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Christina Diane Samples The Earl and the Vixen
Katherine Grant: 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.
I'm excited to be joined today by Christina Diane. Christina is a wife and mother who enjoys weaving stories of love and passion from her home in northern Maine. Her favorite genre to read and write are high spice historical romances set in the Regency era. Along with her husband and two boys, her family includes three French bulldogs who go everywhere with them. Aside from her family, writing, and books, Christina loves Bridgerton, The Grinch, Jessica Rabbit, horror movies, cold brew, yoga, Hamilton, and speaking in obscure quotes from movies and TV shows. That sounds like a challenge! Thanks for joining me, Christina.
Thank you for having me. I'm really excited. Tell us about the concept, what book you're reading today and also the concept of the series.
Christina Diane: Yeah, so this is called The Earl and the Vixen, and it's from my Unlikely Betrothal series, and all five books are set at the same house party, and all of these couples are obviously very unlikely, they did not show up at this house party expecting to find their match, and we leave with five betrothed couples at the end of this country house party.
And so the first story is about Nick and Eliza, And I am going to read an excerpt from The Earl and the Vixen.
Katherine Grant: I'm excited.
Christina Diane: Yeah, we're going to start off, this is going to be all from Nick's point of view. So let's get ready. Earl Nicholas Craven fixated on the fire in the bedchamber that the Ockhams had assigned to him at their country home.
He wasn't certain it had been the best idea to attend at all. But he couldn't insult his host now that he had arrived. The Viscountess Ockham was intimidating, even as young as she was. She'd surely see through any excuse he made to leave.
Nick avoided any event where there might be a chance of him seeing Eliza again. After what had passed between them, he had no desire to find himself in her presence ever again. He avoided the season in London, knowing that he couldn't avoid her in ballrooms with the entire town present. He wasn't aware that she had any association with Lord and Lady Ockham, and it had been years since he had seen his friend.
The two had gotten into a bit of mischief from time to time when they were at Cambridge, and Ockham wished for Nick to attend the gathering to meet his wife. She was a lovely young woman, and the pair were an obvious love match. Nick rolled his eyes. Love. What a farce. If he hadn't seen for himself how enamored Ockham and his wife were with each other, he'd say that love didn't exist at all.
It was certainly not in his future. He wasn't certain he even cared to take a wife. Why bother saddling himself with a woman when he knew he'd never feel anything for her? What did he care about providing an heir? Surely there was some cousin or distant relative the title could pass to. They would be delighted to elevate themselves in society and he would never have to suffer the agonizing notion of courtship.
He did that once and didn't care to do it again. It wasn't like he couldn't have a woman in his bed anytime he wished. As a title gentleman with ample funds, there wasn't much he couldn't have if he desired it other than love. Never that. The love of his life rejected him and married another man. His father broke the news to him after he spent months pining for her, longing to see her and make her remember that she loved him.
Even brokenhearted, he hadn't been able to bring himself to fuck anyone else, which furthered the cruel madness that had become his life. He tried several times, paying for the company of a faceless woman hoping to cure himself of the hold that the love of his life held on his heart and apparently his body.
It was the same thing every time. He would partake of a few drinks, and then when he thought he had worked himself up enough to finally stick his cock in another woman's mouth, cunt, or arse- he told himself he didn't care which- he would back down at the last minute, retreating to his rooms to fuck his own hand, thinking about her.
It was beyond pathetic, and he'd never live down the shame if anyone knew. He wasn't certain what would cure him, but he longed for the day he would free himself from the torment. Nick gritted his teeth and found he was beyond ready to find the nearest snifter of brandy. He glanced at the clock on the mantle and decided he would make his way downstairs.
His hostess said six sharp for his presence, and he wouldn't dream of facing her wrath should he arrive late. Nick departed his chamber and descended the grand staircase until he reached the salon where others were gathering. The sun was setting on the horizon, outside the glass doors, which led to a large terrace.
