Today's Special - - Miranda Neville

PJ here.  I always get excited when one of my auto-buy authors visits TRD, especially when I get the chance to lob questions at her! :)  Our special guest today is historical romance author Miranda Neville whose new book, Lady Windermere's Lover was launched into the world this week.  (If it's not on your summer reading list, it should be!) Miranda grew up in England devouring the books of Georgette Heyer, Jean Plaidy and other historical authors of the day. She studied history at Oxford and worked for several years for Sotheby's auction house in London and New York City. Miranda now lives in rural Vermont where she enjoys cooking, gardening, cross-country skiing and writing the historical romance novels we love to read.  You can find more information about Miranda and her books at her website and connect with her online at Facebook and Twitter.  Please give her a warm Romance Dish welcome!

Welcome, Miranda!  After reading – and loving – The Ruin of a Rogue, I was excited to learn that Lady Windermere’s Lover would be the story of Lady Cynthia Windermere and her absent husband, Damian, Earl of Windermere.  Please tell readers what they can expect from this book.

Hi PJ. Thanks for your kind words about The ROAR. It’s always a pleasure to visit the Dish! Damian is a mystery to the readers of the series and he was to me, too. All I knew of him was that he’d made this terrible mistake on his twenty-first birthday and gambled away his estate. As a result he broke away from his wild friends and became a super respectable diplomat. He married Cynthia to regain his estate and almost immediately left for a year. When he returns he finds things have changed: Cynthia has bloomed into a beauty and she appears to be having an affair with his former best friend, the Duke of Denford.

Cynthia and Damian have more than his protracted absence to overcome if they wish to reach their happy ending.  What was it about these two characters that convinced you they were meant to be together?

I threw a lot of problems at the couple: a lousy honeymoon, Damian behaving like a bit of a prize ass, and a couple of issues that Cynthia isn’t talking about.  They don’t know each other well and what they know isn’t encouraging. When Damian turned respectable following his gambling disaster, he repressed the sensitive, artistic aspects of his personality. In trying to win back Cynthia, a fundamentally decent person, he has to rediscover that side of his character and learns they share they same interests. He is a gentler character than Denford, who would not be at all the right man for her.  She wants to love her husband but she’s no pushover and he has to work hard to win her back.

I loved that Cynthia had found her confidence in his absence and made Damien work his way back into her life. The marriage of convenience is one of my favorite romance tropes.  What is it about this type of story that appeals to you as a writer?  Do you also enjoy a marriage of convenience story as a reader?

Love, love, love the MoC! It’s a trope that never gets old. Tolstoy famously said that happy families are all alike, unhappy ones all unhappy in their own way. I feel the same way about MoC or estranged couples in romance. And in historicals there’s the added tension that they can’t just bail and get a divorce, at least not easily. They may well be miserable forever so the stakes are very high.

Do you have a book planned for Denford?  (I’m not above begging!)

Funny you should ask, but yes! Not only planned but written. The Duke of Dark Desires comes out on New Year’s Eve. I’m not saying much about it yet, but I’ll tell you that the sins of his youth are coming back to bite him in the form of a beautiful and vengeful governess.

Yay!  I do love those bad boys, especially when they finally meet the woman who's going to bring them to their knees.  ;-)

Summer is my favorite season for catching up on my reading.   There are so many delicious places (hammock, lounge chair, pool, beach) to relax with a good book.  What books are on your reading list this summer?

Loretta Chase’s Vixen in Velvet comes out the same day as Lady Windermere’s Lover. I suspect by the time this interview appears I shall have scarfed it up. I’m really looking forward to Katharine Ashe’s I Adored a Lord. And there’s a new Susan Elizabeth Phillips – Heroes Are My Weakness – on August 26, which happens to be my birthday. Happy birthday to me!

Oooh, that's my kind of birthday present!

Damian spent his time in the foreign office traveling to exotic locations.  What’s the most exotic location you’ve visited?  Where would you most like to visit?

I once spent two weeks in the mountains of southern Spain in a town called Ronda, staying in a medieval Moorish palace. The facilities were kind of medieval too! I had a great time researching the backstory of Damian’s visit to Persia, which was just opening up to the West. Right now, I probably wouldn’t put Iran on my list but one day, maybe. I would love to visit India.

Besides books, my other summer love is seasonal food.  Every week I load up on plenty of fresh fruits and veggies at the local Farmer’s Market and enjoy turning them into delicious summer dishes.  If your characters invited you to attend their annual summer picnic, what dish would you bring to share?

Great question! I visit the local farm stand almost daily in the summer. My current favorite food is quinoa (a South American high-protein grain for those who don’t know it). I have a delicious quinoa salad recipe, quite spicy with chipotle peppers, lime juice, and cilantro. Perfect for picnics or potlucks.

Mmmm.  That sounds delicious!  I haven't cooked with quinoa - yet - but I've had dishes made with it and they were very good.  

Will you be attending any conferences or book signings this summer where readers will have the opportunity to meet you?

I shall be at RWA in San Antonio in July.  If you are there, please come and say hello, either at the giant Literacy Book Fair (open to the public) or at the Avon Open House (for conference registrants).

I'll look forward to seeing you in San Antonio!

What’s next from Miranda Neville?

As well as The Duke of Dark Desires, I have a couple of novellas in the works. I’m planning my next historical series and enjoying not being under deadline.

Thanks so much for visiting with us today, Miranda.  Would you like to ask our readers a question?

As I write this, I am looking out of my Vermont window at blue skies, fluffy clouds, and sunshine on the New Hampshire mountains. I love to travel but home is pretty good too! What are you enjoying about your home this summer?

One randomly chosen person who leaves a comment on today's post will receive a copy of The Ruin of a Rogue or Lady Windermere's Lover (winner's choice - open to all countries serviced by bookdepository.com).