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Jeanine Englert Samples Cinderella's Charade With The Duke
Katherine Grant: Welcome to the historical romance sampler podcast. I'm your host, Katherine Grant, and each week I introduce you to another amazing historical romance author. My guest reads a little sample of their work, and then we move into a free ranging interview. If you like these episodes, don't forget to subscribe to the historical romance sampler, wherever you listen to podcasts and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Now let's get into this week's episode.
I'm super excited to be joined today by Jeanine Englert. Jeanine's love affair with mysteries and romance began with Nancy Drew, murder she wrote, and her grandmother's bookshelves full of romance novels. Jeanine is a Vivian Golden Heart and Romance Novelist Association finalist, as well as a silver fian, Maggie and Daphne du Maurier
award winner in historical romance and mystery. She was also named the 2024 Georgia Author of the Year in Romance for a Laird Without a Past. Her Scottish Highland Historical, Regency Historical and Historical Mystery novels revolve around characters seeking self-acceptance and redemption. When she isn't wrangling with her characters on the page, she can be found trying to convince her husband to watch her latest masterpiece or BBC show obsession.
And we had the pleasure of meeting in person in Atlanta in June to help celebrate Harper St. George's release. So Jeanine, I'm so excited to get the chance to talk to you today.
Jeanine Englert: Yes. Thank you so much for having me, and it's so much fun to see you again, Katherine. Even though we're still far away, I feel like we're kind of right next door, so that's nice.
Katherine Grant: Exactly.
Jeanine Englert: Thank you for having me on today.
Katherine Grant: I'm so happy to have you on. And today you are sharing your first entry into Regency Romance, Cinderella's Charade with the Duke. What should we know about this book and or the scene that you're gonna read?
Jeanine Englert: So the book itself, I describe it as
pretty woman meets while you were sleeping in the Regency period, if that gives you a little hint to where we're headed. But it's book one in my first ever Regency series, which are all fairytale retellings and this one, right here, cinderella Charade with the Duke is basically the story of William, who is a widower and he is desperate to find someone to help his daughter Millie, who has become mute after his wife died.
So he searched high and low and he finds Hattie and Hattie is going to arrive as the governess. So the scene I've picked out is from chapter two. It's like their little meet cute moment where they first meet each other.
Katherine Grant: Awesome. I love a meet cute.
Jeanine Englert: Don't we all? Right?
Katherine Grant: Well take it away whenever you're ready.
Jeanine Englert: Okay, so here we are, chapter two.
William had all but given up on the arrival of Miss Potts when he heard the familiar sound of horses hooves clip clopping on the drive hours later, as he worked in his study on settling this month's accounts. He glanced up to see the familiar black carriage turning into the long drive, leading up to Blythe manner.
"Finally." He exhaled in relief, shrugged on his jacket, and sighed. His pulse quickened and his gut churned with unease. He hoped he'd made the right decision. Everything would be fine. He almost snorted at his attempt at self-deception. Very little in his life had worked out anything close to fine as of late.
Anticipation along with a bit of dread greeted him at the thought of meeting her. He exited his study and moved with purpose down the grand staircase, letting his hands slide down the smooth polished rail before stepping into a glistening marble hall. His housekeeper, Mrs. Chisholm, sent the staff scurrying to their places and his butler, Mr.
Simmons, sniffed and sent one last disapproving glance William's way. The older man had served under his father and was less than pleased with the selection for governess William had made. Mr. Simmons wished for William to have selected a woman with far more schooling and standing. A stranger from Stowe was not his idea of a role model for Lady Millie, as he now called her.
He was loath to remember that Millie was only five years old and far from being a lady expected to know the ins and outs of being the daughter of the Duke. "Your grace," Mr. Simmons said as he opened the door for William.
"Simmons," William replied as he adjusted his jacket, hoping the old man wasn't right and that William hadn't blundered yet another aspect of being a father.