There were several guests already mingling, and the low buzz of conversation could be heard as soon as he entered. Immediately spotting his host, he crossed the room to greet them. "I'm glad to see you are punctual, my lord," the Viscountess said. Ockham pushed a glass of brandy into his hand, casting him an amused grin.
"Your husband has already informed me I shouldn't cross you, my lady." She patted his arm. "I know you and my husband have been friends for many years. He speaks fondly of your days at university, and I even heard you spent some time together in Italy." Nick laughed heartily. "Those were fun times indeed. Ockham wrote that he took you to see some of the places we visited."
Lady Ockham looped her arms through her husband's and looked up at him with nothing but love, and Nick was thankful she wasn't looking at him to see how he rolled his eyes. "That he did," she said. "We visited for a year after we married, then returned home so we could have our son back here."
"Congratulations to you both. I hope to meet him while I'm here," Nick said, taking a large swig of his drink. "What about you, old man?" Ockham asked, slapping Nick on the back. "Surely you are thinking about leg shackling yourself in the near future?" Nick choked on the second swig of brandy he took and patted his chest with his fist.
"I'm not sure about that, old friend," Nick said. Lady Ockham clasped her hands together. "Oh, I'd be happy to give my opinions on the young ladies present at the party. Perhaps you shall meet someone while you are here." The woman was far too excited by the notion of matchmaking and Nick shook his head in response.
"That isn't necessary. I have much to do with my estates and a wife would just get in the way." Ockham audibly sucked in a large breath of air and his wife cast her husband an annoyed sideways glance before refocusing her attention on him. "That is the most bacon brained thing I've ever heard," she said before glancing at her husband again, "and I have heard some bacon brained things."
Based on the hard expression of her face, Nick wouldn't dare to ask, but chuckled to himself, imagining what might have earned his friend such ire. "Now, now, my love," Ockham said, kissing his wife's temple. "I'm sure what Craven means to say is just that he isn't ready to take a wife yet. Give him just a bit of slack.
The man had his heart broken."
"Ockham," Nick ground out, "don't." The last thing he wished to do was discuss the greatest heartbreak of his life in the middle of a country house party, or ever. The Viscountess patted his arm and pity washed over her expression. "I'm so sorry, my lord. I didn't know. What happened?"
"She married someone else," Nick said, downing the rest of his brandy. Ockham reached for the decanter and refilled Nick's glass with a healthy pour and he immediately downed that too. "Who is she?" Lady Ockham asked. "I shouldn't like to associate with someone who would hurt my husband's dear friend in such a way.
You will find that we are quite loyal to our friends." "My love," Akum replied, saving Nick from having to answer, "he will never tell you. I tried to get it out of him over many drinks, and he won't budge." Nick exhaled hard. "He's right, my lady. I adore you already, but that pain is mine to carry, and that's that."
The Viscountess huffed, but didn't press further, although he wasn't certain he'd be so fortunate for the entire fortnight. "Very well," she said. "I'm still going to think about which ladies might make a good match for you in case you change your mind." Ockham laughed. "My wife is nothing short of relentless." "I see that," Nick deadpanned. He could only hope she'd get distracted with marrying off more willing guests and leave him be. "My love," she said, "we should greet some of our other guests." "Of course. Craven, you should mingle with others too. You haven't been seen in society in a couple of years.
It would do you some good." Nick nodded and watched his host move to another group of guests. He reached for the decanter on the sideboard next to where he stood and refilled his glass. He turned around to see if he recognized any of the other guests in attendance so he might do as Ockham suggested and reacquaint himself.
A pair of ladies entered the room, and he glanced at them from the side of his eye and then did a double take. His throat went dry and his heart was in his throat. If lightning had struck him where he stood, he would have been less jarred than by the woman he had fixed his gaze upon. No, surely it couldn't be that the one person he never wished to encounter again had just entered the salon or he would be unable to go unnoticed by her.
