Meet Pamela Gibson, author of Scandal’s Bride

Today’s special treat for you is a conversation with author Pamela Gibson. She’s currently on tour talking about her latest book Scandal’s Bride. Get more insight into the characters and her writing process. Plus find out what superpower she wishes she had! Also enjoy an excerpt from the book and then follow the tour to read even more. Leave her more questions in the comments. And be sure to enter the great giveaway!

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Describe your book in one sentence or fewer than 25 words.

Two strangers agree to a marriage of convenience for mutual benefit, but secrets, lies, and unseen enemies may soon end their growing attraction.

What was the inspiration behind this book?

Gwen and John are secondary characters in Scandal’s Child, the first book. I’d always wanted to write a marriage of convenience trope, but I needed a good set of circumstances. Gwen and John provided them. They both have reasons for a hasty marriage and trusted friends vouch for each other’s character. Gwen is strong-willed, impetuous, and bold. She longs for adventure. John has secrets, but he promises her independence. They become friends first, then the difficulties arise.

Which character was your favorite to write?

I loved writing Gwen. She’s everything I’m not. She’s optimistic, impetuous, stubborn, fiercely independent at a time when women were docile, obedient, and rule-bound. She loves books, animals, and adventures, and has a sunny optimism when it comes to life. She longs to be a mother, and begins to show her vulnerable side when she thinks her husband is rejecting her because of her looks. Life’s adversity begins to wear her down and we see small changes in her personality as she deals with various situations until she begins to doubt her own decisions. Will she get her happily ever after? Of course. This is a romance novel.

What was one of your favorite scenes?

I loved the first sex scene because they’re both so cute. They’re nervous, they talk about it ahead of time, they fidget. John assures her it will be clinical, quick, and she won’t have to endure it again. Gwen is eager, but not sure she should show it. She longs for the experience, to know why such things made the kitchen maids giggle and swoon when they whispered about their experiences. When it happens, everything changes, and they both have to acknowledge new feelings, even if it’s only to themselves.

Will we see these characters again?

This is the second book in the series. They appeared in the first book, Scandal’s Child, and will make brief appearances in the third, Scandal’s Promise.

What do you hope people will get out of your book?

Regency romance novels are a step into a different world where people can escape their daily existence for a few hours. While the characters face problems, they do it surrounded by servants, beautiful clothes, rich food, and grand houses. Life, of course, wasn’t like that for the masses. It was a time of great changes in England, when the country began its move from an agricultural economy to the industrial revolution.

In my novel I try to show the value of persistence, the joy of compassion, and the necessity of evaluating uncomfortable information, even when the source appears to be reliable. In modern terms, never give up on your dreams, be kind to others, and be careful you don’t succumb to fake news.

Tell us about your other published works.

I have five novels in my Love in Wine Country contemporary series set in Northern California’s Napa Valley and Sonoma Coast. Four novellas also share characters and settings in this series. I’ve also begun a series called Mission Belles set in the romantic, early California rancho period, which in many ways mimics the Regency period in England. While this latter time period doesn’t yet have a following, it has come to the notice of Shonda Rhimes who is doing a Netflix series set in early California, just prior to the war between Mexico and the United States. It will air in the 2019-2020 lineup.

On what are you currently working?

Book three of my scandal series is underway. It’s the story of Lady Emily Sinclair, a friend of Gwen’s, who shuns the Season to rusticate on her family’s estate because of the return of her neighbor, a man who was wounded in the Napoleonic Wars. He’s a man she once loved who now has a problem only she can help him solve. 

What does your upcoming release schedule look like?

My fifth novella in the Love in Wine Country novella series will be released in November. I hope to release book two in the Mission Belles series, Return of the Fox, in spring, and Scandal’s Promise, book three in the Regency series will come out hopefully next summer. I also have the final book in the Love in Wine Country novels to stick in there somewhere, but it’s not finished yet.

What is your writing routine?

