Interview & Giveaway with Sabrina Jeffries

Today we are so lucky to have with us Sabrina Jeffries, regency romance author extraordinaire. Sabrina has published over 20 regency novels and continues creating wondering series full of scandal and mystery and amazing love stories.

The 5th book in The Hellions of Halstead Hall Series – A Lady Never Surrenders – releases on January 24th .

Sabrina, welcome to The Book Pushers!

Sabrian: Thanks for having me!

 

The Book Pushers: What can you tell us about A Lady Never Surrenders, and what can readers expect from Celia and Jackson?

Sabrina: The story is about Celia trying to gain a good offer of marriage so that her grandmother will see that she’s capable of securing a proposal and will rescind the ultimatum that all the siblings must marry if they’re to gain their inheritance. If Celia’s plan doesn’t work, at least she’ll get a potential husband out of the deal. So she hires Bow Street Runner Jackson Pinter to check out her suitors. He doesn’t like any of them and is determined to keep Celia safe from them, especially since he wants her for himself! The ongoing mystery of the series is also resolved, and the reader will find out what really happened to the Sharpes’ parents.

Celia and Jackson have this burning attraction that they’ve both been sublimating, so when it finally erupts, they’re pretty hot together, I think!

 

The Book Pushers:  Out of your Hellions, which character gave you the most difficulty trying to keep them straight on paper?

Sabrina: Jarret from A Hellion in Her Bed. I just wasn’t sure who he was, and it took me a long time to figure it out. Once I “got” him, though, he practically wrote his own book.

 

The Book Pushers:  Now that the Hellions series has come to an end are you sad to leave these characters, or are you more excited to jump into a new project/series?

Sabrina: I’m always sad to leave characters I love, but I’m also always excited about a new project. Both of those feelings coexist for me at the end of a series.

 

The Book Pushers: Looking at your backlist, you seem to favor series.  What is it about having those interconnections that sparks your creativity?

Sabrina: I like returning to the same world time and again. And I like feeling that there’s a larger construct than the romance—a larger purpose, if you will. That’s what I can gain from doing a series—a bigger canvas.

 

The Book Pushers:  Which favourite book of yours would you pick to recommend for a new reader?

Sabrina: Hmm, that’s a hard choice. If it’s someone new to romance, I’d suggest Never Seduce a Scoundrel, since it has a lot of other stuff in it (adventure, mystery, secrets). If it’s a romance reader who’s new to my books, I’d probably suggest The Truth about Lord Stoneville, so they could start my latest series at the beginning.

 

The Book Pushers: Would you consider writing about heroines and heroes that are not part of  higher society?

Sabrina: Well, since Jackson isn’t part of high society (he’s a Bow Street Runner), I guess you could say I already have. 🙂 I’ve also written about a man of affairs who’s a former smuggler and who is now in trade (Danny Brennan in A Notorious Love) and an American marine (Lucas in Never Seduce a Scoundrel). I like to mix it up.

 

The Book Pushers: You’ve had such a fantastic career writing in the regency genre. Have you ever considered, or would like to try your hands at another genre?

Sabrina: When I wrote under the name Deborah Nicholas, I did three books that were contemporary paranormal romantic suspense. I wouldn’t mind trying that again, but the genre has changed SO much since the 90’s (when I was writing those books) that I don’t know if I could do it successfully. I’ve also considered time travel and a bigger thriller-type series, but I’m just not “hooked” by any idea yet, so I guess I’ll keep writing historicals until other inspiration strikes.

 

The Book Pushers: Can you tell us what you have planned for any future projects?

Sabrina: My next book is a Christmas hardcover (‘Twas the Night After Christmas, on sale October 30, 2012) with Pierce Waverly as the hero (he appears in the last two Hellions books). It’s something of a stand-alone, but it will introduce the main character for my new series, which begins next year. Since that’s still in the formative stages, I’m not ready to talk about it yet, but I’m very excited about it. The first book of THAT series will probably have the Duke of Lyons as a hero.

 

The Book Pushers: Which hero or heroine of yours, or other fictional character, would you love to have drinks with?

Sabrina: Probably Gavin Byrne, from One Night with a Prince. He’s seen so much of society from the inside, I’d like to pick his brain! Plus, he’s sexy. 🙂

 

The Book Pushers: What is the most romantic book, show or movie that you love? And why?

Sabrina: There are so many, but right now I’m in love with North and South (the mini-series of the Elizabeth Gaskell novel, not the Civil War mini-series). Richard Armitage is the hottest hero ever, and the romance is so wonderful. I also adore Castle and Bones. How could you not love those two couples together? They’re so sweet.

 

Thanks so much Sabrina for being here today!! Sabrina has also graciously offered to giveaway one of the first four books in the Hellions of Halstead Hall Series to one lucky winner. This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents and will end on January 27th. Good Luck!