Title: THE TROUBLE WITH DUKES
Author: Grace Burrowes
Series: Windham Brides, #1
On Sale: Dec 20, 2016
Publisher: Forever
“Sexy heroes, strong heroines, intelligent plots, enchanting love stories...Grace Burrowes's romances have them all.” –Mary Balogh, New York Times bestselling author
“THE TROUBLE WITH DUKES has everything Grace Burrowes's many fans have come to adore: a swoonworthy hero, a strong heroine, humor, and passion. Her characters not only know their own hearts, but share them with fearless joy. Grace Burrowes is a romance treasure.” –Tessa Dare, New York Times bestselling author.
This first novel in a new Regency series from USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes is a spinoff of her highly popular Windham series.
THEY CALL HIM THE DUKE OF MURDER...
The gossips whisper that the new Duke of Murdoch is a brute, a murderer, and even worse--a Scot. They say he should never be trusted alone with a woman. But Megan Windham sees in Hamish something different, someone different.
No one was fiercer at war than Hamish MacHugh, though now the soldier faces a whole new battlefield: a London Season. To make his sisters happy, he'll take on any challenge--even letting their friend Miss Windham teach him to waltz. Megan isn't the least bit intimidated by his dark reputation, but Hamish senses that she's fighting battles of her own. For her, he'll become the warrior once more, and for her, he might just lose his heart.
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Q&A
1. Was there a specific part in the book that you had an especially difficult time writing? If so, why?
The middle of a novel is supposed to be the most challenging part to write, but for me, it was working out the ending of The Trouble With Dukes. Hamish and Megan are two fundamentally competent people, but both are lugging around problems that resulted from being too virtuous—too loyal, in Hamish’s case; too trusting, in Megan’s. And yet, I wanted them to realize that being loyal and trusting isn’t an issue in itself—they just had to choose the right people in whom to place their faithfulness and trust…. And that would be each other, of course. How to show that on the page wasn’t immediately obvious to me.
2. Was there any particular research that you did for this book?
I spent some time trying to figure out what exactly formal Highland attire would have been in the 1820s, and that’s a hard question to answer. Fortunately, George IV’s visit to Scotland inspired not only interest in traditional Highland dress, but also a lot of portraiture portraying same. I found more variety than I’d anticipated, including some versions of the kilt that came perilously close to resembling miniskirts!
3. Where do you get your ideas?
From the problems in life I’ve had the hardest time solving, the betrayals that hurt the most. Romance is character-driven fiction, and what drives the characters is usually an unresolved wound. I can’t figure out how to corner a character into facing that wound unless I know what the hurt is. Ergo, personal experience is a useful point of departure. I start by asking myself, “Where and when did it hurt? Why? What would have helped?” and so forth.
4. How much of the book, if any, is inspired by personal experience?
Great minds are thinking alike! I was born cross-eyed, like many babies, but I was severely cross-eyed. The pediatrician told my mother not to worry about it, but she was a mother of six at that point, also a registered nurse. She knew enough to ignore that advice and worry about it. Because Mom was tireless about finding me a competent ophthalmologist, I wore glasses from infancy on. I’m still all but non-functional without glasses now. I know that sense of utter frustration when I can’t find my glasses, and the unease of seeing somebody handle them cavalierly.
5. If you could give your hero and heroine any advice at the start of "THE TROUBLE WITH DUKES", what would you tell them and why?
I would tell them they are deserving of love and loyalty, and to never, never, never give up on their love. Not even on page
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