NBTM + #Giveaway: Shadows and Silks by Sofie Darling @sofie_darling @GoddessFish

Blurb:

Lord Nicholas Asquith needs his wife. Too bad he broke her heart ten years ago.

Can he resist a second chance at the love he lost?

When Mariana catches the eye of the man at the center of an assassination plot, Nick puts aside their painful past and enlists her to obtain information by any means necessary, even if it means seducing the enemy agent.

Even if the thought makes his blood boil.

Only by keeping his distance from Mariana these last ten years was he able to pretend indifference to her. With every moment spent with her, he feels his tightly held control slipping...

Can she trust the spy who broke her heart?

Mariana spent the last decade forgetting Nick. Now she has the chance to best him at his own game, an opportunity she can’t resist, even as her view of him begins to shift. Increasingly, she wants nothing more than to seduce her own husband . . . 

It’s only a matter of time before mad passion ignites, a passion never convincingly extinguished. A passion that insists on surrendering to the yearning of the flesh and, quite possibly, of the heart.

Excerpt:

“Do you not understand how difficult it is to find a lady’s maid who speaks English in Paris? She is as rare as a Woolly Mammoth in London.”

“A Woolly Mammoth in London?” he asked with a confounded laugh.

“Given my involvement with The Progressive School for Young Ladies and the Education of Their Minds, I spend a good deal of time perusing London’s museums.”

Nick cocked his head. “I would have thought finding you in a stuffy museum would be as rare as finding a Woolly Mammoth in London.”

“I enjoy it.” She sounded defensive. Drat. “And I happen to know that the Museum of Natural History in Paris has its very own Woolly Mammoth.”

In fact, she was disappointed to have missed it on this trip. But Nick needn’t know that. She’d revealed too much about her life already.

“That’s,” he began, a reflective note in his voice, “new.”

“Actually, they acquired it more than one hundred years ago.”

“I wasn’t speaking of the mammoth.”

Mariana’s traitorous insides went light at his words and at the implication within them. The moment could grow soft, and a sense of ease could steal in, if she allowed it. It was an ease she’d felt the first time they’d locked eyes at a dinner party at Uncle Bertie’s country estate—so very long ago. She’d felt they were two halves of the same whole and had been waiting all their lives to be joined together.

She gave herself a mental shake. Such memories were a trap.

Over the last decade, she’d done quite well forgetting what she liked about her husband. She wouldn’t allow softness to shake her resolve.

This was Nick. He was as soft as a razorblade.

London, April 1825

Lord Jakob Radclyffe left his past behind in the Far East. Or so he thinks until a ruthless thief surfaces in London, threatening to ruin his daughter’s reputation. With the clock ticking, Jake needs the scandalous Lady Olivia Montfort’s connections in the art world to protect his daughter’s future.

Olivia, too, has a past she’d like to escape. By purchasing her very own Mayfair townhouse, she’ll be able to start a new life independent from all men. There’s one problem: she needs a powerful man’s name to do so. The Viscount St. Alban is the perfect name.

A bargain is struck.

What Olivia doesn’t anticipate is the temptation of the viscount. The undeniable spark of awareness that races between them subverts her vow to leave love behind. Soon, she has no choice but to rid her system of Jake by surrendering to her craving for a single scorching encounter.

But is once enough? Sometimes once only stokes the flame of desire higher and hotter. And sometimes once is all the heart needs to risk all and follow a mad passion wherever it may lead.

Excerpt:

“Am I late?” he asked in a tone that didn’t sound as concerned as his words might have suggested.

“Yes,” she replied, sounding distressingly like Lucy on a petulant day.

“My apologies,” he said on a shallow bow, even as his mouth, that talented, efficient mouth of his, maintained its familiar firm line.

“No need for apologies, my lord. In fact, your tardiness is promising evidence that you are settling into the viscountcy quite well.” She liked the way his eyes narrowed at her stern tone, a tone she couldn’t help borrowing from Mrs. Bloomquist. “It is the first rule of the nobility. Everyone can wait.”

“Then my apologies for not having made you wait longer.”

A begrudging smile found its way to her lips. “Now for the second rule of the nobility.” She allowed a beat to pass. A flash of pleasure coursed through her at the very idea that she could hold this glorious man in suspense. It wasn’t every woman who could boast that particular thrill. “Never apologize.”

He stepped forward, halving the distance between them, and took another bow. “Again, my apologies.”

