10/22/2014

The NO ACCIDENT Valerie Bowman

THE ACCIDENTAL COUNTESS
Playful Brides Series, Book 2
St. Martin's Press

CAN A SCANDALOUS CHARADE

For seven long years, Lady Cassandra Monroe has waited for the man of her dreams to return from the war. Unfortunately, he happens to be engaged to her flighty cousin. What Cass wouldn’t give to take her cousin’s place! When he mistakes Cass for Patience Bunbury, a fictitious friend her cousin has invented to escape social obligations…even with her future husband, Cass thinks this is her chance.

LEAD TO TRUE AND LASTING LOVE?

After defeating Napoleon at Waterloo, Captain Julian Swift is not quite ready to settle down and enter into his unwanted arranged marriage—especially when the real object of his affection turns out to be a beguiling beauty he meets at a party. Patience Bunbury is witty, independent, passionate…and, unbeknownst to him, the cousin of his current fiancée. When the truth about Cass comes out—and Julian  discovers that their courtship is anything but accidental—will he surrender his heart to a woman who really is too good to be true?
 
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VALERIE BOWMAN grew up in Illinois with six sisters (she’s number seven) and a huge supply of historical romance novels. After a cold and snowy stint earning a degree in English with a minor in history at Smith College, she moved to Florida the first chance she got. Valerie now lives in Jacksonville with her family including her rascally rescue dog, Roo. When she’s not writing, she keeps busy reading, traveling, or vacillating between watching crazy reality TV and PBS.

ACCIDENTAL QUESTIONS
ANGI: In the Playful Brides Series books…Do you have a favorite?
VALERIE: Oh, my goodness. They are *all* my favorites. I adore this series because each book is a take on a famous romp play. My favorites! The stories are also interconnected with related characters who reappear from book to book. The Unexpected Duchess is a Regency twist on Cyrano de Bergerac. The Accidental Countess is a Regency retelling of The Importance of Being Earnest, and The Unlikely Lady is based on Much Ado About Nothing.

I just confirmed plans to write at least three more stories in the series. The next one is untitled but it’ll be based on The Philadelphia Story. Remember that movie with Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart? Did you know the movie was based on a play? I’m REALLY having fun writing that one right now.

ANGI: In the Playful Brides Series books…Do you have a favorite hero?
VALERIE: Julian Swift from The Accidental Countess is one of my favorites for sure. He’s a war hero who nearly died from his injuries and he’s got a lot on his shoulders when he gets back to England, including the fact that he can’t find his fiancee!

ANGI: In the Playful Brides Series books…Do you have a favorite heroine?
VALERIE: Cassandra Owens from The Accidental Countess is a sweet heroine. I really enjoyed writing her because she’s one of those people who wouldn’t hurt a fly and yet is silently strong and fiercely loyal to her friends. She gets involved in a situation (pretending to be a fictitious person) because she can’t say no and she’s tempted to spend time with the man she’s loved for so many years. It’s a sticky situation but her heart is always in the right place.
 
ANGI: What’s your favorite cartoon character?
VALERIE: I love Wonder Woman and Lady and The Tramp is my favorite cartoon movie. I ADORE dogs and the end where Lady and Tramp have their puppies… Oh, my gosh, it’s just too cute.

ANGI: What do you like about the hero of the ACCIDENTAL COUNTESS?
VALERIE: One of the things that really endeared Julian to me while I was writing him is his inability to dance. So many times in historical romance novels, the heroes are perfect dancers. But Julian has been away at war for years and his sister has to quickly try to get him up to speed on the dancing. He’s perfect in many ways but the man can’t dance. I love that about him. A small vulnerability but a charming one, I think.

ANGI: Where do you read and how often?
VALERIE: I usually read in bed and as often as I can which usually means reading a chapter or two before I go to sleep. I’m also usually reading several books at once. There are just too many fantastic books out there!

ANGI: What's something that no one knows about you?
VALERIE: When I was about 11, I thought I invented the name Leon. I thought it was brilliant and named one of my stuffed animals that name. A few weeks later I was watching an episode of The Facts of Life and there was a character named Leon on the show. I was crestfallen. Ha!

ANGI: You live in Florida. Do you get to the beach often?
VALERIE: I do not! Isn’t that sad? My house is about an hour away from the beach so going there is a special treat and one I should take advantage of more often for sure.

ANGI’S GOTTA ASK: What's the coolest thing you've learned from writing Regency Romance? Anything unexpected?

VALERIE'S GOTTA ANSWER: I adore reading English history books and I learn new things all the time, but one of the craziest in recent memory was reading that someone actually wrote the equivalent of a phone book for prostitutes. It was a guide with the names, locations, and general details (including if they had any diseases!) of the most notable prostitutes in London. Guess that came in handy back then. Yikes!

