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Jenna Bigelow Samples The Tribune Temptation
[00:00:00]
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 Jenna Bigelow. Jenna is a historical romance author based in Wilmington, Delaware. She has 11 years of Latin classes under her belt, as well as a minor in classical culture and society. When not writing, she enjoys sewing, especially recreating historical fashions of the 18th and 19th [00:01:00] centuries.
And of course, she thinks about the Roman Empire every day. Jenna, thank you so much for coming on.
Jenna Bigelow: Thank you so much for having me, Katherine. I'm excited to be here.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, so you're reading from your debut historical romance, which happens to be set in ancient Rome.
Jenna Bigelow: Yes, and though I referenced the Roman Empire meme in my bio this is actually set during the tail end of the Roman Republic, so around the 60s BC, if anyone listening has any context with sort of that, that year, I just took for clarity.
I
Katherine Grant: don't, but so Republic versus Empire, I can understand those are different things.
Jenna Bigelow: Yes,
yes, definitely.
So we've
got
somewhat of an elected government versus, you know, an emperor on the throne.
Katherine Grant: All right. All right. So the, the book is called the Tribune Temptation, what do we need to know about it?
Jenna Bigelow: So obviously it's set in ancient Rome.
It is a marriage of convenience romance between an underdog politician and a woman from a very high ranking [00:02:00] family who is looking to sort of enter into a marriage of convenience because she's been unable to have children in her previous marriage, which is not unfortunately a good thing in ancient Rome.
So they embark on this very transactional marriage which of course turns less transactional as time goes on.
Katherine Grant: Hmm, cool. Well, take it away whenever you're ready.
Jenna Bigelow: Yes, so the excerpt that I'm going to be reading is from relatively early on in the book. It's when they are negotiating their, sort of the terms of their marriage of convenience.
So Crispina, the female protagonist has said that in order to agree, she wants a tour of his house and to meet his mother. So that's in progress when we pick up in this scene. Okay. Crispina glanced around the room. It was neat and tidy, with few personal effects visible. Her gaze landed on the big bed and her cheeks heated.
That was the bed she'd share with her husband, if she agreed to this. But there was no reason for blushing. Aelius already knew she [00:03:00] couldn't conceive, so they could have no reason for any sort of activities that would make her blush. A moment later, the cause of her blushes poked his head around the half open door.
Crispina tensed, feeling as if she'd been caught somewhere she shouldn't be. He nodded to her and kissed his mother on the cheek. "I see a tour is in progress. Are you finding the house to your satisfaction?" "It's smaller than what I'm used to, but I imagine the reduced size makes the household easier to manage."
The comment came out sounding more cutting than she intended. She winced, glancing at Gaia to see if she'd offended. "Crispina has already suggested many improvements," Gaia said smoothly. "Our house shall be the most fashionable on the block by the time she's done." Then she moved toward the door. "Let me ask the kitchen to prepare some refreshments for us."
She disappeared, leaving Crispina and Aelius alone. Alone in a bedroom with a man she barely knew. Her mother would choke if she ever found out about this. The thought made her feel strangely brave. "Your mother is quite lovely," she admitted. Aelius [00:04:00] smiled with only a trace of smugness. "So, now that you've been assured that my mother is not a bloodthirsty harpy, may I speak to your father?"
Crispina allowed her gaze to wander over him. Was she ready for this man to become her husband? Even marriage to an unpleasant husband could not be worse than her life now, trapped in limbo between being a maiden and a wife, an empty, lonely future stretching before her. She drew in a steadying breath. "I have a few conditions."
"As do I." She doubted his conditions would be the same as hers. "You go first." "As we have discussed, you will have complete freedom to go where you wish, see whom you wish, do what you wish. I will make no demands on your time except for accompanying me to the occasional dinner party." "No more than once a week," Crispina stipulated.
The corners of his mouth lifted. He liked this bargaining, she realized. "Twice a week, during the height of my campaign." "Which shall be defined as the three week period between when the magistrate officially announces the election and the day the voting takes place." [00:05:00] Aelius nodded. "Agreed. And there is a customary banquet thrown by election winners the day after the election."
Crispina dipped her head. "Yes." "So, as I was saying, complete freedom, with the exception that I require fidelity. I cannot be made a cuckold." "A reasonable request." She acceded with another nod, "and it will go both ways, I trust." His eyes skimmed over her in a way that made her wish she'd worn a few more layers of clothing.
