Good morning to Bev and all of you this last day of August. Yesterday Mistress by Marriage officially hit the shelves. It’s the next-to-last in the Courtesan Court series, and the last “Mistress.” (There’s a “Master” coming in April—Master of Sin—but I don’t want to get ahead of myself, LOL) Marriage starts at an unusual place for a romance: Baron Edward Christie and Caroline Parker are already married, but they sure haven’t found their HEA anywhere but in bed. Here’s the back cover blurb:
Too late for cold feet
Baron Edward Christie prided himself on his reputation for even temperament and reserve. That was before he met Caroline Parker. Wedding a scandalous beauty by special license days after they met did not inspire respect for his sangfroid. Moving her to a notorious lovebirds’ nest as punishment for her flighty nature was perhaps also a blow. And of course talk has gotten out of his irresistible clandestine visits. Christie must put his wife aside—if only he can get her out of his blood first.
Too hot to refuse
Caroline Parker was prepared to hear the worst: that her husband had determined to divorce her, spare them both the torture of passion they can neither tame nor escape. But his plan is wickeder than any she’s ever heard. Life as his wife is suffocating. But she cannot resist becoming her own husband’s mistress…
This is a story of opposites attracting… and repelling. Edward is extremely proper, and Caroline is not. They never should have gotten married, because now that they are, it’s nearly impossible to get a divorce. There’s a parallel in the book between King George IV (you may know him as Prinny) trying to get rid of his wife, also a Caroline, during the same summer the story takes place. Parliament, of which Edward is a member, is hearing the King’s Bill of Pain and Penalties. I love that title—it so sums up the torture and desire to inflict retribution that unhappy couples often feel toward each other.
Caroline works out her revenge by killing off Edward in her books. Yes, she’s a romance author. Any resemblance she has to me ends there, though. J She’s tempestuous, beautiful, scandalous. Sometimes she screams and throws things, behavior guaranteed to drive Edward away. Why does she do it? A dark secret from her past, of course.
I’ve made this all sound doomy and gloomy, haven’t I? Yet Marriage might make you laugh out loud. Author Janet Mullany calls it “funny, touching and sexy.” Exactly what I was going for.
Here’s a paragraph from one of my favorite scenes, where logical Edward presents Caro with a list to improve her bad behavior:
“Please, Caro. Humor me.” He pushed a sheet of paper across the desk.
Caroline picked it up. Edward’s handwriting was as precise and exacting as he was. She had no difficulty skimming his suggestions. “Only six?”
“I concentrated on the most important. The curbing of your temper is, of course, the most critical. I cannot have you destroying property and screaming like a banshee every time you do not get your way. As you can see, I’ve recommended some diversionary tactics you might take when life’s vicissitudes irritate you.”
The greatest vicissitude sat across from her. “I suppose that’s reasonable,” she conceded. Once the euphoria of destruction left her, she often felt a little foolish[M1] . She could count to ten or perhaps to twenty if the need arose. She read the second item on Edward’s list. “‘There will be no unnecessary talk at breakfast.’ ” She looked up at Edward. “Would I be permitted to say ‘pass the marmalade dear,’ or is that taboo?”
“You know what I mean. When you wake you chatter like a magpie. A man can’t think. I like to begin my day quietly with the paper and correspondence. In fact, it would be altogether better if you had breakfast in bed. We could meet later in the day.”
“Don’t count on it,” she muttered. There was no point to reading the rest. She counted to ten, then tore the paper to bits.
Are you a chattering magpie in the morning like Caroline, or do you like to begin your day in silence like Edward? Do you like breakfast in bed? (I have breakfast at my desk every morning, where I can Endust the crumbs away.) One commenter gets a signed copy of Mistress by Marriage!
Congrats Maggie on your latest release. I doubt I’d ever be called a magpie and most definitely not in the morning. Breakfast in bed has wonderful potential, but is best served by someone you can cuddle up next to while eating it.
Good morning! Thanks so much for having me back, Bev. I used to bouce right out of bed, but now it’s more of a creak. I like quiet in the morning, time to myself to let the day start slowly. Must cruise the Internet to keep up. But once I start talking later in the day, there’s no shutting me up, LOL.