His entire body tensed and his hands formed tight fists. He groaned to himself and his jaw clenched so hard that it hurt. His twitched as well, but he refused to give that even the faintest bit of attention. Eliza. After the way things ended between them, fate must be playing a cruel joke, or some kind of retribution for trapping him for an entire fortnight with her.
Hadn't he already suffered enough? He was a step away from being a monk, and there was, she was, tempting and teasing him, reminding him of what he lost, what she stole from them both. He found himself unable to look away from her, and he hated himself for it. She was even more beautiful than the last time he'd seen her, with a few loose curls of her caramel colored hair framing her heart shaped face.
Her body appeared even more womanly, and it did nothing to ease the strain in his britches, as well as the anger boiling beneath the surface. Before he could force himself to look away, her eyes met his. She attempted to school her features, but her crystal blue eyes failed her. If the ire in her expression was any indication, the lady was just as unhappy to see him as he was to see her, which wasn't at all surprising. After what had occurred between them, he was certain she didn't wish to be in his presence. The feeling was entirely mutual, but it would appear they were stuck. They would be forced together for an entire fortnight, required to put on airs and polite niceties for the benefit of the other guests.
Although he supposed it shouldn't be difficult for her, given her ability to trick and mislead others, perhaps he might finally force her to explain herself. At least if he could leave the house party with matters resolved and the ability to fuck again, that would be a start. He'd certainly never love again.
He raised his glass to her with a tight smile, as if he toasted the wordless pact he'd made to move on from her, then took a healthy gulp. She whispered something to the lady beside her and then started right for him. Hell and damnation. Nick wasn't ready as he hadn't prepared for that moment. What would he even say to her?
He hadn't even imagined the situation because he never intended to subject himself to it. Part of him wanted an explanation in the hope of releasing himself from her hold, but the other part of him worried he might lose the other half of his soul hearing the words aloud, suspecting she never loved him and hearing her say it were two different things entirely.
She held her chin high and didn't take her eyes off of him as she approached. "Lord Craven," she said, the disdain evident in her tone. "I didn't expect to see you here." He drained the remaining contents of his glass. It hardly seemed necessary for her to state the obvious. "I'm sure you were just as delighted as I am about this revelation," he said, matching her tone.
"Quite," she spat. "I should have known that I couldn't avoid your unwelcome presence forever." At least she kept her voice low, so perhaps they wouldn't have their row where the entire room could bear witness. It was bad enough to live the shame, but
he certainly didn't wish for the rest of society to know how lost he had been to the woman in front of him. "The feeling is indeed mutual," he returned. Flashing her a tight, fake smile, he pretended to look around the room. "Where is your husband? Certainly he should keep an eye on you." She scoffed. "That's low, even for the likes of you, and the very low standard one might hold you to.
And not that it's any of your business, but I am here alone." "Oh, hoping to partake of a willing gentleman," he said, waving his hands toward the other guests. "I'm sure there will be many options at a country house party for a light skirt such as yourself. Please don't let me keep you." He didn't mean that in the slightest.
The same as he couldn't allow another woman in his bed, the idea of her fucking another man was far too much for him to handle. Knowing she had married and another man climbed on top of her made his skin crawl and was the source of his nightmares. She stepped closer to him and lowered her voice even further, speaking through her teeth.
"You are a cruel bastard. Stay away from me." She turned on her heel and crossed the room to rejoin her friend. How dare she treat him like he was the cruel one after what she had done. How she ran off and married someone else without a glance back or even a conversation. Nick had loved her more than he had ever believed possible.
He would have destroyed the entire world and watched it burn if that's what would have been required to have her. He would have laid down his life for hers if the need had presented itself and she went and married someone else. Then there she was, flaunting herself around the house parties without her husband, whomever the poor cuckold was.
