Author interview - giveaway: Sharon Lathan with Miss Darcy falls in love

Today I have Sharon Lathan over for an interview and at the end you can win her new book, Miss Darcy Falls in Love.

Welcome :)

Tell me 3 fun things about yourself.

I love to scrapbook. It began with creating a scrapbook for my newspaper articles and other author-related mementos. That grew into an obsession so that I now have tons of scrapbooking supplies. Then, just in the past few months I discovered digital scrapbooking and I have gone crazy! 

I am an insane lover of Disneyland. Our whole family is. We hold annual passes and go to Disneyland at least 5 times a year. In fact, my daughter was proposed to in California Adventures! I can guarantee you that we will be heading there again for the Holiday Season. 

I am an awesome Scrabble player. My sister and I have played endless games of Scrabble when together. Now I am addicted to Words With Friends (iPhone Scrabble) and have about 10+ games going on at all times. I can seriously kick bootie on WWF, so watch out! Wanna play?

Could you tell me about your new book, Miss Darcy Falls in Love?

I would love to! Let me start with the synopsis--

Noble young ladies were expected to play an instrument, but Georgiana Darcy is an accomplished musician who hungers to pursue her talents. She embarks upon a tour of Europe, ending in Paris where two very different men will ignite her heart in entirely different ways and begin a bitter rivalry to win her. But only one holds the key to her happiness. 

Set in post-Napoleonic Empire France, Miss Darcy Falls in Love is a riveting love story that enters a world of passion where gentlemen know exactly how to please and a young woman learns to direct her destiny and understand her heart. 

Georgiana’s novel is a fresh experience for me. Unlike the five novels of the Darcy Saga which are a continuous series, Miss Darcy Falls in Love has a distinct plot line with a full arc. It is completely independent novel with a single story that focuses only on Georgiana’s love triangle. For me that is unique and it was tremendous fun! 

I wrote her story with music as the central theme. Not only in that she is a musician herself, as are both of the men who vie for her heart, but I carried the thematic elements  into the names of each chapter and dividing the whole book into a sonata format. It was extremely important to me that music immersed the pages as thoroughly as possible so that readers would feel the importance of music to these characters as clearly as if the sounds were audible. Hopefully I accomplished that.

How has Georgiana matured and changed during these books?

Jane Austen tells us very little about Georgiana other than that she is shy and wounded from her experience with Mr. Wickham. I expanded on that gradually as the Saga advanced. Initially I was not sure how Georgiana would mature. Early on she was skittish, reserved, and endlessly shocked by Lizzy’s liveliness. Her blossoming was a natural result of time, exposure to new people as she traveled, and the friendships she made along the way. Mary and Kitty Bennet played a large part in Georgiana’s evolution. I saw the differing personalities of these three as a perfect blending with each of them learning from the other. 

Georgiana surprised herself - and me - by discovering she loved to dance, could converse in a crowd easier than she imagined, and had the ability to flirt a bit. Then she set out on a tour of the Continent, even crossing the Alps! Quite the wild woman! Suffice to say, Georgiana at 20 is a very different person. 

How many more books will there be in this Darcy series?

I am currently writing the saga of Dr. George Darcy. That novel, like Georgiana’s, will be a stand alone novel so perhaps not technically part of the series. However, there will be more overlap, especially toward the end when George is back in England for good. Although centered on George, readers will also meet James and Anne Darcy, the senior Mr. Darcy, and a young Fitzwilliam. So, okay, yeah, it is part of the series! After that I do not know. I will probably divert into writing some historical romance ideas I have, but it is too soon to tell.

Do you plan on writing more variations when this series is finished?

If by “variations” you refer to other Austen novels the answer is a strong NO. I have no desire to tackle the other Austen characters, for many reasons. The Darcys are different in that they have now moved far beyond where Austen left them. Their characters and lives are mine so I can comfortable carry on with them. Starting fresh with Anne Elliot and Capt. Wentworth or the Tilneys is a challenge I do not want to attempt.

Are there still characters from Pride and Prejudice that you would like to explore more?

Yes and no. I have a soft spot for Charlotte Collins and Caroline Bingley. I have often thought of delving into their lives a bit deeper. Maybe someday. I am also quite partial to the Darcy children I wrote. There is lots of fodder for stories with them! 

And last, could you give any aspiring readers any advice when it comes to writing?

The best advice is to keep writing. “Practice,” as Lady Catherine would say! This is a crazy business and nothing is for sure except for one thing: If you don’t keep writing and striving to get your work noticed, you will get no where. Persevere, be strong, and keep writing!

