VBT: The Earl's Cinderella Countess

 

GENRE: Historical Romance 

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 BLURB:

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?

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EXCERPT 

Eleanor hesitated. She feared what could happen, how her feelings might escape, if she was

alone with him again.

 “Oh, yes, do,” Penelope urged. “Mary and I shall just chatter on here for a bit, and finish this

wine. You two should go look for the ruins.”

She slowly took Fred’s hand as he offered to help her yo her feet, and blinked as the sun behind

his bright hair dazzled her. They made their way away from the picnic blanket, into the shade of

a narrow pathway that led between trees and flowering shrubs, smelling fresh and sweet in the

warm day. They walked in silence, comfortable, comforting, close together, until they reached a

cliff that looked down on the town between a break in the greenery. It all glowed and

shimmered, just like Fred, just like that moment she had with him.

He seemed to feel it, too, studying the view with a solemn, thoughtful expression on his face. “

‘For whatsoever from one place doth fall, if with the tide unto another brought. For there is

nothing lost, that may be found, if sought.’”

“Such beautiful words of Spenser’s,” she whispered.

“They always make me think of you,” he said, his gaze so very blue and intense as he studied

her. “You are like the fairy queen.”

Eleanor stared up at him, wondering if the sun had dazzled her senses, sent her flying into

another realm. He thought of her as fairy queen. She knew this moment between them, very

still, sparkling, a time out of time, could not last; it would vanish like all dreams. Yet his

compliments, the admiration in his eyes, made her feel so warm and glowing all the way to her

toes.

“Me?” she whispered. “A fairy queen?”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

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.

Website

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INTERVIEW

Did you use any of your own experience as inspiration?

Hello, and thanks so much for hosting me today!! I’m sure I do, though I’ve never lived in Regency Bath

like the characters in “The Earl’s Cinderella Countess,” or in any other time period I’ve loved writing about!

But my experiences with love and dating, with family life, with feeling shy or excited or unhappy, those

definitely come into play with my characters. (And I’ve read “Northanger Abbey” so many times I FEEL

like I’ve been to Regency Bath!)

* On average, how long does the writing process take?

It depends on the story, and on how much I feel like procrastinating at the moment! Usually about 3

months actually writing (more with research)

* If you weren't an author, what other career paths would you have taken?

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an opera singer, until I found out I can’t sing! I also love the idea of

archaeology and interior design

* Out of the characters that you created, who is your favorite?

In this book, I actually loved Mary, the younger sister! She’s everything I wish I could be, full of fun and

outgoing, so I’m happy she’s the heroine of my next book. It’s so hard to pick a favorite ever, but I really

loved Eliza Van Hoeven, the heroine of my book “A Manhattan Heiress in Paris,” who was a musician in

the 1920s

* What advice would you give to someone looking to be a writer?

To read lots and lots! That’s what gave me a love for stories, the spark for creating my own. But I also

got some great advice when I was first starting, BICHOK (backside in chair, hands on keyboard)

* What kind of research (if any) was required for any of your books?

I admit I’m a research junkie! Sometimes (most of the time) it’s hard for me to stop researching and start

writing the story, I love history so much. In this story, I did a lot of reading about the town of Bath in the

Regency period, and what would go into being a matchmaker in a society like this one. (I love “Emma,”

and was inspired by it, but Ella and Mary are much better at this task than Miss Woodhouse!)

*How long after you finish a book do you start another one?

I like to take a break of at least a couple of weeks, more if I can, to refill the creative well a bit and get

caught up on the laundry that’s piled up! I try to set deadlines in order to take a little break…

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REVIEW

It took a couple chapters before I was able to get into the story, but once that happened I couldn't stop reading. I loved the story and even wished I could be Eleanor. From the title, however, I was expecting a more of re-telling of Cinderella.

Rating: 😊😊😊😊