She could feel the thin linen of her dress cling to her curves, and heat bloomed in the wake of his gaze. His voice dropped lower. "I could be satisfied with that." The heat moved to her face. She realized she had miscalculated with her question. She had only intended to show him that she wouldn't be held to a double standard of fidelity.
But now she'd given him reason to believe they would fully enjoy the marital bed, which Crispina had no intention of doing. She hurried to clarify. "My condition is that there will be no need for any sort of carnal activities." She glanced toward the bed meaningfully. [00:06:00] He followed her gaze, brow furrowing.
"No need, but you just said we were to be faithful to each other." She shrugged. "You know I cannot bear children, so what's the point?" He raised an eyebrow. "I can think of several." His voice took on a huskiness that made her stomach flutter, but she stood firm. "That is my condition." She was no innocent maiden.
She knew the marriage bed held only obligation, discomfort, and disappointment. This marriage would be on her own terms as much as possible. "You realize you're condemning us both to celibacy," he said, "if we are to be faithful to each other, and yet also never lie with each other?" "If matters of the flesh are so important to you, we can end this negotiation and never see each other again."
She took a step toward the door, but he was blocking it, so she only succeeded in putting herself within an arm's length with him. He crossed his arms, jaw tensing as he considered. "Is this because you think you're too good to share your body with a freedman? Because if you think so poorly of me, I will find another bride.
I know what I lack, but I won't marry [00:07:00] someone who thinks I'm scum." "No." The immediate denial came without thought. "That's not what I think." It pained her that he could entertain that idea for even a moment. What slights and insults he must have endured. "It's because I've been married before. I know as much as I ever want to at the marriage bed."
He met her gaze for a long moment. The defensiveness that had flared in his eyes receded. Replaced with something softer. "Very well. I accept your condition, on the premise that we leave room to renegotiate." "Under what circumstances?" Perhaps he should have been a lawyer instead of a politician. He bent down to her and put his mouth next to her ear.
"When I eventually seduce you." A hot flush spread from the place on her neck where she could feel his breath all the way down to her toes. Mostly anger at his arrogance, with an undeniable underburn of something deeper. She grasped onto the anger, willed the other thing to wash away, and lifted her gaze to meet his.
"You're very lucky there's no pool [00:08:00] of water beside you this time." A grin lit his face and he pulled away, putting a respectable distance between them once more. "Now that that's settled, let's discuss the term of our arrangement. We must stay married at least until the election is over. Even if we make each other miserable, I can't have the scandal of a divorce when I'm trying to campaign."
Reasonable enough. The election was less than a year away. How miserable could they make each other in that amount of time? "I agree." "And if I win, we should remain married for at least a few months after. It would draw too much attention to divorce right after winning. I propoed that the maximum duration of our marriage be six months into my term as Tribune."
That seemed fair to her, so she nodded. There seemed to be only one thing left. You" may speak to my father at your convenience. He's usually at home in the mornings, on days when the Senate is not in session." His face remained neutral, but she detected a light of triumph in his eyes. "I'll call on him on the earliest opportunity.
Now, some refreshment." [00:09:00] He stood back from the door and held it open for her. She swept past him and left the bedroom. She knew she should have been nervous upon entering into an agreement like this, but instead, a sense of calm certainty filled her. Finally, she had a future to look forward to that didn't spell endless days sitting at home, trapped in her parents house.
She could return to what truly mattered, her lessons on the Aventine. And when her marriage to Aelius inevitably ended, she'd walk away with the property all her own. Freedom was finally within her reach.
Katherine Grant: Ooh, what a really fun little negotiation scene.
Jenna Bigelow: Yes, very unromantic for a historical romance novel, but I promise it gets more romantic later.
Katherine Grant: Listen, yeah, I mean, this is just giving us so much tension to work off of. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I've got a lot of questions for you, but first we're going to take a quick break for our sponsors.
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Katherine Grant: So, I am back with Jenna Bigelow, who just read from the Tribune [00:12:00] Temptation. And I haven't read any historical romances set in ancient Rome. So I was really curious coming into this, like kind of historical romance.