FIND VALERIE
Contact     Website    Facebook    Twitter @ValerieGBowman    
Previous GLIAS interviews

UP NEXT for VALERIE 
THE UNLIKELY LADY
Playful Brides Series, Book 3       
Spring 2015
Read a little, but the book


PREVIOUS RELEASES by VALERIE
For a complete list of Valerie's books & novellas check out her website.

THE UNEXPECTED DUCHESS
Playful Brides Series, Book 1       
Read a little, but the book

CHRISTMAS BRIDES
Anthology
Read a little, but the book


VALERIE is giving away  a copy of The Accidental Countess (e-book wherever available or print U.S.-only)

Note: COMMENTERS are encouraged to leave a contact email address to speed the prize notification process. Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only unless specifically mentioned in the post. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking this site in a timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not automatically pass email addresses to guest authors unless the commenter publicly posts their email address.

ANGI'S back next Wednesday with
the 12 SHADES OF MIDNIGHT authors
UP NEXT ON GLIAS:  SUNNI JEFFERS
Get Lost on Goodreads, Facebook

or @GetLostInAStory  #GetLostStories

VALERIE WANTS TO KNOW: Ok, I admitted that I truly thought I invented the name Leon when I was a kid. One of my nephews actually briefly believed he invented toast. Ha! Did you ever think you invented something when you were a kid only to find out it was already a thing? Know anyone who did? 

32 comments:

  1. No but I was pretty gullible as a kid & would believe everything I was told.
    I love Disney cartoons!

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  2. I have loved dipping my French fries since I was very young. Everyone else thought it was gross. Over the years I've gotten a few people hooked, but I thought I must have invented the idea! Then the other day I was playing What's the Phrase, and the category was Guilty Pleasures. I bet you can guess what the answer was..... You've got it! Dipping your French fries in your milkshake!!! Blew my mind after all these years!

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    1. Ha! I love it! And I kinda want to try it now.

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    2. Taswmom -- you won Valerie Bowman Author's giveaway. Please email GetLostInAStory@gmail.com

      Delete
  3. All of your books look so beautiful - sound great too I must add.

    I can't recall ever having thought I had invented something. Love the toast invention story.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com


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    1. Thanks, Mary! You know I always add a Mary to all of my stories. :)

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  4. No doubt you were crestfallen! Leon's a cool name. I can't think of anything I may have thought I invented but I'm pretty sure my little sister thought she came up with tons lol She always came up with crazy ideas!!

    Absolutely love the color for The Accidental Countess! So pretty!

    thebigbluewall77 (at) gmail (dot) com

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    1. Your sister sounds cool, Anita! Thanks for the comment!

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  5. Sadly, I can't recall ever even thinking that I had invented something. Looking forward to reading your book!

    judy at gwd dot org

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  6. So great to have you back with us, Valerie! Best of luck with the new releases!
    ~Angi

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  7. No, I haven't

    bn100candg at hotmail dot com

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  8. I was taking piano lessons when I was younger & I wrote down what I thought was an original composition. Turns out it was a song that I had memorized!

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  9. Valerie did you have a lot of emails or text with the other 3 authors of the Christians brides

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    1. Hi Demetra! We've been in touch since a bit before the anthology came out but we wrote the stories entirely separately. I love the collection!

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  10. What's next for you after book 3 . And Ashlyn Macnamara meeting you half way for dinner in the states

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    1. Thanks for asking. The Playful Brides are doing so well, that I'm writing books 4-6 right now! I'd LOVE to meet Ash sometime. I hope to get up to Quebec sometime to visit.

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  11. No, I was a great reader, but didn't have a huge imagination, so I never thought I invented anything. I've known people who told tall tales, but nobody ever told me they invented anything. :D Loved your English history tidbit, very interesting the things you come across when checking out history books.

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    1. Thanks, Barbara. Some of the things I read in history books make me think, "If I ever wrote this in a story, no one would believe it!"

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  12. I had the best ideas growing up. Too bad they were always taken first. I think my favorite idea was adding an extension to sun visors. I always thought they were way too short so I made my dad put up a piece of cardboard I could stick to make it longer whenever I got to sit in the front seat. Too bad when we got the new car, it came with those extensions already built in. I swear, someone stole my idea!! lol

    So looking forward to reading The Accidental Countess :D
    ahui89 at hotmail dot com

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  13. Love the first book!

    I changed the time on my watch when i was a kid and i thought that i turned back time!

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    1. That's hysterical, May. I wish we could do that!

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  14. No, I think the only thing I ever "invented" was the creative writing of stories. Wish I'd kept them. I think they were accidentally purged when I moved out of my parents' house.

    Denise

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  15. Angi and GLIAS co! Thanks for having me. It was a blast!

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  16. Taswmom -- you won Valerie Bowman Author's giveaway. Please email GetLostInAStory@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete