If you’re like me, you’re busy busy busy. I love to visit blogs, but it seems I never have time to get by in a timely fashion…and never in time to win anything! Well, no worries about that here. The Historical Reader Salon will be open all month long and you can come by anytime during the month to join the conversation and enter to win! No rush, no hurry…just a nice relaxing visit (or three) at your leisure. Each month, I’ll throw out a topic for discussion as well as ways for you to win. We’ll keep the conversation going in the comments section and just see how our Reader Salon grows. Hopefully it will develop into a thriving community centered around what we all love—historical romance!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Day 14: The Importance of Being Wicked by Miranda Neville



Welcome to day fourteen of March SWEET Madness—a month long party to celebrate the upcoming release of my novel, SWEET MADNESS, available April 2, 2013.


Our featured author today is Miranda Neville. If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading her yet, you don’t know what you’ve been missing! I must confess, when I read Miranda’s books, even the inner voice in my head has a British accent. Maybe because her books feel so authentically genuine…or maybe because Miranda herself has a lovely English accent, having grown up in Wiltshire and it’s HER voice I hear in my head…


Anyway, enough about my strange psyche…


Today, I’m featuring The Importance of Being Wicked. It’s Miranda’s sixth book, but the first in her new series. That should give you plenty of time to read it so you can live in anticipation all summer until the second Wild Quartet book, The Ruin of a Rogue, comes out August 27th!


More about The Importance of Being Wicked:


The rules of society don't apply to Caro and her coterie of bold men and daring women. But when passions flare, even the strongest will surrender to the law of love....

Thomas, Duke of Castleton, has every intention of wedding a prim and proper heiress. That is, until he sets eyes on the heiress's cousin, easily the least proper woman he's ever met. His devotion to family duty is no defense against the red-headed vixen whose greatest asset seems to be a talent for trouble...

Caroline Townsend has no patience for the oh-so-suitable (and boring) men of the ton. So when the handsome but stuffy duke arrives at her doorstep, she decides to put him to the test. But her scandalous exploits awaken a desire in Thomas he never knew he had. Suddenly Caro finds herself falling for this most proper duke...while Thomas discovers there's a great deal of fun in a little bit of wickedness.





And now for the fun part—your chance to win! Just fill out the rafflecopter form below. Contest will be open for 2 weeks—US & CANADA only, please).
a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you don’t win (or just can’t wait to start reading!), here’s where you can get the book!

Amazon   · Kindle   ·  Nook · Books-aMillion · iTunes · Kobo · Amazon UK · Kindle UK · Book Depository

And to find out more about Miranda, you can visit her website at:




I am also giving away a copy of either my debut, SWEET ENEMY or SWEET DECEPTION (winner’s choice) EVERY DAY of March SWEET Madness! (you will need to enter this contest separately every day for a new chance to win! OPEN INTERNATIONALLY)

Sweet Enemy

Beakers and ball gowns don't mix, so when lady chemist, Miss Liliana Claremont, goes undercover as a husband-hunter to investigate Lord Geoffrey Wentworth, the earl whose family she suspects murdered her father, romance isn't part of her formula. But it only takes one kiss to start a reaction she can't control...

Read the Prologue and First Chapter HERE...

Sweet Deception

Lady criminologist, Miss Emma Wallingford, unknowingly finds herself tangled up in the dangerous final mission of Lord Derick Aveline, a spy who also happens to be her long-lost first love. But when deception, however sweet, is the name of the game, no one can be trusted. And every love--and every life--is at risk.

Read the First Chapter HERE.

And don’t forget SWEET MADNESS, coming April 2, 2013!

There’s a fine line between love and insanity…

Ever since her husband’s sudden and tragic death, Lady Penelope Bridgeman has committed herself to studying the maladies of the mind, particularly treating traumatized soldiers of the Napoleonic Wars. It is this expertise that brings the Marquess of Bromwich’s family to her door.

Gabriel Devereaux’s unexpected and unpredictable episodes are unlike any Penelope has studied. The once proud soldier has been left shaken and withdrawn, but she manages to build a fragile trust between them. Strangely, Gabriel seems completely lucid when not in the grips of his mania, and in the calm between bouts, she is surprised by how much she is drawn to him.

Despite his own growing feelings, Gabriel knows that he is fit for no one, and is determined to keep Penelope away from his descent into madness. But even though she knows firsthand the folly of loving a broken man, Penelope cannot stop herself from trying to save him, no matter the cost.

Read the Prologue and First Chapter HERE...

"In this emotional, compassionate romance...the powerful love story will sweep readers away."
~RT BookReviews, 4 1/2 stars

“The brilliance of Sweet Madness shines strongly and completely. Heather Snow is cutting edge…a master storyteller. Sweet Madness is a magnificent story.”
~Book Obsessed Chicks 5 stars


See you tomorrow, where our featured author is Manda Collins!!!


And don’t forget, giveaways are open for TWO weeks, so if you’ve missed any of the fabulous authors featured, visit the archives section and enter!