"Nick, good to see you," a familiar voice said, pulling him from his disdain for the frigid woman of his past. "Onslow," Nick said, "it has been a long time." Hudson Brooks, the Earl of Onslow, was another friend from his days at Cambridge. "I heard you lost your father," Onslow said. "Please accept my condolences." "Same to you.
I heard about your parents. I couldn't imagine losing both at once," Nick replied. The man frowned. "Indeed, it's been a few years now, but I've learned to adjust." "I guess we have no other choice. It's what is expected, I suppose," Nick said. Eliza's laugh caught his attention. It was like the tinkling of bells, and he pushed away a memory of her giggling in his arms after one of the many times they had made love.
Well, at least for him it had been love. She seemed to be incapable of the emotion. He tamped down his rage that she was speaking with a gentleman who glanced at her chest when the man believed Eliza wouldn't notice. Worse, why did he even care? She probably welcomed the attention. "Do you fancy Lady Eliza?"
Hanslo asked, a knowing smirk flaying on his lips. "No," Nick replied. "And shouldn't you refer to her by her married name?" Confusion marred the man's expression. "What are you talking about?" "Wasn't she married a few years ago? Or is she a widow now?" Nick asked. That would explain why she had attended the house party on her own if she were, in fact, a widow, and why she would consider throwing herself at the likes of Lord Irvine.
"I think you are confused from your time away from society, Nick," onslow said. "Lady Eliza has never married. She has turned down countless proposals. Her name is on the betting books at White's, with many hoping to win her hand. The color drained from Nick's face. She hadn't married. How could that be? His father very clearly told him she had married.
There was no mistaking that. He never cared to ask who she had wed, and had no reason to believe his father would lie to him. He left for Italy the next day to join Ockham on his tour. Why would his father lie? "Are you all right, Nick?" Onslow asked. He shook off his thoughts. "Of course," nick replied, almost certain his tone wasn't enough to convince his friend.
"Are you one of the men hoping to win her hand?" "Afraid not. I'm not ready for the leg shackle. But good luck to you. If you intend to enter the melee from the number of rejections, she's meted out, you're going to need it." Onslow said, laughing heartily before taking another swig of his drink then continued.
"She could be a character in one of those Stormy Wells plays the ton can't seem to get enough of." "Stormy Wells?" Nick asked. What was the man talking about? Hudson laughed. "You really should visit town more often, Craven. I don't fancy the balls, but exhibits at the museum and a trip to the theater are a nice break from the solitary country living."
"I'll give it some thought," Nick replied, not fully listening to the man. Eliza laughed again, and the gentleman she spoke to leaned far closer to her than he should have. The intense urge he had to pummel the man wasn't lost on Nick. If the man laid a single finger on her, he just might do so.
He would get to the bottom of why his father lied to him about Eliza. He reminded himself that regardless, she still pushed him away. She abandoned him and refused to see him. And for some unknown reason, she appeared to hate him as much as he hated her for doing so, which was laughable.
Katherine Grant: What a fiery exchange that they had. I can't wait to like see how that unfolds and how that turns into other types of fire.
Christina Diane: Oh yeah, they are, they are for sure the enemies to lovers bunch of this particular like set of tropes in this house party.
Katherine Grant: I love that. Well, I've got lots of questions for you about the house party in particular, but first we're going to take a break for our sponsors.
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Katherine Grant: I am back with Christina Diane, who just read a very fun sample from the Earl and the Vixen. What's the name of the series? The Unlikely Betrothal Series.
And so you mentioned at the top, the whole concept of this series is that it's all taking place at the same house party. Yes. So each book is its, is. At the same time as the other books.
Christina Diane: Yes, like they kind of stagger like maybe by a couple days, but they kind of each book can be completely read by itself and you can get the full couple story and it's like really fantastic.
But the other characters are like background and kind of side characters and so if you read all of them you really get a full picture of like. What was going on at the house party, which I think is kind of fun.
