It was a very busy summer for me, with lots of travel and some quality family time. I started by spending a week helping a relative who had surgery. Then my husband and I took a vacation together— a “I can’t believe it was discounted that much” cruise of the Baltic, where we visited St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Helsinki. The RWA conference in Orlando came quickly on the heels of that, and suddenly the end of summer seemed to be around the corner! Which meant that my next book was around the corner too.

Sinful in Satin is the third book in The Rarest Blooms series, and its publication date is September 28. This story takes place mostly in London, where Celia, upon the death of her mother, the courtesan Alessandra Northrope, strikes out on her own, to build a life for herself after five years living in the country with Daphne Joyes. Her mother has not left her much, due to debts, but there is a modest house in a middle class neighborhood that might be spared from the creditors. Celia takes residence there, and plans her future.

To her shock, she learns that she will not be living alone. She has inherited a tenant along with the house. It is Jonathan Albrighton (whom readers of Provocative in Pearls briefly met.) Jonathan, the bastard son of an earl, has served the Home Office as an agent for a number of years, and even with the war being over he is still given the occasional mission. Now he is on a minor one—to discover if Alessandra left records of her patrons. If so, people in power would like them destroyed, because there had been a rumor that Alessandra passed pillow talk to a French spy during the war, and no man of society wants anyone suspecting that he might have been an unwitting accomplice. Jonathan has his own reasons for wanting to learn the truth about Alessandra, and soon has his own reasons for wanting to remain very close to Celia too.

From the moment they see each other one night, there is electricity between these two outsiders. Celia, trained to follow her mother’s path, and to see sensuality as a means to an end, finds herself wanting only one man, but knows an alliance with Jonathan would be impractical in the extreme. Jonathan, whose soul has been darkened by fate and experience, first wants Celia, then needs her, as she begins to illuminate his life. And all the while, as their attraction creates first tension, then eroticism, and finally love, their histories and the world’s expectations for them keep interfering.

Even as this book goes on sale, I will be finishing up the next story in the series. Dangerous in Diamonds is slated for publication in May of 2011. It is time for Castleford to get his comeuppance, and who better than the cool, composed Daphne Joyes to bring him to his knees? On the other hand, Daphne discovers that maintaining her reserve and poise is very difficult when Castleford casts his eye her way. Right now in the manuscript she is finding him a dangerous attraction, and his pursuit of her overwhelming.

In other news, I will be doing a little blog tour with Sinful in Satin’s release, and the information can be found on my appearances page. I will probably get my web site redesigned in the next few months too. And I am proud to be a part of The Penguin Group’s campaign to raise awareness of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation during the month of October, as they launch their Read Pink campaign. I will post information about that in the next week or so.

I am reviving my snail mailings to fans who want to receive them. If you want to be on that list, send your mailing address in a message to me via the link on my contacts page.

Madeline

I recently sent my editor the manuscript for the third book in The Rarest Blooms series. It is titled Sinful in Satin. This is Celia’s story, and she is paired with the mysterious Jonathan Albrighton, whom readers met toward the end of Provocative in Pearls.

When Celia’s mother, the famed Venus known as Alessandra Northrope, passes away, Celia decides to strike out on her own and build a life for herself. Her mother’s need to keep up appearances for her noble patrons meant that little comes to her daughter as a legacy—only some personal items, a small house in London—and the opportunity to step into her mother’s place, as she was trained to do.

Celia embarks on her future, tries to learn the identity of her father, and faces the world’s assumptions that of course she will become a courtesan like Alessandra. Complicating her plans and decisions is Jonathan, an investigator for the Home Office who, unbeknownst to her, has been sent to pry into her mother’s past. When he finds a way to be ever-present in Celia’s world and life, she must decide what to do about the powerful attraction she feels for him—and whether he will be her “first man”, as either a lover or a protector. Betrayals, intrigues, and debts long uncollected create conflicts for them and between them.

These two characters have much in common to draw them together, but also much to keep them apart. Jonathan’s experiences have made him dark, cynical, and at times hard. In Celia he sees an honesty and internal radiance so in contrast to his own murky soul. He is aware that Celia was not raised like most women—in fact Jonathan first met her years earlier, when she was living in her mother’s house and being prepared for a very special launch into a very special society.

The sensuality that develops between these two is inevitable and intense, and eventually changes them both—their expectations and their goals, and even their own identities.

For those of you who have been reading this series, you may be glad to know that the Duke of Castleford once more plays a prominent secondary role in this story, and a critical one in the plot. And for those thinking that he should have been paired with Celia—what can I say? The muse did not dictate that story, but this one. Besides, the incorrigible Castleford needs a woman who will bring him to his knees, and who won’t be too impressed with him. There is one waiting in the next book who is more than formidable enough to take him on. She will learn to her dismay, however, that Castleford relishes a challenge.

I want to thank all the readers and booksellers who helped make the first two books in the series, Ravishing in Red and Provocative in Pearls such successes. Both made the New York Times bestseller list and also that of USAToday, and Provocative in Pearls was on both papers’ printed list of top sellers. I love writing this series, and your support has really been appreciated!

Madeline

P.S. A reminder that I blog over at The Goddess Blogs, All of my social media addresses and IDs can be found on my Contact page.

I am looking at a month of holiday preps and lots of writing, hoping the former does not interfere too much with the latter (you know how holidays tend to take over a bit!) I don’t think that will happen because I am totally engrossed in this book, the third one of my forthcoming series The Rarest Blooms.

Its title is Sinful in Satin, and it is the story of Celia Pennifold. Celia’s scandalous history is discovered in Ravishing in Red, and in her own book she grapples with the implications of the legacy and life bequeathed to her when her mother passes away. Her quest to strike out on her own, and to learn her father’s identity, is complicated by the presence of dark and mysterious Jonathan Albrighton, a man with his own secrets and scars.

The covers for the first two books in the series, Ravishing in Red (release 1/26/10) and Provocative in Pearls (2/23/10), are up, and so is the excerpt for RR. These first two books will be back-to-back releases. This means that along with Sinful in Satin in the fall, I will have three of this quartet’s books published by this time next year.

I continue to blog at The Goddess Blogs along with 9 wonderful bestselling writers of great wit and charm. Stop by and visit us for some lighthearted fun and gab fests at www.TheGoddessBlogs.com. And be sure to at least drop by on Sundays, when instead of blogging we offer refreshments of a special kind!

I am also on Twitter at @MadelineHunter, and I will soon activate a twitter account related to the new series. Daphne Joyes, the owner of The Rarest Blooms, will be commenting on her friends, revealing backstories, and discussing the inhabitants of Cumberworth, the town near her property. Daphne will eventually have her own book, the last in the series, to be titled Dangerous in Diamonds (anticipated release in spring 2011.) You can follow her at @DaphneJoyes on Twitter now and begin receiving her tweets from the start.

I have also had a widget made. Widgets are cute little applications that can be copied and put anywhere on a web page, sort of like mini web pages within web pages. Mine is similar to an entire mini web site. It should be on my homepage soon, but in the meantime you can see it (and copy it if you want) at http://www.clearspring.com/widgets/4ad79fd8389be07b

Madeline