Sabrina Jeffries makes a visit... (& a Giveaway!)

Readers, please join me welcoming Author Sabrina Jeffries who’s guest blogging here today! Her latest book The Truth About Lord Stoneville (Hellions of Halstead Hall), is all set to release Jan 19th, according to Amazon.

By the time Sabrina was eighteen, she’d eaten chicken heads and jellyfish, been chased by a baby elephant, seen countless cobras and pythons, had the entire series of rabies shots, and visited rain forests and rubber plantations. But that wasn’t enough excitement for her; to escape her mundane life as a missionary’s daughter, she read romance novels. Now she writes romance novels, and her bestselling, award-winning tales of strong women and sexy, dangerous men have been translated all over the world! You can also visit her online at at www.sabrinajeffries.com.

It’s a Family Affair 

You would think I’d have written a family series with a mix of siblings by now. After all, I come from a big, boisterous family (two brothers, one sister, one brother-in-law, one sister-in-law, seven nieces and nephews in ages ranging from 6 to 24—not to mention assorted cousins, aunts, and uncles). What’s more, we’re a funny family. The one-liners and clever asides fly when we’re together. In fact, if one of us quips about some subject, the others pile on, feeding off each other until we’re all rolling on the floor laughing.

But until now I’ve never done a mix of brothers and sisters. Partly I feared I couldn’t write one to rival those I’ve loved through the years (Johanna Lindsey’s Malory novels . . . be still, my heart!). Partly I worried that I couldn’t find an interesting twist on the big family series.

Then I remembered this wonderfully wild Georgian family I’d read about years ago—the Earl of Barrymore’s family. The earl’s parents died when he was young, leaving him and his three siblings to grow up spoiled by their grandmother. They were the kind of family a writer can relish. They had nicknames based on places in London: Hellgate, Cripplegate, Newgate, and Billingsgate (their sister earned the latter because she cursed like a fishwife and Billingsgate was the local fish market). They had a huge circle of hard-living friends. And the earl was incredibly multi-talented and romantic, though sadly he died at 24.

I had my twist! I made Stoneville the titled brother, gave him four siblings and a cranky grandmother, wrapped it all up with a family mystery that shaped all their lives, and, voila!, I had a family series on my hands. They’re the Sharpes—Oliver, Jarret, Minerva, Gabriel, and Celia—five siblings who have never quite recovered from the loss their parents in a scandalous tragedy 19 years before. They’ve reacted by developing a reputation in society as Hellions of Halstead Hall. Their rich maternal grandmother, not of the nobility, has been putting up with their reckless ways, but now she has issued an ultimatum—marry or be cut off. And not just one of them, but all of them. So they’re scrambling to get out of the fix she’s put them in.

The minute I put them all in a room together, they took off sparring—it was like me and my siblings all over again. That’s when it dawned on me—the reason so many readers like family series is we all have families. It may be just a cousin and a wacky mother, or it could be a whole plethora of aunts and brothers and nieces. Whatever the case, we have someone we share blood, sweat, and tears with, so we love to read about it. And I’m sure having fun writing it!

So how do you feel about family series? Do you like them or do they bore you? Why? Do you find novels portray family relationships realistically? Anyone who comments will be put in a drawing to win an autographed copy of my new book, The Truth About Lord Stoneville (Pocket, February 2010), Book 1 in the Hellions of Halstead Hall series.

I love Family series. And yes, like Sabrina, I too love the Malory series of novels, which are one of all time favorites. And now that I think about it, it’s perhaps even the first romantic family series that I devoured with such gusto! I just wish they released such series books in short order, instead of making impatient bookworms like me suffer for an entire year in suspense. I love the premise of this series and like you, can’t wait to get my hands and eyes on this series, which promises to be stellar like Sabrina’s other books.

GIVEAWAY

The Prize

1 autographed! copy of The Truth About Lord Stoneville to one lucky winner.

To Enter
Just answer Sabrina’s question! (you did read the guest post all the way to the end, right?)

You must include your email address at the end of your comment, so you can be notified should you be chosen as a winner. Use the format abc AT xyz DOT com, to avoid spammers.
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Readers who’ve won here in the last 3 months are not eligible. 

Deadline   Midnight CST of Feb 11, 2010.

Eligibility  US only.

Please read the Disclaimer. Good luck!
Note – This book was received for review/feature consideration.
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