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Nicki Pascarella Samples Charlotte's Kisses

Katherine Grant: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Historical Romance Sampler Podcast. The place for you to find new historical romance books and authors to fan over. I'm award winning historical romance author Katherine Grant, and each week I'm inviting fellow authors to come on and share a little bit of their work and themselves.

They'll read a sample of one of their books, and then I'm going to ask them a bunch of questions. By the end of the episode, you'll have a sense of what they write and who they are. Hopefully, you and I both will have something new to read. So what are we waiting for? Let's get into this week's episode.

All right, I am so excited today to be joined by Nicki Pascarella. Nicki writes historical and contemporary romances. She enjoys mixing genres, adding mysteries to steamy small town romances or a pinch of paranormal fantasy to her romantic comedies. [00:01:00] It's all about making her readers laugh and fall in love.

Using her 29 years of experience as a high school teacher and her background in creative writing and journalism. Nicki is passionate about helping artists break through creative blocks. When she isn't writing, she reads, runs, and hangs with her husband, daughter, and Shetland sheepdogs. Nicki is also an award winning belly dancer.

Nicki, I'm so excited to have you with us today.

Nicki Pascarella: I'm excited to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

Katherine Grant: Yes! I am looking forward to hearing about this new historic romance series you're kicking off. What are you reading for us today?

Nicki Pascarella: So, I am reading to you from Charlotte's Kisses. This is my draft copy because it hasn't released yet.

So, you can see my little mark. But this is my new series, Rakes, Rogues, and Scoundrels. It's pretty sweet. It's a little edgier than what I have been writing, [00:02:00] so I'm super excited about it. I hope readers love it.

Katherine Grant: All right. And what scene are you reading for us?

Nicki Pascarella: So I am reading the scene when Charlotte and Hugh first meet and first see each other.

How exciting. And there is a masquerade ball, and I love masquerade balls. I know some people love them. Some people are like, oh, you know, masquerade balls, how do they, they're in their masks. Of course they know, you can tell who someone is in their masks, but these two haven't met each other before. So.

Katherine Grant: Awesome.

Nicki Pascarella: Okay. Standing beneath the canopy of a large oak, Charlotte closed her eyes and exhaled. After visiting Cricket in the barn, talking to Billy, and a few minutes in the gardens, her spirits lifted, and she'd experienced an epiphany. She was done cowering. To her stepmother, to the cruel women in the ton, to everyone.

From this minute forward, she would be her own woman. She would say what she thought and do what she wanted, and no one would embarrass or talk down to her. Considering the last decade, what other [00:03:00] choice did she have? Despite Susanna's cruel eccentricities and desire for wealth and power, Charlotte and Alexander had done their best to make her feel welcome.

When Charlotte invited the new Marchioness on her daily constitutionals, the woman declined with her nose in the air. Charlotte planned delightful picnics until the Marchioness had her favorite picnic basket burned. 'Ants!' the Marchioness had screeched. 'Destroy it now!' she told her staff of caped men.

Charlotte had stoically swallowed tears as she watched the wicker catch fire and disintegrate, knowing full well it was insect free. Susanna simply loved destroying Charlotte's possessions. And then, Charlotte could not think about the incident without tearing up. Her stepmother had set Charlotte's lovebirds free.

She denied it vehemently. But the birds were merrily singing on Charlotte's balcony in the morning and gone by that afternoon. The cage door had been closed and latched. How in the dickens would two little birds have escaped when closed and locked their own door? And Charlotte had adored Romeo and [00:04:00] Juliet with all her heart.

If she replaced them, who knew what Susanna would do? Despite all the heinous things Susanna had done, Charlotte attempted to join her in the drawing room each evening. She would order them warm cups of chocolate and biscuits. 'How was your day, my lady?' She would ask. Her stepmother would snort and then ensure there was a heaping dose of cutting insult served alongside their evening repast.

