Meet Mia Marlowe, author of Between a Rake and a Hard Place.
Mia Marlowe is the award winning historical romance author of the Touch of Seduction Series with more than 20 novels to her credit. Her latest release, Plaid Tidings is nominated for RTBookReviews Best Scottish Historical 2013. She lives in Boston, but will be moving to the Midwest this spring. Connie Mason is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 novels. She received a Career Achievement Award from RT Book Reviews in 1994 and currently lives in Florida. Mia and Connie have collaborated on Sins of the Highlander, Lord of Fire and Ice, Lord of Devil Isle and the other books in the Royal Rakes Series: Waking Up with a Rake and One Night with a Rake. For more information, please visit http://www.miamarlowe.com.
Places to find Mia:
Since the movie “The Bucket List” a few years ago, more people have started to write down their ultimate goals. So when I started working on Between a Rake & a Hard Place I began to think about what a regency heroine might put on such a list. Some of these goals might seem small to us, but bear in mind that a woman’s world was very much smaller at the beginning of the 19th century than it is today.
Here is Lady Serena’s List of Forbidden Pleasures:
- Wear men’s clothing in public.
- Gain admittance to an exclusively male club.
- Smoke a cigar.
- Ride astride.
- Drink until one is insensate at least once.
- Have one’s fortune told by a gypsy.
- Dance the scandalous waltz.
And then, after she met Sir Jonah Sharp, Lady Serena added:
- Lie with a man for no other reason that because I want to!
Lady Serena is very focused about crossing items off her list. How about you? Do you have some things you hope to accomplish? I love to travel. One of my goals is to visit all 50 states. I have 3 to go. Guess you could say I’m focused too!
If you’d like to read the excerpt where Serena & Jonah meet while she’s wearing men’s clothing and invading a male-only coffee shop, please click here. In the short excerpt here on Ramblings from this Chick today, Jonah confronts her at the opera.
“Why did you sneak into Boodles?” Jonah set down the empty punch cups on the brickwork railing leading to the opera house door.
Serena took a step back and found her spine pressed against the brick facade. “I don’t have to answer to you for my actions.”
He braced a hand on the wall next to her head and leaned toward her. “Since I risked a bit to get you out of there, I think I deserve to know why you were in the club in the first place. Never say it was for the coffee. I could plainly see that you didn’t care for it.”
“You’re right. It was as bad as that punch.”
“Then why masquerade as your cousin and invade Boodles? And may I remind you that you owe me?”
His face was only a hand’s breath from hers. “If I tell you why I was there, will it cancel the debt?”
He nodded.
“Very well.” Serena straightened so he could see she wasn’t intimidated by his nearness. “I did it so I could cross it off the list.”
“What list?”
This was trickier ground. “You’ll laugh.”
“Perhaps, but tell me in any case.”
“It’s my list of forbidden pleasures. Things I wish to do simply to revel in having done them,” Serena said. “Haven’t you ever wished to do some secret thing?”
“I don’t consider pleasures forbidden.” His smile was wickedness itself. “And if I want something, I make no secret of it.”
© Connie Mason and Mia Marlowe, 2014
Lady Serena's List of Forbidden Pleasures
Attend an exclusively male club.
Smoke a cigar.
Have a fortune told by gypsies.
Dance the scandalous waltz.
Sir Jonah Sharp thinks Lady Serena Osbourne will be just like any other debutante, and seducing her will be one of the easiest services he's ever done for the Crown. Then he catches her wearing trousers and a mustache in his gentleman's club and she demands he teach her to smoke a cigar. But what will truly be Jonah's undoing is finding out he's an item on her list too, which makes him determined to bring her all the forbidden pleasures she can handle.
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Check out the Royal Rakes series:
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Check out what's up for grabs.
- 1 copy of Between a Rake and a Hard Place
- 1 eBook copy of Dragonsong
To Enter:
- Please answer Mia's question: Guess what 3 states that Mia hasn't not been to before. Or please share one of your bucket list goals.
- US/Canada shipping ONLY.
- Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.
Good Luck!
Special thanks to Mia Marlowe & Sourcebooks for sponsoring this giveaway.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Oh I just adore Mia!!!! I have this on top of my pile and....well it's on my list. ;-)
ReplyDeleteBut for those 3 states, you've probably visited my state of Minnesota for who knows why, besides living in the Midwest. So, I'll pick Montana, Alaska, and Idaho as those you haven't visited.