Katherine Grant: That's such a cool concept. Tell me about how you came up with it.
Christina Diane: I always just love Regency house parties and it just feels like, and you know, and as we all, you know, know they're known for betrothals and you have all these, like, Opportunities to have these little hidden secret moments and stuff.
And so I was like, why waste that set up on just one couple? Like we could totally just have this like concept of you've got multiple couples. And then I was playing on the vibe of none of them are coming here for that. None of the, and they all have their different reasons why this is not at all what they would expect to have happened to them at the house party.
Katherine Grant: Yeah.
Christina Diane: And I just, I don't know, I just got really compelled with this idea of like seeing if I could make that work and if I could make that compelling and navigate the like challenges of like creating that kind of story.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. So how much did you know before you started writing about the house party and who was there and who the couples were going to be?
Christina Diane: So I knew the hosts. So our hosts of this house party are actually a couple that's in another series of mine Is not out yet because it's being published by Dragonblade. Okay. And so I loved that couple. And so my first thing was like, Oh, I, I need them. They're just so such a fiery couple. I was like, they're going to be my host for this house party.
So that was like the first thing I did. And then I started figuring out, okay, who are the players that I want here and what kind of different personalities and vibes do I want at this house party. And then, because I need, you know, I need my spirited heroines. And then I've got my, my bookish gal who's like very much into like maths and books.
And then I've got, I've got, of course I have a you know unruly widow that's at this house party. Gotta have one of those. And so I was like, who do I want this cast of characters to be? And then I started filling in the gaps of like, either like who they needed as like, Who I think they needed to like heal them or complete them or or pairing certain personalities together is like, that was the first thing I did.
Actually, it was, I planned the high level story arcs for all five couples
and
who the players were going to be. And then I started writing this first book, the Earl and the Vixen. And I did write them in the order that I'm going to release them in.
Katherine Grant: And you said you've written them all before you started releasing, right?
Christina Diane: I did. Yes. I wrote all five of them because there was so much editing that had to happen.
Katherine Grant: Well, yeah, I'm just thinking I've written two books that are very house setting centric where like it matters who's in what room and I had to build actual like layouts of the houses for myself to understand.
So like how particular and how did you do that? How did you organize that sort of thing?
Christina Diane: I love that you asked that. I use a Miro board. I don't know how everyone else keeps track of, because I know there's different tools out there. I have all of my world in like a Miro board canvas so that I can draw lines to different characters and who's ever interacted with each other, especially as I want to keep building in this world with different series and whatnot.
And so I took a similar approach with like the house too, of like, okay, Let's kind of draw it out here. And then I have a timeline that I use stuff like, okay, here's the days of the house party and here's like the story arc that's kind of happening on each day and each book so that I can remember
where
people need to be at different times, especially in the later books writing.
Cause it got way more complicated by the time you got to like book four or five to go, Oh man, where do I have everybody? Cause I just got this great idea for how I want to take this arc. And it's like, Oh, I gotta go back and like, make sure that I had them. Where I needed them like throughout until they get to like day four or whatever.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. That's really interesting. So what is a Miro board?
Christina Diane: It's just like an online tool called Miro, M I R O. Okay. And so I just have a free account with them and it's basically like a big canvas with like sticky notes and you can draw lines. And so I use like, I have sticky notes for each of my characters and I have a text box with all of their physical details, their.
Some of their like background, who their parents are, and I even put their parents in there. And like I, so I have like my web of my people and then like you can draw like timelines and there's like different tools in there that you can do stuff like that.
Katherine Grant: That's cool. It sounds like a, like a virtual murder board.
Christina Diane: Yeah, kind of. It's exactly what it is. And like you can totally have like your red string like going around to different places. Like it's totally how mine's set up. Looks like one of those.
Katherine Grant: I love that. So what is your personal approach to research and historical accuracy in the Regency era?
