Name: Amy Rose Bennett
First published with Escape: May 2016, The Master of Strathburn
Favourite romance trope: Forced proximity
Ideal hero (in three words): Honourable, considerate, intelligent
Ideal heroine (in three words): Smart, compassionate, strong-willed
Latest book: The Laird of Blackloch
What began your romance writing career? Why do you write romance?
I’ve been writing stories since childhood so becoming a published author has always been an ambition of mine. I fell in love with Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre when I was nine years old and from that time onwards, I always knew I wanted to write historical romance. However, it wasn’t until I was in my thirties that I actually began to write a romance novel. It took me eight years to get around to finishing that book—The Master of Strathburn—so to have it published with Escape was a dream come true. I guess I write romance because I have this need to create stories that are my own versions of Jane Eyre. Stories that are full of heart-felt emotion and high stakes. Stories that will make readers cry, laugh, and fall in love too. I particularly love the challenge of creating an emotional roller-coaster of a journey. In a nutshell, I suppose I just love writing about the most wondrous thing in the world, love!
How do you write? What is your process like?
I write full-time and in the last year, I’ve become really disciplined. I’ve started to set myself a time frame of two to three months to complete my single title length novels and I try very hard to achieve my daily word count goal. To make sure I don’t get stuck during the first draft phase, I plot out the novel from start to finish before I begin to write—not in huge detail but I like to know the major turning points and ‘the end’. And I really get to know my characters. As I write historical romance, I also spend a fair amount of time researching the era and the setting before I begin the story … although I have been known to get lost in research rabbit holes during the writing process too!
What do you do when you’re stuck with a scene?
I often handwrite the scene out. Or I jot down the dialogue and then flesh out the rest of the scene later. If all that fails, I step away, do something mundane (like wash the dishes), and then a way forward usually pops into my head. My wonderful husband is a great sounding board for ideas too; he’s particularly adept at helping me get the male point-of-view right.
Where is your favourite place to write? (Pictures please!)
This will probably sound really dreadful, but my favourite place to write is in my lounge room, on the couch. I’ve never had a dedicated office space. And I can pretty much write anywhere—coffee shops, on planes, on long car trips, in bed. As long as I have my trusty laptop with me, I’m good to go.
Besides writing, what is something else that you’re really good at?
Cooking! I love baking and creating challenging savoury dishes. I have a ton of cookbooks and read them for pleasure. And if we throw a dinner party, I’m in heaven. My very sweet (and totally biased) husband tells me I’m his blonde Nigella, lol.
Revenge might be sweet, but love is far sweeter…
Following the Battle of Culloden, Alexander MacIvor returns to his ancestral home, Blackloch Castle, only to find the Earl of Tay, chief of the rival Clan Campbell, has laid waste to everything he holds dear. In the face of such devastation, Alex seems doomed to live the life of a fugitive Jacobite…until a stroke of good luck allows him to escape the Highlands and begin again.
Years later, styling himself as a wealthy Englishman, Alexander reclaims his forfeited estate, becoming the new Laird of Blackloch. But it’s not nearly enough to quell his thirst for vengeance. Hell-bent on destroying Lord Tay, he single-mindedly sets about driving his nemesis to bankruptcy. When he learns the earl intends to marry the very beautiful English heiress, Miss Sarah Lambert, thus escaping penury, he devises a devious plan: kidnap Miss Lambert and ransom her to hasten Tay’s ruin.
When Sarah Lambert learns Lord Tay is not the man she thought he was during a masquerade ball in Edinburgh, she is devastated. Reeling from her discovery, things go from bad to worse when a mysterious yet charming guest by the name of Alexander Black turns out to be a true devil in disguise. Abducted and whisked way into the wild Highlands by Black, Sarah is imprisoned in a remote, island-bound tower. Refusing to be a pawn in Black’s diabolical plan for revenge, she determines that somehow, some way, she will regain her freedom. If only she could unlock Black’s secrets…
Living in such close quarters, Alexander quickly discovers the spirited Sarah is more than a match for him, and even the best laid plans can go awry when passion flares and the spark of love threatens to revive his long-dead heart. When the shadows of the past begin to gather, will Alexander and Sarah find their way forward…or will the threatening darkness destroy them both?
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The Escapades 