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THE EARL NEXT DOOR
The Bachelor Lords of London #1
Charis Michaels
Releasing March 1st, 2016
Avon Impulse
Charis Michaels makes her Avon
Impulse debut with the first book in her new historical romance series, The
Bachelor Lords of London...featuring a brooding earl and the American heiress
who charms him.
American heiress Piety Grey is on
the run. Suddenly in London and facing the renovation of a crumbling townhouse,
she’s determined to make a new life for herself—anything is better than returning
to New York City where a cruel mother and horrid betrothal await her. The last
thing she needs is a dark, tempting earl inciting her at every turn…
Trevor Rheese, the Earl of
Falcondale, isn’t interested in being a good neighbor. After fifteen years of
familial obligation, he’s finally free. But when the disarmingly beautiful
Piety bursts through his wall—and into his life—his newfound freedom is
threatened…even as his curiosity is piqued.
Once Piety’s family arrives in
London, Falcondale suddenly finds himself in the midst of a mock courtship to
protect the seductive woman who’s turned his world upside down. It’s all for
show—or at least it should be. But if Falcondale isn’t careful, he may find a
very real happily ever after with the woman of his dreams…
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CHARIS MICHAELS is thrilled to be making her debut with Avon Impulse. Prior
to writing romance, she studied Journalism at Texas A&M and managed PR for
a trade association. She has also worked as a tour guide at Disney World,
harvested peaches on her family’s farm, and entertained children as the “Story Godmother”
at birthday parties. She has lived in Texas, Florida, and London, England. She
now makes her home in the Washington, D.C.-metro area.
Q&A
Thank you for taking the time to hang out
with me (us) today.
Let's talk your newbie status at
Avon...how does it feel to be the new girl in town? How do you feel your
historical romance stand out among the crowd?
Well, I haven’t been privy to the secret
handshake, but I just received my team shirt, and I love the rhinestones. I’m kidding, of course, but only a
little. The sense of family and support
from both the professionals at Avon Books and the other Avon authors has been
phenomenal.
During a romance-writer conference
last summer, I was invited to two Avon-author events in New York City—one in
their downtown offices and the other a cocktail party in Highline. When the invitations arrived some weeks before,
I was certain there had been some mistake.
Yes, I had signed with Avon, but my books would not come out for nine months.
I sent some feelers out and guess
what? No mistake, they included me, just
the same as Avon authors whose work I have admired for years.
From the moment I stepped off the
elevators (and let me just tell you, the publishing offices of Avon books does,
in fact, look just like a movie set, down to the framed iconic book covers
hanging on the walls), I was embraced by everyone.
For a writer whose goal publisher had
been Avon Books literally for years, it
was a dream come true.
For a terrified newbie who was chanting, Act naturally in my head, it was an
opportunity to blurt out, “How is your brain?!” to New York Times best seller Sarah
MacLean (who I knew had undergone brain surgery earlier in the year). Other awkward moments abounded, all in
service to my nerves and inexperience, but I left feeling as if I truly was
part of the Avon family.
How do my books stand out? Well, I try to deliver three things to
readers: humor, hopefulness, and
conflict that stands the test of what I like to call a good talking-to. That is, my characters have more to overcome
than simple misunderstandings or some impasse that could be solved with a good,
long talk. These characters may be made
for each other, but they have to work
for their happily-ever-afters, and getting there is so much fun.
Do you think that writing historical
romance is one of the most difficult genres to write? Research
wise? Readers Critique wise?
Most difficult? Well, I adore history, so
for me, research is part of the fun.
Even more fun is taking a historical
circumstance that seem oddball to our modern sensibilities, and making historical
characters react in a way that is relevant to our modern-day lives.
For example, the heroine in The Earl Next Door, Piety Grey, has inherited a small fortune from her
late father. Because Piety is a young,
unmarried female, however, she must fight tooth and nail to retain control of
the money.
Obviously in 2016, most daughters can
inherit an estate with no gender-based legal fight, but Piety struggles with
emotions and choices that modern-day female readers will easily recognize. Piety is resolute, determined, and
inexhaustible; but she is also susceptible to self doubt, and discouragement
when she’s met with certain toxic people in her life. We all know how this feels, no matter our
place in time.
