Sir Andrew and the Authoress Book Review and Author Interview

 ABOUT THE BOOK

Lady Josephine, the duke's eldest daughter, has a secret. When her brother's horrid best friend discovers what she's been hiding up in the castle tower, she has no choice but to take him into her confidence.

As the daughter of a duke, Lady Josephine has a long list of responsibilities, and an even longer list of things she must never do to dishonor the family name. Josephine knows exactly which side becoming an author falls upon, but she's determined to try her hand at it anyway. For months she has worked on her novel in secret, writing chapter after chapter of intrigue and romance. Unfortunately for Josephine, her sworn enemy stumbles upon her secret.

Sir Andrew Wycomb's close relationship to the Duke of Montfort's family and heir gives him more than one advantage in life. His loyalty to the family is absolute, even if he finds at least one of its members an annoyance. He and Lady Josephine have never seen eye-to-eye. But when he discovers that she's written a novel upon a subject she knows nothing about, he cannot help but sympathize with her dream. This creates an unlikely ceasefire between them.

But things at the castle are always changing, and when a determined suitor arrives to court Josephine, Andrew has to decide which secrets he's going to keep. Especially when he discovers the one he's kept even from himself - that perhaps he doesn't find Josephine an annoyance at all. In fact, she is quite charming. The more time they spend together, the more he hopes she will realize they aren't enemies, and they could be so much more...

As the third stand-alone novel in this sereis by author Sally Britton, this story continues the Clairvoir Castle romances. This is a light-hearted, sweet romance series set during the Regency era in England.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Life is What It's Called - What inspired you to write this series?

Sally Britton - Originally, I was planning a castle series set in Wales. My family had plans to live in Wales for two months, at the beginning of 2020. Of course, COVID changed the world and everyone's travel plans. I was incredibly depressed, and I knew the pandemic made others feel the same. So I decided to write a different castle series, something lighter than what I usually write, with happier themes. Thus Claivoir Castle came to be. :-) The series is meant to have gentler books, easy to read, offering a gentle escape from the real world.

Life Is What It's Called - What do you hope readers will like most about Sir Andrew and the Authoress?

Sally Britton - I hope they like the bantering relationship between the two of them. They tease each other constantly. :-)

Life Is What It's Called- - What character do you relate to most so far in this series and why?

Sally Britton - In the whole series? I think Alice. She's from the first book. She's an intelligent character, used to being overlooked and actually happier that way. I prefer to be a background person, too, in real life social situations.

Life Is What It's Called - What did you enjoy most about writing Sir Andrew and the Authoress?

Sally Britton - I really enjoyed writing about two people who are so oblivious to their feelings for each other. There are several moments when people around them sense what's going on, but Andrew and Josie are too busy arguing to notice.

Life Is What It's Called - What writing projects are you working on now?

Sally Britton - I'm working on a Christmas novella for release in 2023 AND my next Western romance, A Lady's Heart of Gold. They're both very different, which makes it a challenge to jump between the two.

Life Is What It's Called - What do you want readers to learn from Sir Andrew and the Authoress?

Sally Britton - This book is less about learning and more about feeling. I hope readers come away from reading this book feeling amused, refreshed, and able to handle the more difficult parts of their day because the book offered them a mini-vacation from reality.

Life Is What It's Called - How does this series stand apart from other Regency romance book series?

Sally Britton - For me, this series is really all about the gentle feelings of romance and love. If my other series, with deeper themes and longer books, are feasts of emotion, this is really more of a tea-time or lunch-with-a-friend feeling I'm trying to create with this series. It's a series meant to reassure and offer relief rather than challenge beliefs or emotions.

Life Is What It's Called - What do you want readers to know about you as an author?

Sally Britton - That I'm just like my readers. Sometimes I want deep dives into characters and emotions, other times I just need a break from all the things life expects of me. I really have a "We are all in this together" mentality when I write, whether it's about things as serious as PTSD, depression, mourning - or things as light as children putting frogs in people's beds. When readers open one of my books, I want them to feel like they're paying a friend a visit.

Life Is What It's Called - How is this series different from your other books? How is it similar?

Sally Britton - This series is lighter in tone and theme. But I bring all the feels, I hope, that I deliver with my other books. I still want readers to turn the final page and feel that their needs have been met, that they escaped what they needed to escape and found what they needed to find. Books are such a personal thing to me, and every reader will get something different from my books because they bring different experiences to the reading.

REVIEW

At first Sir Andrew and the Authoress was a little hard to get into, but then as I continued reading the story, I found it to be a relaxing and enjoyable read. The main characters start off having a bickering relationship that evolved into friendship and then romance. It takes the characters a while to figure out their feelings and their relationship, so it's a slow-paced romance that to me makes it seem more realistic. I felt like both characters had a similar determination to push against obstacles. Josephine felt determination to write even though her art was rejected by a publisher, and Sir Andrew was determined to keep Josephine's secrets despite pressure from her family and to protect her despite insistence she doesn't need help. The interaction between the characters and the different scenes are funny and light-hearted. Sally Britton also introduces new characters that piqued my interest, and I am curious to learn more about them in upcoming books. The story is a sweet, clean story that Regency romance readers will find enjoyable. This book could be read as a stand-alone or as a series.  To learn more about Sir Andrew and the Authoress, click here.

Please note that I received a free ebook to review, however, this is my honest opinion.