My daughters used to live in Montana, so I've been there. The DH and I cruised to Alaska in 2007, so done that. And Idaho (what a lovely place!) was on the way to visiting the girls. So you're 0 for 3, but thanks for playing. You're entered in both of the drawings.
DeleteAnd YOU can get a free read from me anyway. My PLAID TO THE BONE is now FREE on
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CA6YYIQ/?tag=httpwwwmiamar-20
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/plaid-to-the-bone-mia-marlowe/1115119329?ean=9781420131956,
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/plaid-to-the-bone/id633555273?mt=11
Sony: https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/mia-marlowe/plaid-to-the-bone/_/R-400000000000001110443 Enjoy!
And I adore you too, ki! Thanks for your kind words about my work. ;-)
DeleteI think Mississippi, Utah, and Arkansas; maybe. The number one thing on my bucket list is to go to Scotland. It will happen one day....
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Sheryl. You hit one of them squarely on the head. I have not been to Mississippi.
DeleteThe DH & I got to go to Scotland last May. It was as glorious as you imagine.
I'll guess Kansas, South Dakota, and Iowa.
ReplyDeleteNope. I grew up in Iowa and went camping as a kid in Kansas & South Dakota. Thanks for playing. You're still entered in the giveaway and I hope you'll take advantage of the FREE offer of Plaid to the Bone (Check the first comment response for the buy links to copy & paste.)
DeleteI love your books! One of my bucket list is to travel around the world!
ReplyDeleteMe too, May. I'd love to play Magellan and circumnavigate the globe!
DeleteNew Zeland is on my travel bucket list. I will guess you haven't visited Oklahoma, Mississippi or Alabama.
ReplyDeleteMine too. I'd love to visit "Middle Earth!"
DeleteI've been to Oklahoma, but you rightly guessed Mississippi and Alabama. 2 out of 3. Not bad!
Mississippi (yes, I know you already confirmed that one) Louisiana and North Carolina.
ReplyDeleteAs for my list skydiving and more traveling.
The DH, who's a private pilot, says there's no excuse for jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. ;-)
DeleteI wouldn't even begin to know what states! I say Michigan. Nobody comes here. ;) As for bucket list first and foremost is travelling to Ireland and Scotland. I have nothing beyond that. I can die a happy person. :)
ReplyDeletelattebooks at hotmail dot com
I've been to Michigan! When I was a kid I always used to hold my breath when we drove over a bridge, but I had to admit defeat when we drove over the Mackinac Bridge. That thing's like 5 miles long!
DeleteMy guess would be Mississippi, Louisiana, and Kentucky. How fun that you have traveled to so many states! I still have 24 states left. I guess that is more than half done!
ReplyDeleteMy bucket list would be going to Europe for a vacation with the hubby. In five years all the kids should be done with college and maybe by then we can go! :)
Thanks for the giveaway!
A European vaca is wonderful. Since my DH has worked in the travel industry for years, I've been blessed to visit England and Germany several times, as well as the Netherlands, Brussels and France, Ireland & Scotland. I love meeting the people and visiting all the museums.
DeleteMy bucket list is huge of places to visit.. The one at the top of my list is Australia..
ReplyDeleteCan't even begin to guess where Mia has not been, but I would guess Alaska, South Dakota and North Dakota...
Oz is on my bucket list too, but I have been to Alaska, & both the Dakotas. ;-)
DeleteI have been to all the states but about 4, Hawaii, Alaska, and 2 of the Great Lake states. My bucket is item is to see those states. ;o)
ReplyDeleteGood for you, Betty! Go for it.
Deletecongrats to Mia on the newest release! Ummm... one of my bucket list items is to go to Scotland :) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIn addition to stopping at Glasgow, Inverness & Edinburgh, we got to visit the Orkneys on our Scottish cruise. What a fascinating island.
DeleteWell let me guess 3 states Mississippi and Alabama (you confirmed these) and how about Maine? My bucket list to visit is Ireland, have always wanted to go there and just travel and explore and might not come back home. Congrats on your latest release :)
ReplyDeleteSince we live in MA now, we've driven up to Maine several times. Gorgeous coastlines and lighthouses!
DeleteOooh...bucket list would be to visit New Zealand and Scotland. For the third state - Louisiana?
ReplyDeleteNZ is definitely on my list too!
