Arabella
Sheen is a British author of Contemporary and Regency Romance.
Published with Beachwalk Press, she is also a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
One of the many things Arabella loves to do is to read, and when she's not reading or writing romance novels, she is either on her allotment sowing and planting with the seasons or she can be found curled on the sofa pandering to the demands of her attention seeking cat.
Published with Beachwalk Press, she is also a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
One of the many things Arabella loves to do is to read, and when she's not reading or writing romance novels, she is either on her allotment sowing and planting with the seasons or she can be found curled on the sofa pandering to the demands of her attention seeking cat.
Published ~ March
3rd ‘19
Westbury - A
Traditional Regency Romance
Can Miss Georgina Morton surrender her independence and accept the Duke’s love?
Miss Georgina Morton, at the age of four-and-twenty, with a modest annual income of four hundred pounds, believes she has no need of a husband and can manage quite nicely without one. Yet within a matter of weeks, she’s betrothed to Giles Glentworth, the Sixth Duke of Westbury, and bound for Regency London.
Set in rural Wiltshire and elegant, fast-paced London...a runaway ward, a shooting at midnight, and a visit to fashionable Almack’s, are only a few of the adventures Georgina enjoys while falling for the Corinthian charms of the Duke.
Can Miss Georgina Morton surrender her independence and accept the Duke’s love?
Miss Georgina Morton, at the age of four-and-twenty, with a modest annual income of four hundred pounds, believes she has no need of a husband and can manage quite nicely without one. Yet within a matter of weeks, she’s betrothed to Giles Glentworth, the Sixth Duke of Westbury, and bound for Regency London.
Set in rural Wiltshire and elegant, fast-paced London...a runaway ward, a shooting at midnight, and a visit to fashionable Almack’s, are only a few of the adventures Georgina enjoys while falling for the Corinthian charms of the Duke.
And a big hello to Sherry Gloag’s
‘The Heart of Romance’ readers. My name is Arabella Sheen and I’m an author of sweet/clean and sensual Contemporary
and Regency romance novels.
Sherry has kindly
invited me along to her blog spot and in doing so she’s set me quite a
challenge. She’s asked me to imagine a fictitious interview with the imaginary characters
from my latest Regency release ‘Westbury’. Now if that’s not a challenge, I don’t know what is.
Westbury’s book blurb reveals that we’ve been transported to Regency
England where the need for mobile phones and laptops has yet to be thought of;
let alone invented. So, forgive me while I sharpen my quill, select a fine
piece of parchment paper, gather a smattering of sand, and prepare to answer
the quizzes put to Miss Georgina Morton (my Regency heroine) and Giles
Glentworth, the Sixth Duke of Westbury (my dashing hero), on topics that I’m
sure will be of some interest to you.
Here are a few questions from Sherry. So let’s begin…
Sherry: Why did you want Arabella to write your story?
Georgina: To put it simply, I wanted Arabella to show her readers how I struggled
and fought to maintain my independence. Giles will tell you, my independence is
something that’s important to me. And although getting to know him was a great
adventure and one that I would not have missed for the world, our courtship, if
one can call it a courtship, was not always easy. He wanted me to give up my
autonomy for a short duration, to appease society’s need for correctness. That
act alone impinged on my principles yet for some reason, I found myself doing
exactly what he wished me to do.
Giles: I beg to differ. I more or less knew straight away that Georgina was
the one for me and there was to be absolutely no “short duration” about it. Georgina
is feisty and treats me with complete and utter disrespect. And although I’m somewhat
ashamed to admit it, I quite like her overbearing, officious management of me.
Georgina: Giles! We are talking about my need for independence not my meddlesome
management of you.
Giles: So you admit you’re meddlesome?
Georgina: No, of course, I don’t. I might be a trifle interfering but I’m never
meddlesome. However, back to the question of my independence. My longing for
independence was more to do with being financially self-sufficient and able to survive
in this world without the necessity of a man in my life. In the
eighteen-hundreds’, this isn’t always an easy thing to accomplish. It’s dreadfully
frowned upon in my community for a woman to remain unattached and unwed after
the age of twenty. Scandalous that it is, I must confess to being all of
four-and-twenty. I was perfectly content with my decision to remain a spinster
and I had built a secure world in which I cared for my father and ran his
household. It was to my liking…and then Giles came along.
Giles: I did. I came along and haven’t left her side since. I too like my
independence, but my need for self-government was slightly different from
Georgina’s. I desired freedom of spirit. Freedom to have the time to indulge in
my hobbies. Freedom not to be continuously accountable for my position in life.
Being a Duke can tie you to duties and these duties can be restricting. But there
comes a point in most people’s lives when a crossroad is reached and a decision
has to be made. Georgina turned my life completely around, and after that, maintaining
my independent lifestyle seemed pointless compared to the rewards I could reap if
I was in a relationship with Georgina.
Sherry: Did you get tough with your author?
Georgina: In some parts of the story, I think I caused Arabella a few problems. I
had to behave realistically within the bound of social conventions yet I continually
had the urge to flaunt convention – and often did.
Giles: I think Arabella (and my mother) believed I had issues with woman. I
suggest you read the book and draw your own conclusions.
Sherry: How hard was it to share your deepest secrets with Arabella?
Georgina: I mostly share my opinions and beliefs with Miss Abigail Channing.
Abigail is Giles’s ward and cousin. She can be quite a handful at times but as
Abigail has said on more than one occasion, we are almost like sister’s…and
sisters always share. Don’t they? Oh…and of course, any emotional inner
conflicts and division of loyalties were worked through with Arabella.
Giles: I simply don’t share. I don’t share my secrets, my horses…nor my woman.
Georgina: Giles Glentworth! If you are slyly referring to Mr Mark Goldman as
being my―
Giles: What in the world would make you think that, my dear? I would no more
refer to Mr Goldman as your secret
than you would refer to Lady Charlotte as being mine.
Georgina: Well I never! I’ve a good mind to…
Sherry: What character quirks are you pleased that Arabella wrote about
you?
Georgina: One of the quirks that I delight in, is in knowing what Giles wants
before he does.
Giles: I don’t have any particular quirks. Especially not the fact that I’m
overly fastidious about my apparel or that my horses are―
Georgina: Sherry, I’m terribly sorry. But we can’t reveal any more. If we do, I’m
afraid the mysteries of Westbury
will be revealed and we wish Arabella’s readers to discover for themselves what
our adventure entails. Don’t we, Giles?
Giles: Yes, my sweet pea. I shall agree with anything and everything you say.
Always…
Sherry,
Thank you
for having me as a guest on ‘The Heart of Romance’. It was a fun exercise and
if one thing comes of this, it’s that I’ve discovered I much preferred
writing about Georgina and Giles’s romance than having to listen to their
thought-provoking opposing views on life during this interview. They’ve
exhausted me.
I also hope
your readers will forgive me for not expanding further as I’m reluctant to give
too much of Westbury’s plots and twists away. As the story unfolds and the pages are turned,
you’ll soon discover how Georgina and Giles unravel their inner conflicts and
test one another’s strengths and weaknesses so they can come together and find
true love.
Best
wishes,
Arabella
Sheen
You are very welcome Arabella.
Author Bio:
Having worked and lived in the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands for nearly
twenty years, she now lives in the South West of England with her family.
Arabella keeps in touch with her readers on:
Facebook: Arabella Sheen - Author
Twitter: @ArabellaSheen
Arabella keeps in touch with her readers on:
Facebook: Arabella Sheen - Author
Twitter: @ArabellaSheen
Webpage: www.arabellasheen.co.uk
