In the dark, the greatest lover can become the most dangerous conspirator…
Lord Frederick Aveline, otherwise known
as Derick, has successfully kept up appearances as an English nobleman.
What no one knows is that he’s a full-blooded Frenchman—a double-agent for the
British against the French. But there is something else no knows about
Derick. Deciding to leave behind his days of espionage, he’s
arrived home to Derbyshire to finish one final order of business: to
find and expose a dangerous traitor in the midst. But Aveline castle holds its own share of secrets—including murder, and an unexpected lure in Emma Wallingford. Brilliant and feisty, her loyalty lies with acting as the town’s magistrate, and she doesn’t welcome an unanticipated, though appealing, intrusion like Derick. As the two of them are drawn closer, the sordid past of Derick’s family comes to light, as does the true nature of his arrival.
But when deception, however sweet, is the name of the game no one can be trusted, and every love—and every life—is at risk.
After meeting my Bond meets Bones characters, I’ll bet you’re thinking
there is some spy/crime movie that I had in mind while writing Derick and Emma.
However, I bet you might be surprised…
When I sat down to write, the log line for this story was this:
Everyone’s been deceived by someone, but it never hurts as much as when you deceive yourself.
For
Derick, it is his identity that he deceives himself about. For Emma, however, I
wanted her misassumptions to be completely of the heart. And therefore, the
movie I thought often of is:
If you
haven’t seen it, it’s rather a cute movie centered around a cast of characters.
It’s all about the lies we tell ourselves, the excuses we make for why this person
or that person does or doesn’t love us. For me, Emma was most like the main
character, Gigi. Here are two quotes I kept in mind:
“A girl will never forget the first boy she ever likes.”
and
“Girls are taught a lot of stuff growing up. If a guy punches
you he likes you. Never try to trim your own bangs and someday you will meet a
wonderful guy and get your very own happy ending. Every movie we see, Every
story we're told implores us to wait for it, the third act twist, the
unexpected declaration of love, the exception to the rule. But sometimes we're
so focused on finding our happy ending we don't learn how to read the signs.
How to tell from the ones who want us and the ones who don't, the ones who will
stay and the ones who will leave. And maybe a happy ending doesn't include a
guy, maybe... it's you, on your own, picking up the pieces and starting over,
freeing yourself up for something better in the future. Maybe the happy ending
is... just... moving on. Or maybe the happy ending is this, knowing after all
the unreturned phone calls, broken-hearts, through the blunders and misread
signals, through all the pain and embarrassment you never gave up hope.”
Of
course, that quote is as unhistorical as you can get J. However, the sentiment is
true. Derick was Emma’s first love, and now that he’s back, her hopes are high.
Despite how hard he pushes her away, how much he holds back from her, Emma KNOWS
in her heart that they were meant to be together. With Derick by her side, she
feels more normal than she ever has.
Emma romanticizes him (and his work as a spy) and begins to imagine the
good they could do together. She starts to believe her girlhood dream of a life
with him might be within her grasp, only better. But when all of the truth
comes spilling out in the end, Emma is stung when Derick points out he’s never
deceived her about his intentions. She realizes the bitter truth: she’s the one
who’s deceived herself. It’s truly heartbreaking…
Of
course, Emma and Derick do find their happily-ever-after. I hope you enjoy
discovering how!
Today, I’ll
be giving away a copy of my debut, SWEET ENEMY (or, if you’ve already read it,
I will substitute another historical romance—many to choose from). You MUST
leave your e-mail in the comments section to be eligible… Here’s a question for you: Do YOU remember the first boy you ever
liked?
Heather
Snow is a historical romance author with a degree in Chemistry
who discovered she much preferred creating chemistry on the page, rather
than in the lab. She lives in the
Midwest with her husband, two rambunctious boys and one very put upon cat. Find out more or connect with Heather at:
Facebook www.facebook.com/AuthorHeatherSnow
Twitter www.twitter.com/HeatherSnowRW
SWEET DECEPTION Available
NOW:
Rainy
Day Books (my local indie)
Amazon (Kindle Edition)
Amazon (Mass Market Paperback)
Barnes and Noble
The Book Depository (free shipping worldwide)
Books-A-MillionAmazon (Kindle Edition)
Amazon (Mass Market Paperback)
Barnes and Noble
The Book Depository (free shipping worldwide)
IndieBound
I-Books
Walmart
I do remember. He was one of my classmates from sixth grade.