He walked down the large cascading stone steps to the gravel drive, his heart thundering in his chest. Please let her look the part of a governess and above all else, please let Millie love her. The mud splattered carriage came to a rocking halt, the wheels caked heavily in muck. Just as William had expected, the weather must have hampered their journey. Eddie jumped down from his driver's box to settle the horses
as a young footman rushed forward to open the carriage door. William held his breath, his chest tightening in anticipation. As the door eased open, he could have sworn the whole household took a collective breath. The first thing he saw was a worn, mud splattered boot, then an askew bonnet. As the woman leaned forward to monitor the ground before her, she appeared to be a rather plain looking young woman, dressed entirely in brown.
The young woman secured her footing on the drive, lifted her head, and stood staring out blankly towards him. She started at the sight of the entire household before her. He wasn't sure how this young woman with her rather dated and forgettable ensemble and slightly rolled in shoulders was the same person
from her letter. She looked more like a baby wren having fallen out of its nest than a governess. She was a bit bedraggled and wide-eyed and looked, well, a touch frightened. But it was also far too late for him to rally any other options and first impressions could be deceptive, as he well knew. Best to get on with it.
William sucked in a steady breath and approached the petite timid creature. Time was wasting as it was, and this was the path he had chosen. He would give her a chance and try to trust his decision despite how uncertain he was now.
"Miss Potts," he said as he settled in front of her.
She stilled and studied him, her brown eyes widening. "Your grace, duke of Wimberley?"
She replied in the form of a question, followed by a staggering curtsy.
"Yes," he answered simply, tucking a hand in his trouser pocket. "I hope you had a safe journey?" He inquired, sticking to generalities for now.
"Indeed," she said and flashed him an unexpectedly brilliant smile that showcased a dimple in her left cheek.
There was something. She had a lovely smile. He felt her joy in that smile. He almost sighed aloud in relief as some of his worry loosened in his chest. Not all was lost yet. She appeared to be the warm, kind woman he had hoped for. "Then I'm glad for it, Miss Potts. This is Mrs. Chisholm, my housekeeper, as well as our butler, Mr.
Simmons," he said introducing those most essential to helping her in getting settled in in the coming days. "Ask them for anything you require." He glanced over to the carriage. Eddie removed the smallest traveling trunk William had ever set eyes on along with a rather battered portmanteau. Surely this was not all she had.
"Is your larger trunk being sent on later, Miss Potts?"
"This is all I brought along with me, your grace. thank you again for your kindness and generosity in sending your own carriage for my comfort. I've never traveled in anything other than a stage coach before." Her large brown eyes settled upon him. They were wide, soft, and, well, a bit charmingly innocent.
He shifted on his feet, disarmed by her trust and belief in him, and undone by her gratitude. It had been some time since anyone had thanked him for his kindness and looked at him with such belief and trust. He wasn't sure he deserved it. "I'm pleased to hear it," he replied and cleared his throat, uneasy with her appreciation, uncertain of what to do with it.
"You must be tired. Please come in and when you're ready we can meet to discuss your role here as governess at Blythe Manor in the coming weeks. I can also introduce you to Miss Bellows, Millie's Day nurse, and of course my daughter Millie."
"Thank you, your grace." She flushed, brushing at her skirts. "I shall freshen up. I apologize for my appearance.
I did not expect you to greet me upon my arrival. It was kind of you to make the time to do so." She again bobbed her body up and down in an attempt at a curtsy, then scurried up the stairs behind Mrs. Chisholm before he could utter a reply. Simmons edged over to him, dropping his voice low.
"It is not too late to send her on her way home without harm, Your Grace.
She does not look the sort to be a governess to a family of your standing."
William was tempted, but then he remembered her smile. There was something there in that smile, and he had to believe in trust in his choice, and at least try. "Let us not give up just yet," William replied. "There may be a hidden gem within all those shades of brown.
We must have the patience to uncover it." The lie sounded fine upon his lips. Now he merely needed to believe it to be the truth. And that's it.