I simply love 19th-century
problems that conjure up timeless emotional responses from us here in the
modern day.
What is your favorite part of writing
historical romance? The scoundrels and rakes? The ladies who speak
their minds? The lovely wallflower waiting to be noticed? The
clothes? The setting?
I love so many things about historical
fiction, but most perhaps for its intrinsic jumping-off points for tension-filled
plots.
Consider, if you will: Arranged marriages, marriages of convenience,
ineffective chaperones and beautiful governesses, “ruined” debutantes, second sons,
illegitimate byblows, unexpected inheritances, gambled-away dowries. You can’t throw a riding crop at the Regency
era without hitting a tension-rich scenario to put a stubborn hero and heroine
through their paces.
The plot of The Earl Next Door explores two neighbors who agree to marry “in
name only” to save the heroine from a far worse fate. Their plan is to annul the union when the
threat against the heroine has passed.
The only catch? They cannot
consummate the marriage if they truly intend to annul it later. (Spoiler alert
– well, have you read a romance before?
You can probably guess.)
Annulments and marriages “in name only”
are hardly common place in modern day but are perfect examples of delicious social constricts that make
historicals so much fun.
If you had to choose only ONE historical
romance to read for the rest of your days, which would it be? and Why?
Easy call! Lord of
the Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. I
have four signed copies and I read the whole thing aloud to my husband while he
was fishing on our tenth date. TMI?
Why:
World’s smartest, most positive, most capable and compassionate heroine
pitted against the world’s most bitter, wounded, super masculine hero who cannot live without her. But he fights it. Oh, how he fights it. And she never lets up.
I still can’t believe that I write
for the same publisher as romance genius,
Loretta Chase.
Tell us a little about the Debut Series
with Avon, The Bachelor Lords of London.
The Bachelor Lords trilogy was born on a street in London
called Henrietta Place.
It’s a real-life street, four-blocks long, between Marylebone
Lane and Cavendish Square in London, and I walked it many times when I was a
young newlywed, living abroad for the first time.
Like so many London streets, Henrietta Place has now been
given over to modern buildings, but a few hallmarks of 19th-century residential
London still remain. Leafy Plane trees. The square at the end of the block.
Even a townhome mansion or two. But what really captured my imagination was the
name.
Henrietta Place.
It was just so… English.
I knew the first time I discovered Henrietta Place that
eventually I would write the stories of the 19th-century inhabitants who lived
there in my mind.
And so began the opening line of The Earl Next Door:
“Nothing of record ever happened in Henrietta Place….” The perfect springboard
for three books of recordable things to happen up and down the street.
Enter the bachelor lords of London: Two brothers and a friend
who relocate to London and settle, for one reason or another, in Henrietta
Place. They each live on the street long enough to meet the colorful neighbors,
refurbish or deface the property (depending on the lord), and unwittingly
discover their own, happily-ever-afters.
Here they are in quick-take form:
THE EXILE: Lord
Trevor, newly returned from parts unknown. Back in London to claim an earldom
and disappear again.
THE PARAGON: Lord
Bryson, disgraced viscount, rebuilding his life. In search of a viscountess,
discreet and pure, a model of propriety. A proper, perfect wife.
THE SCOUNDREL: Lord
Beau, a naval officer and rakish second son. His brother’s title has landed in
his lap, and he’ll do whatever it takes to prove he’s unfit to be a lord,
bachelor or otherwise.
Do you already have a favorite character
from the series?
It’s clichéd, but I have grown to love so
many of the characters who populate the Bachelor Lords. If I had to select one, I’d say Lady Frances
Stroud, the Marchioness Frinfrock, the eighty-year-old busybody who presides
over Henrietta Place with her nosey intrusions, painfully honest remarks, and
when you least expect it, her compassion.
She was a hoot to bring to life.
Congrats on the debut, and I can't wait
to see what is in store for the readers with the Bachelor Lords!
Well
thank you for allowing to me to chat about this series. I hope readers will enjoy reading it as much
as I enjoyed writing it.
Thank you for featuring Charis and THE EARL NEXT DOOR
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