The Short and Fascination Tale of Angelina Whitecombe by Sabrina Darby (Promo)

Thank you for having me! The Short and Fascinating Tale of Angelina Whitcombe is a particularly fun story for me because it all started with a blog post (http://www.theballroomblog.com/2011/09/advice-desired-most-urgent) months before I’d ever intended to write this story. At the point where I decided to turn the premise into novella, I knew who my hero was. However, I didn’t entirely know the heroine. After all, what woman would answer an advertisement to be a mistress?

           

Well, first, here’s the official blurb for the story:

Wanted:

A beautiful young woman—preferably one with no connections, who won't ask too many questions—to spend two weeks in the North of England with an obstinate, aloof, and utterly handsome man.

Must love dogs, fixing up crumbling castles, and gorgeous and complicated war heroes who may or may not be hiding hearts of gold under their gruff exteriors.

Must not, under any circumstances, fall in love . . .

Simpering misses need not apply.

The answer I chose is an actress.  After all, as infamous as the profession was, a handful of actresses did eventually marry well.

Take for instance Mary Bolton who became Lady Furlow.

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mary_Catherine_Bolton_as_Ophelia_1813.jpg

Or Kitty Stephens, who became Countess of Essex.

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Martin_Archer_Shee_(attr)_Miss_Stevens_Countess_of_Essex.jpg

So it’s from this heritage that I plucked my Angelina. And then, had to give her a reason she’d leave London and the stage for far off Yorkshire, a crumbling castle, and a war-scarred hero. Financial difficulties? Spurned love? Bad reviews? Boredom? How about you? How far would you or have you traveled for love?

                                        

Excerpt: http://www.scribd.com/doc/100422106/The-Short-and-Fascinating-Tale-of-Angelina-Whitcombe-by-Sabrina-Darby

           

Sabrina Darby has been reading romance since the age of seven and learned her best vocabulary (dulcet, diaphanous, and turgid) from them. Her debut book with Avon Red, On These Silken Sheets, was a Favourite Erotic Romance finalist in the Australian Romance Readers Awards and a Best First Book finalist in the National Readers’ Choice Awards. Her new Regency novella, The Short and Fascinating Tale of Angelina Whitcombe, releases July 31st from Avon Impulse. She can be found online at TheBallroomBlog.com, SabrinaDarby.com and Twitter.com/SabrinaDarby.