NBTM + #Giveaway: Reckless Need by Scarlett Scott @scarscoromance @GoddessFish

Reckless Need

by Scarlett Scott

GENRE: Historical Romance

BLURB:

A staid duke

Heath, the Duke of Devonshire, has been living a passionless life of penance after losing the woman he loved. Determined to do his duty, he’s in search of an innocent bride with a sterling reputation. A bride who’s nothing at all like Tia, Lady Stokey.

A bold lady

The Duke of Devonshire may be handsome, but he’s as boring as a bowl of porridge. Or so Tia thinks until he carries her to her chamber and undoes half her buttons while kissing her senseless.

A decadent desire

The moment he scoops the delectable Tia into his arms, Heath wants her in his bed, and he’ll stop at nothing to have her there. When they unleash the scandal of the century, they must face consequences that are deeper and far more dangerous to their hearts than either of them imagined. Will they find love, or was the reckless need between them doomed from the start?

Excerpt:

If there was one thing in the world that Tia, Lady Stokey, adored, it was parties. Give her a good fête, an army of new dresses, an entertaining assortment of guests and she was a happy woman.

Under ordinary circumstances, that was.

Grumbling to herself, she trekked through the maze at the Marquis of Thornton’s hunting estate, Penworth, in search of her wayward charge. A mere hour after their arrival for a country house party, Tia had discovered Miss Whitney missing from her bedchamber.

“In need of a nap, my bottom,” Tia grumbled, stalking around a corner. If only the hedges weren’t so frightfully high and she so irritatingly diminutive in height. But of course, that would have rather nullified the purpose of a maze, she supposed.

The young Miss Whitney had declared the need for a respite after their travel through the countryside, and Tia had acquiesced. But suspicion had brought her round to collect the girl early, where she’d discovered only a note telling her that her charge had decided to take a restoring turn about the gardens instead.

“Restoring indeed,” Tia scoffed, her ire growing with each step. She had a dreadful feeling that her charge was going to prove much more than a handful. After all, she recognized herself in the girl, and it was one of the reasons why she’d agreed to help introduce her to society.

The sound of gravel shifting interrupted her cantankerous musings. She stopped, holding her breath to listen. It sounded as if Miss Whitney was perhaps just around the next bend, behind the thick hedges obscuring Tia’s vision. Smiling in triumph, she grabbed her skirts and hurried around the turn in the maze.

“Ah ha,” she called out in delight. “I’ve found you now, you little minx.”

But her moment of triumph was terribly abridged, for the noise-making culprit, seated on a bench before her, was not Miss Whitney. Nor, in fact, was it even a female. Quite the opposite.

Dear heavens. Eyes the same wistful color as a summer sky met hers, stealing her breath. She stopped, her heart thumping as madly as a runaway stallion’s hooves. The man staring back at her, an open book in his large hands, a golden brow raised, was decidedly as far as one could get from the petite, Virginia-born Miss Whitney.

“I daresay I’ve been called a great number of things in my life, but never yet a little minx,” drawled the Duke of Devonshire as he stood and bowed to her.

“I must apologize,” she hastened to say, embarrassment making her cheeks go hot. “I mistook you for someone else.”

A small smile curved his lips, drawing her attention to just how finely formed his mouth was. He had changed since she’d seen him last. He’d grown a beard. She swallowed, her heart continuing its mad pace. The duke had always been a handsome man, possessed of a rare masculine beauty that almost made him seem too perfect to be real. But the neatly trimmed beard took the purity of his features and rendered them somehow sinful. Seductive. Her cheeks burned as she realized she was staring and, to her greatest dismay, he’d said something to her.

She had no earthly idea what.

Interview with Scarlett Scott

What inspired you to write Reckless Need?

As I wrote the first two books in this series, I knew Tia’s story had to be told. She came to life with a spirit all her own—funny, sassy, bold—and I wanted to throw her a huge challenge. So I paired her with someone who seems, at least to her, to be the opposite of what she’s seeking and watched the sparks fly. I always take some cues from historical facts and figures as well, and the works of artist Edward Burne-Jones were tremendously inspirational for me as I fleshed out the character of the hero, Heath.

Can you tell us a little bit about the next books in the Heart’s Temptation series) or what you have planned for the future?

The next book in the series, Sweet Scandal, is out tomorrow, which I’m quite excited about. Sweet Scandal is the story of Tia’s older sister Helen, who’s a self-declared spinster reformer with no desire for love. Until she meets a handsome American business tycoon bent on shutting down her reform journal, that is. I’m also making great progress on book 5 in the series.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Reckless Need?

Tia is a feisty heroine—she’s rather flamboyant and bold, and she isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Heath is outwardly quiet and reserved, seemingly very proper. But Tia brings out the improper, passionate side of him. They both have some past wounds that need healing, and they both ultimately save each other.


You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?

My favorite author is Geoffrey Chaucer. He was wickedly smart and funny and way ahead of his time. Plus, I have a weak spot for Middle English.

If you could time-travel would you travel to the future or the past? Where would you like to go and why would you like to visit this particular time period?

I would travel to the past, of course, with the caveat that I could return to the future any time. (I do love my modern conveniences.) I’d visit the 1880s—it was such an exciting time of technological and social advancements, truly the start of the world as we know it now. It would be incredible to see all these changes happening through the eyes of the people who lived them.

Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?

I have a sweet little buddy named Hercules who is half pug, half Boston terrier, and one hundred percent cute squishy face. His only downfall is that he barks at horses when they’re on the TV, which proves an impediment to my watching Poldark. But I adore him anyway!

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit with us today.

Thank you so much for having me today!

AUTHOR BIO:

Award-winning author Scarlett Scott writes historical and contemporary romance with heat, heart, and happily ever afters. Since publishing her first book in 2010, she has become a wife, mother to adorable identical twins and one TV-loving dog, and a killer karaoke singer. Well, maybe not the last part, but that’s what she’d like to think.

A self-professed literary junkie and nerd, she loves reading anything but especially romance novels, poetry, and Middle English verse. When she’s not reading, writing, wrangling toddlers, or camping, you can catch up with her on her website www.scarsco.com. Hearing from readers never fails to make her day.

Scarlett’s complete book list and information about upcoming releases can be found on her website.

Buy link for Reckless Need: Amazon

Follow Scarlett on social media: Twitter ~ Pinterest ~ Facebook

Giveaway:

Kindle or paperback copy of Books 1 & 2 in this series

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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