British Heroes for an American Girl!

Hello Casa authors and fans! I’m delighted to be on this fabulous blog today with all of the wonderful writers who make up this site. Thank you, ladies for allowing me to share with you the excitement I have for my latest book A Duke To Die For.

Some of you might think I’m a new author, but I’ve been around for a few years. I’ve written as Gloria Dale Skinner and Charla Cameron but with my nineteenth published book out this April, I think I’ve finally settled down to being only Amelia Grey.

You know, I’ve been a fan of all things British since I was in grade school and the Bealtles and Rolling Stones took America by storm. I love their accents, their stately mansions and their leather berets. It’s no wonder that writing in Regency London fits me perfectly. That doesn’t mean I won’t stay up all night reading when I find a good book about a cowboy in a white shirt with a leather holster slung around lean hips. And I can really get into a story that has a hero who wears his jeans just tight enough to make me want to know what lies beneath them. But these days most of my fantasies are leading me to powerful, roguish gentlemen dressed in slim-legged trousers and hastily tied neckcoths.

A Duke To Die For is my sixth Amelia Grey book and it’s the first book in The Rogues’ Dynasty which is my new Regency Series. When I was dreaming up an idea for a new story, I couldn’t determine if I wanted my hero to be a duke, a marquis or an earl so I cleared that up real quick by deciding to write about all three. After a little planning on the trilogy, I knew the duke’s story had to come first, and I knew he had to be the youngest of the three cousins I was going to write about. It took a while bu I finally decided I wanted him to be a reluctant hero. That kind of man is one of my favorites. There’s just something deliciously inviting to me about a hero who has no desire to step up and save the day but always does when he’s called upon.

I wanted my duke to be carefree, undisciplined and a man who avoided responsibility the way Londoners avoided the plague. And then, of course I had to give him a ton of responsibility and that came in the form of a lovely ward who just happened to be the kind of young lady he would much rather seduce than protect. There’s always something decidedly tempting about the forbidden.

Having been born to power and privilege Blake doesn’t know the first thing about discipline or boundaries so it gave me tremendous pleasure to present him with an organized, orderly heroine who sent heat like he hadn’t felt in years rushing through him, and watch him squirm.

In all good romances other characters and plotlines add to the depth, the tone and the flavor of the book so I have a few characters who will appear in all three books of the trilogy. But my favorite character to write is the hero. I spend a lot of time in his head so the reader will know exactly what is on his mind, what's up his sleeve and how he's going to win the heroine's love.

So ladies, what is your favorite kind of hero? Maybe he’s the man from your past that is back? Or perhaps he is the dangerous stranger who just saved your life? You tell me what kind of man sends your heartbeat racing and keeps you up all night…reading.

Amelia Grey