Twice she poured the chocolate on Charlotte's embroidery, claiming it was an accident. 'Charlotte,' someone behind her said. She recognized that voice. Lord Nash. Dash it all. Not now. Not when she was in the middle of making a plan to fix her life. Even though her father hoped for a match between Charlotte and George Nash, they should not be alone.

She feigned a smile then faced him. His red mask, which matched the brilliant shade of his waistcoat, swung from his fingers. 'Good evening, my lord.' 'Good evening, my lady. Are you well?' He asked. 'When you left the ballroom, you seemed quite distraught.' 'I'm having a lovely time,' Apparently, her new forthright [00:05:00] personality did not involve honesty. 'But we cannot be alone without a chaperone.'

'Of course, my lady.' He bowed. 'Now that I know you are well, I will take my leave. I hope you allow me to add my name to your dance card.' And her stepmother thought no one would ask her to dance. Perchance when she returned to the ballroom, she would barge right up to Susanna and point out that Lord Nash had asked her.

Surely Papa would be delighted. But how to break it to him that she had no interest in courting George without upsetting him? Because lately, Papa was consumed with something. What she knew not. But his brow was always furrowed, his skin had become an ashen shade of gray, and he disappeared into his study for long periods of time.

Meanwhile, his wife's maleficence multiplied. Another epiphany hit with a thud. Instead of tiptoeing around Papa, she'd confront him and ask what the dickens was wrong. Afterwards, she would tell him she did not favor George enough to marry him. Something rustled in the tree line running alongside the gardens.

'Hmm,' she murmured as she perused the area. Moonlight and lanterns lit up the [00:06:00] gardens, but the forest off to one side remained in shadow. There was movement and a crunching sound in the vegetation. 'She tilted her ear. Perchance, tis a parcel of deer munching on leaves,' she said as she swiveled to face Lord Nash.

However, he disappeared into thin air as if he were an apparition or a figment of her imagination. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. Something snapped. Had someone just stepped on a twig? Thereupon, there was a resounding crash. Then heaven forbid -a man's moans. She swallowed hard. 'George?' she croaked. Lord Nash stepped into the light with his mask now in place.

He brushed leaves from his exquisite tailcoat that was much too small for him. 'Thank heavens you are unharmed.' Dare she admit she thought he disappeared as if they were in some gothic ghost story? He sauntered to her. 'I'm well, my lady.' Why had she never noticed Lord Nash's toe-curling baritone? Or that his shoulders were extremely broad, in stark contrast, his hips tapered in, giving him the [00:07:00] physique of a warrior?

She'd always thought his chin a bit pointy. However, when wearing a mask, his jawline was chiseled to perfection. Wait a dash minute. Who was this well built man in a too tight coat, and where had he stashed Lord Nash? 'Where's George?' She asked, a sharp edge to her question. The masked stranger softened his voice and cautiously moved as if she were a skittish bird.

'Do not be afraid, my lady.' But she was not afraid of him. Maybe she should be, since it seemed he had incapacitated Lord Nash and stolen his coat and ask. But call her curious, fascinated even, the clomp of approaching footsteps startled her. A moment later, she relaxed. For it seemed Lord Nash had returned for his stolen belongings.

Unfortunately, her theory was problematic because it sounded like more than one person stomped toward them. 'Shite, there's no time to explain.' Her mysterious stranger grasped her around the waist. Before she had time to protest, he had pushed her back against the oak, his torso pressed [00:08:00] against hers. 'Kiss me,' he demanded.

'I will not.' She'd never kissed anyone, let alone a stranger, never mind that he was physically attractive. Godlike. Stunning. Caged between his hard body and the tree trunk, she placed her palms on his chest, intending to push him away. Instead, she halted, frozen in place as the intoxicating scent of spicy ginger enveloped her,

wrapping her in its warmth. She inhaled again. Good gracious. Perhaps if she had eaten that dang tart, she might not be in this deprived state, helpless to the charms of this masculine specimen. His lips crashed against hers. When she gasped, his tongue slid into her mouth. This was all too shocking. So why was she sucking on his tongue and rubbing her tingling breast against his pectorals?

