Uncaged welcomes Meara Platt
Welcome back to Uncaged! You have the start of a new series releasing in October called The Silver Dukes and the first book is Cherish and the Duke. Can you tell us more about this book and the series?
It is a pleasure to be back here with you, and thank you for all the wonderful work you do to support authors and their stories. Oh, yum, those Silver Dukes! This series features handsome, older heroes (in their forties) with a dash of silver in their hair who are determined never to marry (or remarry), and heroines who are in their mid to late twenties and considered spinsters. As with most of my stories, these contain humor and are designed to leave the reader with a smile on their face and a good feeling throughout the day. In Cherish and the Duke, our Silver Duke Gawain, Duke of Bromleigh, has decided it is time for his nephew and heir to marry, so he sets out to find the right young lady for this wayward young man. While at a country house party, he meets the lovely Cherish Northam, daughter of the late Earl of Northam and decides she is perfect – brains, beauty, wit, and charm. But Cherish is shy and knows little about flirting with men, so Gawain undertakes to teach her in the hope she will catch his nephew’s eye. Can you guess the problem? Right! Gawain is horrified to realize he is falling in love with Cherish himself. This story will have you laughing as Gawain’s family (nephew included) conspire to match him with Cherish.
You have a few other series running, The Farthingale Series, The Moonstone Landing series and The Book of Love Series. Are you still writing in these series also?
Most definitely, yes! I get so involved with these families and each hero/heroine that it is very hard for me to ever let them go. My latest releases in the Farthingale Series are Marigold and the Marquess, and The Make-Believe Marriage. In 2025 I will have A Slight Problem With The Wedding, the next Farthingale release. I have written the Farthingales into the Book of Love series as well. They are such a fun, crazy family with lively heroines all bearing the names of flowers and a propensity to get into a heap of trouble. Those poor heroes don’t stand a chance once they walk down Chipping Way and encounter one of John and Sophie Farthingale’s daughters or nieces (and every female within six degrees of blood affiliation is considered a niece). In 2025 I hope to write another Book of Love story (#16 full length book in that series) and another Moonstone Landing story (#7 full length book in that series) because this Moonstone Landing series is such a glorious mix of heartwarming and fun (because even misery is written with a light touch) – wounded heroes who come to this picturesque seacoast village in Cornwall for the purpose of healing and along the way find true love. I hope everyone is enjoying The Moonstone Pirate, a charming, humorous story filled with adventure and an adorable dog named Parrot. I also hope to write another “romantasy” in my Dark Gardens series because these Dragon Lord bad guys (some of whom are 3-flames hot) lost their High King in the last book (Garden of Angels) and now have a vacant throne to be filled.
How do you use social media as an author?
Oh, ha, ha. I would say I use social media fairly poorly. I pretty much stick to Facebook where I have my author page and belong to several wonderful historical and Regency specific groups, along with other groups about England/Scotland history that I just enjoy. I am on Instagram but hardly ever post. Would love to try TikTok but haven’t had the time, although I know I should make time for it. I think the historical romance community on Facebook is filled with very nice, kind readers, and this is where I am most comfortable. I try to stay away from negative groups or posts because I am very much opposed to anyone putting others down for any reason.
Read the rest of this interview in the issue below.
Meara Platt is an award winning, USA TODAY bestselling author and an Amazon UK All-Star. Her favorite place in all the world is England, which may not come as a surprise since many of her stories are set amid the idyllic seacoast landscape of Cornwall, where moonbeams kiss the sea in her Moonstone Landing series, and the majestic crags and dales of the Lake District where her dragon shifter dukes prowl within those misty dales in the Regency “romantasy” Dark Gardens series. Learn more about Meara’s lighthearted and humorous Regency romances in her Farthingale series and Book of Love series, or her warmhearted Regency romances in her Moonstone Landing series, and her Dragon Lords in the Dark Gardens series by visiting her website at www.mearaplatt.com.
Enjoy an excerpt from Cherish and the Duke
Cherish and the Duke
Meara Platt
Historical Romance
Sometimes, the best-laid plans go awry in the best way.
