GFP: Every Scandalous Secret Book Tour

Welcome to Reader Girls. Hello to everyone joining us today as we host the stop for the Every Scandalous Secret Book Tour. Thanks to Goddess Fish Promotions, we were able to inquire from historical romance author Gayle Callen about rogues, those bad boy types we shouldn't like but always do. Below is her answer. 

Book blurb: He may be the younger brother of a viscount, but Leo Wade is more at ease in London’s gaming halls and ladies’ boudoirs than at tonnish events. Although lately, he’s been consumed by a growing boredom he can’t shake…That is until Leo stumbles upon three society misses trying to steal a scandalous painting from his gentleman’s club and becomes obsessed with pursing a lady unlike any of his acquaintance.

An artist, bluestocking and veritable spinster by anyone’s definition, Susanna Leland never dreamed she and her cousins would find themselves in the eye of a potential scandal. So when she receives an invitation to a country house party she takes it hoping to escape London and divert the suspicious gaze of Mr. Leo Wade. Susanna never expects he’ll follow her!

As the unrepentant rogue and on-the-shelf artist clash, Leo may just have met the one woman immune to his charms, and Susanna may have found the one man she can’t scare off with her intellect. But when the pair are caught in a compromising position and forced to marry, they may just find that the price of trust is well worth every scandalous secret.

Guest Post: What makes a 'rogue' in romance literature a timeless character? 

The rogue—he’s the ultimate bad boy in historical romance. And don’t we all just love him? Though he’s sophisticated, charming, and sometimes polite, you know he doesn’t truly care what anyone thinks about him. He’s his own man, unpredictable, with his own beliefs, and he can’t be swayed to another’s opinion. We think of him as a rule-breaker and a rebel, but in romance anyway, he lives by his own rules. And of course, he’s the master of seduction. The fantasy is, when he turns those skills on a woman, she just can’t resist. 

That’s part of what makes reading about a rogue so enjoyable—he’s a fantasy. The bad boy who falls in love, who in the end, is changed by the woman he loves. She saves him from himself. How often does that happen in real life? We don’t want to think about it. So we’ll read about our rogues, so amusing, so seductive. In my newest book, Every Scandalous Secret, Leo Wade is the ultimate rogue. He first appeared in The Viscount in Her Bedroom, as the blind hero’s ne’er-do-well brother, who almost ruined the heroine. He did a bad thing, but…I liked him. He was funny and didn’t take himself seriously, and boy, was he smooth with women. I felt he deserved his own story, his own comeuppance, so I brought him back as one of the three men who bet each other that they can discover which woman modeled for a scandalous nude painting hanging in a gentlemen’s club. Leo is in it for fun and chooses spinster Susanna Leland to pursue. He throws a house party into turmoil; they get into a scandal all of their own; and along the way, Susanna realizes Leo has some hidden good qualities she never imagined. 

So tell me what you love about rogues in your favorite romances you read, and let’s talk all about it. 

About the author: A USA Today Bestselling author, Gayle Callen writes historical romances for Avon Books. Her latest novel, A Most Scandalous Engagement, was published in December 2010.

Named the "Notable New Author of 1999," Gayle has also won the Holt Medallion and the Laurel Wreath Award, and finaled in the National Readers Choice Awards. Her books have been translated into over nine different languages.

She resides in a suburb of Central New York, with her husband and three children. Besides writing, she loves to read, sing, travel, crochet, and delve too deeply into historical research. A past President of the Central New York Romance Writers, she is also a member of Romance Writers of America, the Authors Guild, and Novelists Inc.

GIVEAWAY: Gayle Callen will give away one $25 Amazon.com Gift Card to one commenter during the tour.  So follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. 


The tour dates:
October 3: Urban Girl Reader
October 4: Reader Girls
October 5: Ramblings From This Chick
October 6: Romancing Rakes
October 7: Reading Romances
For more info on the tour, go here


Reader Girls thanks Gayle Callen and Goddess Fish Promotions.