She moaned like a puppy getting its belly scratched, or perhaps a harlot. But heavens above, apparently she adored being kissed by a masked stranger who had recently drunk ale. Her lover withdrew his tongue and placed his [00:09:00] lips to her ear. 'Please play along, my lady.' 'Yes,' she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck.

She would do anything he asked as long as he placed his velvety tongue back into her mouth. She whimpered as he withdrew from her embrace and stepped back. Perhaps she was a horrible kisser. No surprise there, since she had no idea what she was doing. However, she had secretly stolen a few peeks at the scandalous instructional book, The Secret Life of Gentlemen, and some idea of what happened between men and women, unless it wasn't her awkward kissing and he had noticed she looked a frightened pink.

Her heart, which had been beating wildly just moments ago, withered as if it were a dried out old currant. He turned his back to her and backed up until his shoulder blades bumped her nose. 'Please excuse the lady and I,' he said. Who in the dickens was he speaking to? Charlotte raised onto her tiptoes to peer over his shoulder.

So much for the noise in the forest being hungry deer or disgruntled gnash. Three of her stepmother's staff stood gawking. [00:10:00] 'Pardon us, sir my lord, Leon' said. 'Have you seen a bloke run through here about your height and build, brown tailcoat?' Caught behaving like a Jezebel, she was ruined. Her stepmother would smirk.

'I have told you she was worthless,' she would say to everyone. Her father would huff and then lock himself in his study. Alexander might be her only ally. But only if she could get him to put away his books for a moment and listen to her tale. Charlotte winced at the horror of her predicament. She hid behind the gentleman

who apparently owned a brown coat and was on the run from her stepmother. Wait a minute. If he was her stepmother's enemy, perchance he was her friend. What a pleasant thought. Remaining concealed behind the wall of muscles, she called out, 'Yes, I saw him.' Her lover stiffened as he peered over his shoulder at her.

What lovely blue eyes he had. Unfortunately, they morphed into little slits that contained hellfire. 'Do not,' he growled at her. Heavens, even his growl was appealing. 'He went that way.' Charlotte swung her hand over her human [00:11:00] shield's head and pointed into the forest. 'Thank you, Miss,' Leon said. 'Hurry, before he gets away,' she said.

Sending her enemy in the wrong direction filled her with effervescent bubbles that threatened to burst forth in a giggle. Although perchance, what she truly celebrated was the bold new Charlotte who planned to continue kissing this masked stranger.

Katherine Grant: Gotta love a kiss in order to hide. Yeah. Situation. That was fantastic. Thank you so much. I've got a lot of questions for you. First, we're going to take a break for our sponsors.

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Well, I am back with Nicki Pascarella, who just read a sample from Charlotte's Kisses, which is the first book in a new series.

And A couple of things stood out to me. One is that this has a very strong Cinderella feel to it. Can you talk about your choice to do Regency romance for the series? And then also, are they all going to have a little fairy tale influence?

Nicki Pascarella: So, and yeah, so this one actually has it definitely is a fair, fairytelling reimagining, and it [00:13:00] definitely has a Cinderella, Snow White kind of combination feel, because it's just in general that evil stepmother and the henchmen taking you into the woods.

So the next book in this series. Victoria's Whispers is releasing in December, and it actually does not have a fairy tale retelling. So it is a little bit different. So the whole series is, will be based on, the whole series is based on marquess, who is, He's dying and hires Hugh Fletcher, who we meet in this scene, to find all of his by-blows before he passes.

So each of his by-blows is featured in a love story as Hugh tracks them down. So we'll see Hugh and Charlotte as reoccurring characters throughout the entire series. So, but they aren't, this one is a fairy tale reimagining. They won't all [00:14:00] be.

Katherine Grant: Okay, and what drew you to use those fairy tale themes?

Nicki Pascarella: You know I wanted this story, so I love villains, okay?

