Author post and giveaway: Amy Sandas

Today I have Amy Sandas over for a post about the London Underworld. You can also win a copy of her previous book at the end :)

Welcome!

My latest release, Lord of Lies, has several scenes that take place in the seedy and dangerous underworld of London. The great city’s slums and rookeries in the time of the Regency were a fascinating and vice-filled setting. Fascinating, mainly in its juxtaposition to the glittering world of the ton. Regency high society was about decadence and extreme expressions of wealth and luxury. On the other side of the coin, London’s East End was filled with cutthroat criminals, gangs, prostitution, addiction, and a general sense of desperation as the inhabitants of the rookeries and slums survived by whatever means necessary.

As soldiers returned home after the war with France, jobs became harder to come by and poverty levels increased. It is noted that the Regency period saw a significant rise in children being perpetrators of crimes, mainly thefts. Boys and girls as young as six were often used for tasks and jobs that adults either couldn’t do as easily or simply didn’t wish to do. It was thought that if a child was caught, the authorities might be lenient in their sentencing. While this was occasionally true, children could still find themselves shipped off to the penal colonies in Australia, sent to the city prisons, or sentenced to the gallows.

Children were taught the tricks of the trade by various means. While many of the children were orphans, some still lived with one or both of their parents. A child might fall into thievery by becoming associated with the wrong crowd while their parents were busy making end meet, but others were taught to steel by their parents who sent them out each day to acquire valuables with a threat of dire consequences should they return home empty-handed.

Children without homes or family often became members of gangs that worked together in housebreaking missions or scams designed to fleece the unsuspecting. Along with teaching the skills of thievery, gangs provided much-needed protection. Whether due to affection, a code of honor, or threats of violence, members of gangs often remained loyal to each other and to their leader, to the point of refusing to give each other up if questioned by authorities. Some gangs could be made up exclusively of children with a leader as young as thirteen. Girls and boys worked and lived together. In some cases, young boys were reported as having a ‘kept girl’ or ‘flash girl’ in an imitation of relationships displayed by their adult counterparts.

Children of the slums clearly had to grow up fast—frighteningly fast. We get a glimpse of this in Lord of Lies when the hero and heroine work together to save children at risk of being exploited and abused by a crime boss. Gratefully, as an author I am able to make sure the children are rescued from their intended fate. So many real-life children of the London’s Regency underworld were not so fortunate.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Lord of Lies

Author: Amy Sandas

Series: Fallen Ladies, #3

ISBN: 9781492618782

Pub Date: July 4, 2017

Genre: Historical Romance

“You do strange things to me, Dell Turner. Tell me I am not alone in what I feel.”

His voice was low and rough. His eyes burned. “You are not alone,” he said.

Portia Chadwick longs for a life of adventure. When a dangerous moneylender kidnaps her sister, she dares to seek help from a man known only as Nightshade. Soon she finds herself charging headfirst into his world of intrigue and danger—and unexpected passion.

Dell Turner grew up in London’s back alleys and gin lanes. Vowing to escape his low beginnings, he hires himself out to society’s elite. When he accepts a job from a beautiful debutante, he doesn’t anticipate her relentless determination to join his mad occupation…or her unnerving ability to inspire emotions he thought long buried. She’s as dangerous to him as his world is to her, and yet Dell can’t bring himself to turn Portia away—even if it means risking her life.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

USA Today Bestselling author Amy Sandas’s love of romance began one summer when she stumbled across one of her mother’s Barbara Cartland books. Her affinity for writing began with sappy preteen poems and led to a liberal arts degree from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She lives with her husband and children near Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Find Amy Online:

Website: http://www.amysandas.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmySandas

Twitter: @AmySandas

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6217869.Amy_Sandas