today I’m going to talk about BEWITCHING BENEDICT, which is a Regency romance with (*gasp*) no magic, despite the title. :)
I’d been reading lots and lots of MC Beaton’s Regency romances, and I asked my agent at the time if there was still a market for Regencies, because I thought maybe I could write one. He said yes, if I wrote him a charming piece of confectionary, he could definitely sell it.
Well, I *did* write a charming piece of confectionary, but he couldn’t sell it. I was told why at the time–the book is too well balanced between the primary and secondary romances and should have been more thoroughly focused on the main one–but god damn it, I *liked* the book as it was. I *still* think people would have read it if a publishing house had bought it, but I do concede that it doesn’t fit the very narrow structure of an Industry Standard Romance very well. (This is not dissing industry standard romance structure; that structure *works*, and I understand why publishers are leery of breaking away from it even if I also think they were wrong in this case.)
So eventually I self-published it, and because I write mostly fantasy, which this wasn’t, it completely failed to sell to my audience, too. I genuinely think that’s too bad, because it’s a *delight* and people who like my writing will probably like it. I even read a section from it at a fantasy convention once, and made people who didn’t read romance AT ALL laugh so hard that they bought the book. :)
I would dearly love to write more of these. The original idea was a 7 (or possibly 8) book series about these 7 friends, whose lives are managed (often unknowingly to any of them) by the valet of the man they’re all connected through. I think of the series as “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers meets PG Wodehouse,” and they would have been so much fun to write.
So if you all can get, say, 3000 more people to buy this book? I’ll write more! But in the meantime, at least think about going and reading this one, because it really is very cute.
Bewitching Benedict
Benedict Fairburn does not quite *need* his ailing great-aunt’s fortune, especially since he’ll have to marry to get it. His family, however, thinks otherwise—as do many of the eligible ladies in London—and the pressure is mounting. An embarrassment of attentions fill Benny’s time, but the young lady he prefers roundly dislikes him.
Claire Dalton, cousin to one of Benedict’s oldest friends, is too busy debuting in Society to pay much attention to the Fairburn boy who once insulted her past bearing. He doesn’t recognize her, but that’s hardly upsetting, especially with the fetching Mr Graham offering his arm. Unfortunately, Mr Graham is not all he seems, and each week brings a fresh disaster for Claire’s first Season. It’s enough to drive a young woman to distraction, especially since Benny Fairburn keeps behaving so very oddly.
Concealed tragedy, poor orphans, a dotty great-aunt, deception and misunderstanding whirl in every direction, ready to explode. Benedict and Claire are perfect for each other. Unfortunately, it may take catastrophe to make them realize as much…