So all of my stories have a villain in them of some sort. So even though my characters are going through the ebbs and flows of the relationship and finding each other, Really what they're, besides working through their relationship issues, they are combating some villain. So I created this completely evil stepmother and she's, I love her, you know, she's really horrible.

But I just knew that when I did that, I was creating this character who was so extreme that it really did fit into those. Fairy tale kind of thoughts. So I kind of went back into the story and added all of these fair, it just [00:15:00] fit with, with Hugh and Charlotte and she's so, Charlotte's so innocent, but she's so passionate and really trying to be brave and bold and Hugh is a expo street runner and he's a little bit of a vigilante.

So it just really fit with the theme.

Katherine Grant: Yeah. Well, I love the little detail of like the lovebirds because immediately I was, you know, back in Disney's Cinderella where they're the birds singing and everything.

Nicki Pascarella: Yes. Yes. And she loves it. And Cricket, who we mentioned at the beginning, you don't know who that is, but she'd gone to see Cricket.

Cricket is a three legged goat that she saved. So she has this, she is a goat and she is a kitten. And what she really wants is, More than anything is a dog. So yeah, so she's definitely kind of sweet and innocent and pink and sparkly with all of these. Little animals.

Yeah,

really kind of edgy and outside the law.

Katherine Grant: Yeah. Well, and you know we mentioned in your bio that you write all sorts of romances, and then [00:16:00] you preface this thing that this series is a little steamier, maybe a little edgier than what you've written before. So what made you decide to try out steamy and how did it feel?

Nicki Pascarella: Yeah, so when I first started, I started writing women's fiction, and it was closed door.

I was a high school teacher when I first started writing. And so, as I wrote, and then I did a lot of kind of, I was writing after that, and I did a historical fiction piece, and then I started getting steamier. So my, my other stuff is steamy. It is all pretty steamy, but this I wanted even steamier. So I, I love a lot of steam and I love steam in my historical romance.

So I think as I, as an author got more comfortable with it. I really just wanted to keep, I wanted my scenes to you know, as I read other readers and I read my, some of my favorite readers like Tessa Dare and Tracy Sumner and Caroline Lee and I just [00:17:00] love how lengthy their scenes are and how involved they are.

So I just really wanted to bring that to my writing.

Katherine Grant: Yeah. And did you find it you know, you, you talk about getting through creative blocks. Was that part of a creative block or how did it interact with your creative process?

Nicki Pascarella: You know, I think it was a confidence issue. You know, here I was, I was this, you know, kind of sweet high school teacher, you know, and I have this thing where I like to read steamy romance, but I'm reading classics with my students at school show for 30 years.

You know, that's who I was. I was, you know, kind of this very loving, caring teacher, but kind of, you know, strict with the kids, like, you can't swear, you know, we're gonna read the, and then so I think I just, as once I retired from teaching and I became Nicki, the writer, I was just able to embrace more of that personality.

So yeah, I do think that is working through kind of a block and a style.

Katherine Grant: Yeah, [00:18:00] well, and you also are a professional belly dancer, award winning belly dancer. And I know more about romance than I do about belly dancing, but the first thing that comes to my mind with belly dancing is a little bit of like, oh, that's for risque.

In a similar way that, you know, historical romance with sex scenes is, oh, that's for risque. Do you find yourself encountering similar dynamics in these two different spheres?

Nicki Pascarella: You know, that's so interesting. I represent two different cultures in my writing because when I'm writing, I am mostly writing any more about the British culture and I'm American.

So and I have always been like, I think I'm supposed to be British. I think I'm like, I have always loved the British culture and history ever since I was little. In dance, I really studied Egyptian, Lebanese and Turkish, primarily those cultures because it came, became very important to me that I presented those dances accurately.

And in those countries, the dance [00:19:00] is absolutely beautiful and it is really different than it is in the United States. So, and I danced for probably over 20 years up until the pandemic. I was the featured dancer at a Lebanese restaurant. So, and it was the restaurant was fancy and it was nice and it was, you know, you've got have an upper class clientele coming in.

