Welcome Brita Addams today & a Contest

CONTEST INFORMATION IS AT END OF POST

Welcome to Dawn’s Reading Nook, Brita Addams. Please let my cabana boys/girls get you a drink and make yourself at home. Comfortable? Great…now let’s get down to business.

So tell us about yourself. What got you interested in writing? Who are your publisher(s)?

Hi Dawn and thank you for having me. I grew up in upstate New York and after I graduated from high school, I married (just 8 months later) and began following my military husband to various duty station over the course of the next six years. We lived in Waukegan, Illinois, Keflavik, Iceland and finally, New Orleans, Louisiana, where I lived until three years ago. Now we live about two and half hours from NOLA. I've been married to my husband for not nearly enough years, we have three children, and I love to read and write.

I've always written, so I couldn't say any one thing that got me interested. I love telling stories and I love history, so the combination of the two is like nirvana for me.

I'm published, thankfully, with Noble Romance, Silver Publishing, Amber Allure, and Riptide Publishing.

How did you start your writing career?

By happenstance, really. Though I've written all my life, I never had the nerve to take that step and seek publication. When I read about e-publishing, I thought maybe I'd have the opportunity to share my writing and the rest is history. Noble Romance bought the first book in the Sapphire Club series, Serenity's Dream and suggested that I had the makings of a series there. Lord Decadent's Obsession and Chocolate, Tea, and the Duchess followed and that series has been very good to me.

Tell us about your favorite character from your books.

I love Phillip Allard from Chocolate, Tea, and the Duchess. Phillip is a duke, whose life is steeped in tradition and obligation. He must marry to secure the title and fortune. However, Phillip has a secret that keeps him from even thinking about marriage, until a marriage-minded young woman puts him in a position that makes him honor-bound to marry her.

Phillip, however, refuses to forsake his need for masculine companionship and to her credit, Felicity understands and embraces Phillip for who he is. She's truly a lovely young woman who feels as badly for putting Phillip in such a position as she does for herself.

Enter Alexander Chilton, the man who shows both Phillip and Felicity what real love is.

Phillip is dark and complicated and was extremely fun to write.

Tell us about your current/upcoming release. What inspired it?

My current release is Demands of the Heart, a Regency historical. It is the story of Richard Fanshaw and Victoria Bramhill, who discover each other very early in their adult lives and fall madly in love. Richard dashes off to purchase a home for them and Victoria is breathlessly awaiting his return. However, the young lovers a thwarted by an evil man who hates Richard and steps into an opportunistic situation—Victoria's father is deeply in debt and sinking faster than a stone.

Greed convinces her father to accept the evil man's marriage suit, and Victoria's freedom is bought at a very steep price to her and Richard's happiness.

Happenstance has them crossing each other's path and sets in motion Richard's need for revenge—he's never told the truth, as Victoria was forbidden to ever speak to him again.

I don't know what inspired it really, other than my love for romance novels in general and the idea of two people having loved once and being torn apart has always appealed to me for some perverse reason.

A bit of trivia: The cover for this book happens to be cover model Jimmy Thomas' fifteen-hundredth cover. That number was the one Jimmy needed to break the all-time record for the highest number of romance novel cover appearances for a male model. I'm quite pleased to have been a part of that.

If you could visit any time and place, where and when would it be and why?

I love to travel and for me to be able to time travel would be a wonderful thing! I'd make it England in the period that I love to write about, the Regency Era, which spanned from 1811 to 1820. It was a very short period, but so different from others in so many ways.

The social mores were strict, though not as strict as the upcoming Victorian period, and yet the Prince Regent was a bit of a scamp, who tended to inspire the roguish behavior we readers of Regency novels absolutely love.

I would need air-conditioning though and a few other conveniences, so the visit would be short and sweet. However, that would be a journey of a lifetime!

Who's more fun to write: bad boys or perfect gentlemen and why?

I think a combination of both—perfect gentlemen who harbor bad boy tendencies. Hmm, I never thought of my heroes that way before. Thanks, Dawn!

This isn't a knock on the contemporary genre or on any authors, just my own opinion. I love historicals and therefore, perfect gentlemen, because I'm not fond of blatant promiscuity and the bar line, "Hey, baby, wanna f**k?" Perfect gentlemen have finesse, they know how to treat their ladies or their gentlemen, and still get what they're after.

I was raised with the mantra—"Act like ladies and gentlemen," so I think I've translated that into my writing. However, close the bedchamber door, and it's an all out free-for-all. The cravat drops at the door. J

If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be and what would you do together?