DeleteSo it's Mississippi & Alabama - How about West Virginia?
ReplyDeleteBucket list includes travel back to Ireland & Scotland.
Back to Ireland & Scotland? So you've been before. I love revisiting favorite places too!
DeleteI'm from Missouri, if you live here you probably call it Misery, seems like we always get the crap weather. I have also lived in Kentucky & still have family there, I love it!! I would love to go to Virginia. Love the country, all that wide open space & fresh air!! I would also love to go to Ireland!!
ReplyDeleteNow wait a minute! Don't talk about MO like that. I'm moving back there this spring! While it's true that parts of the state are in Tornado Alley and this year has seen record snowfalls, I love Missouri. We still have a house there in a small town in the Ozarks surrounded by the Mark Twain forest. Of course, the fact that we have family we'll be moving back to is a big draw too. ;-)
DeleteOne of my bucket list goals is to visit every National Park in the United States. So far I have been to all of them west of the Mississippi river. I must say they are impressive, beautiful and glad they are in this country. Thank goodness for Teddy Roosevelt who decided they were worth saving. .
ReplyDeleteJWIsley(at)aol(dot)com
What a good goal! We really should have gotten up to Acadia while we're here in New England, but we are so drawn to the ocean, we tend to stay on Maine beaches.
DeleteHi Mia! My guess is that you have not been to Delaware, along with Mississippi and Alabama (both previously confirmed). As far as bucket lists are concerned, I would like to visit every state in the US. Sad to say, I've only gone outside of my own time zone once in my 40+ years, and I've only been on a plane once (1987). Travelling far just isn't in the budget, but I hope to change that before my kids are too old to want to go trekking anywhere with mom.
ReplyDeleteMia, just want to say thanks for writing all your wonderful books. I can't wait to read this one!
I have been to Delaware. A couple years ago, one of my cousins was getting married in NC, so we drove down and hit Delaware on the way.
DeleteI understand what you mean about the budget. When we lived in Colorado, I remember being too poor to afford the gas to drive up into the mountains even though we could see them from our backyard. But one of the good things about books is that we can travel anywhere and to any time period and still sleep in our own bed at night. ;-) And you and your kids can travel there together. I used to read aloud with my girls all the time.
Thanks for those kind words about my books, Sandra.
I see that you have already said you haven't been to Mississippi and Alabama and how about Missouri
ReplyDeleteI was born in Missouri, actually. ;-)
DeleteI would guess (apart from the two we already know about) maybe Iowa, or New Mexico. Congrats on all the wonderful books that you write.
ReplyDeleteGrew up in Iowa and camped in New Mexico as a kid. Thanks for playing. ;-)
DeleteHi Mia, I love your books. You can visit my state anytime especially around the Nashville area :) Since I know Mississippi and Alabama are 2 of them could the 3rd one possibly be Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteLori
Sorry. I've been to the Volunteer State. One of my uncles lives in Nashville and we had a wonderful family reunion in Gatlinburg one year.
DeleteLove Lady Serena's list! On my unofficial bucket list I want to visit a foreign country, preferably Scotland, or maybe Ireland.
ReplyDeleteI always remind the DH that my passport is valid and my bag is half packed. ;-)
DeleteMia you're here! You know I'm a huge fan...I already have BAR&AHP but it would be awesome to win Dragonsong and finish up the series ;-) Since I live in the BEAUTIFUL state of Oregon, that's so much like Scotland but warmer, I'm going to guess Oregon for the third state...from the comments I know the other two are Mississippi and Alabama. Come visit so we can meet at a signing :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for those kind words, Glittergirl. When I was a teenager, my fam drove down the Oregon coast and camped along the way. It is a gorgeous state and I'd love to revisit it someday.
DeleteI would love to visit Great Britain or Scotland, just to tour some of the castles.
ReplyDeleteYou know there are a few "castles" here in the states. Biltmore in Ashville, NC is an amazing estate and here in MA, there's Hammond Castle up near Gloucester. Maybe there's an American castle somewhere near you.
DeleteGoing to Australia and Scotland are on my bucket list.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I hear, Australia is so worth the 17 hour plane ride!
DeleteMy list is Australia and New Zealand. IN the USA I want to visit Utah!
ReplyDeleteI used to live in Park City, Utah and it is gorgeous.