ReplyDeleteForgot my email.
Deletejanie1215 AT excite DOT com
I sure do...his name was Tommy Crace and I was in Kindergarten. He would chase me everyday in the play ground. I thought it was love. =)
ReplyDeleteiqb99(AT)yahoo(dot)com
i think so.. he's my junior high friend, and he's my first puppy love :D
ReplyDeletesmile_1773 at yahoo dot com
Yes, i remember, because he is my junior classmate :D
ReplyDeleteYes I do, I was in 6th grade. It's funny when I think about it now.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Heather, I so remember the first boy I ever liked. He was my next door neighbor. I even told his mother years later I had a crush on her son.
ReplyDeletecountessofmar(at)yahoo(dot)com
Yes, I definitely remember. I liked a boy in Kindergarten who happened to live around the corner from me. He moved to the country in Grade 2, but our parents kept in touch. In Grade 8, our church held a dance and we met up again there. I remember slow dancing with him and wishing he lived within bicycling distance. (OMG, Grade 8 was 40 years ago in 1972!)
ReplyDeleteseytype at hotmail dot com
Absolutely...we were in the first grade together. Funny, how I can still remember his birthday :)
ReplyDeletelibrarylady1105(at)cox(dot)net
Yes... and he lived on our block... I don't remember if I was even brave enough to speak to him!!
ReplyDeleteOf course I remember! Jonathan Pedroni in second grade :) I loved how he actually liked being my friend, most of the boys in class didn't mix with the girls. I was so sad when I moved in the middle of third grade :( But I later saw him again in high school, of course, he didn't remember me but I was ok with that, I had moved on LOL!
ReplyDeleteajeans_herrera at yahoo dot com
I just stopped by to say congrats on your new release and here's to many sales and more smarty pants women books!
ReplyDeleteI was in first grade and he was an older man– a third grader. I remember he had lovely, teasing smile, but for the life of me, I cannot remember his name! ;)
Now that I think about it...no. Huh.
ReplyDeleteeyspahn at gmail
Not really.
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
Thanks, everyone, for stopping by and helping me celebrate! I'm sorry I haven't replied to each comment individually, but I'm on deadline, racing to finish SWEET MADNESS!
ReplyDeleteI, too, remember my first crushes. My first 3, actually :) First two, mostly names and vague faces...the third, he was my first love...unrequited, of course. But I do remember everything about him, and still think of him on his birthday, and sadly, on the anniversary of the day he died. Every year.
Thanks for the interesting post Heather, I enjoyed learning this tidbit about Sweet Deception a lot :-)
ReplyDeleteI remember the first big crush I had on my classmate when I was 6, I was "in love" with him until I was 8, a real everlasting love at that age, lol ;-D
stella.exlibris (at) gmail (dot) com
I guess my first serious like was my best guy friend from 5th grade on. He was such a cutie, lol.
ReplyDeletemanning_j2004 at yahoo dot com
I do remember my first serious like. I see his picture now and then on FB and I can see I had good taste then.
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember the first boy I ever liked, his name was Michael. He was a neighbor boy and he gave me my first kiss.
ReplyDeleteBarbed1951 at aol dot com
Yes, I remember him. I had a crush starting in about 5th grade, but a real puppy love in 7th grade. :)
ReplyDeletelvsgund at gmail.com
I loved SWEET ENEMY and have been anxious for SWEET DECEPTION since reading the teaser at the end of SWEET ENEMY.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'll never forget my first crush. His name was... HAROLD. Seriously! And I crushed on him from 3rd grade through 10th grade - well after I'd grown about a foot taller than him. ;-)
If it's not too late to enter for the give away, blake_leyers(at)bellsouth(dot)net.
Happy Friday!
Congratulations on the new release. As to your question, yes.
ReplyDeletepenfield716(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Hi
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your release, I am excited to read. I do remember my first crush - as a matter of fact we are friends on facebook - lol
Thanks for the chance
Pam
tpibrew@msn.com
My first crush was a boy in my kindergarten class. His name was Mark and he used to chase me. Sorry for the late reply, I just got back from vacation and I could not post here on my daughter's lap top.
ReplyDeleteyenastone at aol dot com