Katy Madison

Get Lost Again with Historical Romance Author Katy …

She had never known passion like this…

Caroline Broadhurst is about to take a lover—at her husband’s command. For fifteen years, Caroline has done everything her much older husband has desired—except provide an heir. Now he has given her an ultimatum: seduce a suitable gentleman, and bear a son. Caroline would never think of bowing to such a shameful order, but then she meets Jack Applegate.

Jack has longed for the beautiful, untouchable Caroline for years, but the chasm between them was too wide to ever dream of crossing. Now, fate and passion have thrown them together, but the potential scandal threatens to smother their love. And when a violent secret comes to light, only a terrible sacrifice will prevent the flame of their affection from being snuffed out forever…

Excerpt:

 Wanting to escape, she returned to the chair by the fireplace and sat down gingerly.  “Are you certain you’re strong enough?  You are not completely healed.”

He twisted to reposition the pillows behind him, exposing one pale flank.  Fighting an inexplicable need to stare at him, Caroline clenched her eyes shut, uncertain why she wanted to look upon his form.   

“Then you should do the work,” he said.

Her eyes popped open.  “Excuse me?” 

She didn’t know how she could do the work.  That was the man’s role.  Her mind reeled through possibilities and rejected them all.  A tremor passed down her spine and knotted her neck. 

He slid down on the bed to his elbows.  The coverlet reached his waist, allowing her to draw a breath.  His look turned questing.  Jack seemed to be waiting, as if he’d thought she’d know how to manage to provide the motion.

Caroline found her nail in her teeth, a habit her governess had cured two decades ago.  She deliberately dropped her hand.  “I’m not certain I know how.”

“You should mount me, sweetheart.”  His mouth flattened.  “It will give you control of how much we do touch.”

She thought about protesting his term of endearment, but she supposed it was just something to call her rather than ma’am or Mrs. Broadhurst.  “Are you certain that would work?”

Never had she considered that she could be on top.  And the idea of being in control of their encounter made her shake.  She had never been more than a passive participant. 

Yet, this with Jack was sounding all very clinical, like a doctor’s examination, but that was how she wanted it.  Wasn’t it?

His mouth worked as if he were restraining a laugh.  “Yes, it will work.”

She almost wanted to hit him.  “I mean to get me with...child?”

“That’s what I meant.”  Jack held out his hand and beckoned her.  “Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be. ” Her voice sounded too shrill in the room. 

“Ah, I’ve been ready since I saw you at the top of the stairs.  You’re very tempting to look upon.”

He seemed comfortable with his words in the night.  The low rasp of his voice curled around and touched a part of her that wanted more than this business arrangement.  On shaking legs she stood and stepped closer to the bed.  She no longer trusted her voice to sound normal. 

Jack’s dark eyes watched her as he sat, bunching the muscles in his stomach, showing their form as they moved under his tight skin.  He pushed the covers down to his thighs and...

Today, I’m thrilled to welcome back historical romance author, Katy Madison, to the blog.  Katy writes fabulous stories filled with dangerous love and desperate passions.  Light romance they are not, but if you’re looking for emotion filled stories with strong characters, suspense and sensuality, you should definitely pick up one of Katy’s!

So let’s get right to the interview!

 

Heather:  How often to you get lost in a story?  

Katy: As often as possible.  I always read before I go to sleep.  I love/hate those times when a story so grabs me I stay up all night to finish it.  And of course every day, I’m working on one of my own stories. 

Heather:  What’s your favorite kind of story to get lost in?

Katy: Historical romance is my favorite read, but I read other types of romance and outside the genre.  One of my favorite things to read and reread is The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov.  Right now I’m reading a book on Mayan prophecies, and I just finished one about nuclear weapons and the potential for nuclear war, so not all my reading is for escapism, but a lot of it is.    

Heather:  What’s the first book you remember reading?

Katy: I actually was reading before I started kindergarten.  So I don’t really remember not reading.  (Two older sisters who liked to play school with me when I was little.  I only have hazy memories of this because they were both into their teens when I turned seven and they mostly just considered me a pest at that point, but there are pictures.)  I do remember sitting on my father’s lap as he read “The Little Engine That Could” every time he’d read me a story.  It was his favorite story and he had to read me that one before he’d read me another, which I think might be responsible for my belief that if I work hard enough at anything, I can achieve it, even when it seems impossible. 

