“To Match a Thief” by Maggie Robinson
Ex-pickpocket Sir Simon Keith can now afford the best of everything. But London’s most-desired courtesan is his lost love Lucy. Now Simon will need his wits and his considerably large…wiles to win his way back into her bed—and into her heart.
“Hair Trigger Palace” by Diane Whiteside
He rules Colorado’s most glittering gambling palace. Justin Talbot never does something for nothing. If daring Boston aristocrat Charlotte Morland needs his protection from a dangerous enemy, he’ll make her business his pleasure…
“A Knack for Trouble” by Mia Marlowe
Lord Aidan Stonemere didn’t go from prison to a title by playing by society’s rules. If he wants something, he takes it. Rosalinde Burke didn’t object to being taken. Once. To keep her from marrying a proper viscount, Aidan will do whatever it takes to remind her how deliciously good being improper feels…
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It’s lovely to be back at Novel Thoughts, thinking about novels and talking about my novella “To Match a Thief” in the Brava anthology Improper Gentlemen (July 26, 2011). You’ll see me again next month, because I have two back-to-back releases, so I’ve been thinking of nothing else but novels and novellas, LOL.
There’s been a lot of talk in Romancelandia lately about creating romance heroes and heroines who are not born with silver spoons in their mouths or strawberry leaves on their coronets. If you read historical romances, you’d think every other guy in England was a duke. 😀 In short, there’s a dearth of ‘regular’ people. I’ve noticed a trend to get a little more grit into books—Meredith Duran’s recent A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal features a cigar factory girl. Granted, she’s a long lost heiress, but she sure is rough around the edges.
I didn’t deliberately set out to follow the trend to write a novella about “normal” people last year. In fact, I had a very abnormal heroine, a girl who’d been mentioned by characters in my two previous Courtesan Court books. Lucy was a rich man’s mistress, and a suspected thief. But was she really?
“To Match a Thief” is all about self-improvement, by hook or by crook. Lucy is a hatmaker who wants to better herself. Her hero Simon begins as an illiterate street thief and rises to knighthood. All their layers of pasted-on civilization cannot cover their humble beginnings or their enduring love for each other. They’ve both been poor, so it’s an equal-opportunity Cinderella story. Publishers Weekly says: “Robinson’s witty multidimensional characters are vividly entertaining in “To Match a Thief,” in which Lucy Dellamar pretends to be the mistress of broke Lord Ferguson until he sells her home to Sir Simon Keith, her first love.”
Would you like more books that are dukeless? Are you enjoying maid Anna and valet Bates’s tender romance in Downton Abbey? Are you a sucker for a Cinderella story like I am? There’s a signed copy of Improper Gentlemen for one commenter!
To Match a Thief excerpt
By God, she had nerve. To think he’d keep a roof over her head without her getting under him. Or above him—he wasn’t particular at this point. He shifted so she wouldn’t see his discomfort. That kiss had been nothing like the hurried assaults they’d made on each other when they were kids.
Simon doubted seriously she meant to turn him in—the warrants out for his arrest must be tattered scraps by now. Surely the authorities had more to worry about than a skinny seventeen-year-old boy who stole to feed himself and his old gran over a dozen years ago.
He’d worked back then, too—anything he could get his hands on. Mended bridles at stables, hauled barrels of ale, ran errands for the local moneylender. One such ‘errand’ had been his undoing. He’d kept a little extra from the toff he’d had to persuade—not much, but enough to make his employer turn him in to the corrupt magistrate. And it hadn’t helped when he’d had to tie a sweet little old lady to a chair on his last job.
Simon became expendable. His bad judgment meant he was running from both the law and his boss, even if the sweet little old lady hadn’t pressed charges. He’d only been back to Scotland once—to find Lucy for all the good it did him. England was his home now.
He was a new man—it was a new age with a new king, a time filled with the promise of industry, machinery, investment, invention. He had a different name, a different appearance. No one would connect the knighted, rich Sir Simon Keith with the impoverished boy he used to be.
Congratulations on all your new releases Maggie! I enjoy stories about regular people as well as aristocrats. Carla Kelly has written several great stories in recent years with everyday people.
Oh, Maureen, I love Carla Kelly! Elizabeth Hoyt’s Maiden Lane series is mixing up the social stratification, too.
So it’s been two days of Impropriety here on the couch at Novel Thoughts, yes? I see Mia Marlowe has been here before me.:) Her story is so good in Improper Gentlemen. Thanks so much for having me here!
I really like the idea of using “average” people instead of dukes as main characters. The stories all sound really good, I would love to read them.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
I love historicals featuring non-titled characters. It’s one of my favorite tropes. My most recent Regency was a great book by Laura Lee Guhrke called His Every Kiss that featured a second son of a squire who was a composer and a gentlewoman who had run away at age 17 with a famous painter and was now destitute. It’s hard to find these so I’m happy to add another story to my list.
JenM, LLG is great with “average” heroines in her Girl Bachelor series, too.
Deb, I once did some research & there were precious few dukes on the ground, LOL. However, I think most of us fantasize about that rich handsome guy who’s going to sweep us away. 😉
Congrats on the release of the anthology, Maggie. I don’t mind reading stories involving “regular folk”, but there is something romantic about a man with a title. Perhaps because it is not likely to ever happen in real life….