I usually plan on getting up early, but since I work late at nights it is mostly a plan; I tend to push the snooze button several times before startling some time later, happy not to have overslept (well, at times I actually do). I get up to hurry and rush through the morning, trying to get the family moving. Then…. I sit down at my desk with my obligatory huge pot of tea and some toast, fruit or whatever and enjoy the silence – until hubby shows up or the phone rings…. 🙂
Well, I guess im like edward. i like to eat my breakfast in quiet . but, it can be noisy here. so , that rarely happens. lol
I am so not the morning person 😉 It takes me a while to wake up to get out of bed, & then really wake up & be functional so, yes I’m the quiet type in the morning perfectly content to check e-mail & the days news or read a little (such as your book) 😉 in peace w/ just the radio for some background noise. Congrats on the release!
I am not too much of a magpie. I enjoy have a little time to myself before the day starts and have to worry about everyone else. A perfect morning for me is to have a cup of tea and read a few chapters before getting on with the day.
I have to get warmed up in the morning before I can hold any decent conversations! And while breakfast in bed sounds wonderful and I always appreciate the gesture (usually from my kids on Mother’s Day!) I prefer to eat and read the paper at the kitchen table.
Looking forward to reading this book!
I love the idea of starting the novel with them already married! A “front twist,” so to speak.
I must admit, I’m pretty chipper in the morning.
Congrats on your release. Sounds like a great story.
Thanks for all the congratulations, everyone! I admit I love this book–it’s my favorite of the three Mistress books.
It seems quite a few folks are like Edward. When my kids were little, I’d wake up hours ahead of time just so I could have some quiet to read the paper and drink my coffee alone in the kitchen. I’m not much of a cook in the morning either (or at any time anymore, LOL) so I trained them to get their own cereal and juice. And I’ve only gotten crankier with age. 😉
I prefer solitude in the morning.
This book sounds interesting! I’m already laughing from the short excerpt. I’m more like Edward. Peace and quiet in the morning, please, because I’m not a morning person. I need time to wake up and face the day. Lots of chatter and chipper behavior gets an eye roll from me.
Congratulations! I can’t wait to read this book. I’m not a morning person quite in the morning a magpie later in the day. 🙂
Your book sounds really good. Congratulations
I am a quite in the morning person since there is a lot of chatter during my work day.
Most mornings, the others that live here are doing their own thing. But if they are foolish enough to get near me, I will probably start talking! LOL If they keep their distance, I am fine not talking. 🙂 They are both, need quiet in the morning, people. Congrats on the book!! 🙂
I’m really looking forward to this one – another visit to Jane St.
I am most definitely NOT a morning person; it took the cat yowling in my face to get me out of bed this morning. Sadly, this is not unusual.
Good Morning…Don’t enter me in the contest because I couldn’t wait and bought it for my kindle yesterday- this series is an autobuy for me:)
I am usually chatty in the morning but have learned to be quiet because I’m the only one up in the household at the time – every one else gets to sleep for another 45 min to an hour – it’s sooo annoying…lol…
Here’s hoping for lots of sales in the next couple of weeks for this book…I can’t wait to read my copy!
Maria, you naughty girl, LOL. But I’ve got a pretty signed trade paperback all ready to go! You could give it to a friend. Thanks so much for buying the book. Right now Amazon has it for Kindle for only $7.37, which is almost half off the trade paperback price. And it’s made the top 100 in historical romance sales! I am absolutely thrilled. (now mind you, it’s in the 90s today, but still). Here’s the sale link:
http://www.amazon.com/Mistress-by-Marriage-ebook/dp/B005CRY86I/ref=kinw_dp_ke?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
End of shameless self-promotion. After reading the responses so far, I think we could all be roommates. 🙂
I like quiet in the morning. Unfortunately, I have a whiny dog that is worse than an alarm clock, so I suppose I can relate to Edward’s desire for quiet.
Pick me! Pick me! I like quiet in the morning, for sure. I don’t eat breakfast in bed. I get up, shower, get dressed, then eat.
Congrats on the release. I am useless in the morning until after my coffee. But hell, ask my husband, once I start talking it doesn’t end. I know it sometimes drives the hubby crazy but he puts up with it lol and I love him all the more for it. How else is he supposed to know that I’m angry, other then the uncharacteristic silence :P??
