In The Arms of An Earl second chance!

I am excited to announce that my first Regency historical romance, In The Arms of An Earl, is an Amazon "Encore" release!  They picked 100 romance novels out of 1,000s of The Wild Rose Press's catalog. It is being offered for free to Kindle Select readers for a set time frame. As of this writing, the Amazon ranking went from the high 700ks to about 39k! Thank you to everyone who read my book the first time it came out, and for those of you willing to give it a try now.

I got the idea for this story from my longtime favorite character, Mary Bennet of Pride and Prejudice. Specifically, from the actress, Talulah Riley (pictured on the right), who played Mary in the Focus Features film a decade ago. I was thinking of writing a spin-off P&P series of the younger Bennet sisters, Kitty and Mary. I couldn't think of how to make Mary a romantic heroine until I saw a photo of the actress who played Mary in the film. Seeing how lovely Talulah is in real life made me think that this is what our plain little Mary would look like if she were in love and cared for by a wonderful man.

Enter composer and hand amputee, Frederick Blakeney. This hero is probably the closest to my ideal man whom I've ever written. Tall, dark and handsome, with a musical genius cut short by a wound suffered in the war, Frederick is considerate, passionate, and ready and willing to sweep our plain little spinster off her feet and into the glittering world of London. Mary can hardly believe that her idol loves her as much as she loves him, and because of her own insecurities and being overshadowed by two newly married beautiful sisters, the plot of the book came quite easily.

But my heroine is named Jane, you may argue. What's all this about Mary? The original title of In the Arms of An Earl was MISS BENNET IN LOVE. I couldn't find a publisher willing to take on a story about Mary, so the new title and certain elements of P&P remain.

So, if you're like me, and always wanted to see Mary Bennet in her own happily ever after, please feel free to indulge yourself and imagine my heroine, Jane Brooke, is the hapless, hopeless, Mary Bennet. Perhaps you'll be cheering for her and Frederick by the time you reach The End.

Celebrating my New Book! Available in all formats and paperback!

It's been a while since I had a new book out, and I'm thrilled to say that IN THE ARMS OF AN EARL is now available in paperback and all e-book formats from The Wild Rose Press. If you'd like to buy an autographed copy from me, please email me at annasmallbooks@yahoo.com for special information.

I was inspired to write this story after seeing a photo of Talulah Riley, the actress who played Mary Bennett in the Kiera Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice. In the movie, Mary is plain and obscure, and a bit of a know-it-all. I always liked her! But then I saw the photo of the actress, all made-up and styled and glamorous, and thought, this is how Mary Bennett would look if she were loved by a wonderful man! So that's how I came up with the character for Jane Brooke.

I'm thinking of sending a copy of the book to this lovely actress so she knows that her portrayal of a character inspired a book!

Frederick was found in a similar way, that is, inspired by a real person. I've discussed before about seeing "Wounded Warriors" coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, and how it touches me. Young, strong men missing limbs but still living their lives as much as they ever did. Being the daughter, sister, and wife of veterans, soldiers are dear to my heart. I was also tired of reading "perfect heroes" in other romances. If they are "scarred" it's always something superficial or something that can heal itself. I wondered what it would be like to have a romance hero be one-handed. How would the heroine feel about it? More than that, how is he coming to terms with the loss of a limb?

I've seen more books coming out now with non-traditional characters in the lead. Overly plump heroines. Heroes missing a limb. Authors are breaking the boundaries of the svelte-yet-curvy beauty falling for the tall, dark and handsome hero.

And readers are loving it.