Welcome to Uncaged! You will be releasing, A Springtime Scandal with Dragonblade Publishing. Can you tell us more about the book? Is this part of an ongoing series?
Thanks for having me! Yes, I’m so excited to release this book. It’s Book One in A Lord For All Seasons based around four sisters who each find love in spring, summer, autumn, and winter respectively. I absolutely loved writing this one and I think readers are going to love it, too!
What is the most difficult scene for you to write? What is the easiest?
The banter between my characters all comes easiest to me. I sort of just let them run with it – sometimes I surprise myself with where the dialogue takes me! I’d say the hardest scene in A Springtime Scandal was the first spicy one. In historical you have to be careful to keep things relatively realistic, so I need to think carefully about setting the tone and how the characters would react and interact afterwards.
Do you have a favorite character you’ve written? Has there been a character that’s been hard to write about?
I honestly think The Templeworth sisters from this new series are my favourite. I absolutely love their relationship with each other, and they have such distinct personalities that bounce well off each other. I have five sisters of my own so I definitely drew on some experience when writing their relationship – and their bickering!
How do you come up with the title to your books?
I have no idea lol! Usually, I’ll start a book by imagining one scene – one scenario that pops into my head and a whole story or series will come from that. It’s aways idea first then title to match.
For A Springtime Scandal, I knew I wanted to do a series about siblings, then the seasons felt like a really fun way to give them all their spotlight. So the titles came from there.
What behind-the-scenes tidbit in your life would probably surprise your readers the most?
Okay, this was a LONG time ago but I used to be a belly dancer! I did gigs, shows and everything. Sadly, I absolutely do not have it anymore but it was definitely fun while it lasted!
Which comes first, the plot or the characters in the planning stages?
It depends on what I’m writing. So in Highway Revenge, I knew I wanted to flip the script so to speak, and have a female highway robber so the plot came first. But it developed into a series so the second and third books were definitely more character centric.
In my Royals of Aldonia series, the focus was very much character first. In that I knew I was writing about sibling royals and their plots came secondary to that.
Read the rest of the interview in Uncaged Book Reviews, linked below.
Nadine Millard is an international best-selling author hailing from Dublin, Ireland.
Having studied and then worked in law for a number of years, Nadine began to live her dream of writing when she had the third of her three children.
She released her debut novel in 2014 and has been writing ever since.
When she’s not writing she can be found reading anything she can get her hands on, ferrying her three children to school and clubs, spoiling her cat, her dog, and snatching time with her long-suffering husband!
nadinemillard.com
A Springtime Scandal
Nadine Millard
Historical Romance
Elodie Templeworth has always been the good sister. The well-behaved sister. The sister on whose shoulders the fate of their family rested.
With three incorrigible younger siblings, Elodie has always made sure she was perfect, above reproach with not a hint of scandal attached to her name. And she was doing a wonderful job of it, too. Until him.
Christian Harrison, Viscount of Brentford could think of little worse than being stuck in some small, country hamlet with nobody and nothing to entertain him. The beautiful Elodie Templeworth had caught his eye. But after a short time in her company he realized that even beauty couldn’t make up for boring, pious purity.
An unfortunate misunderstanding leads to a potential scandal for Elodie and Christian leading Christian to discover that all is not so innocent and demure with the fiery Miss Templeworth. And he’s more than a little intrigued by the passion lurking beneath her rigid composure. Not enough to help her out of a sticky situation though.
He’s ready to wash his hands of Elodie, her family, and the madcap town they all live in. But Elodie has different ideas.
With little options left available to her, she decides the viscount is going to help her escape her village, and the consequences of their actions, with or without his knowledge.
Their forced proximity isn’t what either of them wanted, but as time goes on, and attraction grows, perhaps it’s not so bad after all.
Excerpt
“Sh-should we eat?” she asked trying and failing to sound nonchalant.
“Should we eat?”
Had he yelled, Elodie would have felt rather miffed. But his voice was low and deathly quiet, and infinitely more intimidating because of it.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
He stared at her, a scowl darkening his usually bright blue eyes.
“Miss Templeworth, have you completely taken leave of your senses?”
“No, I just –“
“You just endangered yourself. That’s what you just did. Do you have any idea what might have befallen you if –“
“If what?” she asked when he drew to a sudden stop.
“If I were less than gentlemanly, Miss Templeworth.”
Elodie could only imagine that she looked as sceptical as she felt for his frown deepened further still.
“You do not agree that I have acted the gentleman?” he asked and seemed genuinely astounded. Perhaps a little hurt.
“Well, it’s just that you aren’t making this very easy or pleasant frankly. And –“
“Easy?” he spluttered. “Pleasant? What would you have me do, Elodie? Fall to my knees and thank the gods that I have a runaway madwoman for company?”
“That’s not very gentlemanlike,” she chided and then wondered if someone’s head might actually explode in anger, for the viscount looked as though that were a real possibility right now.
She listened, grudgingly impressed that he seemed to know so many curses in so many languages. At least, she assumed he was cursing based on the English ones that she understood and most certainly did not approve of.
Swearing in the company of a lady was definitely not gentlemanly though it seemed prudent not to mention that at the moment.
After an age, he calmed. Throwing his head back and whispering what sounded like a another prayer for patience, he finally levelled her once more with his ice-cold stare.
“You have no idea the depths of ungentlemanly behaviour to which men can sink, Miss Templeworth. If you did, you never would have taken such a foolish risk.”
Elodie felt a shiver of fear at his words.
She wasn’t quite so naïve as he seemed to think, but she was aware that she’d lived a rather sheltered life, too.
Nevertheless, no matter what he thought of her sense and intelligence, she wouldn’t have gotten into just anyone’s carriage.
Read the rest of the excerpt and the interview in the issue below.