Is this going to be, is it going to be like really dark and violent, or is it going to be, I live in the Regency sphere. And so from this little scene that you shared with the marriage of the convenience, the class differences, talk of dinner parties and political campaigns. It's, Very fun. Like it's giving me my Regency romance vibes of like, Oh, this is like, you know, just like some fun power dynamics.
So I'd love to hear, first of all, you know, how, how did you think about approaching ancient Rome for historical romance?
Jenna Bigelow: Yeah, I'm so glad you got that vibe because that's exactly what I was going for. I originally had the idea for this series when I was reading an excellent Regency romance and I suddenly had the idea of like, how would this plot be different if it was set in ancient Rome and how would it be the same?
And so that [00:13:00] really sparked the idea of wanting to take sort of more traditional, well trodden historical romance tropes and and vibes and apply it to an ancient Roman setting. So it's definitely not dark. It's definitely not violent. There are some different. social and cultural things that we get to explore.
For example, as you heard in the excerpt divorce was much more common and accessible to both men and women in ancient Rome than it was in, you know, Regency or Victorian England. So that's something that's like on the top of their minds. I think that lends a really fascinating aspect to a marriage of convenience because like, there's nothing keeping them together.
They can fully plan on going their separate ways so there comes a point in the story where they actually have to make the choice to be together, you know, they're not just stuck together because they've got, they've gotten married, and I think that's a really fun thing to play with.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, that is really interesting.
So I know that, you know, you mentioned in your bio you have, like, years of Latin study, which I'm sure comes with Latin [00:14:00] culture as well, but what was your research process to figure out how this would play out in ancient Rome?
Jenna Bigelow: Yeah, so I was lucky to come into it with a fairly solid foundation of knowledge about the Roman era so I started taking Latin classes in 6th grade.
I continued that into high school where I actually got a perfect score on the national Latin exam two years in a row, which is like the dorkiest thing to remember. Congratulations. I definitely peaked in high school, but and then in college as, as you read in my bio, I minored in classical culture and society, which, you know, involved taking a lot of history and like art history classes.
So I came into it with a pretty solid foundation of like what the culture was like obviously like as a, as an amateur. And then I really dug into certain aspects that were relevant to this book. So for this book being about like a politician, I was reading a lot about the political system, the election process, even like the physical process of voting.
So I was really digging into a lot of that. And as, [00:15:00] as I'm sure, you know, like maybe 1 percent of what I researched, like made it to the book, but it was a fascinating process nonetheless.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, that is really interesting. And I know that you know, the 18th and 19th European culture, and specifically British culture, were kind of obsessed with Roman Empire, too.
As you're researching classical societies, how much of what you're getting is filtered through what the 19th century historians were kind of projecting onto classical society from what they wanted?
Jenna Bigelow: I think today, like in, you know, the 21st century, there's been a lot of research done to sort of reframe how we think about the past, like particularly research done around like the, the rights of women and the huge role that women played in the ancient world, which, you know, 18th and 19th century historians weren't necessarily focusing on.
I've read some really interesting sort of deconstructions of what we believe about like certain emperors, you know, for example, like Nero [00:16:00] is kind of infamous. I read a really interesting book, like picking apart all of the terrible things that we might believe about an emperor like Nero and looking at them in context of what actually might have happened and like who's, who's saying the terrible things and how, how does that interpret how we, how we think about historical figures like that?
So yeah, I think it is interesting to see like the type of scholarship that's happening now, you know, in, in the 2020s or 2000s versus, you know, a couple centuries ago.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, no, absolutely. And are there other authors who have written or are currently writing ancient Roman historical romances?
Jenna Bigelow: Yeah, so what I've noticed I'll generalize a bit, but there's, are sort of two ends of the spectrum when it comes to romance set in ancient Rome or the ancient world. On one end of the spectrum, there is a romance that is set in the ancient world and often has themes of like early Christianity and about sort of like a faith based romance which is super cool, but that does have a specific viewpoint.
And then [00:17:00] on the other end of the spectrum, there is like super high heat, like, erotic romance, like often focused on gladiators. And that is super cool. But I'm sort of more in the middle basically like, like I mentioned earlier, trying to bring like the traditional romance vibes to the ancient Roman era.
So again, it's, it's not dark, it's not violent. It's also not like big based or inspirational sort of, you know, finding, finding that spot in the middle.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, that's really cool. Who would you say are the historical romance authors who have influenced your work the most?