Thank you so much for having me on your blog! I love interviews and hope your readers enjoy what I have to say AND are intrigued by the synopsis and excerpt! I’ll be popping in as ofter as I can throughout the day to answer any questions. 

Thanks!

GIVEAWAY

1 copy of Miss Darcy Falls in Love

1. US and Canada

2. Ends Nov 30

3. Just enter :)  comment, ask a question or just say hi

Excerpt--

“But the weather is glorious and perfect for shopping! How can you even think about staying home?” 

“Staying inside, even on this glorious day, my dear Yvette, is a delightful thought. Yes, above shopping.” 

Yvette and Zoë stared at Georgiana as if she had just proposed flying to the moon. “This is three days in a row,” Zoë declared. “Are you ill?” 

“Have you and the baron suffered a spat? Is your heart now broken by him so soon after being broken by Monsieur Butler?” Yvette mourned, her frown of concern as overblown as Zoë’s. 

“My heart has been broken by no one,” Georgiana assured for the umpteenth time, sighing and walking toward the piano. 

“But the baron has not called upon you for days and days!” 

“It has been all of two days, Yvette, and he warned me that he needed to attend to Conservatoire duties. He will be here this afternoon for tea, if that information comforts and allays speculation.” 

“And Monsieur Butler? Surely he must be home by now and yet he does not visit. The tragedy increases! We shall inquire as to his whereabouts while socializing today, my dearest Georgiana. Surely someone will have news.” 

“You will do no such thing! Mr. Butler’s business is none of mine unless he chooses to enlighten me!” Georgiana smiled at her two friends, softening her face and tone after the sharp retort. “Truly, dearest Yvette and Zoë, all is well. I am merely tired and desirous of solitude. I have missed playing. I know you do not understand, but trust me that my opting to remain home is not a reflection of internal sadness or because I do not enjoy shopping and your company. Now, hasten on your way before the best ribbons are gone.” 

The twins did not look convinced but they argued no further. Minutes later Georgiana was alone. Blessedly alone. Everyone in the house was gone except for the servants, who wandered about quietly attending to their tasks. Even Mrs. Annesley had gone for an afternoon by herself in the city. Lord Caxton promised to join her for tea later in the day, as soon as it was possible to break away from practice for an upcoming symphony performance, but that gave Georgiana upwards of three hours of freedom. 

“Freedom,” she mumbled as she spread the sheets along the piano rest. An odd word choice, she thought, pausing to reflect. Am I not happily anticipating the baron’s visit? She nodded as an answer and it was true that she enjoyed his company. 

But… 

She ran the tip of her index finger over the symbols inked on the staff, following the lines across to the brace and then down to the lower staff. Without lifting from the parchment, she completed the circuit, tracing each clef and note sign until reaching the bottom of the page. There she paused, staring at the signature scrawled in the margin for a minute before brushing her fingertip over it. 

Sebastian Cedric Frasier Albert Butler. 

Sharon’s Bio--

Sharon Lathan is the best-selling author of The Darcy Saga sequel series to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Her previously published novels are: Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One, Loving Mr. Darcy, My Dearest Mr. Darcy, In the Arms of Mr. Darcy, A Darcy Christmas, and The Trouble With Mr. Darcy. Miss Darcy Falls in Love is Georgiana’s tale of love and adventure while in France. Complete with a happy ending. In addition to her writing, Sharon works as a Registered Nurse in a Neonatal ICU. She resides with her family in Hanford, California in the sunny San Joaquin Valley. Visit Sharon on her website: www.sharonlathan.net and on Austen Authors, her group blog with 25 novelist of Austen literature: www.austenauthors.com

Review: Miss Darcy Falls in Love - Sharon Lathan

Series: The Darcy Saga # 7
Genre: Pride and Prejudice variation
Pages: 304
Published: Nov 1, 2011
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Source: For review

Noble young ladies were expected to play an instrument, but societal restrictions would have chafed for Georgiana Darcy, an accomplished musician. Her tour of Europe draws the reader into the musical life of the day, and a riveting love story of a young woman learning to direct her destiny and understand her own heart.

My thoughts:

This book is part of a series, but it works wonderfully as a stand alone novel, as the other books have been mostly about Lizzy and Darcy, and in this one it is Georgiana who takes the stage. So this is fully her book as we do not even get to meet Lizzy and Darcy. Sure you can read all the ones before, but you can also enjoy it as it is.

I do love my PP stories, but I love the side characters just as much, and it was wonderful to see Georgiana fall in love, and with a man who fits her so well. She needs someone like her in certain aspects and I did like the man who at last wins her heart.

