Monday, January 21, 2013

Tour: Little Bit Wicked by Robyn Dehart (Guest Post/Giveaway)


Please give a warm welcome to historical romance author, Robyn Dehart, who is joining us with her newest release in Entangled's Scandalous line, A Little Bit Wicked!


For this blog I was asked to discuss the difference between “wickedness” then and now. ‘Then’ certainly covers a huge chunk of time so I’m just going to focus on the time period that I’m most familiar with, Victorian England. Of course now days there doesn’t seem to be a line for being wicked (and for the purposes of this blog I’m using wicked as in naughty) promiscuity is quite high, teenagers are having sex younger and younger – I’m clearly not here to give a lecture about that but when you’re talking about how things are now vs Victorian England – things are quite different. 

The Victorian era and truly a study in contradictions. It was considered quite scandalous for a man to see a woman’s bare ankles although it was quite acceptable to wear gowns that accented and flaunted a woman’s breasts. A woman could not approach a man alone and a man could not speak to a lady unless he’d been properly introduced to her. Of course I’m speaking of the wealthy aristocrats and the gentry. Things were quite different for the lower working class citizens that peopled the factories that were spreading across England during this industrial period. 

Ladies never went in public without gloves on, they wore up to four different dresses a day depending on the types of activities they had planned. Men and women, even married couples did not refer to one another by their first names when in public – can you imagine? My husband, who is a college professor, would no doubt like me to call him Dr. DeHart, but it’s not gonna happen.  

So when it came to writing my book, A Little Bit Wicked, I  had lots of material to work with as far as what could be considered wicked. My heroine is not a virgin, which isn’t something you always see in an historical, especially in a woman that has never been married before. She would have been considered damaged, ruined. She’s also seven years older than the hero, which would have been rather scandalous as well especially considering he is titled and responsible for providing an heir. 

I think the historical conventions are what draw many readers to the genre. We like the set-ups that work in historicals that don’t necessarily work in contemporaries. It’s nice to think about a time when a man can truly appreciate the curve of a woman’s leg because he doesn’t see them on a daily basis. 

Thanks so much for having me today. I’d love to know what it is about historicals that readers love?




Title: A Little Bit Wicked
Author: Robyn DeHart
Genre: Historical Romance
Length: 229 pages
Release Date: December 2012
ISBN: 978-1-62266-816-8
Imprint: Scandalous
Marcus Kincaid has returned to England after a ten-year absence. His older brother died during that time, making Marcus the Earl of Ashford. Not only that, his younger sister is embroiled in a potential scandal that could ruin her chance at marriage. His aunt has already called in reinforcements—The Paragon.Vivian March is known simply as The Paragon. She moves through every circle within Society, smoothing out scandals and stopping gossip in its tracks. Everyone in London knows that if she aligns herself with you, Society will forgive you your sins. What they don’t know is that she uses their secrets to cover her own jaded past.But with every kiss and every touch that Marcus thrusts upon her, Vivian comes to believe life is infinitely more fun when you can be just a little bit wicked…
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Author Information


I’m one of those writers who always knew that she wanted to be a writer. It took me a while, however, to figure out precisely what I wanted to write. Reading Kathleen Woodiwiss’ ”A Rose in Winter” sealed the deal for me and I’ve been reading and writing romance ever since. I should have known I was destined for this when my Barbies insisted on hosting elaborate masquerade parties, complete with stolen kisses in the moonlight.I’m the youngest of three children, so of course I’m the favorite. I was raised in central Texas, in the beautiful Hill Country, right smack-dab between Austin and San Antonio. My parents were high school sweethearts and married a week after my mother graduated – they both needed their parents’ permission to marry since they were so young. So I blame them and their amazing marriage for the fact that I’m a hopeless romantic.Somewhere along the line, I graduated from college with a degree in Sociology, only after completing an internship with none other than award-winning best-selling author, Pamela Morsi. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life and I learned more about the writing business than I could have hoped.After college I worked a myriad of jobs: Computer Software Trainer, Recruiter, Administrative Assistant. But no matter what my day job, I come home to my real job and click, click, click away on my computer and get lost in my imaginary world where justice always prevails and the girl always gets her guy! It’s the coolest job in the world.I’m married to the most amazingly supportive man. He’s so proud of my career, and loves to tell people, “My wife is a romance novelist.” We live in the Austin area, where my husband is a university professor. He’s ridiculously smart, but remains goofy enough to make me laugh every day. We’re the parents of two beautiful and precocious little girls who keep me quite busy during the day. We also have two very spoiled cats who are of no help at all when it comes to my writing, although they sometimes nap in the same room where I sit diligently working.I’ve published seven historicals, all of which have received great reviews and a handful of them have won awards. I love to hear from readers, so feel free to send me an email or you can find me online at The Sisterhood of the Jaunty Quills, or, Peanut Butter on the Keyboard, my newest blogging endeavor that’s all about writing moms or moms who write. You can also find me on my Facebook or my Facebook Author page and on Twitter. I’m everywhere!
Author Website - Goodreads



~*GIVEAWAY*~
Entangled Publishing is giving away one digital copy of Little Bit Wicked to one reader. To enter, just leave a comment on this post answering the author's question and then fill out the Rafflecopter below. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

15 comments:

  1. I love being able to go into a different time and I'm obsessed with their clothes! And the men always seem just so much better in historicals :) Thanks for the giveaway!

    -Jessica (Peace Love Books)

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  2. I love this genre for so many reasons. I enjoy the dialogue and social conventions that are different than present day. I like being transported to a different time and place. I also like the scandalous nature of things that are no longer considered scandalous.
    Thanks for the giveaway :)
    kitcat76(at)hotmail.com

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  3. You learn a lot about how they lived and it's a fascinating.

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  4. I love escaping into the past and living it through the eyes of the hero and heroine. It brings to life an era that can only be read about.
    debby236 at gmail dot com

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  5. I have always been a fan of history. In school history was my fave subject. I enjoy reading about a different time and place. I also enjoy the fact that the hero/heroines often go against the social norm of the time period. I think it's interesting.
    Thanks,
    lorih824 at yahoo dot com

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  6. thanks for the great post and congrats to Robyn on the new release! I guess I entire HR b/c it's a literal escape to a different time and world. The romance seems so much sweeter and poignant w/out modern interferences and people back then were more focused on relationships.

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  7. Great comments & reasons. I love historical romance for all of those reasons. Thanks for stopping by.

    Robyn DeHart

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  8. I like the idea of being placed in another time.

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  9. I like historical romance because I love the different settings and how society was different, and I love history and all besides romance so it's a genre U really like.

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  10. I just love what they did back then and the balls! :D

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  11. I love being able to learn about different time periods, their mannerisms, their dress, and their customs.
    Thanks for the giveaway.

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  12. I like the beautiful clothes they wore back then. They also all seemed to live in big mansions. I guess to me it would be an intriguing time to live.
    angiek@cfu.net

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  13. It's funny - because I am really not a girly girl in real life, but I love the descriptions of the clothing.

    jochibi AT yahoo DOT com

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  14. Historical reads are a great way to time travel, so to speak.

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  15. I love all the different places and times that you get to visit in historical romances.

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