Christina Diane: So I put a disclaimer at the front of my books, like a letter to readers, that I don't focus on Historical accuracy is my main focus. Now I research and I try and I have like all my little books on my desk over here, you can't see them are like different Regency era books and I try to use as much language and as I can and know kind of what was going on at the time historically.
But I also don't spend a lot of time setting that up as part of the scene. I think I write for a little more of like a modern reader who wants to be immersed into like the feeling of, of the era without like needing all of that as much of the specific detail. I usually get, want to get into like the angst of these characters.
Katherine Grant: So you mentioned in your bio and I've read elsewhere that you read widely across the genres. So I'm curious, what brought you to deciding to write romance as opposed to any of the other genres you might enjoy reading?
Christina Diane: So romance is my number one read genre. And I heavily, heavily, heavily read Regency Romance. So like, I read almost 200 books a year. I'm a little behind pace this year. I think I'm only at like 166 or something for this year.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, but you've written like 10 books.
Christina Diane: But I, and if you look at that, it is very slanted heavy into Regency romance. But I do enjoy reading some thrillers or some like contemporary type of stuff, like Taylor Jenkins Reid or like Kristen Hanna here and there. And then I've recently discovered that I really love dark romance. And so what I, where I see myself going is probably a little blend, I think some dark romance tropes.
Readers will start to see those emerging in my Regency writing.
Katherine Grant: That's really interesting because I've had some conversations with historical romance authors who write pre Regency like, you know, medieval or, you know, even before then. And They talk about how those earlier eras tend to feel more like dark romance, but then Regency is like the is not where we're finding dark romance.
So it's very interesting that you're going to be bringing the dark side of romance to Regency.
Christina Diane: I've got an idea for a series it's the next series I plan to write after I finish up. I've got to finish my series for Dragonblade, and then I've got a couple anthologies that I'm in that I'm finishing.
So early next year, I plan to start writing in this new series, and it definitely, I'm playing around with some dark themes, but I wanted to stay still true to the era, and I wanted to make it compelling in the era, and I think I found a way to do that.
Katherine Grant: Yeah.
Christina Diane: And I'm hoping it might even bridge the gap on, like, bringing in some other, like, contemporary dark romance readers who are, who would be more open to try, like, probably the people that also read, like, dark fantasy.
I could see that, like, being kind of a crossover, and it might start getting some other people into, into, like, the Regency romance genre.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, I mean, it makes sense. There was a lot going on in the Regency that was bad and dark.
Christina Diane: So, yes,
Katherine Grant: there's all kinds of stuff to play with for you. When you're thinking about what you're gonna write, I'm just curious. How do stories come to you? Is it like, are you a plot person, a character person?
Christina Diane: I'm a character person. I feel like it's almost like a character comes to me. And then like I get an entire scene in my head and it's not, it is definitely happened to where I have just like.
Built an entire like story concept around like a scene that I got in my head. So my very first Regency novel that I wrote, it's the one that. It's going to be in the series that Dragonblade is publishing. I got this idea in my head for this like, virgin hero, who, and he, he's the one that came to me first.
He just like, kind of spoke to me, and I'd been thinking about trying out, and he was the one that was like, because I was writing mostly non fiction before, and I've kind of had like a, off and on freelancing career of writing like blogging type stuff, and Graham is the one that came to me in my head, and it was just like, I should try writing Regency. Like, I read so much Regency, and I love it, and I've, you know, and he was just talking to me, you know, makes me sound crazy. He was just kind of talking to me. And I was like, I'm going to try to write him.
I think I'm going to do it. And like the scene that kept coming to me in my head, that finally made me sit down and start figuring out how I was going to write it was, I had this like idea of, I want him to be like this total like fish out of water, virgin, unexpected Earl, he inherits unexpectedly. Like he's just in every way, this fish out of water.
And he ends up on the terrace with a very compelling woman. And they end up betrothed.
Katherine Grant: Mm hmm.