Katherine Grant: Woo. What a great little intro to both the story and the characters. Yes, I loved writing that scene. It was a fun one. Ah, well, I've got lots of questions for you, but first we're gonna take a quick break for our sponsors.
I am back with Jeanine Englert, who just read a sample from Cinderella's Charade with the Duke, and we got a really yummy little intro that settles this so clearly in Regency World, we get the idea of the stage coach versus the Duke's coach, the importance of the right governance for the family, the disapproving butler.
I'm really curious for you, you know, you've written historical mysteries. Mm-hmm. Scottish romances, and then this is your first regency. How was it coming to the Regency period? Does it feel different at all?
Jeanine Englert: It feels so different and one of my biggest challenges is just figuring out like how the characters can properly interact
in society and in the world and just how they address each other. I spent an inordinate amount of time just trying to figure that out. So it's very different versus, you know, the Georgian time period that I wrote in where not these restraints on who could be with whom, how, how you spoke to each other.
So that was the hardest part, I think.
Katherine Grant: Mm, yeah, that makes a lot of sense to me. Did you find that that influences the scope of the story or the texture of the romance at all?
Jeanine Englert: Yes, because there's some scenes that become more intimate and romantic because they're really not allowed to have proximity or touching, you know, or gloves or not gloves and all those kinds of things.
And there's a cute little scene in the book where there's the language of fans, which was kind of fun. I think I could spend a few days in that rabbit hole of looking up what all the fan gestures mean, but just things like that where you would foresee that that's gonna be a moment of intimacy or romance, and then other times where it's really hard to have your characters together without it being scandalous.
So that was the biggest challenge, is just figuring out the scenes which ones I could and could not do based on, you know, their ranking and what was appropriate and inappropriate. So. I'm still learning that I think as I go on, be honest.
Katherine Grant: Well, and there's also the, like what was put down on paper back then about what was appropriate and then what do readers think is appropriate or not appropriate.
Jeanine Englert: Yes, yes. Yeah. I think that is also hard because it depends on some of the resources you use and you know what your reference points are and what reader expectations are, just like you said. So it's a balancing act to be sure. Yeah.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. And how does research fit into your creative process? Do you kind of do it as you go?
Do you save it for chunking?
Jeanine Englert: So I am better if I just put a little insert that's highlighted that says. Look this up later because I can, oh my gosh, the hours I've lost. You know when you kind of, I'm just gonna look up this one little thing really quickly and then all of a sudden you look up and it's an hour later and somehow you haven't even looked up what you intended
'cause you got sidetracked by something else that was like glittery and interesting to read about. So that is my problem, that I get distracted.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. I do that too. In fact, I was just drafting today and I put insert appropriate Shakespeare quote here.
Jeanine Englert: And that's so much easier once you kind of like go through and get your scene down to go back when you're editing and put it in, even though it's really daunting when you open up your document and you see all the little like asterisk, then yellow and all the stuff that you need to add in.
But I think it does help to not break the flow. Or at least, yeah. I get so sidetracked and then I've lost hours and you know that I'm mad at myself, so yeah.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, yeah. Now this book is called Cinderella's Charade with the Duke, and then you let us know you were pitching it as pretty woman meets while you were sleeping.
So I'm curious, do any of those stories, like, were any of those like the biggest inspiration for you, or are they all, all kind of like equal inspirations throughout?
Jeanine Englert: I think, well, I will say the, the nugget of this book came when I happened to have watched those movies very close together. Mm-hmm. And, and I was like, just daydreaming as one does.
And then I was like, what if they, because my editor was like, you really need to get out of the Georgian time period. I was like, what? What? So, you know, she was like, you really need to start like spooling some ideas for Regency. So when I happened to watch those two movies close together and I started thinking, wow, I could do like a, like fairytale retelling and it could be Cinderella and it could have these components and kind of mash them all together.
So I think it was very serendipitous. But that's tends to be how most of my writing is. I'll be wandering around a bookstore and just like happen upon a, a book on rooms. And that's how it, my last Highlander story kind of came about 'cause I couldn't figure out the heroine and then I saw her as a rune caster and that was like, poof.