His gaze pinned her in place, and, like that, the power of the moment shifted to him. Oh, how an unmanageable part of her wanted him to use it. This felt dangerously like flirting. Was she flirting?

She was. In the presence of the tease playing about his eyes and mouth, she couldn’t seem to help herself. She tried clearing her throat, hoping to clear her head in the process.

He should be more careful with that smile. It could give a woman ideas.

Interview with Sofie Darling

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Tempted by the Viscount?

The newly minted Right Honorable Jakob Radclyffe, Fifth Viscount St. Alban, recently arrived in London to claim the title, one he has no real interest in. He’s honorable and fiercely protective of his daughter Mina. Lady Olivia Montfort has been the scandal of Society since Parliament set her marriage aside six months ago. She plans on holding on to her newfound independence with both hands. However, she has difficulty keeping her eye on that goal as she becomes more and more entangled with the too-handsome viscount.

Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future?

Tempted by the Viscount is the second book of my Shadows and Silk series. The previous book, Three Lessons in Seduction, featured Olivia’s twin sister Mariana and her estranged husband, Nick. The third book will feature world-weary sailor Captain John Nylander and feisty Lady Calpurnia Radclyffe, the Dowager Viscountess St. Alban, as they vie for the same Devon country estate. There will be apple brandy and pirates. :)

How long would you say it takes you to write a book?

It takes me about nine months to write a novel, from outline to finish. The same amount of time it takes to gestate a human baby. It’s my book baby.

What is your favorite childhood book?

Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary is the first book I clearly remember marking as a “favorite.” I loved it. As I was a bit of a handful myself, I completely related to the precocious, slightly misunderstood Ramona.

If you could spend the day with one of the characters from Tempted by the Viscount who would it be? Please tell us why you chose this particular character, where you would go and what you would do.

I would love to spend a day with Olivia. Although it would never occur to her, she is quite glamorous with her patronage of the arts and her outré reputation. I would help her organize one of her slightly scandalous art salons and meet all the famous artists of the day.

What was the hardest scene from Tempted by the Viscount to write?

The hardest scene was Jake and Olivia’s first kiss. It’s such a pivotal scene for both Jake and Olivia and for the story arc that there’s a bit of pressure to get it absolutely perfect. So my tendency was to overwrite it. I had several rounds with that scene, paring down the language, stripping the emotion raw, until it was exactly as I wanted it to be.

What made you want to become a writer?

I can’t say there was a specific moment or inspiration. Like most writers, I’ve always loved reading. I love diving into a fictional world and not coming up for air until I read “The End.” So for me, it was a very short step to start creating my own fictional worlds.

Just for fun

Disclaimer: I never have one favorite of anything. For me, something can be “favorite” for a moment, but likely not forever. (Except for Ramona the Pest. That’s a forever favorite.) So all favorites below would be more accurately described as A Favorite. :)

(a Favorite song: Diamonds by Rihanna. The way she sings the line, “When you hold me, I’m alive,” gives me goose bumps.

(b Favorite book: Middlemarch by George Eliot. It’s a perfect novel.

(c Favorite movie: I love all the Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn pairings. Holiday, Bringing Up Baby, and The Philadelphia Story. Impossible to pick between them.

(d Favorite tv show: Breaking Bad. Even though some seasons made me absolutely sick to my stomach, I couldn’t look away. It’s modern-day Shakespeare.

(e Favorite Food: Sushi.

(f Favorite drink: By day: green tea. By night: a dry sauvignon blanc.

(g Favorite website: Tom + Lorenzo: Fabulous and Opinionated. In the middle of a stressful day, they provide a lovely fashion oasis with the perfectly calibrated side of snark.

Thanks so much for visiting with us today!

Thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun!

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Sofie spent much of her twenties raising two boys and reading every book she could get her hands on. Once she realized that she was no longer satisfied with simply reading the books she loved, that she must write them, too, she decided to finish her degree and embark on a writing career. Mr. Darling and the boys gave her their wholehearted blessing.

When she’s not writing heroes who make her swoon, she runs a marathon in a different state every year, visits crumbling medieval castles whenever she gets a chance, and enjoys a slightly codependent relationship with her beagle, Bosco.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram

BUY LINKS:

Three Lessons in Seduction → Amazon

Tempted by the Viscount → Amazon

Giveaway:

$25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC

a Rafflecopter giveaway