Congrats on the new release! Loved the first book of this series.
I’m all about being quiet in the mornings and blasting Josh Groban (now you know my dirty secret). I don’t eat breakfast in bed unless I’m sick. I like to sit out on the balcony, watch the traffic go by and catch a little Vitamin D.
Congrats on your new release, sound wonderful! I am not a morning person so I guess you could say I am kind of silent in the mornings. I have never had breakfast in bed so I am not sure how it would be. Maybe a couple of times when I was in the hospital but that doesn’t count because they have lousy food.
Definitely not a morning person, so you’ll be lucky if you can get grunts out of me if I’m woken up before noon. xD;
Happy belated release day!
Congrats on your new book Maggie. I can’t wait to read it. So I am a nontalker in the morning and my husband is a jump out of bed, it’s a new day, talk, talk, talk. 🙁 But after 33 years we have worked it out. lol When our kids were in school I would go in very quite and tell them it was time to get up. My husband would go in and flip on the light and sing good morning to them. Take a guess who they liked to wake them up. We sure do laugh about it now.
Ugh. I hate mornings. I hate them hate them hate them. Bed is so snuggly, whyever should I have to leave it? 🙁
When I wake up in the morning, I’m like a half-functioning zombie, all bleary and running into things and doing my morning activities like a robot. I suck at mornings. I barely have time for breakfast (granola bars, yay!) and I almost never take extra time to sit and read, and I don’t talk to people. I make groaning sounds a lot and complain at my cats.
On the weekend, when an alarm doesn’t wake me up and I’ve been allowed to sleep in, then I will sit at the table with a more complex breakfast and a book. Those are my favorite mornings!
Also… no one has ever brought me breakfast in bed. 🙁 But… my ex husband couldn’t cook and my BF is an even worse cook, so there you go.
Congrats on your new release! I tend to be pretty quiet in the mornings may take to chattering like a magpie like your heroine if it were to result in an offer to have breakfast in bed.
Welcome, Maggie dear. You know how I absolutely adore and your books. I especially loved Mistress by Marriage. I was absolutely DYING to read this book after reading your debut, Mistress by Mistake. I love a marriage in jeopardy book. I actually have the first book in my marriage in jeopardy series outlined. It will be awhile before I get to that one though. 🙂
I’m a night owl so I hate mornings. Or maybe I hate mornings because I have to get up 5:30 AM for work every day. 🙁
I wish you uber success with MISTRESS BY MARRIAGE. It’s a must have book–in my book. Hugs
I am a morning person. I get up and go and can chatter until I run out of steam around 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. At that point, you won’t hear a peep from me!
Sounds good, looking forward to readin it
Sounds like a really great read. I’m not a morning person at all…unless I’m waking up naturally without the alarm clock going off. My favorite time of the day is dusk, when the sky is purplish-blue. I must have been a vampire in a former life. 😀
I’m not a morning person and need about an hour after I wake up before I talk with anyone.
I’m like Edward.
Lots of Edwinas here still, I see. Where are the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed girls? I’ve got a hilarious poster saved to my computer that talks about crushing the hope out of morning people by about 11 AM.
I’ve got to brag about my husband, who brings tea and whatever’s handy into my writing room every morning and doesn’t expect me to talk to him. It’s taken decades to train him, LOL. My usual routine is to write until I feel guilty for still being in my nightgown…and it takes a lot for me to feel guilty. Once I’ve washed up and dressed I’m a little friendlier. I feel lucky that I quit my day job to write fulltime so don’t have to drive anywhere in the dark and snow…or be nice before noon.
Mornings aren’t my favourite time of the day. I prefer quiet for a couple hours after I get up.
I’m definitely quiet upon first awakening. I like to be fully awake before engaging in conversation.
I wake up quiet in the morning, I need some caffeine and food to fully wake up. I don’t ever eat breakfast in bed because I’m very OCD about getting food in my bed haha.
I am not a morning person so not much talking for me. I like to eat breakfast later in the morning after I have been up a while.
Love the sounds of this book, all the best for it’s release Maggie~
So NOT a morning person, just call me Joe Zombie. I need a pot of tea to kick-start me.
