vanessa, I only speak the truth! *g*

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  55. Hey there Vanessa!! It is so good to have you back with us!

    I must say that I'm loving the sound of this book. I'm all about a bad person going good. Especially when love is involved :-)

    Can't wait to read it!

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  56. *waving* Hey, Vanessa!!! Welcome back! So glad you're with us today. Congrats on your new release! After reading your post (and everyone's comments) I'm SOLD! I'll be picking this one up on my next trip to the bookstore. ;-)

    I don't mind a "bad girl" heroine as long as she has a good reason reason for the way she is. And of course, I can't think of any right off the top of my head! I'll think on it and get back. *g*

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  57. Hey Buffie & Andrea! Thanks for having me on. It's always great to be with you Dishy ladies!

    Andrea, you are exactly right - there has to be a great motivation for a character acting badly. In Bathsheba's case there's one primary reason: protecting her family. That can excuse quite a lot. Not completely, but some!

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  58. Sorry to be late, you all. Vanessa, I loved Sex and the Single Earl, and I am soooo looking forward to this new release! Congratulations!

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  59. I do enjoy a bad girl heroine - if the bad girl is a little older and has some life experience, and even though she hasn't been the nicest person, she can be redeemed, that's all the better. My Favorite Countess sounds like a very intriguing story and I'm looking forward to reading it. I can't think of any bad girl stories I've read before, so that makes me even more eager to read My Favorite Countess.

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  60. Thanks for stopping by, fsbuchler! So glad you loved my sexy earl, and I hope you love my countess!

    Barbara, Bathsheba is more mature, and has had quite a lot of life to deal with. It definitely shaped her point of view.

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  61. Vanessa, thank you so much for being with us today! It's been fun.

    Now, I need to start working on my review of MY FAVORITE COUNTESS---gotta do it justice.

    (((Hugs)))

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  62. Oh Vanessa, that sounds absolutely delicious! I too loved Sex and the Single Earl. Can't wait to dive into this one! Hmmm McDreamy and Hugh Jackman huh??? I am loving John even more now!

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  63. I can't think of a book that I have read with this theme before, so I am really looking forward to reading about Bathsheba in MY FAVORITE COUNTESS.

    Vanessa, congratulations on being named by Booklist as one of the new stars of historical romance!

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  64. Jennifer, John is pretty dreamy!

    Thanks, Amber! I was pretty stunned by very grateful.

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  65. At the moment I can't think of a redeemed heroine, but I know I have read at least one. It is a good story line to use, but tricky to make work. Bad boys tend to still maintain their own brand of charm. Bad girls tend to come across as catty and nasty. That leaves a bad taste for the reader and makes her harder to care about. It sounds like it is done well in this book. The fact you established her bad girl persona in a prior book lets you concentrate on making her a good girl in this one.
    I hope the release is going well for you.

    librarypat AT comcast DOT net

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  66. Innocent is fine but definitely not stupid or brainless. I like smart heroines with a sense of humour.

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  67. Hi, Vanessa!

    I just finished "How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf" in which the hero's little sister Maggie is a big pain (always trying to kill her older brother). She does get nicer, or at least more tolerable, in the end. Does that count?

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