Reticules, women of dubious backgrounds, and Shehanne Moore.

Today I am thrilled to have as my esteemed guest, Scottish author and great friend, Shehanne Moore. Shehanne writes smexy historical romances - no frills, fainting, or fluttering of eyes here. Her 'ladies' - the heroines of her novels - display qualities some would describe as conniving, sluttish, and dishonest. But most readers embrace the feisty heroines, loving their strength of character, their humour, their choice of men, and their get-up-and-go. She calls them the Sisterhood.

When I spoke to Shehanne, she said she'd like to get readers of this post involved in a mystery, with a wonderful prize for those who solve it. It's not a difficult problem to solve, and it is a lot of fun.

Here's what Shehanne said when I screwed up my eyes at the mention of the word 'reticule', not sure I'd ever heard the word before.




So? Just what is a reticule exactly? Before anyone should get too excited, like one of my blog readers did that day, it’s a woman’s handbag.


My heroines carry them a lot in my book. Being a historical author you try to give a little authenticity. I’m just not sure that any of my heroines would carry one like that one. Dress Like this either. I mean I just cannot imagine my heroine Lady Fury taking a swing at the hero, Captain Flint, dressed like that.   

Noelle Clark, a million hugs for inviting me to your lovely blog today. I haven’t brought the hamstah dudes along which means they will moan more than ever and you just might have to ask them back. I haven’t brought my reticule either. What I have is a little picture of four bags.

And I have four heroines. So I am wondering how easy it is from the description to match the heroine to the bag. 


We can get to the contents later. Fury’s is likely to be a brick given the amount of swipes she takes with that bag, whereas my new heroine, Lady Malice, well, she likes to keep cards in hers.  Her business cards.

So, what do we know of these ladies? 

Lady Fury

Well, the heroine of the Unravelling of Lady Fury as you might guess has a great fondness for silks, satins, perfumes,  spending money she does not have, dressing in evening gowns at ten in the morning and despite everything, the hero.  She’s a lady, don’t you know? At least she things she is and her taste reflects that. She’s also a pirate’s lady….

Next up, Kara McGurkie from His Judas Bride.

Well, the title speaks for itself, doesn’t it, if you think about these things brides have?

Her bag probably contains a wedding garter…for strangling the groom with.

Did I also say my heroines are a bit like that?

Kind of ready to commit murder if need be?

Sapphire, the heroine of Loving Lady Lazuli, doesn’t quite go that far but like Fury, she does have a corpse to dispose of.

What can I tell you about Sapphire? She’s an ex jewel thief, doing the poor grieving widow bit. But her reticule isn’t very likely to have anything in it. God no. She’s more than likely to plant her ill gotten gains on you…although there was that one time she didn’t…. 

Finally, last but not least we come to Malice, owner of Strictly Business, a strictly business like business, I  turn a blind eye to, and heroine of The Viking and The Courtesan.

Malice isn’t quite all she seems and I think her reticule reflects that fact.  

We’ve been talking reticules. I think it’s time for an extract concerning one.  

She snapped her reticule open. In it, in addition to the other things ladies kept in their handbags, was a gauze square. It was not the one she had worn that night she attempted to seduce him, obviously. That had been trodden underfoot or tied around the head or hips of some Viking, or other. But it was similar. The gauze square was nothing to her business card.
That she removed and pressed into his hand.
        “I believe you contacted this agency.”
“Malice...” The manner—the starkly horrified manner-- in which his brown eyes roamed it, spoke oceans.
“Yes?” She shrugged her scantily clad shoulders.
“That was... That was...”
“Obnoxious of you. Especially the lies you told. About me.”
“But, Malice...”
“Yes, Cyril?”
“Malice, whatever, whoever said such things about you...”
She held up a gloved hand. “Cyril, before you go further, there is something you should know.”
“Yes?”
“I am Strictly.”

Now I asked if you could guess whose handbag is whose? I’ve also numbered them. So why not guess in the comments box here, leaving your email addy and I’ll draw  a winner from those who are right. 

