~ CATHY MAXWELL ~

Hi Cathy, welcome to Under the Covers!  Our readers love getting to know the authors that write the awesome stories they read.  Can you share with us five unknown facts about yourself?

I am the most boring person in the world.  But also, I have such a virtual life, I think everything is known.  Then again, some things should NOT be known.  Okay, let me think—

1.    I love Jolly Ranchers.  When I’m approaching a deadline on a first draft, I suck on six a day (6 WW pts but certainly not a power food, unless you are on deadline.) My fave is fruit punch.

2.    I was a theater major in college.

3.    I am an Ichabod.  He is the mascot of Washburn University.  No, not Ichabod Crane, which would be really kind of cool with the new television series, but Ichabod Washburn who started the school.

4.    I would Zumba all day long if I could.

5.    I’m a wannbe gardener.  Or, some might cut to the chase and call me the worst gardener on earth.  I’m determined to try again this year.  I’m trying to connect with my domestic-earth mother-goddess gene.  Don’t we all have one

With a new year comes a new series for you called the Brides of Wishmore. The series begins with THE BRIDE SAYS NO. Could you tell us more about the series and book one in particular?

            I’m interested in how people learn to love again, especially after a bad relationship.  My heroine is a divorced woman.  Divorce during the Regency was a challenge.  First, only the male could divorce a spouse.  Secondly, there would be a trial to determine the grounds—usually adultery where both the wife and her lover were placed on the docket—and then a divorce called for an act of Parliament.  Talk about everyone knowing your business!  Of course, it was a huge scandal.  Couples usually don’t divorce because life is just ducky.  The publicity surrounding such a process could deter most divorces.  Unhappy couples who no longer cared for each other usually just lived separate lives.

And yet, there are some marriages where a woman would crawl over cut glass to break free.  Aileen Davidson was in just such a marriage.  Now, after having scandalized London, she has returned to the peace of her home in Aberfeldy.  But Love still has another trick to play.

I’m thinking that if the bride says no, this could pose a lot of problems for the man. If you were to give some relationship advice to this poor hero, what would you suggest him do to win the girl?

It isn’t that kind of book.  I’m not writing about wooing the right girl, but about a person realizing that he might be making the wrong decision.

          Honor and expectations were important during the Regency.  One didn’t renege on a promise. The Duke of Wellington married a woman he’d barely corresponded with over the course of twelve years because it was expected.  Mistresses had a strong role in society at that time because of people in marriages held together by nothing more than honor.

         Which by the way, is true for some of us today—usually that group does not include romance readers.  To enjoy a romance, a reader buys into a belief.  I believe, and I think most of your readers agree, that loving fully and completely is the hallmark of a good marriage, even when we want to kill each other.  I’m joking!  But marriage involves a deep, abiding respect, a sense of humor, trust, and that nebulous combination of emotions made up of desire, lust, imagination that keeps things interesting.

And that is the love I believe we write about.

By the way, most starter spouses come out of the wrong decision.  Only after we’ve been burned does life start to become real.

Writing Historical Romance involves a lot of research and fact checking. What are some of your methods of keeping things straight in your books?

I’m working on that.  Always.  I often travel to visit the setting and will hire a guide to take me around.  In a romance, the relationship is more important than the details.  However, I need the details to give the relationship in that time period validity.  (Did I just chase myself with that last sentence?)

Apart from reading and writing, do you have any other life’s passions?

My kids, my horse, my pets . . . maybe gardening?

What project are you currently working on?

I’m pounding out THE GROOM SAYS YES which will be out this coming September.  Yes! I have three books coming out this year—THE BRIDE SAYS NO (Feb ’14), THE BRIDE SAYS YES (Mar ’14), and THE GROOM SAYS YES (Sep ’14).

Out of all your heroines (including the one you’re currently working on), which of them is most like you and why?

They all have pieces of me.  And they all have a journey to take, which is true of each of us.  I find women (and men) fascinating when they pick up the reins of their lives and start being the people they choose to be.

Historical Romance heroes can be one of the hottest across all genres. Tell us who your all-time favourite Historical Romance hero is and explain why you adore him so much.

Unfair question!  I can’t settle on one.  I do like a Military Man,  I enjoy the Beast.  The Savage . . . I’m not fond of the Duke.   Or Princes.  I am huge fan of the Self Made Man.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Thanks for having me.  It has been fun.

Lady Aileen never thought she’d be in this position—falling in love with her sister’s betrothed! Of course, her sister did run away rather than marry him, and he doesn’t seem to be all that interested in her sister either, but even so, such a match is impossible…isn’t it?

Aileen is certain she must turn away from the man she loves in order to protect her sister’s reputation. However, he’s not one to give up without a fight, and now that he’s met a woman he wants to marry, nothing on earth could convince him to let Aileen go.

OUT NOW!

 

New York Times bestselling author Cathy Maxwell returns with a delicious new series, The Brides of Wishmore…

What happens when a bride says maybe?

She’d once been the toast of London, but now scandal has brought her down. Still, pretty, petted Lady Tara Davidson can’t believe her new fate. She had wanted to marry for love . . . but her profligate father has promised her hand to none other than Breccan Campbell, the “Beast of Aberfeldy” and laird of the valley’s most despised clan! Well, Tara may have to marry him, but Breccan can’t make her love him—can he?

What happens when the groom insists?

Breccan Campbell is nobody’s fool. He knows that Tara is trouble. Yet he’s determined to reform the Campbell name even if it means forging an alliance with the arrogant beauty. There’s no doubt that Tara is a challenge, and Breccan loves nothing more. For he’s vowed to thoroughly seduce Tara—and make her his in more than name alone.

Coming February 25, 2014

 

[about-author author=”Cathy Maxwell”]

 

We have a copy of THE BRIDE SAYS MAYBE up for grabs!  US only!