Miranda very kindly agreed to be my victim…uh, guest on the blog today. So here are five questions with Miranda Neville:

ANNA: Miranda, congratulations on the release of your debut historical romance NEVER RESIST TEMPTATION which is out at the end of February. Can you tell us something about this story?

MIRANDA: Jacobin, my heroine, runs away from her uncle when he loses her in a game of cards. She’s learned to be an expert pastry chef and she gets a job in the Prince Regent’s kitchen, disguised as a young man. That’s all fine until her uncle – one of the Prince’s friends — is poisoned by a dessert she made. Someone’s setting her up to take the fall so she escapes again and ends up working for – the man who won her in the card game! Anthony, the Earl of Storrington wants to use her as an instrument of revenge but he’s soon torn between his attraction to her and his other goal.

ANNA: I know food plays a major part in this story. What made your mouth water? Apart from Lord Storrington, obviously!

MIRANDA: Jacobin is a pastry and dessert cook so NEVER RESIST TEMPTATION gives some of the recipes she makes for her employer. Ironically Anthony, Lord Storrington doesn’t really have a sweet tooth. However, he learns to appreciate her confections in certain contexts. Ahem. Whipped cream anyone? While I was writing the book I was on a diet and lost 50 pounds so my appreciation of her pastries was entirely vicarious.

ANNA: What was your favorite book when you were 12?

MIRANDA: That’s easy. I must have been about 12 when I first read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and it’s been my favorite book ever since. LITTLE WOMEN came a close second. Around that time I also started scarfing up everything by Georgette Heyer and Jean Plaidy.

ANNA: Describe your ideal holiday location.

MIRANDA: Anywhere but England! If that sounds odd, you have to understand that I grew up there and all my family live there, so that’s pretty much where I spend my vacations. Sometimes I long for sun, beaches and drinks with umbrellas. I love museums and art galleries and had a marvelous five days in Rome two years ago. And I have a friend who moved to Hawaii and keeps asking me to visit. If I get really stuck with a deadline I’m going to take my laptop to her veranda for a working holiday.

ANNA: Do you cast your novels? If so, who would you cast as Jacobin and Lord Storrington in NEVER RESIST TEMPTATION?

MIRANDA: I mostly use period portraits and my own imagination for inspiration but the hero of my WIP does bear an uncanny resemblance to Daniel Craig. And one of my earlier efforts definitely featured a Brad Pitt look-alike. I could see Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet as Anthony and Jacobin.

ANNA: Thanks, Miranda! Great answers! And it sounds like a great book!

Miranda is a brave woman. She’s blogging with the Romance Bandits on Tuesday, 10th March. Pop by to find out more about this sparkling new addition to Avonlandia and to win a signed copy of her debut book NEVER RESIST TEMPTATION!

ANNA: Margo, your latest historical romance is WILD which came out in January. Can you tell us about this story?

MARGO: I would love to! The premise of WILD was to pit a prim and proper young spinster against a young man with no sense of propriety, no decorum. I came up with Grace Hawthorne, the companion to a dowager countess, and Anthony Maddox, the heir to an earldom who was lost on safari in Africa as a child. Twenty-some years later, Anthony is back on his grandmother’s estate (that would be Grace’s employer) and Grace is given the task of making him a suitable earl. Of course Anthony loves to push Grace out of her comfort zone with his inappropriate, “uncivilized” behavior. And Grace pushes back with strict rules to govern his actions. Yet in spite of their differences, sparks of attraction fly between them interfere with what each one thinks he or she really wants.

ANNA: Sounds great! There’s more than a touch of Tarzan in this latest book. Do you have a favorite version of Tarzan? Why?

MARGO: [Blush] I am embarrassed to admit I never read any of the Graystoke novels. But I did see the Johnny Weissmuller film version on TV as a kid. I should see if I can rent it one of these days and see if I remember it correctly. There was Jane, of course …and Cheetah. And weren’t there a few Nazis wandering around the jungle? WILD doesn’t have any scenes of Africa (nor does Anthony do that “Tarzan call”). For WILD, I had to figure a way for Anthony to have remembered English, or else the dialogue in the book would have been problematic. He had an old bible that he read during his years in Africa. So, er, to answer the question … I guess the Johnny Weissmuller version would be my favorite Tarzan – because it’s the only one I can remember!

ANNA: What’s coming up next?

MARGO: TAKEN BY THE LAIRD is coming out in October. It features a brooding Scottish castle, a brooding laird, and a runaway bride. I love adventure-romances, and this one is full of it – there’s smuggling, and a daring sea rescue… not to mention a lot of steamy interludes between the hero and heroine. It’s going to be a perfect book to curl up with on a chilly autumn night!

