UPDATE: The winner is…Deb Brown!
*~*~*
Hello Delilah and thank you for hosting me!
When I partook in Tea with Austen, the charity anthology last year, I was super trepidatious about moving into the realm of writing historical. Especially Regency, for which I had only the movies I’d watched to guide me (and having read Pride and Prejudice in my first year of university—so long ago that I won’t mention years…). My story in the anthology was of two seafaring sailors on Captain Wentworth’s ship. One received news of an inheritance that set his life on a different trajectory than the one he’d planned. At the Captain’s suggestion, he brought along another sailor—a mentor of sorts (as well as a secret lover)—with him. I love An Uncommon Gentleman, and when the rights reverted, I added an epilogue and recorded the audio with the amazing Michael Ferraiuolo narrating.
When I heard the wonderful anthology folks were doing a second Austen anthology, I signed up right away—and then panicked because I had no idea what I’d do next. Persuasion is my favorite book—even though I hadn’t read it until the time came to write my story last year. The movie with Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root is one of my all-time favorites and ones released in the years since don’t touch it as far as I’m concerned.
Okay…so this year… I tapped Plot Whisperer, who is a HUGE Austen fan. After she thought for a bit, she came up with a story that connects with Robert Ferrars. He has a minor role in Sense and Sensibility, but an important one as he winds up marrying his brother’s former fiancée—Miss Lucy Steele. He’s described by Austen as a coxcomb. Who better for my story than a dissolute young Lord whose friends with said coxcomb? Oh my God, I had so much fun preparing to write this story, especially after watching Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet, Greg Wise, and the late Alan Rickman (isn’t he fabulous?) in my favorite movie version. I also watched the BBC mini-series of the story, which helped because the character of Robert appears in more scenes in that production.
I had my set up. Plot Whisperer whispered a fabulous plot—which includes a valet taking a hand to the dissolute young Lord in my story. Another interracial gay romance. Another fun Lord and Valet story. More fodder for my readers and a way to pull readers of gay romance into Austen world and a way to pull fans of Austen into the world of gay romance. Just to give you an idea, the stories in the anthology go from sweetest to, uh, raunchiest. (Or just sexiest…) With my BDSM and gay sex, I landed at the end of the tome. Quelle surprise.
Anyway, I hope readers check out the charity anthology—available in both Kindle Unlimited and Amazon.
Thank you for hosting me, Delilah! As a thank you to one lucky commenter, I’d love to give an ebook or audiobook copy of An Uncommon Gentleman to the comment “Random” chooses. If that winner doesn’t want that prize, I can arrange something else from my back catalogue from any of my three pennames. Good luck!
Tea with Austen: A Historical Romance Collection for Charity Inspired by Jane Austen
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that any hot-blooded reader must be in need of a hero in a wet white shirt…
Grab your fans and parasols and join our party of Austen-inspired ladies and gentlemen for tea, scones, and the latest on-dit, in this collection with part of the proceeds going to Breast Cancer Research.
Authors:
Heather Scarlett
Jeanine Lauren
Carrie DiRisio
Sharon Michalove
Angela Kady
Frannie Holmes
Riana Everly
Diana Lloyd
Emma Brady
Gabbi Grey
Kathleen Ryder
Cecilia Rene
Bianca White
Clyve Rose
Lisabel Chretien
Grace Hartwell
MaryAnn ClarkeThe anthology will only be available for a limited time.
Links:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/tnrc2024teawithausten
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CR43CGK2
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204445471-tea-with-austen
About Gabbi’s “A Sensible Gentleman“ inside Tea with Austen
Kenneth
As the heir, I have always done whatever I please. My conquests are legendary, and my concern for others negligible. When I meet our new servant, though, I discover someone who won’t bow to my whims. I will admit, I’m intrigued.
Walter
As the new valet in the household, I am aware of my precarious position. Still, work isn’t everything. When I meet the son of the manor, a demanding brat, I set aside my concern for my employment to teach the young man a lesson about respecting those around him.
A Sensible Gentleman is a 10k-word graphic and racy gay romance Regency short story set in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility world, with a headstrong young brat and the valet happy to put him in his place.
Warning: explicit consensual sexual content
About Gabbi Grey
USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.