40 comments:

  1. My favorite redhead male character is Jamie Fraser of the Outlander saga!

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  2. I like Damien Lewis, star of Homeland. He was great in Band of Brothers and the short-lived TV series Life.

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  3. Oh, I would love to read this book! It's on the top of my want list :) I loved Anne Shirley of Green Gables growing up :) I read those I don't even know how many times!!!

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  4. Favorite red head Emma Stone... I mean she had her hair red once and it looked really good on her. Fallon O'Rourke from, "Sins of A Wicked Duke" by Sophie Jordan was an amazing heroine with red hair. :D

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  5. My favorite red head is Lucille Ball.

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  6. It has to be Lucille Ball.

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  7. My favorite redhead is Prince Harry! Since I have sons of my own I have to bow to his ingenuity to come up with outrageous things to do.

    My younger son said it's a plot started by his older brother Charles to make the 1st born appear a hero while the younger gets in all the trouble. I just know that I appreciate the fact that he accepted his place as the second born male child and spread his wings of freedom and is having a heck of a good time doing it.

    Come on, admit it, if you have sons of your own they don't look so bad after seeing all of what Harry has gotten into do they!

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  8. Well, when I was in Junior High, one of my friends (and my locker mate for several years) was Judy. Her younger sister, Donna, was actually my age, but Judy had had polio so she was now in our grade. I thought she had the most beautiful red hair -- it wasn't the orange-y red, or the dull brownish red, but a lovely true red. Judy died before we finished high school -- 59 or so yrs ago. I miss her still.

    And then, of course I do have to mention a great movie actress with red hair -- Maureen O'Hara.

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  9. Well, my favorite redhead is my granddaughter, who is only 8 years old! :-) Back in the day, I loved Rita Hayworth and Maureen O'Hara. I can't recall any redheads in romances I've read, but my memory ain't what it used to be. :-)

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  10. The Wendy character from Wendy's restaurant or Ron Weasley from Harry Potter.

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  11. I liked Anne Shirley and Ron Weasley. I am reading a new series called Darkest London and one of the sisters has bright red hair and I am loving her book at the moment.

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  12. I love me some Weasleys from Harry Potter. They are all just super awesome people. Also, the chick from x-men is pretty cool. Jean Grey is her name, I think.

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    Replies
    1. Weasley is our King! (Been listening to the HP audiobooks lately...)

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  13. Lucille Ball and my mother were my favorite redheads. They're both gone now but won't be forgotten.

    Marcy Shuler
    bmndshuler(at)hotmail(dot)com

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    1. My grandmother also was a redhead... fun ladies, no?

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  14. One of my best friends is a redhead. In fiction, a couple of my favorites are Jamie Fraser and Jeaniene Frost's Kat Crawfield.

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  15. I'm my favorite redhead :D though the locks have gotten much lighter to more strawberry blonde as I've gotten older ;)

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  16. I enjoyed Roslynn from Johanna Lindsey's Tender Rebel, a fiesty scot woman...okay, I really enjoyed Tony, her hero! I also enjoyed Jade from Julie Garwood's Guardian Angel...or was it her hero, Caine that I really liked... Hmmmm. #lovetonyandcaine

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  17. Love Emma Stone as redhead actress.

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  18. Some favorite redheads in fiction are Jaye Wells' Sabina Kane, Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan and Jeaniene Frost's Cat Crawfield. In real life: Kim Harrison,
    Jeaniene Frost, Maureen O'Hara, Queen Elizabeth I, Ron Howard, Seth Green, Conan O'Brien,and Alyson Hannigan.

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  19. I remember reading about Anne Shirley being called "Carrot" and being intrigued. :) Actress wise - I like Julianne Moore and Gillian Anderson.

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  20. my favorite redhead is Lucille Ball i absolutly love her...

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  21. My favorite red head is Jamie Fraser from Outlander.

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  22. Red hair runs in my family. My sister and I both have red hair or did when we were younger. It is slowly turning white as we age. If I had to pick my favorite red head, then it would have to be my sister. I could not have asked for a better one.

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  23. One of my friends is a redhead and is very special. Thanks:)

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  24. Jessica Chastaine - love her depictions in film.

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  25. My best friend has red hair-- such a beautiful color!

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  26. A lot of my favorite red headed people have already been named. Regardless, I adored Lucille Ball, and Rita Hayworth. Of course, my favorite red head of all has to be my Prince Harry. I think that he's gorgeous, and has such a cheeky smile.

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  27. This giveaway is such a great idea! Thank you for thinking of it! When I think of redheads, the first name that comes to mind is Anne of Green Gables. Then, most recently, Cross, in Sarah MacLean's fabulous One Good Earl Deserves a Lover!

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  28. I had to laugh about the Emma Stone comment - although she plays a red head in a few movies, she's actually a blonde. :D
    I love her as an actress!

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  29. One of my favorite redheads is my son and daughter's teacher that they had in 4th grade. She is absolutely hilarious and she is always writing on facebook book about the crazy things her little boys do.

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  30. I forgot to mention my favorite redheaded nephew. He has been staying with family in Chicago for the past year and will be home in 6 weeks.

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