ANNA: What’s your favorite film?

MARGO: Independence Day – with Will Smith and Bill Paxton. I know that seems weird for a romance author, but it has all the elements I love – including a bit of romance!

ANNA: Tell us five quirky things about Margo Maguire.

MARGO: I’m almost always reading four or five books concurrently.

I used to be a director of the 17-18 year-old division of a large travel ice hockey association. I can quote all kinds of hockey rules. Aren’t you glad you know this? (ANNA: Delighted, LOL!)

I have more pets than I ever wanted: two 90 lb Labrador Retrievers and two house cats. And somehow, they all get along!

My body doesn’t tolerate caffeine. I can’t even drink a coke without having problems with it! And yet, I somehow manage to live a full and happy life.

I do my computer “mousing” with my left hand. It was awkward at first, but when I broke my right hand and had to have pins and a cast, I didn’t have any choice. Now that I’m used to it – I won’t go back!

ANNA: What makes a great romance hero?

MARGO: He’s a man with issues to resolve, but the issues don’t turn him into a whining wimp – they propel him forward toward a resolution. He is strong in his own way, and learns to appreciate the heroine for all of her strengths. He is never threatened by her (OK, maybe at first, but he gets over it pretty quick!). He has an innate kindness inside, but it’s not always obvious – except to the heroine. He can appreciate humor and irony, although he doesn’t always apply those insights to himself. Most of all, he will protect and respect the heroine from the very start – even before their love has a chance to get off the ground.

ANNA: Lovely description of a romance hero, Margo! Thanks for being my victim…uh, guest today! I’m really looking forward to reading WILD! Sounds like it combines two of my favorite themes – the fish out of water and opposites attract.

ANNA: Caroline, your newest book is the deliciously titled A VIEW TO A KISS which is out in February. Can you tell us something about this story?

CAROLINE: But of course! It’s about a very well-bred young lady and the mysterious, fascinating man she meets on a dark balcony, but can never seem to run into again…because he’s a spy, working undercover to protect a number of prominent politicians, including her father. One reviewer described it as a cross between Jane Austen and James Bond, but it’s also a twist on Romeo and Juliet. Harry Sinclair is smitten at first sight by the lovely Lady Mariah Dunmore, the only daughter of the earl of Doncaster. Harry’s problem is that he’s not only a commoner and way beneath Mariah’s notice, he’s also a spy–and when he first sees her, he’s in disguise as an elderly gentleman. But a chance meeting on a dark balcony offers him the chance to talk to her as himself without revealing himself, and by the time he slips away into the night, Mariah is utterly entranced. The only way Harry can see her after that is by climbing through her window at night, a secret courtship that makes Mariah even more determined to find him, any way she can…

ANNA: Sounds great! What draws you to the Regency period?

CAROLINE: Mr. Darcy. Do I have to explain more than that?

ANNA: Nah, I think I get it! What was your favorite book when you were 12?

CAROLINE: I think it was GONE WITH THE WIND, although no doubt at least two thirds of it went right over my head. But I adored the costumes in the movie and was sure that if I had been Scarlett, I would have shoved Ashley Wilkes off a balcony the moment Rhett Butler showed up. Because even then I knew he was baaaad.

ANNA: If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?

CAROLINE: A cat, because I love to sleep in warm, cozy places, I love having my hair brushed, and I would really like to have someone feed me three times a day when all I’d have to do was yowl a little. (Perhaps you can guess that my cat is a spoiled little creature)

ANNA: Describe your ideal holiday location.

CAROLINE: There are waiters, and busboys, and pool boys, and babysitters, and a personal masseuse. Also, low-calorie desserts and a 24 hour open bar. And my husband and I have the place all to ourselves. And it is WARM.

ANNA: What’s your favorite part of the writing process?

CAROLINE: Finishing! No, no, wait: opening the big box of brand new, sweet-smelling books with my name on the cover in shiny gold letters. No, no, wait: signing books and getting to meet fans. No, no, wait: going to conferences and meeting awesome authors like Anna Campbell in the bar. No, no, wait: none of those have much to do with writing, do they? OK, the best part is that moment when the whole plot falls into place, when the characters finally show themselves (to me, at least), when I realize there is in fact enough story there for a whole book, and I know just what to write.

ANNA: Ha, I know just how you feel! Thanks so much, Caroline! And good luck with the book – I love stories based on class conflict and this one sounds like an absolute doozey!