Book Tour: A Baron in Her Bed by Maggi Andersen (Q&A + Giveaway)

Love Saves the World is very pleased to welcome Maggi Andersen who is currently on tour for her book, A Baron in Her Bed.

Maggi will be awarding the winner's choice of a backlist eBook to two randomly drawn commenters during the tour, and a $30 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter.

To visit Maggi's other stops, click here.

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Q&A with Maggi Andersen --

LStW: "A Baron in Her Bed" is the first book in your The Spies of Mayfair series, why do you think spies make perfect romantic heroes?

Maggi: Thank you for featuring me on your blog. Traditionally, spies in romance novels and movies are shadowy, dangerous and often handsome like James Bond, 007. Spies operate on the fringes of society. They are outsiders, who adopt aliases, ciphers and secretive measures to operate undercover. They use their wits, are resourceful, and strong, just to stay alive. What better talents for a romantic hero? The element of danger surrounding them makes them often complex and fascinating characters. Spies might have a license to kill, but they can be seen as noble, when risking their lives for their country.

LStW: In "A Baron in Her Bed," your heroine, Horatia, is a poet. A very interesting profession. How did you come up with her character?

Maggi: Horatia Cavendish greatly admires her spinster aunt. Emily is a poetess who lives in London and rubs shoulders with the fascinating literary set. Horatia dreams of one day living the same life. She determines never relinquish her independence to a husband. A father is difficult enough. Horatia’s father, a retired army Colonel, refuses to allow her to go to London for a Season, so she has taken to riding his big stallion The General without his knowledge. While riding, she comes across a body lying on the road. A very attractive body, and merely unconscious, thankfully. The body belongs to a stranger to Digswell, Guy, Lord Fortescue, who returning to claim his inheritance, Rosecroft Hall, has been set upon by highwaymen. Horatia, dressed in a male groom’s clothes, must continue her ruse to save him from the upcoming snowstorm. A very sticky situation ensues.

Horatia, like most of my characters, made herself known to me in the writing of this novel. I take some elements from my life in the creation of my stories. My mother was a redhead. Red hair was not popular when she was young, and she always hated it, even though it was truly beautiful. Horatia is a tall gutsy redhead, sorry, Horatia, chestnut-haired heroine, who is bored witless by the only available man in Digswell. Desperate for adventure I supplied it, rescuing her from her ennui, while she attempted to rescue Guy, ignoring his insistence she stop! Horatia does get her wish to go to London, but she finds it is not at all, what she hoped for. She also discovers that the future as a spinster poetess, was not what she really wanted deep down. Thanks to a tall, half-French, blue-eyed Baron.

LStW: You've written both Historicals and Contemporaries. Do you have a favorite historical period?

Maggi: The Regency period is a favorite of mine, and for many writers, because of Georgette Heyer’s wonderful novels set in the period. Heyer was a great world builder and the Regency has become a vivid place for me, fascinating, larger than life characters inhabited it, plus the historical events of the time encompassed the Napoleonic wars and Prinny’s glittering court.

I visited the Georgian era when I wrote The Reluctant Marquess, which was fun because it was a far racier era and women had more freedom than during the Regency. With a deferential curtsy to the fabulous author, Victoria Holt, I also write mysteries set in the late Victorian period – The Folly at Falconbridge Hall comes out in May with Knox Robinson Publishing.

LStW: Any upcoming projects or releases that you would like to share with our readers?

Maggi: The second book in the Mayfair Spy Series, Taming a Gentleman Spy, is released in September. The hero, John Haldane, Lord Strathairn, makes his first appearance in A Baron in her Bed.

Here’s a taste:

Dusk turned to evening, hastening his footsteps. Guy decided on a shortcut and hurried down a shadowy laneway which, by his calculations, would lead into a main thoroughfare.

He was halfway along it when the sound of running feet, made him spin around. Two men appeared out of the gloom and advanced towards him.

Guy moved back until his shoulder brushed the wall. “What is it you want?”

When neither of the men answered, cold sweat gathered on his brow.

His glance flicked ahead to where the laneway joined a busy road. “Répondez-moi,” he demanded. His throat tightened in fear.

“’e’s the one all right,” one of them murmured. They separated and each took a menacing step closer, blocking off any avenues of escape.

