Review + Author Interview: Beguiling The Baron by Elizabeth Keysian

Synopsis

Beware reclusive barons. They are more hot-blooded than you’d expect . . .

A man who lurks day and night in an eerie tower must have something to hide. So thinks Galatea Wyndham, governess to Lord Ansford’s love-starved young daughter. Galatea’s new employer is objectionable, stubborn, great-hearted, handsome and, curse it, well worth saving from himself.

He proves her right with some shocking physical encounters, adding tinder to the blaze of her growing love for him. But just as the barriers between them are crumbling away, the tower crashes down.

With Lord Ansford inside it.

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Review

This is a riveting tale of a beauty falling in love with the beast. I quite enjoyed reading it and loved both Tia and Hal. They are two amazing characters who are just perfect for each other. They test each other's patience, they make each other angry, but at the end of the day, they also love one another unconditionally and with their whole hearts. I find it endearing.

Galatea, or Tia as her friends call her, has lost so much. After her father died their entire lives were changed and now some distant relative has agreed to help her and her mother. Both women are very much in debt of Lord Ansford's generosity. Tia is supposed to teach his daughter proper manners so that she can attend a school for girls. But when Tia meets the little girl, she realizes that what the child is her father more than anything else in the world. She decides to educate the Baron instead and let him no the errors of his ways.

It has been three years since his wife's death but Hal is still punishing himself. He blames himself for the death of his beloved and spends his days and nights seeking redemption. He thinks that what he is doing is the right thing and ignoring his only daughter doesn't seem to be wrong to him at all. This will teach her to be tough. He wants to make sure that his daughter never loves someone enough to stop living after losing them. He is making her stronger or so he keeps telling himself. That is until Tia arrives and turns his entire world upside down. He is feeling things he has no right to feel and he is beginning to see reason in her logic. Maybe there is still hope for him and his daughter after all. Maybe it is actually possible for them to be a happy family once again. Or maybe he is hoping too much... Only time will tell.

I think it is a very well-written story. I would definitely recommend it to all fiction fans, especially if you enjoy historical romance you will love this one. The chemistry between Tia and Hal is too good and I think it is one hot, swoon-worthy romantic tale, which is equal parts tragic and lovable.

P.S. I received a complimentary copy of this book for which I'd like to thank the author from the bottom of my heart.

Interview With the Author

1. When did you write your first book and how old were you?

As far as I can recall, I was eight when I wrote my first full-length book. At school we were encouraged to write what were known as “long stories“. We drew margins down each side of the page and decorated them and added in our own illustrations. We made our own bookcovers too. I absolutely adored writing these books, and would work on them obsessively during the school summer holidays, for which my headteacher father was exceedingly glad because it kept me quiet for hours.

2. How long does it take you to write a book?

I have been known to write a book in a month, when doing the NaNoWriMo challenge. However, one only has a very rough draft at that stage and there is a good deal of editing, beta reading and proofreading to be done. Not to mention the research and planning I always do before undertaking NaNoWriMo. So from the beginning to the end of the process, very roughly I would say it takes around nine months to produce a polished, finished product which a publisher would consider worthy of publication.

3. What is your work schedule when you're writing? 

Very variable, because I suffer from chronic migraine. This means I have a headache a great deal of the time which seriously affects my productivity, as well as my personal life. So even though I do attempt to create schedules, more often than not I am unable to stick to them, which results in frustration. I am trying to be more gentle on myself, which is why I am thinking about going into self publishing from now on.

4. What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I’m not sure I have any interesting writing quirks, but if pressed, I might say I aim to put humour into my work, and be totally authentic on the finer historical details.

5. What do you like to do when you're not writing?

If I gave you the full answer to that, you would be here forever! While lying sleepless one night, I tried to count up the number of different hobbies I have either had, or started to have, over the years, and made it well over thirty. The list began with collecting rocks and fossils when I was about six years old. It continues on into the present with a new obsession – that of collecting and customising Blythe dolls. I also really enjoy working with textiles, and I absolutely love nature and birdwatching, though I don’t get enough time to do much of the latter.

6. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

One of the most surprising things I learned was that my grammar and punctuation were nowhere near as good as I thought they were! I had no idea the English language was so different in America compared to the United Kingdom.

7. Do you hear from your readers much? What do they say?

I have quite a few reader friends on Facebook, of whom I am very fond- their support is invaluable to me. I’ve published several books on Wattpad over the last few years and have had a huge amount of feedback from readers there- some good, some bad, and some just a little bit crazy LOL.

8. What do you think makes a good story and how important are the characters to you?

A good story is one where you really care about the characters and what happens to them. The reader needs to be able to empathise with both the hero and heroine, breathe the same air, feel the same gut-wrenching feelings, and even experience the same lusts. So I like the characters and their situation to be realistic as possible.

9. I have read your book Beguiling the Baron. Let me just say this first, it is truly an amazing story and I especially loved your characters. I am curious, what inspired you to write a character like Lord Ansford?

That is such a hard question to answer! I suppose I liked the idea of a hero utterly beaten down by circumstances, and without hope, who is then rescued by a fearless young woman. I enjoyed making Ansford resistant to Galatea’s attempts to reform him, but I also enjoyed the challenge of keeping his character sympathetic, even in his darkest, most intransigent moments.

10. I have read some of your books. I noticed that they are all historical fiction. Is the only genre you write in? If not then what else do you write?

History is everything to me, and I find it hard to imagine writing in any other genre. I have, however, written several children’s stories as part of various museum projects. I was a voracious reader as a child, and have a large collection of children’s books which I still read when I don’t feel up to dealing with adult stuff. But I am probably so out of touch with the modern day child there is absolutely no point in me trying to write any more stories for them!