Christina Diane: Right.
Katherine Grant: I love that sort of setup.
Christina Diane: And so it was like, that's what I played with. That was like the start of it. And so then from there, I like built out Graham and more of who he was and more of his background and why he was so fish out of water.
And then I started building in like, okay, who does he need? Who is his, who is his match that he needs? And that's where Diana was formed. And then I, you know, invented like her family. And then I ended up, I did a similar thing that in that series that I did with the unlikely betrothal series. I actually planned all the couple of characters before I started really writing the book, because my thought was these were going to be a very found family type of group.
Like they all refer to each other as their first names, which , you know, goes against like the social constructs, another way I play fast and loose with facts. I wanted this found family vibe of like, these are such, so much more than just like a group of friends. They truly are like family to each other.
And so I planned them all out before and like roughly who was going to end up with who and like how this was, you know, some of their character arcs before I started writing the story so that it made sense when, so that I was true to the background characters as they were kind of coming in and out of each of the stories.
Katherine Grant: Well, I think it's time for us to move to our game.
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it? Protagonists meet in the first 10 percent of the novel.
Christina Diane: I say, love it.
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it? Dual point of view narration.
Christina Diane: Love it, because I need, I need both.
Katherine Grant: Alright, love it or leave it? Third person, past tense.
Christina Diane: Oh, I say leave it. The reason, actually the series I plan to, the next one that I'm going to write, I actually am planning to write that in first person.
So everything I've written thus far, I've been, I've been writing in third person because that's more, I think, what the genre expects. That's another reason, way I'm going to, like, kind of do something different. It might flop, people might hate it, nobody reads it, I don't know, but I think I'm going to write it.
Switch to writing that in first person.
Katherine Grant: I love an experiment. All right. Love it or leave it? Third act breakup or dark moment.
Christina Diane: Oh, love it. I'm here for all the angst.
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it? Always end with an epilogue.
Christina Diane: Love it. I do that. I love an epilogue.
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it? Share research in your author's note.
Leave it.
And are there any romance rules I didn't ask about that you do break?
Christina Diane: I think in the Regency era, one thing that I do play fast and loose with is like the concept that our female leads are just like these total, like, clueless about about sex and about any kind of desire for sex. I definitely still stay true to the genre and like kind of their thought around like why they remain a virgin and like that kind of stuff.
But I feel like I play a little more with like making them a little more wanton than like maybe would be accepted. I don't know. I don't know if that's considered playing fast and loose, but I, I feel like I, I know I do it now, whether it's considered playing fast and I don't know.
Katherine Grant: All right. Great. Well, you're Not the most rule following person I've spoken to, but you follow some rules.
Christina Diane: Yeah, I feel like when you, I say that I write for a modern reader, and so I think by default, because I'm not truly like sticking to exactly historical things, I think,
but
yeah, by default, I think I play a little fast and loose.
Katherine Grant: Alright, well this has been really fun. Thank you so much for coming on and reading a sample from The Earl and the Vixen.
Where can our readers find you and your books?
Christina Diane: Yeah, so ChristinaDianneBooks. com is probably the easiest place to go. I have all of my socials linked there. I am pretty active on socials. I love to chat with people, so don't shy away from messaging me. And then I have different Info pages about my different series and like some of the, the links, the universal links on where to find stuff.
Katherine Grant: That's great. And the Earl and the Vixen is out now we get to look forward to the rest of the manor house series.
Christina Diane: Yes. And I'm releasing them at one every six weeks.
Katherine Grant: Ooh. Okay.
Christina Diane: So that's released cause they're all written and edited and proofed and just waiting for people to read them.
Katherine Grant: That's really exciting. All right. Well, I'm going to put your website in the show notes. So listeners, you can head over there to start connecting with Christina. Make sure that you go grab the Earl and the Vixen and Christina, thank you again for coming on the show. Thank you for having me.
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.