Hmm, great question! I think I'd love to meet Westcliff from Lisa Kleypas' It Happened One Autumn. He's one of those characters that though I read the book ages ago, he lives on in my head. I don't know what we'd do together, perhaps have a spot of brandy and chat about how to tame his wife. He's fascinating, educated, and rather stern. I'd probably just sit and stare in total amazement.

Out of all your books, do you have a favorite one? If not, then which one is closest to your heart?

I suppose I love them all in varying degrees. Each inspired something in me to write them, you know. I do love Her Timeless Obsession, which I wrote under the name Tina Ordone, because it incorporates my love of genealogy and has an element of time travel, though it's actually more thought travel. It's a love story that spans decades and has an effect on many generations.

The other one is An Evening at the Starlight, which is quite different from any I've ever written. It's about an older man who, when confronted with having to advise a young man on his marital problems, relates the story of a love that wouldn't die. There's no sex in it, just a hint, because it simply wasn't appropriate for the story. It's based, quite loosely, on a story from my own family tree, as told to me by the subject herself, some fifty-two years after the fact.

For me it's heartwarming and shows the power of true love.

What character out of all your books is the closest to your personality?

I would have to say none. Honestly, I'm a rather bland person compared to my characters. Then again, I think some of my traits have to inadvertently come through. I'm nurturing, as is Felicity in Duchess and doggedly determined, as is Victoria in Demands of the Heart. As for my other heroines, not so much. They have it all over me.

Anything else you would like to add?

I'd like to share the blurb from Demands of the Heart with everyone and direct them to where they can find an excerpt, if they are so inclined.

Blurb:

In 1807, idealistic Richard Fanshaw and Victoria Bramhill are consumed with each other, their young love blooming amidst a series of carefree soirees and stolen moments.

But jealousy and greed turn what they have into something ugly and twisted. They're wrenched apart amid vile lies and deceit when Victoria's freedom is bought to pay her father's debts.

Six years later, Victoria is widowed and a cynical Richard has just returned to England after years in India.  Having been given the impression that Victoria's marriage was a happy one, a chance meeting renews Richard's anger over Victoria's betrayal and sets in motion a plan for revenge.

One must answer the demands of the heart.

You can find Demands of the Heart at Noble Romance.

Also, I can be found at any of these places:

Email address: britaaddams@gmail.com

Website

Blog

Twitter: @britaaddams

Facebook

Goodreads Page

To celebrate the release of Demand's of the Heart, Noble Romance Publishing is offering my entire backlist at 20% off. This is for sales on the Noble Romance Publishing site only and only my titles.

There's no limit. Buy one book, or all seven, you'll get 20% off your purchase. The eligible titles are: Serenity's Dream; Lord Decadent's Obsession; Chocolate, Tea, and the Duchess; The Rogue's Salvation; A Minute After Midnight; An Evening at the Starlight, and the book I wrote under the name Tina Ordone, Her Timeless Obsession.

The price you'll see is the reduced price.

The sale will run from midnight, Pacific time, February 20 to 11:59 pm Pacific time, March 2.

This is a backlist sale, so it doesn't include Demands of the Heart.

I have several contests running during the book tour, ending at midnight, March 2.

Contest #1:

I'll choose a daily winner from the commenters. I'll will be giving away an ebook from my backlist at each stop. The only exclusion is Demands of the Heart. One book per commenter, please.

Contest #2:

Demands of the Heart T-Shirt Contest:

If you answer the three questions correctly, you could be one of four winners. The prize will be a T-Shirt with the cover of the book on it. The shirt also says that the cover is model, Jimmy Thomas's 1500^th cover. There will be four winners, each winning a T-Shirt and other swag. 

All answers are found on Brita's website. 

Please do NOT put the answers in the comments section of this blog or on Brita's site. Email them to Brita, with T-Shirt Answers in the subject line.

1.      What book did I write under another name?

2.      Who is the character, Lucien Damrill, patterned after?

3.      Describe the signature brandy snifter at the Sapphire Club.

Contest #3: GRAND PRIZE 

This contest is about Demands of the Heart. Of course, you're under no obligation to buy or read the book, but if you choose to, this contest is for you.

I've put three questions up on my website, all relating to my book, Demands of the Heart. Answer the questions and EMAIL me, with the answers, at britaaddams@gmail.com  Be sure to put GRAND PRIZE in the subject line.

You must have all three questions answered correctly to be entered into the drawing.

The Grand Prize is the entire Sapphire Club series in print, signed by the author. I'll also include some other signed swag. 

Good luck and I hope to hear from you soon. 

Thank you so much for having me, Dawn. I do love your Reading Nook!