photo: Julianne Havel8
His Spanish Bride has only been out for a couple of days, but it’s short, so this seems a good time to start a discussion threat for it. If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear what you think, if it changes your perceptions of Suzanne/Mélanie and Malcolm/Charles, if the circumstances of their marriage are what you’d imagined. If you haven’t read it, feel free to ask questions – but expect spoilers in the thread obviously.
I’ll give away another signed cover flat of The Paris Affair to a commenter.
And laying the back ground for The Paris Affair, I’ve just posted a new Fraser Correspondence letter from Lady Caroline Lamb to Cordelia.
November 25, 2012 at 11:49 am
I just read it last night, and loved it. It changed my perception of Suzanne a little bit. I congratulate you on making her such a sympathetic character, despite all her deceptions, which are more extensive than I realized. Also, they both seem so mature for their ages. Malcolm/Charles is in his twenties when they marry, right?
By coincidence, I am also in the middle of reading Dark Angel, and I wonder how you researched the setting for your books that take place in Spain and Portugal. Did you do a lot of traveling there?
November 25, 2012 at 8:35 pm
I’ve been trying to buy His Spanish Bride since 23rd November, the date I had marked as the publication date. I cannot find it on Amazon UK. Do you know how I can get hold of it in England, please?
November 25, 2012 at 8:42 pm
I’ve been reading a blog which I think you’d enjoy – it is going through 1812 day-by-day, featuring letters written at the time. As well as some interesting posts on Napoleon, it has reproduced several letters from Byron to Lady Melbourne concerning Lady Caroline Lamb and others. http://1812now.blogspot.co.uk
November 25, 2012 at 11:08 pm
So glad you enjoyed it, Karin! Yes, Malcolm/Charles is 25 when they marry and Suzanne/Mel is 20. They’re both old for their age (which I think makes sense given their respective pasts).
Cool you’re reaching Dark Angel! I visited Portugal and Spain as a child but wasn’t able to go there to do research. I looked at pictures and videos (including some taken by the parents of friends with a house in the part of Spain where Dark Angel begins). And I read a lot of letters/diaries of soldiers in the Peninsula War. The letters of Colonel Augustus Frazer were particularly helpful for both Dark Angel and His Spanish Bride.
November 25, 2012 at 11:14 pm
I’m so sorry you’re having trouble getting hold of His Spanish Bride,HJ. I will check with my publisher and let you know as soon as I have more info. Thanks for letting me know about the problem.
Thanks for the blog link – it looks great!
On another note, I’ve been trying to contact you to let you know you’re a winner in the Lauren Willig contest. You can contact Lauren here http://www.laurenwillig.com/getintouchwithlauren.php to redeem your prize.
November 26, 2012 at 8:25 am
Thank you! I have emailed Lauren, and apologies for not doing so sooner. I do hope that I’ll soon be able to purchase His Spanish Bride. I’ve been looking forward to it!
November 27, 2012 at 7:04 am
One way or another I’ll make sure you get to read it1
November 26, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Muy bueno!!! Me gusta mucho este libro!! That is about as much high school Spanish that I know, so I will switch to English to better explain my thoughts on this delightful little sweet (while trying to avoid entwining a spoiler within this comment)
In the other books (list them), the meeting of S and M and their subsequent marriage is like having little glimpses and pieces of a puzzle that you put together in your own haphazard way…until this lovely book came out to answer all the questions and to put those pieces assembled in your imagination each into its perfect place. This book was lovely and I enjoyed every second of it – although for me it was too short (as always, I am greedy and want more).
“His Spanish Bride” adds layers to the Rannochs’ story. Their relationship is like a parfait, so many delicious layers. It is also a revealing glimpse of Suzanne, and even though her reasons for marriage are not typical, I still think they really are meant for each other.
In reading this, I can get an inkling of the heartbreak that will result when all the secrets are laid bare in future novels, but know that even though this marriage was based on lies, love is stronger and will conquer all. Suzanne and Malcolm are a couple I will always cheer for, and I love the idea of a novella in the middle as we wait for the next installment – just to wet our appetites and keep us sated
Thank you so much for that treat over thanksgiving weekend!
In closure, if you have not read it, I have only 2 words for you: Read IT!!!
November 26, 2012 at 4:10 pm
p.s. Melanie is adorable and congrats on her first steps!!! That is so exciting! Has she said her first word yet?
November 27, 2012 at 7:10 am
Thanks so much, Tiffany – I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Your comment about the heartbreak when secrets are laid bare is very apropos, because I am working on those very scenes now in the book that will follow The Paris Affair. Having written His Spanish Bride definitely is helping me in writing those scenes. I’m also talking to my editor about another novella, next holiday season, about the birth of their second child, Jessica (who is born between Paris Affair and the next book).
And thanks for the nice words about my Mélanie. She says “mama” a lot, and sometimes she says it right to me. But she also points at the sky and says it or looks at the cat or various other things, so I’m not entirely sure I can be confident she knows what it means
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November 27, 2012 at 5:41 pm
I just finished the novella, and it was great! And I agree with Tiffany – it’s nice to have something to tide us over until “The Paris Affair.” So Suzanne’s real maiden name is Lescaut? Is there supposed to be a relationship between her and a character from “Dark Angel”?
I really enjoyed the small “mission” that Malcolm is given in the novella, and I thought it was perfect to have him and Suzanne start their marriage off with a little team-building exercise
Also, the more I read, the more I wanted to know more details about what happened with Suzanne and Malcolm met for the first time in the Cantabrian Mountains! Do you think you will ever write about that?
Thank you for doing what you do – your stories are wonderful.
November 27, 2012 at 7:38 pm
So glad you enjoyed it, Ashley! Yes, Suzanne’s maiden name is Lescaut, which is also the name of characters in Dark Angel, Shores of Desire, and Shadows of the Heart. It also happens to be the name of one of my cats and comes from the operas Manon/Manon Lescaut. And yes, in my head at least, Suzanne is distantly connected to the Lescauts from my historical romances. Also, I don’t know if you noticed, but at one point Blanca calls her Mél– Suzanne’s real name is Mélanie
.
I actually did write about Malcolm and Suzanne’s meeting in the Cantabrian Mountains in flashback in Secrets of a Lady, when they were Charles and Mélanie. I may revisit it again at some point, perhaps also in flashback or at least discussion, with Malcolm and Suzanne. I confess I find their past very fun to explore!
December 11, 2012 at 9:54 pm
Dear Tracy
I have enjoyed your books since I first bought “Daughter of the Game” many years ago.
I have your books in paperback and also in kindle.
I have also been trying to purchase “His Spanish Bride” since the end of November either through Barnes and Noble or Amazon but both sites will not sell to me because I am in Australia.
Is there any way that I can purchase this novella? It was to be my Christmas present to me!
Please help if you can and thank you for many enjoyable hours and transporting me to another world.
Cathy
December 11, 2012 at 10:03 pm
I’m so sorry you haven’t been able to purchase His Spanish Bride, Cathy. It seems because my publisher only has US rights, they can’t sell the eversion outside the country though they can sell print books. If you email me through the About Tracy page, I think I have a way to get a copy to you.
I’m thrilled you enjoy my books so much – and very honored His Spanish Bride is your Christmas present to yourself!
December 16, 2012 at 11:02 am
I was able to buy the eversion of His Spanish Bride through amazon.com even though I live in the Netherlands. Really loved the book by the way! Can’t wait until The Paris Affair comes out.
December 23, 2012 at 2:03 am
So glad you enjoyed His Spanish Bride, Petra, and great you could order it. Did you go through Amazon Us?