Guest Post with Author Victoria Vane and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome back to RFTC author, Victoria Vane. Victoria is celebrating the recent release of her book Treacherous Temptations, and has stopped by to chat. Please give Victoria a warm welcome.

A lover of history and deeply romantic stories, Victoria combines these elements to craft romantic historical novels and novellas for a mature reading audience. Her writing influences are Georgette Heyer for fabulous witty dialogue and over the top characters, Robin Schone, Sylvia Day, and Charlotte Featherstone for beautifully crafted prose in stories with deep sensuality, and Lila DiPasqua for creative vision in melding history with eroticism. Ms. Vane also writes award nominated romantic historical fiction as Emery Lee.

Places to find Victoria: 

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The story of Treacherous Temptations is, in a sense my homage to the popular novels written in the 18th century, in which virtue vs. vice and the seduction of an innocent were popular themes.

In Samuel Richardson's Pamela: or Virtue Rewarded (1740), the plot revolves around a pretty young housemaid who refuses to be seduced by her employer, even when he goes to great lengths to debauch her in his desire to make her his mistress. In this moral tale which became the greatest bestseller of its time, Pamela's consistent adherence to the path of virtue is eventually rewarded by winning his love and becoming his wife.

Richardson's follow up Clarissa (1746) is a much darker tale with a tragic ending. Clarissa Harlowe is a beautiful and virtuous young woman whose unscrupulous family desires to become part of the aristocracy. When Clarissa's grandfather leaves her a substantial piece of property, Clarissa becomes the means by which they think to attain their ambitions. Clarissa is wooed by two men, one of whom, Robert Lovelace, is an heir to an earldom and unrepentant who really intends to use her to avenge a grudge against her family. Not realizing this, Clarissa elopes with Lovelace only to become his captive in a brothel, where Lovelace eventually drugs and rapes her in the belief that it will force her hand to wed him. By this time, however, he is actually in love with her, but Clarissa refuses to give him what he truly wants— to possess her mind as well as her body. She eventually escapes and then dies shortly thereafter. Out of guilt, Lovelace provokes a duel which leads to his own death.

Another such tragic tale is Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1782), a French epistolary novel by Choderlos de Laclos, that has been adapted several times over the centuries to stage and screen. The version best known to modern audiences is the 1988 film, Dangerous Liaisons, starring John Malkovich, Glenn Close, and Michelle Pfeiffer. For those unfamiliar with this story, it is another very dark with a plot steeped in seduction, revenge, and intrigue. Without going into plot spoiling details, the main characters the Marquise de Meurteil and the Vicomte de Valmont enter a conspiracy to seduce and ruin two innocent women as Meurteil desires revenge for a perceived slight. Valmont is successful in conquests but unexpectedly loses his heart in the process. When mocked for this Valmont breaks off the affair results in his lover's death from heartbreak. Similar to Lovelace's fate in Clarissa, Valmont is provoked to a duel, and killed.

Treacherous Temptations shares a number of themes and devices with these three novels. Like Clarissa, Mary is an innocent heiress who her guardian intends to use for his political advancement. Lady Blanchard, plays a role similar to that of the Marquise de Meurteil in that she is a former lover who convinces Hadley to seduce Mary for her money. Lord Hadley, like Richardson's Lovelace, perceives Mary as a means of revenge over his enemy and vows to possess her body and soul, but unexpectedly loses his heart in the process. Similar to Richardson's Pamela, however, virtue prevails and my seemingly hopeless rake Hadley is redeemed by love.

In Treacherous Temptations, Mary and Hadley, whose lives are fated to intersect, are both pawns of unsavory characters— Hadley's wickedly wanton step-mother Barbara, who is mistress to Mary's equally unscrupulous guardian, Sir Richard - the man responsible for Hadley's ruin. My Mary is faced with a similar dilemma of a marriage she doesn't want when her guardian seeks to wed her off to nobleman in exchange for political favors. Hadley on the other hand, is tired of his life of deception and seeks to reclaim his lands and titles, as well as revenge on the man who ruined him. When Hadley perceives Mary is the answer to both, he sets out to seduce her— only to risk his own treacherous heart.

A reluctant heiress resigned to her fate … Mary Elizabeth Edwardes has one of the largest fortune’s in England, but has no desire to leave her quiet country existence… and even less to acquire a husband she cannot choose for herself.

A dissolute nobleman bent on retribution … Trapped in a duplicitous existence since scandal destroyed his fortune and family name, Lord Hadley Blanchard has spent the better part of a decade posing as a disaffected exile while spying and seducing in the service of the English Crown.

A dangerous game of seduction, and intrigue … When summoned from abroad by a former lover, Lord Hadley perceives an opportunity for vengeance at last. By employing the full measure of his seductive charm, he woos the ward of the man who destroyed his life, little knowing that winning Mary’s fortune will mean risking his own treacherous heart.

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"That girl is Sir Richard's ward?" When the girl in the music room had introduced herself as Mary Elizabeth Edwardes he had not made the connection, but then again, wily Sir Richard had taken care not to reveal anything about the Edwardes heir.

"One and the same my love, and worth every bit of fifty thousand a year! That plump little pigeon is one of the richest women in England, and thanks to me, she is yours for the plucking."

The blood roared in his ears. It was just too bloody good to be true. The very one who held his lands was residing under Barbara's roof. The girl was not only the means to a large fortune but also of revenge. "That certainly does throw a different light on matters." He took heed not to betray his growing excitement. "But you and I both know Sir Richard would see me hanged before granting consent for me to wed his ward."

She smiled. "Who said anything about seeking his consent?"

"You intend for me to despoil her to force a marriage? My dear Barbara, such rude and crass methods don't suit me at all. The entire thing lacks finesse."

She scowled. "Then how else do you propose we get control of her fortune?"

"I would propose gaining the girl's good faith and cooperation."

"And then what? Do you think she will just hand it over to you?"

"Something very close to that."

"You are overly confident."

"Not at all," he laughed. "I have never failed to achieve my object where a woman was concerned, nor has any ever complained of my methods."

Check out whats up for grabs.

Up For Grabs:

• 1 lucky winner will win an eBook from Victoria's backlist.

To Enter:

• Please leave a comment/question for Victoria. 
• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form. 

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