There was cool. So, yeah, just like, I don't know, it seems like it's just happy accidents or like that Elizabeth Gilbert big magic if you believe in that, which I kind of do. So yeah, all of those things may be mixed together to make this. Okay.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. And do you have a favorite fairytale that you're looking forward to writing or that you've already written?
Jeanine Englert: I just finished my second Beauty and the Beast book, so I did like a, with my Scottish series, I did a sort of inverted beauty in the Beast with a Laird without a Past where she was the Beast and he was the beauty. And then I just finished book two in this series, which is a straightforward like beauty and the beast where she's the beauty and he's the beast.
So I tend to lean into that one a lot because I just feel like there's so much you can do with that story.
Katherine Grant: Mm-hmm. And
Jeanine Englert: so many layers of it. So I guess that's probably my favorite.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. And it also doesn't rely too much on magic, like the original fairytale there is, but there are some fairytales where it's really hard to figure out how to tell it without magic, like sleeping beauty.
How do you do that if there's no magic?
Jeanine Englert: No, you're, you're gonna laugh. But that's the one I'm working on right now is a sleeping beauty retelling. So it's more of a, her being emotionally asleep. There's an event happens that impacts her in a way that she basically shuts herself off from romantic love and she walls herself in the ideas of science and books and knowledge because she respects facts and they never let her down.
Hmm. So that again, it's, you know, there's some, I guess you could say creative license with that a lot, right? With that version of Sleeping Beauty. But, but yeah, it's a hard, it's hard if you try to be really strict to the components of the actual fairytales. So I totally agree with you. Yeah.
Katherine Grant: When you're thinking about adapting a fairytale, do you approach it from, you know, like, oh, I'm gonna research the, the whole history of this tale and incorporate different, you know, elements from the original telling and then the Disney telling?
Or do you kind of focus on whichever telling you kind of grew up with, which for most of us is the Disney version?
Jeanine Englert: It's so funny 'cause I tend to do read both and then I, again, lots of creative license. I take the parts that I feel like I can adapt and push in, and then I try to hope that the readers will forgive me for what's not there.
Because some of 'em are pretty dark. If you look at the original, like Grimm's fairy tale. That's scary. So I tend to lean out of some of the scarier elements of them, so yes. Mm-hmm.
Katherine Grant: No, that makes a lot of sense. I mean, I think Disney also leaned away from the scarier elements. Yes. Although Sleeping Beauty was still a scary movie to me.
I'd love to know. As you, particularly as you were pivoting into Regency, but also just in general, who are some of the biggest influence writers that you think about of like, oh, I'd like my books to feel like their books, or, you know, those are the the people I kind of turn to as my touchstone?
Jeanine Englert: So I will just say out of the gate, the books that I grew up with in the eighties that my grandmother would leave for me and that I would buy on my own, kind of moving into the late eighties or early nineties.
Like, I will always, always love Jude Devereaux and Julie Garwood. Hmm. I just, they always have been my favorites. They're the ones that I own, like in the hard back, you know, with the old covers that wrap around. Still on my shelves. They've survived all the moves in life. So those are my favorites. I, they don't have a lot of regency books that they have written.
But they are probably my inspiration. I like if that's what I wanna be as an author, just the way those books made me feel. Mm-hmm. And just kind of the fact that I kept wanting to go back and read them again and again. And a lot of them had those scenes where you would read it and absolutely gasp, you know, it your reading.
So those are my two favorites, I would say.
Katherine Grant: That's lovely. And then when you are thinking about a story, and you're kind of ideating on it, whether it's a mystery or a Scottish Highlander or a Regency, do you tend to get inspired by thinking about dialogue or characters or story ideas?
Jeanine Englert: I always hear my character's first, so sound is usually first. I tend to get the first scene first. Occasionally I'll have to go in and add a prologue before that, but usually I have like the first scene that comes to me, it's not always the heroine, sometimes it's the hero, but I tend to always hear them talking first and then I have a setting and then I have like what they look.
