I'm SUPER SUPER excited to have the brilliant Stacy Reid here with us at A Thousand Words A Million Books today. Scroll down for an interview, my review of Royal Conquest AND an INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY!
Author: Stacy Reid
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Publication Date: November 30th 2015
Part of A Series?: Yes (But can be read as Standalones)
I Got A Copy Through: The Publisher via NetGalley
Blurb Description: His dark seduction will be her undoing…
After being cruelly jilted by a lord who claimed to adore her, Miss Payton Peppiwell swore her future husband would be as ordinary as she. Now if only her family would listen to her. Then she meets Mikhail Konstantinovich, an untitled horse breeder, in a highly improper and scandalous encounter. Never had Payton expected to be so attracted to the dark, intriguing man, who seduces her to recklessness with a mere stare.
Mikhail abhors anything to do with intimacy. Yet Miss Peppiwell stirs hunger and a need long forgotten in him. But Mikhail has a dark past—one that means his lust must be sated in a way entirely unsuitable for a lady. But his biggest secret will be the hardest for Payton to overcome: Mikhail is not only titled, he’s a prince…
**INTERVIEW**
Top Five Romantic Novels:
Wow...this is a pretty hard question. I love so many books. Some of my all time favorites are Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Almost Heaven by Judith Mcnaught, Kingdom of Dreams by Judith Mcnaught, Dreaming of you by Lisa Kleypas, and A Rose in Winter by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss.
The Cheesiest Pick-Up Line you've ever been fed: The ‘You must be an angel’ line, I have heard it so many times.
This Or That:
-- Spaghetti or Lasagna—definitely Lasagna!
-- Cheerleaders or Geeks—Geeks!
-- Apple or Google—Apple.
And now, onto your masterpiece:
4. Tell us a little about Royal Conquest, about Mikhail and Payton, and the world they live in:
The Royal Conquest is the fourth book in my Scandalous House of Calydon series. Our hero and heroine, Mikhail and Payton, found love with each other unexpectedly and must find the strength to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of their happy ever after. Miss Payton Peppiwell's family is adamant she marries a titled man, but she is desperate for an ordinary life after being cruelly jilted by a lord. She meets Mikhail in an unexpected and very scandalous encounter in the country, and is intrigued with him. The only hitch is that unknowingly to Payton he is a Russian prince and an English Duke pretending to be ordinary! Mikhail himself is drawn to Payton, but fears falling for her because he abhors the intimacy of touch. Their journey to love is raw and gritty, but they do get their very delicious happy ending.
5. What inspires you to write historical romance? Have you tried your hand at anything else?
I’ve always loved reading historical romances. Initially when I started my writing career I’d believed I would only write paranormal and fantasy romances. In researching publishers I discovered Entangled Publishing. I very much wanted to write for them, but at the time they were more interested in Historical romances (HR). And it was a call for submission they sent out that made me questioned if I could write in the genre. Because I enjoyed reading HR so much, I decided to try my hand at writing a series, and discovered I loved writing historicals as much as I loved paranormal fantasy. Now they are the two main genres I write in, and I have books published in both!
6. If you could meet your star crossed lovers, what one piece of advice would you give each of them?
Ha! Stop questioning the lust and love they are feeling for each other because they have only known each other for a week! I met and fell in love with my hubby in 6 days and we have been together now for fifteen wild and blissful years ;)
**REVIEW**
**GIVEAWAY**
I’m not usually into New Adult books, and even when I do read them, I always feel like they somehow manage to form a story without any actual story. Like the characters who were apparently so fixed on being someone, meet this supposedly perfect other person, and then all of the things that made them who they were suddenly don’t matter anymore.
That’s not how it works, right?
So, the first thing I noticed about The Royal Conquest was that Payton, our protagonist, wasn’t like one of those heroines. She knew what she wanted and who she was, and even in the face of that oh-so-great love, she wasn’t willing to give it up. Which just made me like her more than I already did – for Payton was this girl who used to care about what people thought about her; was someone who craved to be accepted, and has now realized that she doesn’t need approval, or acceptance from a bunch of fake people. Which, for a girl in the Victorian Era, is saying a lot. Go Rebel Payton!
In any case, I liked Royal Conquest – but I don’t have all that much to say about it, except for these two things:
1. That Almost Insta Love – look, I get it, okay? There are these times when you might look at someone, and well, feel that irrational crazy love like feeling, but this one? It felt a little awkward, the encounters way too staged. I’d have love a little more spontaneity, and not the sexual kind.
2.
2. Mikhail’s past was a brilliant twist. I figured it out early on, but I kept hoping that it would be explored more. I mean, *SPOILER* being held captive by a Madam for months is something life altering, and while I kept reading about how it had changed him, and how he couldn’t allow her or anyone else to touch him, I just didn’t feel it. And then, right before that finale, we get an even grittier insight into the story, but that’s all. Just a para on one page.
It was a good book, but nothing about it made it stand out as exceptional – 3.5 Stars.
**GIVEAWAY**
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