I’d love to say I sit down, work out each detail of the plot, then write. That’s not the case. I pace, I nibble, I pace some more. I figure out a beginning and an end. I think about the characters and give them certain personality traits in my head. Then I sit down to write.  I work very hard on that first chapter, then I’m off and running. I’m a pantser, I get the first draft done. Then I go back and check timelines, character arcs, progression of the story, rewriting as necessary. In several subsequent drafts I look at dialogue, introspection, action. Finally, I polish. I remove passive verbs, check for overused words, echoes, and sentences or even scenes that don’t add anything. Once I’m satisfied it goes to my husband who is my primary beta reader. Then to my editor. Whew!

Who is your writing muse?

My husband is and always will be my writing muse. He is partially disabled, so we’re always together. When I’m pacing and nibbling too much, he glares and says “just get the words on the page.” I comply. While he’d be thrilled if I would outline, he’s given up trying to make me do it. When I’m frustrated and I declare I’m giving up—can’t write another word—he talks me through it until I start writing again. Love that man!

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

I’d like to be able to close my eyes, click my heels, and be transported to another place or another time (just like Dorothy in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz), but of course, I’d want to be able to come back whenever I was ready.

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Scandal’s Bride

Marry in haste…

Lady Gwendolyn Pettigrew longs to be a mother, but refuses to marry the lecherous old fool her father has found for her. When her best friend convinces her to consider her husband’s younger brother as a suitable candidate, Gwen agrees to a marriage of convenience, hoping against hope that her dream of becoming a mother will have a chance. 

The Hon. John Montague, a penniless younger son, is handsome, witty, and thrilled that a woman with a dowry has agreed to wed him. Best of all she’s a fiercely independent bluestocking, a woman who won’t want to bother with a family. Because John has a shocking secret. He’s vowed never to bring a child into the world, a child who, like his own mother, might carry the strain of madness.

As secrets unfold, tension grows, threatening the fragile bonds they’ve forged.  Worse, someone wants them to abandon their home and leave Yorkshire, and they’ll stop at nothing to make it happen.

Read an excerpt:

He removed his waistcoat, laying it over the topcoat, and sat down opposite Gwen. “Gwen . . .”

“John.”

They both laughed, and it was a good feeling. He drained his wine glass. “Drink up. I want to talk to you before we retire.”

Her eyes widened, and her breath seemed to catch. Was she feeling faint? He certainly was. Why had he left this so long? Most people consummated their marriage the first night. 

She picked up her glass and took a hefty swallow. Her cheeks were as pink as her dress, and she looked as good as an iced sweet in a bakery window, something he’d like to swirl his tongue around and gently taste.

Get on with it.

He took a deep breath, scooted his chair closer to hers until their knees touched, and took one of her hands in his. Her fingers were long and well-shaped. He wondered what they would feel like on his . . .

“Gwen . . .”

“John.”

They laughed again, and their merriment gave him an opening. He placed his hand behind her head, leaned in, and took her bottom lip in his mouth, nibbling as he watched her face. She was as wide-eyed as he was, not even trying to move away. Then her lashes fluttered, and her eyes closed as she moved closer, inviting him to deepen the kiss. She moaned as his lips closed over hers, and he was totally undone.

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About Pamela Gibson

Author of eight books on California history and twelve romance novels, Pamela Gibson is a former City Manager who lives in the Nevada desert. Having spent the last three years messing about in boats, a hobby that included a five-thousand-mile trip in a 32-foot Nordic Tug, she now spends most of her time indoors happily reading, writing, cooking and keeping up with the antics of her gran-cats, gran-dog, and gran-fish. Sadly, the gran-lizard went to his final reward. If you want to learn more about her activities go to https://www.pamelagibsonwrites.com and sign up for her blog and quarterly newsletter.

Or follow her in these places:

Bookbub: www.bookbub.com/profile/pamela-gibson 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pamgibsonwrites/ 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/pamgibsonwrites 

Website: www.pamelagibsonwrites.com 

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/pamgibsonwrites 

Amazon: www.amazon.com/Pamela-Gibson/e/B00MKVB4XE

Pamela Gibson will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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