Like, sometimes it takes me a while to actually be able to like see the face of the characters. Mm-hmm. Which, I dunno if that makes sense, but it takes me a while of just like hearing them and seeing the world they're in before I can actually see a face on them. Mm.
Katherine Grant: And when you say hearing, does that also include like the tomber of their voice?
Timber of their voice?
Jeanine Englert: Yes. Yes. Okay. So I can almost, you can kind of like the, and it's sounds kind of ridiculous to talk about, but I like, there was a series where I had all brothers and they all had their own, like the secrets of Clan Cameron, and they all had their own timbral voice and they all had their own like specific mannerisms.
And I knew those before I knew how they looked different. Wow. And how they interacted with each other. So I guess that's the best example I could get. So, yeah,
Katherine Grant: that's really interesting. Do you, are you a musical or generally like very audio tuned in person outside of that?
Jeanine Englert: Yes. So I've always loved music.
Like I was, I was the kid that was in band forever because I just, I just love sound. I love the sound of people's voices.
I love the music. Like that is more of an inspiration to me than visuals. So when I'm trying to figure out a scene, I have playlists for all my books. And sometimes I'll be in the car and I'll hear a song and have a scene that's rolling through my head and I'm like, oh, I gotta put that on the playlist, I know where that's gonna go.
So yes, definitely more auditory than visual. Especially with writing and just the way I am in the world, I guess.
Katherine Grant: That's so interesting. I love to hear about that. I don't know that I've ever consciously thought this is what my character's voice sounds like. So that's so interesting how everyone works so differently.
Jeanine Englert: I love voices. Like I, you know, when you lose people in your life, like I always miss their voice more than anything else because I can, you can kind of like remember what it sounded like, almost like how it vibrated, I dunno. Just, I love sound,
Katherine Grant: so yes, so interesting. Do you have any audio books produced here?
Jeanine Englert: I'm working on it, but no, sadly, I don't. Lovely digits, which is getting re-released in paperback through Harlequin. I'm trying to find like how to do, how to self pub the ebook of that. And then also an audiobook. And that's been a, it's been a rather overwhelming process to be honest. Because yeah, I really want it to be amazing and powerful and have audiobooks because I listen to audiobooks all the time.
Mm-hmm. But I tend to only listen to nonfiction audio books. And I read fiction for some reason. I don't really like to hear fiction. Almost like it's creating different voices than what I thought the characters were gonna sound like.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, I was gonna say that makes sense. If you're imagining the voices, why would you want to hear a real voice?
It's taking away your imagination.
Jeanine Englert: Yes. So I don't like fiction audio books, but I love nonfiction audio books. Yeah. Listen to that. Yeah. Yeah.
Katherine Grant: Well, it'll be really interesting if and when you do the audiobook production process, if it's a great thing for you because you love to hear things, or if it ends up being painful because you're hearing someone else speak your character's voices, and it's not the right voice.
Jeanine Englert: Well, you know, if, if somehow he's out there listening, I would love Richard Armitage to read my book. I would. I would. He's who I imagine is like John Brody in lovely digits. I love it. Alright. Yeah. So I'm just gonna throw that out there. Manifest it. Wants to manifest.
Katherine Grant: Alright, well I think it's a good time to play our game.
Love it. Or leave it. All right.
[Musical Interlude]
Katherine Grant: Do you love it or leave it? Protagonists meet in the first 10% of the story.
Jeanine Englert: I love it. I do. I love it when they meet each other really early on. Sometimes I don't like it if they meet first page, like I need it to be maybe a little bit longer in, but I love it when they meet each other pretty soon.
Yeah.
Katherine Grant: Alright, love it or leave it? Dual point of view narration.
Jeanine Englert: Love it.
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it? Third person, past tense.
Jeanine Englert: I would also say love it.
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it? Third act, dark moment.