The book isn’t available till 29th July but I do happen to have a free copy of The Viking and The Courtesan for that person. 

Pre-sale links. 

http://amzn.to/1M7Mh3R

http://amzn.to/1gz67YL

BLURB 

In 898 AD she wasn’t just from another land. 

Wrecking a marriage is generally no problem for the divorce obtaining, Lady

Malice Mallender. But she faces a dilemma when she’s asked to ruin her own. Just how businesslike should she remain when the marriage was never consummated and kissing her husband leads to Sin--a handsome Viking who wants her for a bed slave in name only?  

She came from another time. 

Viking raider Sin Gudrunsson wants one thing. To marry his childhood sweetheart. Only she’s left him before, so he needs to keep her on her toes, and a bed slave, in name only, seems just the thing. Until he meets Malice. 

One kiss is all it takes to flash between two worlds

But when one kiss is no longer enough, which will it be?  Regency London? Or Viking Norway? Will Malice learn what governs the flashes? Can Sin?  

Where worlds collide can love melt the iciest heart?

BIO

When not cuddling inn signs in her beloved Scottish mountains alongside Mr Shey, Shehanne Moore writes dark and smexy historical romance, featuring bad boys who need a bad girl to sort them out. She firmly believes everyone deserves a little love, forgiveness and a second chance in life. 

Shehanne caused general apoplexy when she penned her first story, The Hore House Mystery—aged seven. What didn’t she work at while pursuing her dream of becoming a published author? 

Visit her blog to find out about past releases and hear more about her forthcoming time-slip, The Viking and The Courtesan.
historical,

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Loving Lady Lazuli - new release from Shehanne Moore

Good friend and fellow Etopia Press author - Shehanne Moore - is releasing her latest book on January 17th.

Loving Lady Lazuli is Book 1 in the new series: The Starkadder Sisterhood. London Jewel Thieves, and focuses on Sapphire, one of the eight members of the Sisterhood.





As you'll see, the sisterhood are not part of a religious order, however they certainly lay claim to some odd, and even dirty, habits.

Shehanne, can you tell us a little about Sapphire, and why you chose to write her story first?

Firstly Noelle, thank you so much for asking me here today to your lovely blog. It's a great pleasure  for me to be here. I value it and I value your friendship too. Okay Sapphire, well, Sapphire has been stealing since she was five years old. There's mysteries about the years before that, before she and her brother Matthew, wound up in London with 'Uncle' Starkadder. These are mysteries she wants to solve. She's the number one jewel thief. The woman who can pull off any heist. The mistress of disguise.  But this gang is like Fagin's in a way. The girls don't gain anything from their efforts. They are forced to steal. Every time Sapphire refused  she was beaten till she agreed. So she and Ruby determined to escape. They've spent ten years planning it and they've faked their own deaths to do it.

I never meant to write about her first or indeed write a series. I only ever start with a spark of an idea. In this instance I saw Christmas Eve and this beautiful sixteen year old girl walking along the highway in distress so this young man offers her a lift in his coach. She plants a stolen necklace on him and he goes down for it. Lol! I'm sure you know what it's like. If I had written this twenty years ago that scene would have been chapter one and all the action would have taken place after it, with them ending up as convicts in Australia or something. But now, Regency romance is so popular, that's not how you'd write it. So that scene became the backstory.

When I got to chapter two and the idea of her past, and the girls coming into her thoughts, I found I was naming them after jewels, and I saw I could make up stories  about their lives after the gang breaks up.

This sounds to me like it will be your most powerful book yet. You always have extremely strong heroines, and they get into some tough situations, but do you consider Sapphire to be your grittiest girl yet?

Hmm. I don't know. Fury bolted over her emotions and Kara was fairly tough, although she bubbled away underneath. Sapphire has her emotions in control. Being  gritty without making that special effort is second nature to her because she's been getting out of tight corners since she was five years old. In some ways she doesn't know any better that way. It's what makes her so confident about
dealing with Devorlane Hawley, when the sensible thing to do would be to bolt. Her undoing, as I am sure you can guess.