My first romance I remember reading was in third grade and I couldn’t tell you the name, but it was a Gothic set in Colonial America and there was a maid servant who “borrowed” her mistress’s white dress and sort of tricked the hero into choosing her at a masked ball where a man was expected to marry a woman he caught in this one particular dance.  Actually as I remember it, they were both after someone else.  If anyone remembers that book, I’d love to know the title and author.

I also read MASH in third grade—so not a book for an eight or nine year old.  (I snuck it out of my mother’s hidden stash of books) I was endlessly fascinated by the apparent importance of the MASH unit ordering tens of thousands of condoms a month and being the only unit with women—like forty some women.  I didn’t know what a condom was, but I looked it up in the dictionary.  Still not sure I quite understood then.  But I get it now.  (They were using the condoms to patch soldiers temporarily until they could get to Tokyo, not boinking the poor nurses ten times a day.) That might be where I developed a fascination with medical stuff and injuries, because I like to use that stuff in my books.  The book MASH is actually far grittier than the television show M*A*S*H ever was. 

Heather:  What’s your favorite “love” word? 

Katy: Cherish.  Because that says it all, doesn’t it?

Heather:  What’s your favorite fairy tale?

Katy: Cinderella, because ALL ABOUT SEDUCTION is a Cinderfella story.  But I do like that poor working class person getting swept up into a better life through love kind of theme. Actually shattering class barriers is a theme I like a lot. 

Heather:  What sound or noise do you love?

Katy: I love the sound of waves in the ocean. There is no sound more soothing.  Probably because I’m a water sign, I have a real affinity for water. 

Heather:  Who’s your favorite villain?

Katy: That’s a tough one, because I really like villains who are a little heroic like maybe Hannibal Lector, Mr. Brooks or right now I’m hooked into Dexter. I’m sensing a theme here. Okay, maybe I have a fascination for serial killers who want to do good things.  Fictional serial killers anyway.  Real serial killers are generally just sick animals.  Although I have to say if you ever get a chance to watch the interviews of the mob hitman, The IceMan, he was kind of droll and had a code of honor.

Heather:  What do you do to unwind and relax?

Katy: Mostly just veg out in front of the television or read a good book.  Although if I can get away, I like to go somewhere where there is water, either a lake or ocean.  Or sometimes just a walk around my neighborhood is a good way to relax. 

HEATHER’S GOTTA ASK – KATY’S GOTTA ANSWER  J

Heather:  What is the most fascinating thing you learned while researching or writing this particular book? 

Katy: Warning: My answer is not for the squeamish.  I did a lot of research into injuries and how they would have been treated in the time period of my book.  Medical practices and knowledge were increasing quite rapidly during the Victorian period, thank goodness. They were just beginning to understand infections and how to prevent them, how to use anesthesia and actually do surgeries that took a little time. But I now know how to perform an amputation, exactly how to peel back the skin, tie off the blood vessels, and where to cut the bone in the best place for the patient to be able to walk with a prosthetic limb. The surgeons weren’t all about speed, although speed was important.  Not that I got to use that knowledge in the book.  J

Actually a couple of surgeons on the continent had performed limb-saving surgery similar to Jack’s using silver wire and drilled holes in the pieces of bones.  I could go on and on, but that’s probably enough to make some people sick.  I did make my country doctor up on all the latest medical info, of course.

I also learned that a lot of what Caroline is trying to achieve with the children at the mill was actually already law by that time, although haphazardly enforced and mostly with fines.  L

GOT A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO ASK YOUR FANS?

Katy: In ALL ABOUT SEDUCTION I take a very realistic look at factory work, workers’ lives, as well as the suppressed rage of a woman who has been sold into a loveless marriage.  To some I have strayed too far into the dark side or away from their expectations of what a romance is.  To others I’ve enthralled them with the realistic look at life in the Victorian age.  So which kind of reader are you?  Do you prefer historical romances on the light side, or do you enjoy darkness in the story, as long as there is a Happily Ever After?  And why? 

WILL YOU HAVE A DRAWING FROM THOSE LEAVING COMMENTS?

Katy: Yes! I’ll be giving away a copy of ALL ABOUT SEDUCTION to a commenter.  

If you missed Katy’s first visit to GLIAS, check it out HERE.

Thanks so much for being with us today, Katy!  Where can your fans learn more about you on the web?

Website: www.katymadison.com

**Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North American addresses only. If an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) is available, the author may utilize that option for International participants. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.