Jeanine Englert: You know, I'm kind of in the middle on this one and I know I can't be in the middle 'cause you didn't say there was a middle option. But sometimes I love the third act black moment, but sometimes I like a like middle of the book. Messiness mess, if that makes sense. Like sometimes I like it to surprise me to have something happen in the middle that I don't expect sometimes.
I like that more.
Katherine Grant: All right, so some people come on and they're like, I don't like it. I just want them to be copacetic once they get together. You're not arguing for that. You just want to be surprised when the messiness happens.
Jeanine Englert: And sometimes I want it to be messier, if that makes sense. Mm-hmm. Like the worse it gets,
i'm, I'm happier.
Katherine Grant: You're here for the drama?
Jeanine Englert: I am here for the drama, yes.
Katherine Grant: Alright, love it or leave it? Always end with an epilogue.
Jeanine Englert: I guess love it, because more often than not, I love the epilogue. Very rarely do I dislike the epilogue, but I don't know if you always need it. But I definitely would love it for like an epilogue for the end of a series. Like I think if you don't have an epilogue in that last book of whatever the series that books in, then you're just like, wait, what?
So I think you have to have one for a series.
Katherine Grant: All right. Love it or leave it? Always include research in your author's note.
Jeanine Englert: Ooh.
I don't know if everyone's gonna hate me, but I'm gonna say leave it.
Katherine Grant: All right.
Jeanine Englert: I don't know if you need it. Like, I, I think that's because I never read those, so it may be just a me thing, but I say, I say leave it.
Katherine Grant: Okay. Yeah. And are there other rules I didn't ask about that you'd like to break?
Jeanine Englert: Ooh, that I
like
to
break.
Mm-hmm.
That's a good one. I'm probably most known for throwing in dead bodies where not necessary. I kind of love to do that whenever I can. 'cause that's the mystery part of me. So if I can like do a little sprinkling of murder and mayhem. Lightly, of course, lightly in romances. I love that. So that's probably breaking the rule somewhere right now.
Katherine Grant: Lovely. And I'm curious, I have this impression of Harlequin as being one of the publishers with the most like idea of like, these are the rules, stick to it, you know? Do you find that you're able to play around with rules? You can, we can edit this out. If you aren't allowed to say that.
Jeanine Englert: You're so funny.
We can take it out if someone's gonna find out. No, they're, I'll say, I have an amazing editor. Charlotte Ellis. So shout out to Charlotte. She has allowed me to kind of get a, like go outside of the bounds, I mean within reason, but you know, especially with my Highlander stories because they're all Georgian time period.
But she let me kind of add in like the runes and some, so she kind of lets me get away with a little bit of mischief, you know, and there's some dead bodies flying around in that Secrets of Clan Cameron series. So she lets me kind of get away with a little bit. Regency. I mean, I think there's probably more rules for Regency, so I have to be a little more to aligned a little bit more with that because there are certain expectations and I can't just throw out the rules of who can be with whom, wherever.
Right. So I think that one, maybe I had to be a little more follow the rules because it's the regency world, but I don't think that's necessarily Harlequin. I think it's just Regency and society and a ton and all of that.
Katherine Grant: All right. Well Jeanine, thank you so much for coming on. Where can listeners find you and your books?
Jeanine Englert: So my books are available everywhere. Harlequin, all major retailers. Of course, all small bookstores too that will have me so shout out to them. And then also I am pretty much everywhere at Jeanine Writes.
Facebook, Instagram X. So yeah, that's where you can find me. And then my website is www jeaninewrites.com.
Katherine Grant: Awesome. I'm gonna put that link in show notes so listeners can click right through. Thank you so much, Jeanine. It has been lovely to have a chance to talk more deeply with you.
Jeanine Englert: Yes. We had a great time and best of luck to you since your book is coming out.
I know.
Katherine Grant: Thank you.
That's it for this week! Don't forget to subscribe to the Historical Romance Sampler wherever you listen, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Until next week, happy reading!