JQ Special Edition of "Lord of Scoundrels"

Last month I announced the inclusion of Lord of Scoundrels in the launch of JQ Special Editions. These are boxed sets of Julia Quinn’s favorite historical romances, in fresh, elegant editions. The launch also includes Eloisa James’s The Last Lady B, and Alyssa Cole's iconic An Extraordinary Union.

Julia’s team has done a wonderful job with Lord of Scoundrels, as you’ll see if you visit the Kickstarter page: cover art with “Easter eggs,” images relating to the book that are tucked into the cover design; scenes from the book in the end papers, and beautiful decorated edges. I’m particularly pleased because the book had its 30th anniversary last year, and this feels like a slightly belated celebration.

Honestly, I’m unfamiliar with Kickstarter, and have only the dimmest idea how it works. However, you are not dependent on my technological incompetence. If you’d like to learn more, please follow this link. The JQ Editions Kickstarter page also provides detailed information about the books and shows what’s included in the box. Even if you don’t choose to participate, I think you’ll enjoy looking at the books. I definitely got a kick out of the artist’s interpretation of certain well-known scenes.

You can listen to Julia’s explanation about choosing my book if you follow this link to Facebook. There’s more at this link.

And that is enough unseemly boasting for now.

Librarians give "Ten Things I Hate About the Duke" their Seal of Approval

You have not heard much from me lately, but please brace yourself, because the posts will be coming somewhat thicker and faster than usual as we count down to the 1 December release of Ten Things I Hate About the Duke.

Some months ago, Advance Reading Copies (mistakes and all) went out to reviewers, bloggers, and others. Today I received notice of a special honor, from librarians.

Ten Things I Hate About The Duke has been voted a LibraryReads pick for December 2020! Out of all the books coming out in December, it made the top ten. This is quite an honor, from the people who have done so much for me, my whole life.

You can look over the complete list here at Library Reads.

And on this Library Love Fest Podcast, I and other HarperCollins authors who made the shortlist offer our thanks.

This was an unexpected honor, and very happy news, as Ashmont and Cassandra’s story prepares to meet the public. May I just say how much I love librarians? In case that didn’t quite come across in the podcast.

All About Dukes

At long last, the manuscript for A Duke in Shining Armor is in the hands of the copy editor. It will wend its way back to me before too long, for a double check of technical matters, like inconsistencies; punctuation disputes; correct naming of people, places, and things; and goofy spellings.

I kind of like that phase of production because it allows me to let loose the insane grammarian in me. I kind of hate that phase of production because I change my mind about usages and nerdy points of grammar and such—though I will never give up my Oxford comma, which I grew up calling a serial comma, as in serial killer. Made it easy to remember.

The book is scheduled for release on 29 November. Descriptions are up at the various booksellers, e.g.—HarperCollins
Amazon,

Barnes & Noble,

iBooks

—and will appear here on the website after I get home from my travels and wade through the chaos.

A Duke in Shining Armor is the first of a three-book series dealing with a trio of disreputable dukes. You’ll meet the other two dukes in this book, and get a clue about their stories (and some others in the story arc) as well.

In other news:

While visiting the Atlanta Botanical Gardens (that's where the flowers came from) a short time ago, I received word that my 2016 historical romance, Dukes Prefer Blondes, is a Romance Writers of America®  RITA® Finalist in the Long Historical category. The Rita is the RWA version of an Oscar, and being a finalist is like being an Oscar nominee. In other words, it’s a very big deal, and I feel deeply honored. You can find the other finalists here.

Winners will be announced at the Annual Conference in July.