And then of course you'd have people from other countries coming in. Military, American military would come in because they, if they had been stationed in the Middle East, they love Lebanese food and music. So, and I was working for a Lebanese family. So it had always become very important to me that I presented the dance very respectfully.

I, and when I was a teacher, I also, cause I was a high school teacher. And, you know, one time I had this big article in the newspaper about, you know, high school teacher, belly dancer. And I remember there were a couple of comments like, Oh, this is what our public school teachers have come to. But it was so important to me that I always invited my [00:20:00] principals and my fellow co workers, come see one of my shows at one of the fairs or festivals, because you will not

be offended. You will not be upset. You will come away going, Oh my gosh, like it's like a Vegas show with all the colors and the lights and the props. And sometimes I would get students who come into the restaurant with their families. I mean, I can't even really think of any time when people weren't like, Oh, wow, that's really beautiful.

That's really neat. That wasn't what I expected. Yeah. But yeah, so I obviously is, I have this outside, creative, colorful personality, you know, outside of being this little strict teacher.

Katherine Grant: Right.

Well, it's really interesting to be creative in so many different areas, too.

Nicki Pascarella: Yeah. I love creativity. I believe that that's what makes us human.

And as a high school teacher because I was a special ed teacher, my students were coming to me and sometimes like regular education [00:21:00] had worked for them. So I, that became my, the thing that, the way that I could teach them was, By being creative myself and by teaching them to utilize their creativity.

So I, oh, my classroom was always filled with glitter and popsicle sticks and construction paper and boxes. And it was always about thinking outside the box, how can we be engaged and how can we be creative? So I hope that. Creativity is one of the things, when my students left my classroom, that they came away feeling like they were creative and embracing their own creativity.

Katherine Grant: Yeah, that's lovely. And how do you think about your creativity when it comes to writing? Because you do write these different genres. Do you have specific stories that you know what era they're going to be in? Or are you kind of following a muse? How does that work for you?

Nicki Pascarella: You know, I definitely believe, I say all the time [00:22:00] about having a muse because I truly believe that I truly believe like there is this force or something like inside everybody, you know, and I feel like it's inside me.

And sometimes it's almost separate. Like, where is that even coming from? Who is that talking to me? And usually I get the idea for an overall idea for a feel and the characters. So first, I always know who my characters are and a feel for those characters and and I've really, any more, I'm more writing historical than I am contemporary, you know, even though I started with contemporary, I'm doing much.

I have a little romantic mystery series that I'm still publishing. But in general, besides that, I'm mostly doing my historical. So yeah, I think it comes from, and I get images, I get like little movie images playing in my head that visually. So I always see my books and see my [00:23:00] characters and see my scenes before I write them.

Katherine Grant: That's so interesting. Very visual. And, and how was it to transition from contemporary to historical? Did you feel like you had to like get, You know, work different muscles or anything like that?

Nicki Pascarella: Oh my gosh. So, I honestly, I have always loved historical romance, and I have to say I never thought I could write it.

I thought, I think historical romance writers are some of the best writers out there. And nothing to take away from anyone else, but I was always blown away by Julianne Long and, you know, Tessa Dare and, You know, all those great ladies you know, Lorraine Heath and Elizabeth Hoyt. Oh my gosh. So I'm like blown away that these ladies are so amazing.

Everything they write is so beautiful. And I never thought I could do it. I never thought I had the talent or the ability. So I was writing with a publishing house, the Wildrose press, and [00:24:00] they challenged their writers to write a a historical romance story for a series they were doing called Christmas in the Castle.

And I was like, Hmm. And so I was like, I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm going to write this. So I researched for months. I mean, the amount of research and you know, when you're writing historical, you say, I spent so much time with the, with the research and the titles and the addresses, because as a reader, I was never really paying attention to that.