There are eight girls in the Sisterhood - Sapphire, Amber, Diamond, Emerald, Splendor, Ruby, Jade, and Pearl. Can you share with us which of the sisters will feature in Book 2?

Splendor features in Book 2. She's actually not a thief. She's Dora-Do-It-All, their general skivvy. But she would like to be like them, so she has all these airs and graces. That's why she calls herself Splendor.

On your Pinterest board, I notice that Pearl looks totally out of place among the strong, sassy, sisterhood. You even describe her as "Pearl - plain as milk". Does that mean that Pearl won't get to star in her own book? Is she really too plain? Or does she have a dark side?

Pearl does look out of place and that is deliberate. She is only fifteen in Loving Lady Lazuli and she actually isn't a 'proper' thief like the other girls. She was being trained. Anyway when Sapphire and Ruby made their plans to escape from the gang they cut in Pearl in as they couldn't stand to see her having the kind of lives they've had. She's not the brightest spark. All the stories are set over a period of years after the gang has broken up, because Diamond has murdered Starkadder, so cutting forward, Pearl might get her own story.

Here's the blurb:
Only one man in England can identify her. Unfortunately he’s living next door.
 
Ten years ago sixteen year old Sapphire, the greatest jewel thief England has ever known, ruined Lord Devorlane Hawley’s life. Now she’s dead and buried, all the respectable widow, Cassidy Armstrong, wants is the chance to prove who she really is.

But not only does her new neighbor believe he knows that exactly, he’s hell-bent on revenge.  All he needs is the actual proof.  So when he asks her to choose between being his mistress, or dangling on the end of a rope, only Sapphire can decide…

What’s left for a woman with nowhere left to go, but to stay exactly where she is?
And hope, that when it comes to neighbors, Devorlane Hawley won’t prove to be the one from hell.

Buy Loving Lady Lazuli by clicking here!

And here's an extract:

“Let him go.”

“Aye. Don’t ‘ee think ‘ee and yore fancy boots ‘ull get away wi’ this. Oih’ll defend ‘ee, moih lydy. Oih’ll get him. Leave this ter me.”

“That’ll be interesting.” Devorlane Hawley tossed his hair out his eyes. “You.” He jerked his head at Ruby.

“Whot? Me?”

He dragged a breath. “Unless you think I am somehow meaning the tree there? Fetch Lord Koorecroft.”

Lord Koorecroft? The county’s most senior magistrate? A turn for the worse? Now it was a somersault. A woman who planked a stolen necklace on this specimen should not blush to say it was rape. She would have to if he fetched Lord Koorecroft, because then there would be the matter of what the damned man could say to Lord Koorecroft. Being dead and buried might not be enough to save her then. Not when her crimes had been dutifully reported by every newspaper up and down the land. She would hang.

“Lord Koorecroft?” Ruby smoothed a copper tendril of hair back from her forehead. “Whot soddin’ fer?”

“What do you think it’s soddin’ for? To accuse me of rape and molestation. It won’t be difficult. He’s at Chessington right now. You can cut through the hedge. Go on.”

“That’ll be shiny bright.” Fortunately Ruby could always be counted on to do absolutely nothing. “What do yer think I am exactly? Yer bleedin’ servant?”

“’Ee got no roight after what ee—”

Barron made a strangled sound as Devorlane Hawley jerked the stick so hard across his windpipe, Cass was almost jerked off her feet.

“I have every right. You all want Lord Koorecroft fetched, don’t you?” He huffed out a breath. “So let’s fetch him. I’m relishing the thought of the little chat I’m going to have with him about our Mrs. Armstrong here.”


Let's watch the video trailer:





Visit Shehanne's website for more information on the intriguing Jewel Thieves. http://shehannemoore.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shehanne-Moore/163736780417433

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ShehanneMoore


More information here:

The Starkadder Sisterhood. London Jewel Thieves  -  related link: http://shehannemoore.wordpress.com/the-starkadder-sisterhood-london-jewel-thieves/

Pinterest link http://www.pinterest.com/shehanne/some-rare-jewelsmeet-the-sisterhood/