Blog Tour Stop: Eulogy's Secret by Grace Elliot

Books to Consider is a stop in the blog tour for Eulogy's Secret written by Grace Elliot. Today we welcome the author for an interview!


First let's find out more about her book, Eulogy's Secret:

Eulogy’s Secret - a story of greed prejudice and a stolen identity.

In the four weeks since her guardians’ death, Eulogy Foster has lost everything. Penniless and alone she seeks the help of her estranged brother, Lord Lucien Devlin. But Devlin throws Eulogy onto the streets and the mercy of a passing stranger, Jack Huntley. As Eulogy seeks the truth behind her birth, she is drawn into the world of art and artists, where her morals are challenged and all is deception.

Jack Huntley: bitter, cynical and betrayed in love. He believes women are devious, scheming, untrustworthy creatures - and when he rescues a naïve Miss from being raped, his life is about to change forever. As his attraction to Eulogy grows, caught in a deadlock with both denying their true feelings, events take a sinister turn as someone seeks to silence Eulogy….forever.

Buy Eulogy's Secret:

Smashwords

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Kobo

Nook.

AllRomance eBooks

iTunes

To get to know Grace better, here is a short bio:

Grace Elliot leads a double life as a veterinarian by day and author of historical romance by night. Grace works in a companion animal practice near London and is housekeeping staff to five moggies, two teenage sons and a guinea pig. Grace started writing as an antidote to modern life and believes intelligent people have the greatest need to read romance!

If you would like to know more about Grace please visit her blog or website.

Interview: 

To begin how about you tell us a bit about yourself?

 

Hello Rachel, it's great to be here and to meet your readers! My name is Grace Elliot, and I lead a double life as a veterinarian by day and author of historical romance by night. You might think the two professions are odd bed-fellows, but I love how they stretch different parts of my brain!

I have worked in the same companion animal practice just outside London, for over fifteen years. The surgery is in a village, complete with duck-pond and Norman church, so history is all around me. In fact it was a cottage on the High Street, where a Victorian lady artist once lived, that inspired me to write my first novel (still languishing on my laptop)….and I haven't stopped writing since!

I am dotty about cats and act as housekeeping staff to five, previously abandoned, felines. Each one of them is an individual and I cant imagine life without them, or my husband, or two teenage sons (not necessarily mentioned in order of importance!!) 

How did you come up with the idea for your novel?  

My latest book is titled "Eulogy's Secret." Strange as it sounds, the idea for the story sprang from reading one word on a poster - 'eulogy'. I glimpsed the poster (for a memorial service at the Royal Albert Hall) on the London underground and it struck me what a fantastic name Eulogy would make for a heroine.

A 'eulogy' is a song or speech in praise of a dead person, and it set me thinking what circumstances would lead a parent to name their child such a sad name; perhaps the mother died in childbirth, or another, and altogether more sinister reason. Anyhow, the reason why Eulogy has such an enigmatic name is all part of her secret…. So you'll have to read the book to find out! 

Any future projects or something you are working on right now? 

            "Hope's Betrayal" (Book 2 in The Huntley Trilogy) is set for a June release. This book tells the story of the middle brother, Captain George Huntley. The idea behind the book came from the true story of a female smuggler, who legend had it was so beautiful, that the excise officer sent to arrest her, fell in love instead….What a cracking start for a historical romance!

            Indeed in 'Hope's Betrayal', Captain Huntley is tasked with breaking up a smuggling ring, but when he captures one of the gang, a woman, his troubles are just beginning. Hope Tyler is unlike any woman he has met before; she is brave, resourceful and loyal…qualities Captain Huntley admires and respects. But Hope was seriously injured in the raid, and if Huntley wants information, his must first keep her alive.

            With her father too ill to fish, Hope Tyler has a choice - smuggle or starve. When a landing goes wrong and she is captured by the arrogant, overbearing Captain Huntley little does she realize just how much their values overlap. They both believe in justice - but from opposite sides of the law. As she is nursed back to health, a battle of wills ensues that ends with them falling in love. But a love where either Hope betrays her own people, or the Captain is court-marshalled, is a difficult destiny to follow…

Since my blog is called Books to Consider, which book should we consider reading next? 

  

My all time favourite book is "The Autobiography of Henry VIII" by Margaret George. This novel is a gem, Henry's remarkable and controversial life as told by the great man himself. It's compulsive reading, entertaining and informative. It was through reading this novel that I first discovered a love of history, after hating the subject at school. Don’t be put off by the thickness of Ms George's book; it is a joy from beginning to end and you won't want it to finish! 

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Here is a small teaser of Eulogy's Secret just for you: 
 

But before he left, there was one last thing he must do and the ache in his chest intensified. After taking a deep breath Huntley turned to face the portrait, leaning against the tallboy. Even though he had prepared himself, it still robbed him of breath, his dark eyes grew darker and a small vein pulsed at his temple. He could stare at the painting for hours, trying to armor his emotions, but each time it was the same eyes that pierced his soul, and with no more weapon than a stare, made him her prisoner.

He, or rather Chaucer, had come across the picture by chance. A few weeks earlier, to his amazement, rumors circulated in artistic circles that Tristan Farrell was painting again. Out of idle curiosity Huntley had dispatched his man to Red Lyon Square to investigate, only to have Chaucer return bright eyed and burbling on about a stunning portrait of a brown-eyed woman. It amused Huntley to instruct Chaucer to buy the painting, for an anonymous client of course, as an investment in the resurgence of a once great talent. But the moment Huntley saw the piece he knew he could not bear to part with it.

So here he stood, like a priest before an altar. Goosebumps raised on his arms as he gazed at the pale-skinned beauty with softly parted lips and enormous brown eyes, warm and alluring, staring out of the canvas as if taken by surprise. The swirling background of chocolate browns served to heighten the woman’s natural beauty. The piece was unfinished and yet utter perfection. Only an artist of great foresight would stop when he had, capturing the moment when a great artist discovers his muse. Huntley’s instincts had been correct. The model was Eulogy Foster, and the painting as divine as the woman it depicted.

Of course Chaucer was right; it made sound business sense to sign Farrell up to The Gallery before news of his work reached the ton. If the gallery manager was perplexed by the owner’s sudden indecision, he knew better than to mention it. As if it was fate intervening, there soon appeared a hastily scribbled note from Farrell, offering The Gallery first refusal of his future work. Huntley laughed aloud as he read. Even when fighting infatuation, he wasn’t such a fool as to decline an opportunity to make money.