And that ism truly what this book is about, Georgiana is in Europe, meeting new friends, longing for home, and then meeting someone new, and not just one man. No, there is a choice to be made. But we all know which man she will pick. Or hope she will pick. They are both good in their own ways, but I do think Gerorgiana played a bit with the one man's feeling (not knowingly), but afterwards I felt really sorry for him and hoped he would find love again.

Lathan is known for her sensual books, but this one is again different since it deals with Georgiana, and her being unwed, well we can't have anything like that going on. There the book differs from the other books in this series. It is more romantic and longing.

It was a wonderfully sweet book and as always it was fun to meet everyone again, or at least hear about them since Lathan truly has worked on this series, and wanting to give everyone happy endings. And I do like hearing about them all.

Conclusion:

A good book in this series, and an equally good book that can stand on its one. Lathan is a true romantic.

Cover:

It fits the vibe really well

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 I am over at Yummy Men and Kick ass chicks today and I am talking about why I love history :) Come say hi :D And Julie also has contest going on to celebrate her historical books week.

Review: A Darcy Christmas - Amanda Grange, Sharon Lathan, Carol Eberhart

Genre: Historical, romance
Pages: 304
Published: October 2010 Sourcebooks

From two bestselling and a debut author comes heartwarming Christmas tales sure to delight Jane Austen fans

From Amanda Grange, the bestselling author of Mr. Darcy's Diary and Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, Christmas finds the Darcy's celebrating the holiday with preparations for a ball, but the festivities are interrupted by the arrival of a very special gift... Ever sensual and romantic, Sharon Lathan highlights everything that's best and most precious in the celebrations of the holiday season. After a quarter of a century together, Darcy and Elizabeth reminisce... Jane Austen meets Charles Dickens! Carol Eberhart's Mr. Darcy's Christmas Carol finds Darcy encountering ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, who show him his life if pride keeps him from his one true love.

Plot:

There are three stories in this book. Mr Darcy's Christmas Carol by Eberhart is the story where Mr Darcy meets three spirits of Christmas, sounds familiar, well it is. He sees the past, the present, and a future he does not want. He better make amends.

The Christmas Present by Amanda Grange has the couple visiting the Bingley's over Christmas, and Lissy is pregnant and then there is a special gift coming.

A Darcy Christmas by Sharon Lathan portrays the family over many years, always on Christmas.

My thoughts:

Ahh the Christmas feeling is over me now. I will start with the first one because I can so see Mr Darcy as a sort of Scrooge. He is pining for Lizzy and then he sees what he have done. And the future, poor Mr Darcy, he would not want that. It was fun to see the story with Mr Darcy in it. I kind of wish they would make a little Christmas tv show out of it.

The Christmas present was sweet, they truly love each other and it's always heartwarming to see it.

In A Darcy Christmas I meet the characters I know from Lathan's Darcy series, and I especially liked the story where one daughter sets her eyes on the boy she wants when she is 3. No I wonder how many more books there will be in this series of hers, because there are sure a lot to write about with all the kids they get.

This was something sweet before the holidays, Lizzy and Darcy in love and spending Christmas together.

Recommendation and final thoughts:

For those that enjoy the Lathan books then this one should be read too since it's the same Darcy world. But all in all they can all also be read like this. Short stories filled with love, and Mr Darcy. Something fun for the Darcy lover out there. Because that is what they all were, sweet. It gets a 3,25, hard to say more since they all are short, and I felt different about all of them.

Reason for reading: 
I like Austen sequels.

Cover: Ok

Copy from the publisher

Review: In the Arms of Mr Darcy - Sharon Lathan

Genre: Historical fiction/romance/Pride and Prejudice variation
Pages: 358
Published: October 2010 Sourcebooks Landmark

This lushly romantic and historically fascinating story is filled with lavish details of Regency customs and social events including Elizabeth's presentation to the Prince Regent, Georgiana's debut at the exclusive Almack's Assembly, and the Darcys' travels through the dramatic Peak District of Derbyshire. Romance finds nearly everyone as confirmed bachelor Richard Fitzwilliam sets his sights on the seemingly unattainable Lady Fotherby, Georgiana Darcy learns to flirt, the very serious Kitty Bennet develops her first crush, and Caroline Bingley meets her match. Through it all, Elizabeth and Darcy are kept busy helping friends and family navigate true love's inevitably rocky course.

This book is actually part of a series, and you know what, there are two books I have missed. I think I am loosing my series OCD. I have read the first one and it's easy to just jump in, but I do want to know how Mary met her man. I must go back for that book.