Ugh, I am so not a morning person. I don’t want to talk to anyone or eat anything for at least an hour or more after I get up.
I definitely don’t chatter in the morning, nor am I silent.
I have never had breakfast in bed. I have to have COFFEE—-and then breakfast.
I am a morning person and wake up very cheerful. I try not to inflict that cheerfulness on others until they’ve had time to acclimate! I don’t think I’ve ever had breakfast in bed – I would much prefer to go out for breakfast.
I’ve been dying to read Caro’s story…love the excerpt and sure wish this wasn’t the last of series. They’re all so good!! I like to talk with hubby over coffee in the morning. It’s the perfect time for us to plan our day without any interuptions….I think I’d tear that list to pieces too…Haha. Congrats on the new book and I’d love to win a autographed copy!!!
We seem to have lost our phone/internet connection. So if you don’t hear from me again…thanks so much for all the fun comments. I’m typing on my tiny phone with fat fingers. Beverly you have got the best bunch of people nonlinear! Autocorrect spelled your name wrong not me lol.
And it turned online to nonlinear. Grr.
I have been both lol. I use to get up early for work and didn’t mind chattering away although my husband never paid much attention. Now that I’m not working I get to sleep in and no one is there to listen to me except the cats lol so I’m pretty quiet. As to breakfast in bed, I have served it but never been served. Once upon a time I would have liked it but now I don’t seem to be hungry in the morning or early afternoon. I make up for it later in the day unfortunately lol. Congratulations on your book!
I like breakfast in bed… but only if I am staying in a hotel and I don’t have to worry about cleaning up afterwards! 🙂
Congrats on the new book! 🙂 I am looking forward to reading it… Sounds as good as the other one in the series…
Hi Maggie, I’m not a morning person either. When I get up, I come straight downstairs and make myself a cup of tea. I have to have at least three cups before I start feeling human. Also, I only drink English tea that I get from England. I don’t really like breakfast in bed as it can get too messy. I’d rather eat at the kitchen table.
I really enjoyed the short excerpt posted, looking forward to reading the book.
Congratulations on your new release.
dpd333 (At) aol (Dot) com
Congrats on the release! Can’t wait to read this one. So I have it on my TBB list, just in case I don’t win. 😀
I’m not really a morning person, but more often than not I have to get up early. I’m not real chatty but don’t have to have silence either – a happy medium is fine. LOL I like to eat breakfast mid-morning and usually while watching tv or reading.
I’m more like Edward, I am not a morning person. It’s best not to talk to me in the morning unless absolutely necessary. I don’t like to eat in bed – I don’t like food in my bedroom at all. I do eat at my desk, at home and at work, which is great because then I can read while eating (either a book or the computer). Congrats on the release of Mistress by Marriage, it sounds fantastic.
Hi Maggie!
Nice to see you back here at the Season blog!
I like starting my day quietly. Too much talk really annoys me gets on my nerves till I’ve had my morning coffee.
And I love breakfast in bed!
Your new book MISTRESS BY MARRIAGE looks really good! Gorgeous cover! 🙂
I’m an early bird but definitely not a chatterer. Would love to have breakfast in bed but my partner is a night owl who sleeps late so it’s not ever possible. Great excerpt. I love the premise for this story.
Hi Maggie!
Mistress by Marriage is already on my reading radar. I’m looking forward to reading it.
In the morning, I’m a perky chatterbox. There are days that I brood and sulk but that is very rare and on days when I’ve had a restless night. I’m not a breakfast in bed person, although that may change if someone cooks for me! I like to start my day feeling refreshed and that means taking a shower, brushing my teeth and other morning rituals before I can face the world.
I am a morning person but I learned to suppress that part of my nature because it annoys so many people. I find breakfast in bed uncomfortable. Your book looks like a really good one.
Hi Maggie! Congratulations on your new book. MISTRESS BY MIRRAGE really sounds good and I can’t wait to read it. I’m afraid I am a little bit of a chattering magpie in the morning and I have never had breakfast in bed.
Breakfast in bed…who’d make and serve it??? I generally eat in our library and read at breakfast. My husband listens to those annoying business/stock market programs in the sitting room and, while I join him once in a while, the TV irritates me. I guess it’s silence for me at breakfast.