Jenna Bigelow: Yeah, so there are a lot, which is why I'm going to pause before I answer that question.
Katherine Grant: I know, it's a tough question.
Jenna Bigelow: So I think one of, one of the first, if not the first, historical romance I ever read was one of Jeannie Lin's works set in, like, ancient China. Yeah. That really opened my eyes to what historical romance could be in terms of moving outside of like, you know, Regency England.
I loved the way that she was able to blend like the sort of modern romance vibes with something that [00:18:00] felt very authentic to that period, or at least what I understand of that period, not having any expertise in it. So that was definitely an inspiration in how to make things feel authentic and accurate while also like giving you those, those romance butterflies.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, that's, that is a really great comparison point. So, the Roman Republic, this is a really ignorant question. Does that mean that this story takes place in Rome?
Jenna Bigelow: Yes.
Katherine Grant: Okay.
Jenna Bigelow: But it's the only one in my series that actually takes place within the city of Rome so this is... the second book in this series,
part of it takes place in Rome, but part of it takes place in like modern day, like France. So like one of the Roman provinces. And then the third book in my series takes place in Ostia, which is the port city, like just outside of Rome on the coast. So, but you know, within that Mediterranean sphere.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. And are there ruins from the Roman Republic time for you to kind of like look at and be like, Oh, this is how the houses were arranged and things like that. Yeah.
Jenna Bigelow: Yeah, you know, [00:19:00] I think one, like, big misconception that people often have from looking at a lot of ruins is that the sort of, like, white marble aesthetic, like, in reality, like, things were painted very brightly, they were, like, you know, very eye catching colors and very elaborately decorated so that's something that, you know, You know, when you're looking at a ruin of a building, you sort of have to like project that viewpoint onto it.
But yeah, I think like Pompeii is a great example because it's unfortunately so well preserved because of the volcano eruption. They have some really beautifully preserved, you know, mosaics and frescoes and all of that to get inspiration from.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, that's fascinating. I, I think that a fun challenge that historical romance authors writing outside of.
Like Britain have to take on is more world building because the readers don't have as much of like a Reference point or even a like I know what's going on. I'm so don't tell me about the wallpaper how did you think about balancing world [00:20:00] building with story and and all of that for your novel?
Jenna Bigelow: Yeah, you know, I think, to be honest, as an author, like, setting description is one of those things that's probably like a weakness of mine, and so I really had to be very intentional about incorporating that into the story to make sure that the reader feels like they are immersed in this world that looks very different from a Regency, you know, drawing room or ballroom or what have you.
So yeah, I tried to, to sprinkle that in throughout. I stayed away from using any like Latin terms. Like I used English equivalents where possible. 99 percent of the time because I didn't want the reader to feel like they're reading something foreign. Like I ultimately, my goal with these books is to have the reader feel like they're stepping into something very familiar, something that feels very familiar to a reader of historical romance and it maybe just has a little, a few quirks here and there.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, no, absolutely. It's really fun. But speaking of Latin, are there any pet peeves or [00:21:00] common pet peeves? mistakes or misassumptions that you see people making when they put Latin into historical romances. Because I feel like there is a little bit of like, a character will have studied Latin at Eton and so they're using it.
And I don't have any context for Latin so I just take it as it comes.
Jenna Bigelow: I don't think I've like noticed anything specific the question I used to get a lot like when I was more actively studying, you know, in school was like, well, can you speak Latin, and I would always have to sort of explain to people that you don't learn Latin, like you learn like a modern language like I have no ability to like rattle off a sentence in Latin like I'm learning how to analyze texts and translate in writing.
So I think as long as you don't have characters, like, rattling off, like, conversation to each other, unless they've specifically studied that for some reason, I, I think it's, it's all good.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. And did you get to any, did you get to read any new texts for this in Latin? Just for fun.
Jenna Bigelow: I did go back to the [00:22:00] poet Catullus who is a staple of, like, the high school Latin curriculum.
He wrote a lot of love poetry. He's actually a prominent side character in the novel. So I went back to his poems and sort of read back through them just to, like, pull out a couple of references here and there to sprinkle in because he does feature in the, in the novel.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. Oh, that's really fun.