Hi Maggie/Margaret
Congratulations on the release of Improper Gentlemen. All of the stories in this anthology sound terrific.
I like reading stories where the characters are ‘out of the norm’ so to speak. Michele Ann Young does a great job writing about heroines who don’t fit the mold of the primo regency miss. Her heroines are plump, wear spectacles, have drab straight hair…etc. In general, what we all see in the mirror before the cosmetics and hair products do their magic. Not everyone can be beautiful and rich and thin. Even though it’s fiction, it’s good to throw in a dose of reality once in a while.
Thanks for the giveaway.
Deb H, all of us have a little Cinderella in us, I guess.:) That’s my favorite fairy tale, and I love all the movie versions, Ella Enchanted, Ever After, etc.
Karen, I think there’s been a huge shift away from “perfect” heroes and heroines. And away from teen heroines, too. All of my Courtesan Court ladies are “old”–around 30, LOL.
Wow, you sure are a busy writer! I do like originality in books, and the unsuspected, like not a real titled person in the lead. So I hope to enjoy your books one day.
Aurian, I really have been busy–6 releases since May 2011 with my 2 names! I’m still pinching myself. I’ve got 2 more releases this year, then 3 ahead. Whew!
Oops, that’s May 2010. I’d be dead if I had to promote 6 books in 3 months, LOL.
I always love different types of heroes/heroines. Right now, I am reading The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. Talk about a different hero! LOL But I love it. When she is loving her own sexuality. Duke or not, whatever, just not the average normal guy/lady.
Lisa, I’m with you. Different is good. I stopped reading romance for a long time because all the h/hs seemed the same, just w/ different names. :).
I like variety, so I like the Dukes and the dukeless. I loved Downton Abbey and just saw a video by the head of Masterpiece about season 2 – but we have to wait for January! I still do love the Cinderella story – it can be so satisfying (especially the reaction of the stepsisters part). Improper Gentleman looks like the perfect summer read!
Diane, I’m anxiously awaiting Season 2 of DA. I own the first season, because I knew I’d forget to tune in each week. (I might have been even be asleep, LOL) So I’ll have to get the second. I confess I watched it in bits on YouTube first and knew I had to watch it for the clothes alone. 🙂
I love duke-less Historicals! As someone else mentioned above Carla Kelly’s books are so good and they depict the lifes of “normal” people so well. And like you, I love Downtown Abbey! Can’t wait for the 2nd season to start.
Hello Maggie!
I love Cinderella stories. I like to see the hero or heroine overcome their social status to win the heart of their true love. Throwing away propriety in favor of love is wonderful to read. I also enjoy duke-less historicals. It’s nice to see stories about the less priviledged. Congratulations on the new release! The anthology looks great.
Congratulations on the new release! I do enjoy my dukes and viscounts, but I adore it when authors take the road less traveled and feature characters who aren’t titled/rich. It’s a lot easier to identify with, that’s for sure. Elizabeth Hoyt writes dukeless novels, which I enjoy immensely.
Congrats on your new release! I have to say I am a sucker for the Cinderella story, there is just something about the rags to riches thing for me. Maybe its because I never came across those riches for myself still waiting.
I love Cinderella stories, it is always nice to escape to a happily ever after story.
Congratulations on your new release! I like a variety of characters and whether they are rich or poor, titled or not, it’s the romance and character development that make me like the book.
Quilt Lady, we’ll have to start buying lottery tickets. 😉
Thanks, Julie! I just finished a Hoyt book last night–Lady Hero’s story.
Stacie, I think it’s hard in real life to “rise above your station”, but it works beautifully in romances.
Claudia, I’ll be scouring the web to find out when DA debuts in England.
Congrats on your new release! I like stories featuring average, untitled characters.
I am a sucker for a Cinderella story. I enjoy stories of aristocrats, but it’s a nice change to read a story that doesn’t feature a duke or an earl, but someone more down to earth.
I love all different kinds of love stories. I think a beautiful story about regular people can be wonderful. Of course, I do love my duke stories!
jepebATverizonDOTnet
Dukes can be fun & sexy, but it’s also nice have heroes that aren’t titled (but still sexy & fun). After all there are only so many titles out there & plain old gentry & common folk deserve some HEA too 😉
Would love to win this book. Love romances and have heard good things about this book. thanks for the giveaway and the chance to win. this is a new author for me and would love to check her out.
christinebails@yahoo.com
Oooh this sounds like an amazing read and I am totally a sucker for Cinderella stories!
Thanks, Jeanette, Chris, Donna Ann. Barbara and Chey! I hope I see all of you again when I come back on Friday, August 26! Thanks to Lillie and Fatin too. 🙂
Oops, Anne & Jen & Maria too. This is what comes of being awake before 4 AM. And my current heroine’s name is Anne!
More Dukeless romances for me please!
I love nobility in the romances, but I also love to see more “commoner” romances. People who didn’t have the privileges or the easy way out by marrying money in exchange for title. Some of my favorite romances have ended up being about people that had to make their own way and I love that!
Can’t wait to read Lucy & Simon’s story!