Yay! A little bit ago, I did a review for the fabulous book A Tryst with Trouble by  Alyssa Everett. Sadly, the publishing company the author was with went under and the book was without a home. But now, NOW PEOPLE, it is finally coming out from Carina Press!

It is so very exciting. I love this book! Be sure to check it out.

Take it away Alyssa!

I’m a sucker for wise-cracking romantic couples, including–maybe even especially–the kind found in old black and white movies. I love bantering screwball comedies like His Girl Friday, It Happened One Night, and The Thin Man series. Who wouldn’t want to be one of the clever heroines who gets to match wits with the kind of sharp, snarky heroes played by Cary Grant, Clark Gable and William Powell?

Together with Beatrice and Benedick from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, such bantering couples inspired the enemies-to-lovers pairing in my September 23 regency from Carina Press, A Tryst With Trouble.

The story is set during a time when being gay–or, to use the sadly pejorative early nineteenth-century term, being a “sodomite”–was considered both shameful and criminal. Due to his father’s rumored sexual orientation, bullies harassed and tormented the Marquess of Beningbrough throughout his childhood. In reaction, Ben has transformed himself into the ultimate man’s man. He boxes, he womanizes, and he dresses like a stablehand. He doesn’t suffer fools gladly–and neither does Lady Barbara Jeffords, an earl’s daughter who’s been outshone so many times by her pretty, fetchingly helpless younger sister, she’s resigned herself to embittered spinsterhood. When arrogant Ben meets outspoken Barbara, they clash right from the start.

A Tryst With Trouble cover

London, 1820

Lady Barbara Jeffords is certain her little sister didn’t murder the footman, no matter how it looks…and no matter what the Marquess of Beningbrough–Ben–might say. She can scarcely help it if his cousin is the only other suspect. In fact, she wants nothing to do with ruggedly handsome Ben; he reminds her of all the insensitive clods who passed her over.

For years Ben has been dogged by painful gossip about his father’s rumored homosexuality. His gruff shell hides a passionate nature, and he’s also fiercely loyal—which is why he’ll never let the clever and beguiling Lady Barbara pin a murder on his cousin.

Sparks fly as the two compete to defend their loved ones. But as strange new clues emerge that neither can decipher alone, they have no choice but to compare notes and sleuth in tandem. A tenuous bond develops that soon faces its toughest challenge when Ben himself becomes a suspect…

 

The book has been a long time coming, since I wrote it and sold it to another publisher years ago, only to have that financially-troubled publisher repeatedly postpone its debut, and then go out of business just before the book went to press. I got the rights back last year, and as you can see above, Carina Press has given A Tryst With Trouble a beautiful new cover.

If you’re the sort who likes a good mismatched-lovers comedy–whether it’s one of the old Hollywood classics like Bringing Up Baby, nostalgic TV like the ’80s series Moonlighting, or a more modern example like Intolerable Cruelty–I hope you’ll give A Tryst With Trouble a try. I think you’ll find that with its bantering tone, its splash of murder mystery and its healthy serving of sexual tension, it’s a fun romance.

Finally, I’d like to thank The Windy Pages for having me here today!


Alyssa Everett

A Tryst With Trouble is Alyssa Everett’s third regency romance. Her first two regencies, Ruined by Rumor and Lord of Secrets, are also available from Carina Press. Look for her next regency, An Heir of Uncertainty, in March of 2014. She hopes you’ll visit her website and follow her on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook, where she promises not to spam you relentlessly.