TLC Book Tours Author Interview: Mary Balogh

1.  What book are you currently reading?

A DEAD BORE by Sheri Cobb South. She writes lovely gentle, beautifully written Regency romances, most notably THE WEAVER TAKES A WIFE, which is among my favorite books. But A DEAD BORE is Book 2 of the John Pickett mysteries. They are Regency-set mysteries, in which the lead man is a young Bow Street Runner and the lead lady, at least in these books, is a widowed viscountess. I enjoyed Book 1 and am enjoying this.

2. Who is your favorite author?

Oh, that's a tough one. Almost impossible to answer, in fact. In romance, if I absolutely must answer, I would have to go with Georgette Heyer. The fact that I have all her books in both paper and e-book form would probably bear that out! In mystery, which I probably read more than any other genre, I love Louise Penny and Donna Leon, Lee Child and Michael Connolly, Agatha Christie and Patricia Wentworth and a whole host of others. But perhaps my favorite author of all at the moment is Susanna Kearsley. I get drawn deeply into her books and love everything about them—the plots, the characters, the atmosphere, the sense of place and history, the style. She has never yet let me down.

3. What do you like the most about Regency England

I think the sense of honor and style, the good manners. And there are the fashions, extremely sexy for both men and women, the carriages, the stately country homes and parks, the London Season with its balls and parties and concerts and drives and walks in Hyde Park and… Well, I love everything about it! It represents everything that is most romantic. I always feel an enormous nostalgia for the era, as if I must have lived there very happily once upon a time.

4. Who is your favorite hero from one of you novels

That is another toughie. I love them all, and they span the range of male types—alphas and betas, wounded heroes and perfect, confident types whose insecurities have been pushed deep, handsome men and ordinary men. I love them all because every one of them ultimately faces his demons and works them out because he has been bowled over by love. All learn to love unconditionally and to allow themselves to be loved. All right, I'll name one! Wulfric Bedwyn, Duke of Bewcastle, the cold, powerful, arrogant loner at the head of the Bedwyn family in the SLIGHTLY books. I had a chance to develop him gradually through A SUMMER TO REMEMBER, where he made his first appearance with his siblings, and then through five of the SLIGHTLY books, in which he always comes to the rescue of his brothers and sisters and obviously loves them, though he rarely shows it openly. By the time I came to his own story in SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS, I was as eager to know him better and to watch him succumb to love as any of my readers! And I was already deeply in love with him. It is necessary, by the way, to be in love with one's heroes.

About The Arrangement
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Dell (August 27, 2013)
A mesmerizing story of passionate awakening and redemption, Mary Balogh’s new novel unites a war hero consigned to darkness with a remarkable woman who finds her own salvation by showing him the light of love.

Desperate to escape his mother’s matchmaking, Vincent Hunt, Viscount Darleigh, flees to a remote country village. But even there, another marital trap is sprung. So when Miss Sophia Fry’s intervention on his behalf finds her unceremoniously booted from her guardian’s home, Vincent is compelled to act. He may have been blinded in battle, but he can see a solution to both their problems: marriage.

At first, quiet, unassuming Sophia rejects Vincent’s proposal. But when such a gloriously handsome man persuades her that he needs a wife of his own choosing as much as she needs protection from destitution, she agrees. Her alternative is too dreadful to contemplate. But how can an all-consuming fire burn from such a cold arrangement? As friendship and camaraderie lead to sweet seduction and erotic pleasure, dare they believe a bargain born of desperation might lead them both to a love destined to be?

Stop by later today for my review of The Arrangement