Author Post Megan Mulry

IN LOVE AGAIN by Megan Mulry

SECOND CHANCE...

The Marchioness of Wick is about to get a second chance at life...whether she wants it or not. After twenty years in a loveless marriage to a duplicitous British aristocrat, Claire Heyworth Barnes finds herself broke and alone. Encouraged by her dynamic American sisters-in-law, the shy royal decides to start over in New York City. When she lands a job with a famous interior designer, Claire accidentally reconnects with the first—and only—man she ever loved.

FIRST LOVE...

Benjamin Hayek has never forgiven Claire for the heartless way she left him when they were teenagers in the south of France. And even if he could, Claire's not sure she has the courage to contend with how he makes her feel. Can they build a new love from an old flame? Or will a bitter history and a complicated future stand in their way?

Dear Blodeuedd,

Thank you so much for having me here at Books for Life! A lot has happened since you reviewed my first book, A Royal Pain, last year. A Royal Pain ended up being chosen as an NPR Best Book of 2012 and hit the USA Today Bestseller list. My new book, In Love Again, is the third in the Unruly Royals series, after A Royal Pain and If the Shoe Fits. 

When my first book came out, you were one of the first reviewers to remark on how I tend to write across genres. You were totally right! I love the steamy attraction of a romance novel mixed with the longer meditative passages and secondary characters normally associated with women's fiction. I noticed recently that Amazon has a category called Women's Romance Fiction and I thought of your review from last year. I'm pretty sure that's what my books are. I'll never know for sure, though, since I like to joke, I only write the books, I have no idea what they're about! In the end, I think, it's up to readers to decide what they are.

My new book, In Love Again, uses a lot of the same tropes from A Royal Pain but with a totally different outcome. It is still the story of a British aristocrat who falls in love with a fiery American, but that's where the similarities end. Claire Heyworth Barnes is the quiet older sister of Max, the Duke of Northrop. She is 38 years old and in the midst of a terrible divorce when the story begins. Whereas Bronte was all fire and ambition, Claire is tentative and vulnerable. She wants so much to be independent and strong, but it does not come easily to her.

New York City is a big part of this story too. It always symbolizes renewal for me personally, and I think that comes through in my books. It just seems that no matter where you are in your life, you could go there and reinvent yourself. 

In this book, the hot American is the hero, Ben Hayek. He is Claire's long-lost boyfriend from the summer before she married Freddy, Marquess of Wick. He has a good life in New York, as a dentist in private practice, but his emotional life is in the crapper. He is not a wild man, but he has a fire that comes more from the unexpressed passion he feels for life. When the two of them finally connect, it is a wonderful second chance for both of them.

The last part of the book takes place over the holiday season, with Claire and Ben introducing each other to their respective families. Much of the book deals with how we grow and evolve through different phases of our life and how our families of origin mesh with our families of choice. Claire's relationship with her adult daughter, Lydia, is also a big part of this theme. I really wanted to explore how we as women navigate being daughters, mothers, wives, and sisters all at once, while still retaining our integrity and sense of self.

So, in some ways In Love Again is different book from my others because Claire is a far more vulnerable heroine, but it still takes place in the same glamorous fictional world. I would love to know what your visitors think: Do you prefer a heroine who kicks ass (sometimes to her detriment) or a heroine who is a bit more tentative in her pursuit of her happily-ever-after? Or do you like all different heroines depending on your reading mood?

I would love to give away digital copies of In Love Again to three random blog visitors who comment. 

If you want to learn more about me or my books, you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, or on my website!

Thanks again for having me!

Megan Mulry writes sexy, stylish, romantic fiction. Her first book, A Royal Pain, was an NPR Best Book of 2012 and USA Today bestseller. Before discovering her passion for romance novels, she worked in magazine publishing and finance. After many years in New York, Boston, London, and Chicago, she now lives with her husband and children in Florida.