Jenna Bigelow: Yeah.
Katherine Grant: Well, and then we've, we've spent a lot of time talking about the setting, but Beyond setting, what would you say draws you into writing a story? Are you more of a dialogue person, a trope person, a character person?
Jenna Bigelow: I think really what draws me in is like the romantic and like honestly the sexual dynamic between two characters like that's the initial spark for me.
And once I sort of have that conceived in my mind, I sort of build the story around it. So like, honestly, I love writing sex scenes. So there's, you know, a decent number of those in, in the story. It's, it's, I wouldn't say it's high heat. It's like medium to high heat. But that aspect of romance is, [00:23:00] is one of my favorite and that's really what, what sort of creates the rest of the story for me.
Katherine Grant: Oh, that's so interesting. That's very fun. I think let's play love it or leave it.
[Musical Interlude]
Katherine Grant: All right. Do you love it or leave it?
Protagonists meet in the first 10 percent of the story.
Jenna Bigelow: Love it. I think, you know, the sooner we jump into the plot, the better, so bring it on.
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it. Dual point of view narration.
Jenna Bigelow: Love it. One of my favorite things is getting to see one character through the eyes of the other character, and particularly how their perceptions about each other evolve through the course of the story.
I think that's one of the things that's really possible to highlight with dual POV.
Katherine Grant: Yeah. Love it or leave it, third person, past tense narration.
Jenna Bigelow: Love it. I think that's pretty much the standard in historical romance these days, and that's how I write, so.
Katherine Grant: Alright, love it or leave it, third act, breakup, or dark [00:24:00] moment.
Jenna Bigelow: I sound like a broken record, but I love it. I think, you know, you've spent the whole book, convincing the, the readers and convincing the characters that they're meant to be together, and I think when you have that moment of them on the verge of losing this, you know, relationship and this love, that's really when you, you recognize the stakes and, and see what's, what they're at risk of losing.
So I love that high angst moment.
Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it, always end with an epilogue.
Jenna Bigelow: Leave it. I don't think every story requires an epilogue and not all of mine do, but I, I like them
but not, not
beholden to them.
Katherine Grant: Alright. Love it or leave it. Always share research in your author's note.
Jenna Bigelow: I would say leave it.
You know, as an author I love doing research, but to be completely honest with you, as a reader, like I tend to skip authors notes. I feel super bad saying that 'cause I know authors put a lot of time and energy into writing those, but I'd rather get the research through the story. And I'm less interested in like
an author's note, personally.
Katherine Grant: Yeah, all [00:25:00] right. And then are there any other romance rules that I didn't ask about that you break?
Jenna Bigelow: I'm mostly a rule follower. The one thing I think I'm towing the line with in book two of this series is the female protagonist is married to someone else at the beginning, which is usually a big no no.
I think I've made it work by Making it very clear that there's no, like, emotional or physical intimacy between them. It was an arranged marriage, and no spoilers, but the husband is well out of the way by the time her relationship with the male protagonist kicks off. So I'm hoping I've worked around that, but I know that's a little bit iffy for some people.
Katherine Grant: Ooh, fun. Well, I love it when a rule is broken, so. So the Tribune Temptation is out very soon and so go get it on Kindle Unlimited. And then there's a whole series as you've been talking about so start now so that we can all stay up to date as the books come out.
Jenna Bigelow: Yeah so book two should be out in [00:26:00] early May and then book three is set to come out in July so it'll be a busy couple of months But there should be at least three more ancient romances in the world by the time I'm done.
Katherine Grant: Nice. And where can readers follow you besides getting your books?
Jenna Bigelow: Yes. So my website is jennabigelow.
com. By the time this episode is out, I will have released a free novella to my newsletter. So if you sign up to my newsletter, you can get a taste of my writing style. And then I'm also on Instagram and threads at jennabigelowwrites.
Katherine Grant: Awesome. Well, Jenna, I really appreciate you coming on. I hope I didn't ask too many dumb questions about the Roman Republic slash Empire.
I'm really excited to have this story coming out and to continue to see historical romance get new, interesting eras and settings and people. So thank you for writing it. And thanks for coming on the podcast. So much.
That's it for this week! Don't forget to subscribe to the Historical Romance Sampler wherever you listen, [00:27:00] and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Until next week, happy reading!