And plus I was reading Georgian and I was reading Regency and I was reading Victoria and they're different. You know, the language is different. You're adding so much language from one period to the next. So I wrote the book and I just fell in love with my characters. And then I wrote to the publishing house and I said, I know that I did this book for this series, but can I self publish a whole series around it?

So that's what I did with my Eaton's, which was my first historical series. I loved it. And I have to say the [00:25:00] historical romance community blew me away with how amazing they are, how supportive they are. The other authors are so supportive. It's everybody reaches out and supports each other. The reviewers And the the influencers are amazing.

Those ladies have done so much for me. And then I was like, Oh, I'll never put together an arc team. Do you know, do I have enough fans to put together an arc team? And all of these. phenomenal ladies came out, you know, we're, we're on your arc team. So I just found writing history, it's, it, it is hard for me.

It takes me a lot longer. It takes me twice as long to write historical romance as it does contemporary. Probably because of the research piece, research piece, and it just takes me longer. The language, but I love it. I feel like it's where I belong.

Katherine Grant: That's lovely. Well, [00:26:00] it is time to have our fun game to find out how much of a rule follower you are and play love it or leave it.

Katherine Grant: Nicki Pascarella, love it or leave it, protagonists meet in the first 10%.

Nicki Pascarella: Love it. By chapter three, hopefully.

Katherine Grant: Alright, love it or leave it, dual point of view narration.

Nicki Pascarella: Love it.

Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it, third person past tense.

Nicki Pascarella: Love it.

Katherine Grant: Love it or For historical romance. Love it. Alright. Depends which genre, but yes.

How about third act breakup or dark moment?

Nicki Pascarella: Yes. I prefer the, it to be an outside force that's causing the problems at that point. Okay. But yes. The dark moment.

Katherine Grant: So you, you like a dark moment, but you like it to be an external

Nicki Pascarella: plot At that point, yes. Sort of thing. Cause my, I'd like them to have worked through all their issues

by

that point.

Katherine Grant: All right. Love it or leave it, always end with an epilogue.

Nicki Pascarella: Love it. [00:27:00]

Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it, share research in your author's note.

Nicki Pascarella: I haven't been doing that, but I am starting to do that with this series. So I will call that a change to a love it.

Katherine Grant: Nice. And are there any other romance rules that I didn't ask about that you break?

Nicki Pascarella: You know, I was thinking about this and I would say the hardest thing for me has been the historical accuracy versus the fantasy. So for me it has been really, I struggle with when do I want to kind of set aside a little bit of my historical accuracy for the fantasy point because I'm so visual and I want my authors carried away.

So for me, that's been a really something that I really tried to work with. And at this point, and what I used to always tell my students is you have to know rules to break rules. So I think as an author, it's really important that. [00:28:00] I know any rules and if I am going to break them for the fantasy and for the romance or for whatever visually I'm trying to create in the book, that I know it and that my readers know that I know it somehow.

Katherine Grant: Yes, that's very well said. Yeah. All right. Well, this has been really fun. Thank you so much for taking the time to read to us and tell us about your awesome creativity. Where can our listeners find out more about you and your books?

Nicki Pascarella: So my website is Nicki Pascarella. com. Super easy to find. So you can find me on my website.

I have a newsletter. I, I am not, I send a newsletter once every month, every other twice a month or once a month. And I tell everyone where to get free books. So I'm always making sure that I'm pointing you to free books. So So and I re I look for for books to tell you about so that's really I love my newsletter And I love my newsletter subscribers and I'm super [00:29:00] active on instagram if you look me up Nicki Pascarella on instagram I'm also on facebook.

Katherine Grant: Awesome, and I will put your website in the show notes. So everyone can just go click from there Thank you again. This has been really lovely

Nicki Pascarella: Thank you, Katherine. It was a lot of fun Thank you everyone that tuned in.

Katherine Grant: That's it for this week. Check out the show notes where I put links for my guests, myself, and the podcast. Until next week, happy reading.