Book Spotlight + Giveaway: Viscountess of Vice by Jenny Holiday
Secrets and lies, scandals and spies.
All Lady Catharine, Viscountess Cranbrook, wants is a little excitement. Bored of playing the role of the ton’s favorite slightly scandalous widow, she jumps at the chance to go undercover as a courtesan to help with an espionage mission. After all, beneath her outrageously low bodice beats the heart of a patriot.
Social reformer James Burnham is conducting a study of vice in England’s capital. Driven by his own secrets, he is methodical, intelligent—and wickedly handsome. Catharine is the last sort of woman the upstanding James should want. But want her he does, though she stands for everything he opposes.
When Catharine and James are forced to band together to advance their causes, they’ll be drawn into a web of secrets and lies that endangers their lives—and their hearts.
don’t mind, I thought we’d start with a Lightning Round! Please fill in the
blank spaces below:
Meader’s Hot in Chicago series.
Buzzfeed quiz once told me, and I do enjoy lazing around in bed—see question
1!)
freakishly well. I remember all my account numbers and library card numbers,
past and present.
children’s librarian for a mom. Were there any books that she shared with you
that still stick in your mind today? Did you have a favorite that you read and
re-read?
every week, and we checked out stacks and stacks of books. I can remember her
having a showdown with the librarian at my elementary school because that
librarian had rules about having to be a certain age before you were allowed to
check out chapter books. She was limiting me to picture books, and I wanted
chapter books. Oooh, my mom got so mad! Librarian throw-down! My mom never regulated
what my sister and I read—if we thought we were ready for it, that was good
enough for her. And she never imposed her taste. My sister went through a
little Sweet Valley High phase (I was a little too old for SVH, otherwise I’m
sure I would have, too). My mom hated those books, but she grinned and said
nothing.
I had rigged up a pulley system by tying a bunch of jump ropes together and
hooking them through the handles of a cloth bag. I would use that to haul the
books up. Then my mom would make appearances and put snacks in the bag, and I
would haul those up too! And we used to do this thing called “Friday Night
Read-A-Thon,” where we would each take our books and sit in her bed and read
them and eat junk food. I have continued that tradition with my son.
much! (Still does.) She turned me on to tons of books as a kid. There was a
writer called William Sleater whom I loved but never would have discovered on
my own. Also John Christopher’s Tripods series. I am not a big re-reader in
general, but the one from my childhood that I have reread a handful of times
into adulthood is Beverly Cleary’s Fifteen. Oh the sweet romance between Jane
and Stan!
lavish vacation with, who would you choose and why?
49th Floor series, but I would totally go with Rose Verma, who is the heroine
of one of them (The Engagement Game). She is sassy, brassy, and a ton of fun,
and I think she’d make an excellent travel companion.
novels as escapism, which doesn’t offend me or anything, but I read romances
because I think love is the greatest thing. It’s “the” thing. I mean, what we
are all going to think about on our deathbeds? How much we worked? How much
money we made? Of course not. We’re going to think about the love we had in our
life. To me, there is nothing better than reading stories about love. So to
then be able to write some of those stories? To maybe contribute in a small way
to making other people happy with this crap I made up out of my brain? That is
the greatest feeling!
would you say to readers out there looking to pick up your books?
a review somewhere! If you don’t, I hope you keep quiet! (No, I’m kidding about
that last part. I’m delighted to receive any honest review.)
Jenny Holiday started writing at age nine when her fourth grade teacher gave her a notebook and told her to start writing stories. That first batch featured mass murderers on the loose, alien invasions, and hauntings. From then on, she was always writing, often in her diary, where she liked to decorate declarations of existential angst with nail polish teardrops. Later, she channeled her penchant for scribbling into a more useful format, picking up a PhD in geography and then working in PR. Eventually, she figured out that happy endings were more fun than alien invasions. You can follow her on twitter at @jennyholi sand @TropeHeroine or visit her on the web at jennyholiday.com.
FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion.
