Virtual Book Tour: Scandal's Bride by Pamela Gibson

Good morning everyone!  Please welcome author Pamela Gibson to Full Moon Dreaming. She's here to talk about her new release, Scandal's Bride. Pamela will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour via Rafflecopter. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning! To find the other stops on her tour, go here. Don't forget to look for the Rafflecopter at the end of this post!

Scandal's Bride

by Pamela Gibson

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GENRE: Historical (Regency)

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BLURB:

Marry in haste…

Lady Gwendolyn Pettigrew longs to be a mother, but refuses to marry the lecherous old fool her father has found for her. When her best friend convinces her to consider her husband’s younger brother as a suitable candidate, Gwen agrees to a marriage of convenience, hoping against hope that her dream of becoming a mother will have a chance.

The Hon. John Montague, a penniless younger son, is handsome, witty, and thrilled that a woman with a dowry has agreed to wed him. Best of all she’s a fiercely independent bluestocking, a woman who won’t want to bother with a family. Because John has a shocking secret. He’s vowed never to bring a child into the world, a child who, like his own mother, might carry the strain of madness.

As secrets unfold, tension grows, threatening the fragile bonds they’ve forged.  Worse, someone wants them to abandon their home and leave Yorkshire, and they’ll stop at nothing to make it happen.

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EXCERPT:

“May I come in?”

A frisson of excitement made every nerve ending tingle in anticipation. Did he want to consummate their marriage tonight? She looked down at her serviceable white cotton nightgown with its high neck and long sleeves. She’d put it on because it was heavy and warm. If she’d known John would be joining her in her bed, she would have left her hair loose and worn the pretty gown Miranda had given her as a wedding gift.

Oh Lord, oh Lord.

She let out the breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. Pulling the covers up to her chin, she called out, “Come in.”

He poked his head through the door. His coat and waistcoat were off, and his cravat was in his hand. He looked mussed and adorable.

“I want to apologize for my behavior. I shouldn’t have run off like I did. I was feeling . . . ill-tempered . . . and didn’t want to subject you to my mood. I promise not to do it again.”

She peeked over the top of her covers. “You are forgiven. But I must say I was worried about you. Where did you go?”

“I rode toward the village, turned around, and came back. I gave my horse a good gallop and then a rub down in the stable.”

“I see.” She paused, not knowing what else to say.

He smiled. “We’ll play whist tomorrow night. I know you enjoy the game.”

“I shall look forward to it.”

“Good night, Gwen.” He closed the door firmly, and his footsteps echoed down the hall.

Why were her eyes filling with tears?

1)You’re marooned on a small island with one person and one item of your choice—who is that person and what item do you have?

That’s easy. The person would be my husband and the object would be a small sailboat. When we first started dating, he often took me aboard his boat (no engine), and we’d sail from the Southern California Coast thirty-six miles to Santa Catalina Island. He knew how to navigate by looking at the stars and had all kinds of useful knowledge, like how to rig the tiller for hands-free sailing, so the occupants of the boat could do other things. If the island had food, water, and a means to make a shelter, it would become our home base. But we’d know we could leave any time and go exploring.  I actually used some of this in a scene in another of my historicals, called Shadow of the Fox. The hero helps the heroine escape an unwanted arranged marriage and they set off by sea.

3) Take these three words and give me a 100 word or less scene using them: hammer, saucer, traffic lights.

“It’s a timing device. It works like a miniature traffic light. Push a button when someone wants to speak and the light is green. After two minutes, it turns yellow. One minute later it’s red. The bloke speaking has three minutes to address the committee.”

                “You want to get us killed? These are angry people. They’ll want to give us an earful for ten or fifteen minutes each.”

                 He grinned and pulled out a hammer. “It’ll make their eyes as big as saucers when they see this gavel. They’ll keep their complaints to three minutes. You’ll see.”

               
4) What is your idea of how to spend romantic time with your significant other?

I’m going to switch this question a bit to talk about the fantasy of romance versus the reality. When my husband took an early retirement, he convinced me to do the same. We bought a two-person cruising boat and set off. My friends pictured a romantic vacation, lying on a deck, cocktail in hand, letting the breeze ruffle my hair as we passed by beautiful islands or anchored in a private cove. It was not. It was hard work, trekking miles to a grocery store when in a port, hauling laundry to marina washing machines, cooking in cramped quarters, and when underway—fighting the elements, hoping you’d make your next anchorage without puking. Real romance, for us, is tucked up together on a comfy couch, each reading our respective books, listening to soft jazz; sitting on the bed, watching over the other when sick; a comforting hug when one of us has had a bad day. I could go on, but you get the idea. It’s all the little things you do for each other that says, “I love you.”

5) When you start a new story, do you begin with a character, or a plot?

Looking back at the books I’ve written, I’d have to say I begin with a character. For example, in my first book, A Kiss of Cabernet, my character is a young vineyard manager who works on an estate with an absentee owner. What does she want, what’s in her way, how will she overcome these obstacles? What character traits should she have that will hinder or help her along the way. In this case the hero came second and was developed in much the same way, except I made him her opposite.  I also gave him a serious problem to solve which became part of his motivation and one of the overall themes of the book. I’m a pantser, so the plot is a vague outline in my head of where to begin and where to end. Everything else is free flow.

9) Is there a story that you’d like to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it?
Decades ago I wrote my first novel. It was the story of a gumball, sitting on the top of his world, contemplating his fate as he fell slowly through the layers of other gumballs, heading straight to the chute that would take him to oblivion. It was an allegory about dying. I thought it quite clever. An agent thought it quite clever. An editor at a big publishing house thought it quite clever. Then the marketing team took a look at it and said, “No!” They said it couldn’t be marketed. End of story. The manuscript is languishing at the bottom of my dead manuscript box. Someday, I’ll get it out.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Author of eight books on California history and twelve romance novels, Pamela Gibson is a former City Manager who lives in the Nevada desert. Having spent the last three years messing about in boats, a hobby that included a five-thousand-mile trip in a 32-foot Nordic Tug, she now spends most of her time indoors happily reading, writing, cooking and keeping up with the antics of her gran-cats, gran-dog, and gran-fish. Sadly, the gran-lizard went to his final reward. If you want to learn more about her activities go to https://www.pamelagibsonwrites.com and sign up for her blog and quarterly newsletter. Or follow her in these places:

Bookbub: www.bookbub.com/profile/pamela-gibson

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pamgibsonwrites/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/pamgibsonwrites

Website: www.pamelagibsonwrites.com

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/pamgibsonwrites

Amazon: www.amazon.com/Pamela-Gibson/e/B00MKVB4XE

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