In this one Lizzy had given birth to a highly beloved son. It's Christmas and the whole family has come. Mary with her fiancé (how did that happen?), and all the rest. Colonel Fitzwilliam is aching for someone he always has cared for, Georgiana is introduced into society, Kitty falls in love and Caroline Bingley feels passion. Among a lot of other little things happening at Pemberley.

Even Anne de Burgh has found someone so yes, need those two previous books to see how this happened. Lathan slowly makes people fall in love, get married, and live their lives. And I meet all my beloved PP characters again.

Lizzy and Darcy are at it like rabbits, they are first passionate, and really loving and cute. Darcy is wonderful in this book, he adores his wife and the way he is with the baby makes my heart melt. The passion between them just makes it more loving.

Still a lot of things to come, not all people meet happy endings here so more to come, and I do want to know. Lathan has found her own way and introduces new characters that feels true to the Austen world.

This book also shows that a PP series is possible, there are always things that might happen, but what is constant is the love Darcy and Lizzy feels for each other, it is heartwarming.

Blodeuedd's Cover Corner. Kind of wished he was more handsome, oh I am wicked

Reason for reading: From Sourcebooks

Final thoughts: It will be interesting to see what happens next.
3,25

Guest Post Sharon Lathan + contest

Sharon Lathan Guest Blog, Author of My Dearest Mr. Darcy

Thriller, Regency-style!

A collective breath was taken, but released in a rush as another apparition emerged. A woman in trailing garments, face beautiful initially but incrementally morphing into an old crone bent and wrinkled, her elaborate dress falling into rags as her old face decayed before their eyes until only a skeleton in strips of moldy cloth remained. She moved over their heads as she decomposed, skeletal form joining the now visible skeletons positioned all about the stage, or rather what had been the stage, but was now a cemetery replete with crypts and headstones. One by one the dead rose, walking on spindly legs, speaking from lipless mouths, empty sockets roving over the crowd.

Are you frightened? White knuckles gripping your chair edge? Perhaps not. After all, we live in the age of slasher/blood and gore movies galore. But imagine it is 1817. You are in a theatre usually reserved for opera performances and ballets, it is pitch black with eerie music rising from the orchestra pit, and you are witnessing a marvel never seen before. Ghostly visions mysteriously projected from hidden spaces under the stage float and move across the floor and over your head. Scenes from novels are brought to vivid life before your eyes. Monsters never imagined are growling at you, beating their wings, and dripping blood.

This is Phantasmagoria!

Now, before you get the idea that I write horror novels or have taken Jane Austen’s beloved couple where only vampires and zombies dare to tread, allow me to explain! My happily-ever-after, marital bliss saga that recounts the life of Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy is largely hearts and roses. But along with the romance, I delve deeply into the history of Regency Era England. Nothing pleases me more than discovering some fascinating tidbit of history. Thus, when the blissful lovers traveled to a seaside resort for a romantic holiday, I searched long and hard to learn what they might have done for entertainment. Amid the delights of writing in adventures in seabathing, hot air balloons, silhouette parties, sight seeing castles, and horse racing, I stumbled across magic lantern shows.

Simply put, magic lantern shows are the grandfather of motion pictures. Using techniques of optics and illusion dating back to Aristotle and Da Vinci, ingenious inventors in the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries further perfected the art of casting lights and shadows to form images. Candles, oil lamps, and limelight were used to illuminate. And, yes, that is where the term “limelight” for being the center of attention comes from. The magic lantern itself was an actual machine or device that used the light to cast images painted on glass slides onto the wall. Over the decades there were dozens of different apparatus invented, some large and others quite small. The slides were pulled through the magic lantern rapidly as stories unfolded upon the wall to riveted crowds paying a modest fee. A simple Google search on “magic lantern” will yield pages of websites giving detailed history on this incredible device that, if never invented, would mean we would still only have books to read! Some may argue that that would be a good thing, but we shall save that for another discussion, okay?

In 1798 France, in the ashes of the horrors seen during the Revolution, a man named Etienne Gaspard Robert, a professor of physics, created an improved version with moving slides that projected the images onto clouds of smoke. Using unique moveable sliders that changed the size of the image seamlessly and allowed it to move as if real, ventriloquism, and music he cleverly capitalized on the superstitions of people in those days, and the remaining bloodlust, to create a show that would rival Clive Barker for frights!

Phantasmagoria, as he titled his shows, took magic lantern performances to a whole new level and catapulted the craze. By 1803 spinoff Phantasmagoria shows were all over Europe. Even, in my imagination, popping up in Great Yarmouth so Darcy and Lizzy could view the spectacle. And there is nothing quite like a scary show to make lovers cling to each other, is there? Ha!