The moon sailed above the narrow gap between the buildings and shone on the knife held by one of the footpads.

Guy drew his swordstick. “Back away.”

At the sight of it, they stepped back apace, hesitated, and stood regarding him.

A feint might work. When he had them off guard, he would run for it.

He moved away from the wall and drew circles in the air with his sword. “Come on, you want to fight? I’m willing.”

“’e can’t take both of us,” the tallest of the two said.

“Yer, but he could run one of us through,” the other replied. “And we weren’t paid enough for that.”

“Shut up, you fool.”

Surprised, Guy stilled, his heart thudding in his ears. “Who paid you?”

“Say nothin’,” the tall man warned. He then whispered something to his companion.

He watched them, his swordstick at the ready. Did they mean to kill him?

As the taller man raised his arm to throw the knife, Guy lunged to the left. A pistol shot blasted through the confined space, rattling the nearby windows, and the knife clattered to the ground.

The tall man shrieked. “I’ve been shot.”

“Hey, you there!” Highlighted by the light from the street behind him, a caped figure strode towards them from the main thoroughfare, a pistol in each hand, one smoking. “Next time I’ll aim to kill.”

The injured man snatched up his knife and the pair scuttled back the way they’d come.

As their footsteps faded into the night, the gentleman tucked the pistols into the pockets of his multi-caped greatcoat. He walked towards Guy. “I saw them follow you. I’m sorry I didn’t get here faster, but I turned the corner and wasn’t sure which way you went.”

With a swell of gratitude, Guy sheathed his sword, shelved his suspicion, and bowed. ”I am indebted to you, monsieur, one obviously needs to be well armed in London.”

“It is wise to be on your guard; footpads will tackle an unarmed man.”

Guy clutched his cane. He had been armed, and it had not deterred them.

“We’d best get out of this dark place.” The man led the way towards the lit street. “New to London? I don’t advise you to walk alone around these parts.”

“Oui. I arrived from France this morning.”

“You can’t think much of us, an attempted robbery on your first day.”

“There was more to it than a robbery.” Guy studied his rescuer. He was of a similar age to himself, mid-thirties.

The big fair-haired man raised his brows. “The war might be over, but not all of the English can forgive and forget.”

A grim smile tugged at Guy’s mouth. “I’m sure that’s so, my friend.” He remembered the footpad’s words ‒ he’s the one. It was he they were after. Who would want him dead here in England?

“Where are my manners?” His rescuer held out his hand. ”John Haldane, Earl of Strathairn.”

Guy shook his hand. “Guy Truesdale.”

The earl’s brows met in a perplexed frown. “Truesdale? Why, that means you’re a…”

Guy nodded. “Fortescue, oui.”

“A relative of the baron?”

“I am Baron Fortescue.”

“Why this is grand news! Your father and mine were close friends.” John frowned. “But this means, of course, that your father is dead. I’m sorry. Not by the guillotine one would hope.”

“Not directly.” They crossed the road. Under the circle of light from an oil lamp, Guy gazed into John’s smiling eyes. “I am indebted to you. I hope to repay you should we meet again.”

John slapped him on the back. “Nonsense, Fortescue. Where do you stay?”

When Guy told him, John said, “Not one of our best hostelries. You must come home with me.”

“I couldn’t presume ...”

“Not another word. Father, if he still lived, would have been justifiably angry if I failed to offer you hospitality. We reside in Berkley Square and have plenty of room. Feel free to stay as long as you wish. I’ll send a servant around for your luggage.”

“Merci. I plan to travel to the country in a day or two.”

“Your seat is to the north, Hertfordshire, I believe.”

Guy nodded. “It borders Sherradspark Wood in Digswell.”

An empty hackney turned the corner, and Strathairn stepped into the road to hail it. As the jarvie pulled up the horse, Strathairn gave directions and whipped open the door.

Guy settled on the squabs beside him. “Je suis dans votre dette,” he said with warmth. “You are most généreuse.”

“In my debt?” Strathairn dismissed the sentiment with a wave of his hand. “Nonsense, Baron. It’s been my pleasure. But once my sisters get a look at you, I may change my mind.”

Guy frowned. “I’m not sure of your meaning.” He had always been proud of being half English, but since he arrived in England, he’d felt terribly French.