Gawain Burton, the Duke of Bromleigh, is a Silver Duke, and everyone in the ton knows these exceptionally handsome forty-something men with some gray salted in their hair have no intention of ever marrying. However, carrying on the Bromleigh title is important, and Gawain is determined to find a proper wife for his nephew and heir. To that end, he attends a house party at the country estate of his cousin, Lady Shoreham, who claims to have found his nephew the perfect wife. Gawain heartily agrees with her choice, for Lady Cherish Northam is intelligent, soft-spoken, has a lovely sense of humor, and is beautiful. Her hair is the color of molten honey and her eyes are a dark brandy brown. The only problem is that she is shy, and Gawain must help her overcome that shyness and put herself forward so that his nephew notices her. Gawain certainly has noticed her…and, dear heaven, she seems to be noticing him. Will his heart allow him to give up Cherish?
Lady Cherish Northam’s life has taken a turn for the worse after the death of her parents. She finds herself reduced to little more than a servant in what was once her own household. Her uncle, the new Earl of Northam, is a toad who means to keep her on as unpaid help. So when her friend and neighbor, Lady Shoreham, invites her to her house party, Cherish leaps at the chance. She needs to marry to claim the trust fund inheritance her father left in the control of her uncle, but what seems a simple decision becomes quite complicated when she falls in love with Gawain. He is a Silver Duke and everyone knows these gorgeous-as-sin dukes do not marry. Can she harden her heart and marry his nephew? She doesn’t think so. But what choice does she have? Unless… Can she possibly win Gawain’s heart?
Cherish and the Duke is a lighthearted Regency historical romance, the first in the Silver Duke series. Enjoy the read as these heroes who seem to have it all find the one thing that has eluded them throughout their lives…love.
Excerpt
Chapter One
Shoreham Manor
Brighton, England
August 1817
Dear heaven, he is gorgeous.
Lady Cherish Northam stared at Gawain, Duke of Bromleigh, who had just arrived at Shoreham Manor, the Brighton estate of her dearest friend and neighbor, Lady Shoreham. He strode into the parlor with his two friends, also dukes, and all three of them graying at the temples. These men were known throughout the ton as the Silver Dukes, and Cherish now understood what all the fuss surrounding them was about. They weren’t so much silver as silverish, for there were only hints of gray shot through their hair and none of them looked at all feeble.
A buzz of excitement filled the air as others noticed them.
They had arrived fashionably late to Lady Shoreham’s week-long house party, striding into the room with all the arrogance of warriors just returned from battle. Lady Shoreham, who stood beside Cherish, now frowned. “So typical of those beasts to purposely make a grand entrance. Now all the ladies are going to fuss and flutter over them because they are dukes and too handsome to ignore.”
“Is that so terrible, Fiona?” Cherish asked. “Was this not the point of your house party, to match unmarried young ladies to eligible gentlemen?”
“Yes, but these three are confirmed bachelors, and it will take more than a week to wear them down.” She tapped a finger to her lips as she stared at them. “But wouldn’t it be fun if we managed it?”
“We? Oh, no.” Cherish’s eyes rounded in surprise. “Fiona, do not get any silly ideas into your head, especially about me.”
“You are my dearest friend,” Fiona said with a little sniff. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”
Cherish trusted Fiona. In fact, she adored her. But she could also tell that her friend was plotting something.
Dear heaven.
She hoped Fiona was not thinking to match her to one of those ton gods.
“Oh, drat,” Fiona said with a huff. “The ladies are already fluttering around them. What a nuisance. And just look at how those rascals are eating up the attention. They will ruin my party because no lady will pay attention to the other gentlemen while busy swooning over those old dogs. What gall, showing up late. They did this on purpose to rile me, I’m sure. I ought to toss them out on their vaunted backsides.”
Cherish laughed. “Why did you invite them if they were only going to rile you? And especially if they are not of a mind to marry.”
“I had to. Bromleigh is a cousin of mine, and we are on a mission.”
Cherish wanted to ask what sort of mission, but they were interrupted as the three dukes now marched toward them with smiles on their faces. She meant to ease away, but Fiona grabbed her hand. “Stay right here, Cherish. I have need of you.”
“What for? Surely you do not need me to—”
“Gawain!” Fiona cried with abundant cheer, giving her cousin, the stunning, dark-haired one with a hint of silver at his temples and striking green eyes, a kiss on the cheek as he reached their side.
“Sorry we’re late, Fiona.” He bussed her cheek in return. “Camborne’s horse threw a shoe and it took us forever to find a farrier to repair it.”
“I suppose there were serving maids to comfort you while you waited at the nearest tavern,” Fiona muttered. “You had better be on your best behavior here, or I will never forgive you.”
The other two dukes now joined them in time to hear her grumbling.
Read the rest of this excerpt in the issue below