Hi Maggie! Love your books! I am very moody first thing in the morning. But as soon as I get my morning work out in and my endorphins kick in I am one happy camper and no topic is off limits.
I don’t like to talk until I am properly awake. I certainly could NOT stand breakfast in bed. I like to wake gradually, eat breakfast & then I’m ready to face the day.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Hi Maggie,
Congratulations on the release of your new book. I love the tidbits! I am NOT a morning person. When my children were young, they knew to ‘stay away from mom until she’s had AT LEAST 2 cups of coffee before talking to her’! Children are grown now and since I’m single, I don’t know if I would bite the head off anyone who might be in my sights before that 2nd cup of coffee! LOL I’ve never had breakfast in bed probably because it involves someone talking to me before that coffee…no one was brave enough to face me! I eat breakfast now at my desk while reading blogs like this one.
Congrats on the new release. I am a quiet person in the morining. I need a little time to relax and wake up before I join with the rest of the world.
I am such a morning person – I drive everyone around me crazy.
I’m a morning person and my husband is a night owl — but it works out for us. In the morning, I’m the one chasing after the kids — at night, when I’m conked out, it’s his turn. ^_^
I am DEFINITELY not a morning person. My morning conversation consists of “Come on, guys. Hurry up!” (The first thing I do every morning is take my dogs out!) In fact I am such a horrible morning person the last time my boss called me in at 5 in the morning my entire crew threatened him with death if he ever did so again. I start work at 7 AM most days and I work in silence until about 9. Then I am a bit more civilized.
And I adore breakfast in bed, even if I have to get it myself!
I am absolutely not a morning person. I like to start my day quietly, with the morning new shows while I eat breakfast, and sip my coffee. When I worked in a large corporate headquarters and had to be in at 8AM, I tried never to schedule a meeting before 10! On weekends, I treat myself by going downstairs, making my breakfast, and taking it back to bed on a tray with whatever romance novel I’m currently reading. Heaven!!!
Maggie –
I’m definately an Edward type of morning person. I need my newspaper and my coffee and please don’t talk to me for at least an hour. Even better wait until after I get to work and have another cup of coffee (I purposely go to work early to accomplish this so I don’t scare away any of our clients) then you can safely say good morning!
When my sons were born I worked nights so I could be with them during the day. Of course when I got home there were dishes to do, the kitchen floor to wash, sewing to be done, etc. My husband was wonderful with our boys but went from living at home to being into the service and having Uncle Sam feed and take feed and cloth him (he was in the Navy during Vietnam) so the “helping out” didn’t start until a few more years down the line. When you get about 6 hours of sleep a night than coffee is definately one of the most important elements in your life (to stay awake).
My husband says that since I’m a Juvenille diabetic (I drink that coffee black – no cream, no sugar) it’s my “poison” of choice!
PS: Even though I can’t eat it myself I love to bake sweets and am the family baker for not only my family but for any family gatherings. The only problem is whenever I try a new receipe my husband has to try it first to see how it tastes!
I’m not a morning person. I prefer my day to start a bit later. On Saturday mornings I like having breakfast in bed, even if I have to make it myself and then get back into bed to eat it.
One wonders how such a mismatch ever happened, except Caroline is probably just what Edward needs, he just doesn’t know it.
No breakfast in be for me. I usually sit watching the Today Show and read while I eat breakfast. My husband and I enjoy talking over breakfast when we manage to eat it together. He has usually left for work (5:30 AM) before I get up. When it is really nice out on the weekends, we sit on the porch and have breakfast and talk.
Hehehe. I’m rarely even awake until I’ve been up and out of bed for a good half-hour or more, so one might say I’m definitely the ‘silent in the mornings’ type. Gotta agree with Edward there! Except breakfast in bed has always seemed rather foolish to me… *shrug*
This book really seems like a great read, bound to give giggles and smiles. More please? 🙂
I’m a chatterbox!!
I’m not a morning person – I prefer silence for as long as possible. The earlier I’m required to be alert and responsive, the less happy I am! I’m with Edward on this one.
hankts AT internode DOT on DOT net