I'm pleased to welcome a long-time author friend of mine, Lauri Robinson. We met years ago and even wrote a historical western romance book together. She is a lover of fairy tales and history, and can’t imagine a better profession than penning happily-ever-after stories about men and women in days gone past. Her favorite settings include World War II, the Roaring Twenties, and the Old West. Lauri and her husband raised three sons in their rural Minnesota home and are now getting their just rewards by spoiling their grandchildren. Visit her at laurirobinson.blogspot.com, Facebook.com/lauri.robinson1 or X-formally Twitter.com/laurir.

Now to jump into the questions and Lauri's great answers.

Paty: Why do you write Historical Romance?

Lauri: Since reading The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss many decades ago I was hooked on historical romances. Since then, it’s been my favorite genre to read, and it was the genre I wanted to write. I love creating heroes and heroines filled with the pioneer spirit and the strength and courage to forge ahead in lives that were not filled with the modern-day conveniences, or the complications that come along with the modern world. The past had its complications, too, and creating characters who faced those complications head-on is exciting.

Paty: You have written books in many different historical settings. Do you have a favorite period that you like to write about?

Lauri: I will forever love writing about the Old West. There is just something about the swagger and grit of an old west cowboy that makes him the ultimate hero. Furthermore, the pioneers who headed into the great American frontier to create new civilizations had such strength, courage, and belief in themselves that it’s easy to imagine each and every one of them as heroes and heroines.

I also love the challenge of writing in different eras. Each one is unique in itself. I’ve written books set during the Salem Witch Trials, all the way up the rise of Rock and Roll in the 1950’s. I do have to say that the two books I’ve written set during WW2 were probably the most emotional ones for me to write. The research that included true stories of men and women who fought, and gave up everything, for their countries often brought me to tears, and left me with a profound gratefulness to those who came before us.

Paty: What drew you to write about a Duke and his life in Victorian England?

Lauri: To be honest, I was hesitant to write a Victorian story, mainly because I was intimidated by the research needed to be completed when setting a story in a country that I’d never seen, and about the rules of nobility and society during that time. My Harlequin editor was so helpful as were other Harlequin authors who live in the UK and write Regency and Victorian. I believe this book is now my fifth one set during the Victorian era, and I’ve truly discovered another era that I’ve come to love writing about. This book, Captivated by His Convenient Duchess, is the first one in the Redford Dukedom duet (a two-book series about two brothers). The years leading up to the end of the Victorian Era coincides with what was known as the Gilded Age in America, which is where the second story, Winning his Manhattan Heiress, takes place. Myle’s younger brother, Wesley, travels to America to introduce their family’s thoroughbred horses to the horse racing world, which was the number one sport at that time.

Paty: Writing historical fiction takes an added amount of research. Do you like the research and learning things about history?

Lauri: Yes, and yes. I’m blessed that my husband enjoys visiting museums and historical sites as much as I do. I also have a wonderful best friend who is always willing to ride along on a research trip, and while in Hawaii, my son and his wife and family, were completely on board to visit Pearl Harbor with me. It’s so often the small tidbits found while researching that I love the most. For example, zippers weren’t invented until 1913. The first one was patented as a “Hookless Fastener’. After improvements, it became a “Separable Fastener’ in 1917, and was incorporated on clothes for the soldiers in World War 1, (yes, I’ve written a book set in WW1, too) but it wasn’t until the B.F. Goodrich Company created galoshes with front fasteners, and an executive tried the boots on and exclaimed, “Zip-er-up” that the word zipper was born.

Paty: That is interesting! I've never thought to check out the origin of the zipper. Did you have a favorite character in this book? Why is that character a favorite?

Lauri: With each book, the main characters are always my favorites, and it’s not different with Myles and Anita in this story. They both come to the story with pasts, including issues that they need to overcome. Anita had a traumatic past that left her physically and emotionally scarred and Myles is the perfect gentleman to guide her through her healing. It was a joy for them both to find the love they deserve. Additionally, in this book, a secondary character whom I really enjoyed was Joshua, Anita’s driver. The two of them had a special bond that made him quite endearing to me.

Paty: I find that's true with me as well. Each set of characters we conjure up become our favorites as we are writing their stories. Have you ever traveled to a place where you’ve set a story?

Lauri: Yes, several. I’ve had a few books, including a series of roaring twenties stories that were set here in Minnesota. Many of my westerns were set in states throughout the Midwest that I’ve either visited or lived in, and a trip to Hawaii allowed me to visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. That was truly the most memorable, and I was extremely lucky to have an uncle who has a condo in Hawaii and is a retired service man, so he was able to take us to additional places that we wouldn’t have otherwise been able to visit.

Paty: That's wonderful you had someone to get you even better information that you could have gotten on your own. I find that invaluable in writing. Who are some other Historical Romance authors you enjoy reading?

Lauri: That list is very long, so I’ll just mention a couple. I know her books are very old school, but my favorite historical romance author will always be Katheen Woodiwiss. I also love Linda Lael Miller’s and LaVyrle Spencer’s historical stories. I also love reading new authors and have discovered many wonderful ones.

Paty: LaVyrle Spencer's books are what made me want to be a historical romance author. Just for fun – Tell us what is your favorite thing to do besides writing and reading, because we know that’s a given. 😉

Lauri: Well, yes, those are two of my favorite things. I belong to a book club that I absolutely love, because of the wonderful people as well as the opportunity to read books I wouldn’t have chosen myself. I enjoy many different things. Sewing, cooking, my flowerbeds and fruit trees, crafting, and mowing the lawn. (I know that sounds crazy, but I have plotted out many books mowing the lawn with my John Deere riding mower.) However, my favorite thing to do is head up north to our camp in the woods. Our family has forty acres up there, with four campers (two are under a large pavilion) and a cabin/bunkhouse, and another cabin. At least one or more of our three sons, (often all of them with their families) as well as nieces and nephews, join us for weekends or longer up there. We fish, hunt, ride four-wheelers, go hiking, and gather around the campfire every night. A few years ago, when our grandson was about five, he was hiking with me and his sisters, and I was telling them the names of different trees/flowers, etc. I’d pointed out wild irises and wild roses, etc. before we came to some cattails, and Connor asked me, “Grandma, are those wild corndogs?” That’s the part I love the most. The memories we make up there.

Thanks so much for having me visit today, Paty!

Captivated by His Convenient Duchess

The duke must marry…

But not for love!

In an accident that killed her parents, Lady Anita was left with a permanent leg injury, and at the mercy of her loathsome uncle. Bartering her to the Duke of Redford is a new low, so when the duke suggests a convenient marriage, she seizes the chance to escape.

Myles is determined his new wife won’t distract him from his ducal duties, but the woman who arrives at his estate is not the meek bride he expects! Society may have overlooked her, but now his spirited, determined duchess is all Myles can see!

Buy links: Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CNWDDT2N

Google books https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Lauri_Robinson_Captivated_by_His_Convenient_Duches?id=NC3lEAAAQBAJ&pli=1

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/captivated-by-his-convenient-duchess

Apple books https://books.apple.com/us/book/captivated-by-his-convenient-duchess/id6472891204

B & N https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/captivated-by-his-convenient-duchess-lauri-robinson/1144404307

Harlequin https://e.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781335539700_captivated-by-his-convenient-duchess.html