Guest Post with Author Ellie Macdonald and Giveaway

Meet Ellie Macdonald, author of The Governess Club series.

Ellie Macdonald has held several jobs beginning with the letter t: taxi-driver, telemarketer and most recently, teacher. She is thankful her interests have shifted to writing instead of taxidermy or tornado chasing. Having travelled to five different continents, she has swum with elephants, scuba dived coral mazes, visited a leper colony and climbed waterfalls and windmills, but her favorite place remains Regency England. She currently lives in Ontario, Canada. The Governess Club series is her first published work.

Places to find Ellie:

| Site | Facebook | Twitter | 

Why I write historical romance

Historical romance can be a writer’s delight – you can take the good while ignoring the bad. You don’t need to talk about the stench, the vileness and drudgery of everyday life, the unhygienic practices borne out of ignorance and lack of modern plumbing. But writers can ignore all that and instead write about carriage rides, ladies in their gowns and gentlemen with their deep voices and accents, balls, sonnets and grand gestures and knights in shining armour, figurative and literal.

For me, historical romance provides more of an escape than contemporary; they have more of an ability to transport me from my life for the main reason that they are more different from what I do day after day after day. Contemporary romance is all well and good – and there is no arguing the success they have – but when I know what it’s like to use a cell phone or get on a plane or ride a motorcycle or meet someone online, well, it doesn’t really serve to meet my needs for fantasy. The characters aren’t necessarily different; it is the setting and cultural practices that draw me in.

But why do I write in the Regency era? Hasn’t it all be done before, to the point of being overdone? It’s just war and a spendthrift Regent determined to drain the coffers on foolish buildings and garish parties.

Well, yeah. But I see it a bit differently than that.

I see courageous spies who survived deep behind enemy lines. I see soldiers returning wounded, physically and otherwise. I see wives, mothers, sisters and fiancées waiting in anticipation after years of dangerous separation. I see a war-torn country struggling to regain its sense of identity after being defined by violence for so long. I see people who are so relieved to be alive and free they celebrate it in any way they can, even if it means bankrupting the treasury.

In all these, I see despair and hope, disgust and delight, hate and love. Combine that with the setting and I can’t resist.

That is why I write historical romance set in the Regency era.

Four regency misses, making their ways as governesses, make a pact work together in order to leave London and support themselves in the country. Thus, the Governess Club was born. But little did they know that their heroes might have something else to say about the matter.

Claire Bannister just wants to be a good governess so that she, and the other ladies of the Governess Club, can make enough money to leave their jobs and start their own school in the country. But when the new, sinfully handsome, and utterly distracting tutor arrives, Claire finds herself caught up in a whirlwind romance that could change the course of her future.

Jacob Knightly has a secret. He’s actually the notorious Earl of Rimmel. He’s just posing as a tutor to escape his reputation in the city. He never expected to fall in love with the beautiful and kind governess. She is the first person to love him for himself and not his title.

But when Jacob’s true identity is revealed, Claire realizes she has risked her reputation and her heart on a man she doesn’t truly know. Will Jacob be able to convince her that the Wild Earl has been tamed and that she is the true Countess of his heart?

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Miss Bonnie Hodges, governess to the Darrow family, is desperately trying to hold it together. Tragedy has struck and she is the sole person left to be strong for the two little boys in her care. When the new guardian arrives, she hopes that things will get better. She wasn’t expecting her new employer to be the most frustrating, overbearing, and ... handsome man she’s ever seen.

Sir Stephen Montgomery is utterly distracted. He should be trying to figure out how his two best friends were killed in a suspicious accident and why the new young viscount seems destined to be the next victim. But he can’t concentrate on anything but his growing feelings for the beautiful, mysterious, and utterly captivating governess.

Together they put their heads together to save the two young boys but will Stephen’s feelings for Bonnie get in the way of their search for a killer?

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Check out what's up for grabs.

Up For Grabs:

• 1 The Governess Avon Swag Pack
• 2 eBook copies of Claire

To Enter: 

• Please leave a comment or question for Elli.
• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

Good Luck! 

Special thanks to Ellie Macdonald & Tasty Book Tours for sponsoring this giveaway.

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