DeleteThanks so much to everyone who guessed. You're all entered in the drawing, whether you guess correctly or not, but I'll pop back by tomorrow and give you the straight answers!
ReplyDeleteMy list is Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteSounds like very worthy goals to me!
DeleteHi Mia!
ReplyDeleteInstead of guessing the states you haven't been to I thought I'd tell you the first thing on my bucket list instead! (Plus that I read everyone's comments so just from them alone I'd know two of them from your comments!).
The first thing on my bucket list is to "get out of Dodge"! It's taken me years but I think this year I'll succeed in convincing my husband to move from New England to South Carolina to be near our grandchildren! (Plus it doesn't snow down there like it does here in New England which you know from experience isn't a fun way to spend winter!). I can already see myself at this time next year not complaining just "one more time" and explaining that after growing up in up-state New York that shoveling snow is why I went to college in Arizona and then moved to Florida! He forgot to mention to me that when his duty in the Navy during Vietnam was over he wanted to "move back home" for "a while". I don't know about you but I don't consider 44 years to be "a while" but instead another lifetime would be more accurate!
The one good thing is he built me a wonderful fireplace with bookshelves on both side that go from the floor up to the ceiling for me to put all your books so I can have a cozy read (but only after having to shovel the walks and clean off the cars!).
PS: Thanks for your wonderful books and helping me to keep my sanity throughout the long (very long) winter months!
I've really loved living in Boston. History practically oozes from the cobbled streets, but I hear you about the winters. Of course, we've lived in lots of heavy winter places--Minnesota, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming & Utah. It's beautiful if you don't have to shovel it, which is one reason we bought a condo here in MA. No shoveling!
DeleteWe're looking forward to more moderate winters in MO, but this year, they got a 10 inch dump at the beginning of December, so you never know.
to travel around the world
ReplyDeleteSounds good to me.
DeleteThree states you haven't been to, Mia? Hmmm. I'll go wild and say North Dakota, Indiana and Oklahoma. And a bucket list goal? Another trip to see Scotland--in detail--not just the two days I spent there in 1986. I'm enchanted with that country...or what I know of it anyway. Thanks for the post, Mia! jdh2690@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteSorry. I've been to those 3 states, Janice. And, I'm happy to say, Scotland. When I got another contract for more Scottish stories last year, my DH said we needed to go so I'd really have a sense of the place. It was magical!
DeleteBucket list: visit all the states and hike in all the National Parks.... I've got a long way to go. Maybe we''ll have money to afford the trips in 5 years or so when both kids have a college degree. :-) I'd also love to travel to Australia and New Zealand. :-)
ReplyDeleteI hear what you say about kids in college. For a while I thought I ought to wear a sign that read: "Will work for tuition!"
DeleteOne of my sisters-in-law has a goal of visiting all the Presidential libraries. Since she's a librarian herself, they mean a lot to her. When they visited us last summer, she managed to hit 3 on the way.
Hi Mia, I have loved all your books and can't wait to read Between A Rake An A Hard Place. Please enter me for that one. I have Dragonsong and loved it and the series. Also I can't read e-books.
ReplyDeleteMy Bucket List only consists of two wishes, to go to Scotland and Ireland.
I'll add the two confirmed states Alabama, Mississippi and Pennsylvania . Thanks for the post and the giveaway opportunity.
Carol L
Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com
Thanks for those kind words about my books, Carol. I've been to Pennsylvania. RT was in Pittsburgh a few years ago.
DeleteThe 3 states I have yet to hit are all in a row (and yes, some of you guessed them, but I stopped admitting the last one so the fun could continue for a while). Here they are: Louisiana, Mississippi & Alabama. The DH and I need to do a road trip once we get settled back in MO.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how long this giveaway is open, but in the meantime, I'd still love to hear about YOUR bucket list!
I would guess she hasn't been to Alaska, Washington and Iowa.
ReplyDeleteI've lived in both Washington & Iowa. Went to Alaska in 2007. ;-)
ReplyDeletecongrats to Mia on the newest release! Ummm... one of my bucket list items is to go to Scotland :) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI would love to get to travel the world for my bucket list.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win!
A trip to New Zealand is at the top of my bucket list.
ReplyDeleteScotland and Ireland is on my bucket list.
ReplyDeleteCongratulation on the new release Mia. I do so enjoy reading your books.
ReplyDeleteCongratulation on the new release Mia. I do so enjoy reading your books.
ReplyDelete