Friday Fun: Meet Eileen Dreyer + Giveaway!!!

Please help me welcome mega-talented Eileen Dreyer to the blog today! I'm lucky to call Eileen my RWA chapter mate and so thrilled to have her here:) 
Eileen will be offering a B & N gift card to one lucky commentator, so be sure to leave a note to Eileen.
You can learn all about Eileen and her many, many books at her Website 


Thanks for being here today, Eileen!

How to Do Innocent Sexiness

            So there I was with a historical romance trilogy under my belt, and I realized that there would be an unavoidable lapse before the next one. “I have an idea,” my editor said. “Why don’t you write an e-story to bridge the gap.”

            How did I answer? The way I answer any question put to me by my editor. “Sure. I can do that.”

            Hmmm. What exactly should the story be? I couldn’t just slip one into the ongoing timeline. After all, my series is about a group of gentlemen spies who are in the midst of foiling a plot to overthrow the British throne in 1815. Before I knew what I was doing, I had established a timeline. Ian Ferguson, one of my spies, also called Drake’s Rakes, ended the last book of the first trilogy(Always a Temptress) shot and falling into the English Channel. I couldn’t simply say, “And now for something completely different.” By the time I got back to him, he’d be a mackerel snack.

            Well, I thought, how bout I introduce the next trilogy?

            “Next trilogy?” my editor asked. “You just said you’re doing the Rakes. That’s nine books.”

            “Ah, yes, but if I divide it up by heroines into three, the whole thing would be much more manageable.”(at least for me.)

            Just as with every conversation I have with my editor, this one ended with me saying, “Trust me.”

So I would like to introduce my new Drake’s Rakes trilogy, Last Chance Academy, where the next three heroines—Sarah Clarke, Fiona Ferguson and Pippin Knight—survived school. They think they were sent there because they were incorrigible. And while they are, there is another very good reason. They just don’t know it until they find out in my estory, It Begins With a Kiss.

            Excellent. We have an idea. We have a story that introduces not only the school and how it affects our heroines, it introduces those heroines, and lets us know which heroes they will eventually match wits with. Which brings us to an unexpected problem.

“We’d like it to be…you know…hot,” one of the publishing people said.

            Okay. So in addition to introducing the characters, I  had to actually introduce one of the couples. I settled on Fiona Ferguson and Alex Knight, who is called to the school to stop Fiona from running away. And yes, of course there is chemistry. How can there not be?

            However…

            When Kiss begins, Fiona is only sixteen. Alex is only twenty-three or so, but still, it just seemed a bit…well, felonious. So I’ll admit it right now. There is no full-frontal nudity. There is, however, quite enough action to make their relationship inevitable.

            I really hope you enjoy It Begins With a Kiss. I had such fun writing it(once I figured out that whole PG rating thing). And I do get to introduce three new heroines, whom I know I’m going to love just as much as the Three Graces who made up the first trilogy. Tell me if you agree.

            Stop by my website www.eileendreyer.com or my Drake’s Rakes page on Facebook for giveaways and notifications. Oh, and romance trading cards. I have a brand new one for It Begins With a Kiss, complete with one of the most beautiful covers I’ve ever seen, much less had. And let me know if I got that heat level right. I hope so. I’ve loved my Rakes for a long time. And I’m really falling in love with the girls of Last Chance Academy.