“My dear fellow. If you aren’t used to ladies fighting over you, you soon will be.”

Guy shook his head.

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Thank you, Maggi! We look forward to the next book in your Mayfair Spy series!

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About the book:

Blurb:

London, 1816. A handsome baron. A faux betrothal. And Horatia's plan to join the London literary set takes a dangerous turn.

Now that the war with France has ended, Baron Guy Fortescue arrives in England to claim his inheritance, abandoned over thirty years ago when his father fled to France after killing a man in a duel. When Guy is set upon by footpads in London, a stranger, Lord Strathairn, rescues and befriends him. But while travelling to his country estate, Guy is again attacked. He escapes only to knock himself out on a tree branch.

Aspiring poet Horatia Cavendish has taken to riding her father's stallion, "The General", around the countryside of Digswell dressed as a groom. She has become bored of her country life and longs to escape to London to pursue her desire to become part of the London literary set. When she discovers Guy lying unconscious on the road, the two are forced to take shelter for the night in a hunting lodge. After Guy discovers her ruse, a friendship develops between them.

Guy suspects his relative, Eustace Fennimore is behind the attacks on his life. He has been ensconced in Rosecroft Hall during the family's exile and will become the heir should Guy die. Horatia refuses to believe her godfather, Eustace, is responsible. But when Guy proposes a faux betrothal to give him more time to discover the truth, she agrees. Secure in the knowledge that his daughter will finally wed, Horatia's father allows her to visit her blue-stocking aunt in London. But Horatia's time spent in London proves to be anything but a literary feast, for a dangerous foe plots Guy's demise. She is determined to keep alive her handsome fiance, who has proven more than willing to play the part of her lover even as he resists her attempts to save him.

Excerpt:

“This is a dance with which I’m familiar,” the baron said, drawing her close in his arms. “We danced it in Paris long before it came to England.”

She supposed he considered England far behind Paris in most things fashionable. Finding herself pressed up against his hard chest produced the memory of how it looked unclothed. Her breath caught, and she wriggled within his arm. “We do not dance this close in England, my lord.”

He let her go in surprise then took up the pose again, leaving space between them. “Merci. I did not know. You have saved me from making a faux pas.”

She suspected he knew quite well, for the devilry in his eyes betrayed him. “You might learn by observing others, my lord,” she admonished him.

At least now she could breathe. But this was unlike the night they had spent together, when her disguise had protected her. Did he find her attractive?

She had no idea if his charm was merely part of his personality. It shouldn’t matter, for he would choose a bride from the aristocracy, but somehow it did.

His hand at her waist, guiding her, made her recall their time in the hut and his indecent revelations of lovemaking. Her breath quickened at the thought of such an act perpetrated by him on some woman, and even possibly her. His proximity and the strength and pure maleness of him overwhelmed her.

Breathing in the familiar woody Bergamot scent, intermingled with starched linen and soap, she closed her eyes, but that made her dizzy. After examining his masterfully tied cravat adorned with a sapphire pin the color of his eyes, she raised her eyes to his. “I have not seen a cravat tied in that way before. What is it called?”

He smiled down at her. “I believe it is called Trone d’Armour.” The style hailed from France most likely. He was different from the English in other ways too. The French had a disconcerting way of looking at someone. Was he the real Baron Fortescue or an impostor?

Loved the excerpt? Buy the book!

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About the author:

Maggi Andersen and her lawyer husband are empty nesters, living in the countryside outside Sydney with their cat and the demanding wildlife. Parrots demand seed, possums fruit, ducks swim in the stream at the bottom of the garden, and the neighbours chickens roam their yard providing wonderful eggs. She began writing adventure stories at age eight. Three children, a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts in Creative Writing degree later, her novels are still filled with adventure and suspense, but are also passionate romances. Georgette Heyer among others, brought inspiration to her seductive Regencies and she also writes darker, Victorian novels, contemporary romantic suspense and young adult.

She supports the RSPCA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals) and animals often feature in her books.

Website: http://www.maggiandersenauthor.com
Blog: http://www.maggiandersen.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggi-Andersen-Author/372854959805
Twitter: @maggiandersen

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Giveaway!

Maggi will be awarding the winner's choice of a backlist eBook to two randomly drawn commenters during the tour, and a $30 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter.

To visit Maggi's other stops, click here.