Recent blizzards and cold snaps got me thinking about weather and the role it
can play in a story. Some of my favorite romances are when characters are
snowbound together—or when a sultry summer fling turns into an HEA.
My new historical romance, A
GENTLEMAN’S GAME, takes a few plot turns due to weather too. It’s the story
of Nathaniel Chandler, son of a baronet, and Rosalind Agate, the baronet’s
secretary, as they (and other travelers) take racehorses across England to run
in the Epsom Derby.
Since the Epsom Derby is run in spring, that’s when my story takes place. And
just as the world begins to green and grow, this is a time of the characters’
awakening from roles they’ve been frozen in for a long time. Nathaniel and his
father have a tense, mistrustful relationship. Rosalind owes loyalty to someone
who manipulates her. As they spend time together, they both begin to bloom and
to reach beyond what they’ve been before.
A day of rain on the road gives the characters a sense of urgency as they
travel. This is their first full day on the road, and it’s the first time in
which Nathaniel and Rosalind have an intimate (not that kind of
intimate…yet) conversation with each other.
The following day, everything is washed clean. Not only the land, but their
spirits. It’s a day for visiting a village fete, one of the most joyful scenes
in the book. Here’s how the setting appears to Rosalind:
Kelting was an etching-perfect village through which the road ran like a
brown velvet ribbon. Rosalind had never seen anything quite like it: shops with
thatched roofs and glinting windows; trees new-leafed and clean from the
previous day’s rain; tidy pavements and a neat village green on which fiddle
music guided laughing couples in a dance. Even a little elbow of a river or a
canal, down which men on small flat-bottomed boats were punting to the cheers of
onlookers.
Rosalind hasn’t had many chances for fun and play, and this clean new day gives
her a chance for all of that.
Near the end of A
GENTLEMAN’S GAME, it’s time for the running of the Epsom Derby! Nathaniel’s
father, Sir William, has joined the travelers—and on this day, their troubled
relationship takes a turn for the better. As the day begins, all seems right
with the world to Sir William, and this feeling of buoyancy helps him mend
fences with Nathaniel.
The morning of the Derby was fine—but then Sir William Chandler had always
found the morning of a race to be fine. Whether the rain fell in sheets or the
sun baked, the thunder of hooves over turf was the weather he most cared about.
At the beginning of A
GENTLEMAN’S GAME, the characters are short on happiness—but they’re never
short on hope. Over the course of the novel, as characters fall in love or
forgive, the weather reflects their feelings. I hope reading Nathaniel and
Rosalind’s story leaves readers with the feeling of a spring day: warm and
lovely, with a bit of a nip to it.
Have you ever read a book in which the weather played a big part in the story?
(Here’s your chance to name all those snowbound and summer-fling romances so I
can add them to my TBR pile.) Or if not, what’s your favorite season of the
year, and why?
Historical romance author Theresa Romain pursued an impractical
education that allowed her to read everything she could get her hands on. She
then worked for universities and libraries, where she got to read even more.
Eventually she started writing, too. She lives with her family in the Midwest.
In Book One of Romance of the Turf, a refreshing new Regency series
from rising star Theresa Romain, a mystery demanding to be solved brings
unlikely allies together in more ways than one...
How far
will a man go
Talented but troubled, the Chandler family seems
cursed by bad luck-and so Nathaniel Chandler has learned to trade on his charm.
He can broker a deal with anyone from a turf-mad English noble to an Irish horse
breeder. But Nathaniel's skills are tested when his stable of trained
Thoroughbreds become suspiciously ill just before the Epsom Derby, and he begins
to suspect his father's new secretary is not as innocent as she
seems.
To win a woman's secretive heart?
Nathaniel
would be very surprised if he knew why Rosalind Agate was really helping his
family in their quest for a Derby victory. But for the sake of both their
livelihoods, Rosalind and Nathaniel must set aside their suspicions. As Derby
Day draws near, her wit and his charm make for a successful investigative
team...and light the fires of growing desire. But Rosalind's life is built on
secrets and Nathaniel's on charisma, and neither defense will serve them once
they lose their hearts...
"Utterly charming." -RT Book Reviews, 4
½ stars, for To Charm a Naughty Countess
"Superbly written...it is
easy to see why Romain is one of the rising stars of Regency historical
romance." -Booklist, for To Charm a Naughty Countess
i have read a bunch of weather themed books. alot of them are Kimani books. another book that comes to mine is one by author Em Petrova called Stranded and Straddled.
(Nova Conover 9:27pm February 17, 2016)
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