I thought I’d take a moment from pimping promoting Bella’s Band (which btw releases tomorrow) to talk about the last three books I’ve read and two more that I am making my way through at a savoring pace.

The Spymaster’s Lady, by Joanna Bourne: I literally stayed up all night to finish this book. A quarter of a way into the story, the hero discovered that the heroine was. . . No, sorry, no spoilers. Anyway, the heroine is a French spy, the hero is a British spymaster. Lovely book with a lot of twists and turns. I reached Ms. Bourne on Facebook to chide her for keeping me up all night.

The Accidental Duchess, by Madeline Hunter: This happens to be my signed copy, “For Alina! Madeline Hunter” from this year’s RWA Nationals, and my fan-girl moment. There’s a duke in this book, and though he’s not nearly as much fun as Hunter’s Castleford, he’s still a great hero.

Duke of Midnight, by Elizabeth Hoyt: Another book that I scored at RWA Nationals, signed by the author in another fan-girl moment. This story takes place in 1740 and is part of Hoyt’s early Georgian series involving the Makepeace family and the Ghost of St. Giles. The hero is a wonderfully tortured duke, and by the way, the current Ghost. Though he insists he will marry the heroine’s richer, more beautiful, more respectable cousin, how can we hate him when he comes home from a rough night of “ghosting” to carry the heroine from her bed and tell her “Never sleep anywhere but in my bed”? Besides, we know he’ll change his mind about the cousin before the end.

Authors pluck characters from their imaginations, but we have to plop them into a seemingly real world. After all, there are some Regency readers who will chuck a book at the wall if there’s an historical error. To that end, I’ve been working my way through a couple of history books.

The Regency Underworld, by Donald A. Low: In the Regency era crime was abundant and justice could be brutal. The Metropolitan Police did not exist and much of law enforcement was a private matter, so, for example, Steven, the hero in Bella’s Band is investigating a murder.

English Country Life, 1780-1830, by E. W. Bovill: This very well-written and engaging book goes into great detail on enclosure, rural life, and Regency travel, which I blogged about a couple of weeks ago.

Bella’s Band will be going up on Amazon today–updates to follow!