With all the interesting historical facts and intriguing inventions I uncover, I can’t resist writing them in. In the case of the Darcys being “entertained” by a Phantasmagoria show, I stretched even further. Reading through numerous articles that gave scene-by-scene descriptions of such shows, including the original ones by Robert, I created my own in vivid, scary detail. I have no intention of writing horror novels, so Stephen King can breathe easy, but this sure was fun!

Thank you, Blodeuedd, for sharing your website with me today. I hope my brief history lesson has been entertaining and informative. If nothing else it might help in your next Trivial Pursuit game! For more on my Saga and vision for Jane Austen’s famed literary lovers, come over to my website. For now, since this site often covers sci-fi and fantasy, how about sharing a favorite otherworldly or scary bit from a novel? I’ll be sure to check in the comments throughout the day!

Thank you Sharon for stopping by my blog today. It was a very interesting post. I do love learning more.

And now to the contest

Rules:
Open to US and Canada only.

1 winner: 1 set of Sharon’s trio of books so far, Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy, Loving Mr. Darcy and My Dearest Mr. Darcy.

Please leave a way for me to contact you if your email is not in your profile.


Ends January 20nd

MY DEAREST MR. DARCY—IN STORES JANUARY 2010
Married life is bringing out the best in the Darcys. Their mutual attentiveness brings readers into a magical world of love and wedded bliss.

Elizabeth is growing into her role as Mistress of Pemberley, and Darcy has mellowed under her gentle teasing and light-heartedness. Pemberley becomes a true home and a welcoming environment for loving family and friends. The Darcys travel to the seaside, welcome their firstborn, celebrate their anniversary and second Christmas, and at every moment embrace the love gifted to them.

“I love you, my Elizabeth. You are my soul, my blood and bone, my very life.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sharon Lathan is the author of the bestselling Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One, and Loving Mr. Darcy: Journeys Beyond Pemberley. In addition to her writing, she works as a Registered Nurse in a Neonatal ICU. She resides in Hanford, California in the sunny San Joaquin Valley. For more information on Sharon and her saga, come to her website at: www.darcysaga.net

1/18  My Book Addiction and More

1/20  Alaine, Queen of Happy Endings

1/21  Psychotic State

1/22  Thoughts in Progress

1/25  Love Romance Passion

1/27  Anna's Book Blog

1/28  Seductive Musings

1/29  The Lovestruck Novice

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Review: Mr and Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy - Sharon Lathan

Mr & Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy by Sharon Lathan

Two shall become one
Book 1

Genre: Historical romance
Published: 2009
Pages: 320

It's Darcy and Elizabeth's wedding day, and the journey is just beginning as Jane Austen's beloved Pride and Prejudice characters embark on the greatest adventure of all: marriage and a life together filled with surprising passion, tender self-discovery, and the simple joys of every day.


As their love story unfolds in this most romantic of Jane Austen sequels, Darcy and Elizabeth reveal to each other how their relationship blossomed. From misunderstanding to perfect understanding and harmony, theirs is a marriage filled with romance, sensuality, and the beauty of a deep, abiding love.

This was different in a way because it was focused on the latest pride and prejudice movie. I read something really funny on Goodreads where a reader wondered about this since it is universally acknowledged that the 1995 version is superior. I do confess that I played the latest movie in my head, but with Colin Firth and Jennifer Eale as Darcy and Lizzy. Because I love Firth as Mr Darcy.

I also read that readers found it very erotic and such, well then they have never read anything even close to erotic. Ok they did it a lot! But they were newlyweds, and nothing was described, if you didn't know you could just thought they were kissing and then cuddling. Nothing close to graphic, or like in other historical romances. It was very sweet and it went well with the feel of P&P. And since this takes place at the wedding and some months afterward, well who can blame them if they want to spend it kissing ad loving each other.

So by that you have already figured out that they are very much in love and they spend some time expressing that. They also move on with their normal life. Lizzy trying to find her place and Pemberly, and then the Christmas parties where we meet Col.Fitzwilliam,  Georgina and more again. I would have loved to meet the Bingleys here too, but I guess I must continue with the next to find out how that is going.

There is also some storm clouds on the horizon so everything is not happy happy.

A cute and sweet book about a subject so may have thought about, how would married life be for Darcy and Lizzy. Well here is one answer.

Blodeuedd's Cover Corner: Very fitting

Reason for Reading: My own book

Final thoughts: My first PP sequel (if not counting the vampire one), and I was happy.

Remember to stop by on Friday for the guestpost by Sharon and the giveaway of all 3 books.