Please join me in welcoming Ellie Macdonald author of the Avon Books series The Governess Club. Before I turn the blog over to here are the descriptions for the Claire and Bonnie the first two books in this series.
Four regency misses, making their ways as governesses make a pact in order to leave London and support themselves in the country. Thus, the Governess Club was born. But little did they know that their heroes might have something else to say about the matter.
Book #1: Claire
Claire Bannister just wants to be a good governess so that she, and the other ladies of the Governess Club, can make enough money to leave their jobs and start their own school in the country. But when the new, sinfully handsome, and utterly distracting tutor arrives, Claire finds herself caught up in a whirlwind romance that could change the course of her future.
Jacob Knightly has a secret. He's actually the notorious Earl of Rimmel. He's just posing as a tutor to escape his reputation in the city. He never expected to fall in love with the beautiful and kind governess. She is the first person to love him for himself and not his title.
But when Jacob's real identity is revealed, Claire realizes she has risked her reputation and heart on a man she doesn't truly know. Will Jacob be able to convince her that the Wild Earl has been tamed and that she is the true Countess of his heart?
Book #2: Bonnie
Miss Bonnie Hodges, governess to the Darrow family, is desperately trying to hold it together.
Tragedy has struck, and she is the sole person left to be strong for the two little boys in her care. When the new guardian arrives, she hopes that things will get better. She wasn't expecting her new employer to be the most frustrating, overbearing, and.. handsome man she's ever seen.
Sir Stephen Montgomery is utterly distracted. He should be trying to figure out how his two best friends were killed in a suspicious accident and why the new young viscount seems destined to be the next victim, But he can't concentrate on anything but his growing infatuation with the beautiful, mysterious and utterly captivating governess.
Together they're doing their best to save the two boys, but will Stephen's feelings for Bonnie get in the way of their search for a killer?
Guest Post: Author Ellie Macdonald
How the Governess Club was born
The Governess Club wasn’t meant to be a series. It originally was just to focus on Claire and Jacob’s story. That was all I had planned and was fine with it.
I follow Avon Romance on Facebook and one day they posted a link, calling for new authors. At this point I had been developing my craft for about five years, so I was fairly confident in my ability to produce. Submitting scared the bejeebers out of me, but hey, they were looking for new blood so I thought my chances were just as good as anyone else’s. I clicked on the link, read the descriptions of the different stories they were looking for and chose the one that suited me best, titled “The Governess Club.”
And so I wrote. I wrote as much as I could, often staying up late at night, getting only a few hours of sleep before heading to my day job. Such is the life of an aspiring writer; I do not consider myself more hard done by than others, because I know there are worse stories out there.
Then it happened. Three days before submission I experienced what I call the What If Factor.
I was taking a break from my frantic writing and for some reason was contemplating the significance of the word “club” in Regency England. They were a popular staple of gentle society – and some still are today – the most prominent being Whites, Brooks and Boodles. Bastions of the male entity, gentlemen would go there to escape their lives, their families, their responsibilities. Often there were rooms for bachelors and travellers to stay in, so long as they were members. All men would go there to smoke, drink, gamble, read the paper, talk politics, meet their friends and been seen by others – all in all, they would go there to be Men with a capital M.
Women didn’t really have “clubs” like that. They had their literary salons, their charities and their well-meaning societies, but they didn’t have “clubs.”
And then the What If Factor showed up. Hit me on the side of the head.
What if women did have clubs? What if Claire was in a club? What if that club was made up of other governesses with whom she was friends? Why would they do that? What would it look like?
Did you see it? The What If Factor?
Enter Bonnie, Sara and Louisa. They are friends with Claire and together come up with the idea of how to become independent, protecting themselves against poverty and the men who take advantage of them merely because of their station. And they call it The Governess Club.
GREAT idea. FANTASTIC idea. I loved it.
Did I mention it was three days before submission? The problem now was how to include it in the story I was currently writing. If I threw it in right where I was, it would completely derail what I already had planned. I didn’t want to scrap the idea, so I did the only thing I could think of.Thank you Ellie for stopping by Save Your Money for Books!
Buy Links:
If you haven't already read these books, here are some links to help you find them:
Kindles: amazon.ca amazon.com amazon.co.uk
Nook: barnesandnoble.com
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Author Info:
Ellie Macdonald has held several jobs beginning with the letter t: taxi-driver, telemarketer and most recently, teacher. She is thankful her interests have shifted to writing instead of taxidermy or tornado chasing. Having travelled to five different continents, she has swum with elephants, scuba dived coral mazes, visited a leper colony and climbed waterfalls and her favorite place remains Regency England. She currently lives in Ontario, Canada. The Governess Club series is her first published work.
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