For the Love of a Series by Anna Randol

So my new release, Sins of a Virgin, is the first in a series. In fact, the concept for the series came to before the specifics on the books. Here’s what I scribbled down at four in the morning (slightly edited so it’s legible…):

 

At the beginning of the Napoleonic War, three exceptional youth are plucked from the gallows. In exchange for their lives, they agree to hone and employ their chosen skills in the name of His Majesty’s government.

La Petit—a woman so beautiful she can coax any man to her bed in an hour and the secrets from his heart in a night.

The Cipher—a man who remembers every number he’s encountered and unravels patterns and codes at a glance.

The Wraith—a man who discovers the location of something he wants, then retrieves it. The question is not if he will get what he desires, but when.

Throughout the war, the Trio cut an unstoppable swath through England's enemies.

But now the war is over. The Trio is a liability. With a bluff appreciation and a pat on the back, they’re returned to London and cut loose.

Fun, right? It’s been so much fun that even if I hadn’t planned it as a series, I probably would have made it into one.

Now, I’ll be totally upfront here. I love series in historical romance. So much so that I got into an argument about them with a series-hating writer friend (What? She makes good fudge. That’s not something you throw away.).  Amazingly enough, she did have some valid points, and I was forced to actually articulate what I love about series. Here’s what I came up with:

First, I lose myself in books. While I’m reading, that heroine is actually in a burning house and I can’t put down the book until she’s safe. (Seriously, she might die while I’m gone.) It totally makes sense to my way of thinking that the characters go on living even when I don’t see them. So why shouldn’t his best friend or her sister have their own story? I want to see them end up happy.

Second, I’m something of a homebody. I like my family and close circle of friends. Series can feel like that. Like you’re returning to a place you know and love. They can be comfortable and yet new and exciting at the same time.

Third, series give you a chance to meet characters with a more complex back story. While most books in romance stand alone, I love to be able to follow that one dark and broody older brother or the unrepentant rogue who vows never to marry, and then see them finally progress to their own happily ever after. Stretching the character arc of a particularly wicked hero over multiple books can often make it more believable, too.  After all, real change doesn’t happen instantly.

Fourth, can I just say—The Malorys, the Bridgertons, the Cynsters, Spindle Cove. Need I go on?So readers, what else could I have said to my friend? What do you love most about series? What are your favorite series in romance?

One lucky commenter will receive a copy of Sins of a Virgin. Must be 18 or older. Void where prohibited.

 

Blurb:

There is improper, there is scandalous… and then there is Madeline Valdan.

To the world, Madeline Valdan is a scandalous courtesan, with society's most eligible gentlemen at her feet. But no one knows her shocking secret: she has never experienced the most intimate touch of any man. So she astonishes the ton by telling them the truth . . . and by announcing the auction of her virginity to the highest bidder.

Handsome and disciplined, Gabriel Huntford knows his time is best spent hunting down criminals from the darkest corners of London. As a Bow Street Runner investigating his sister's death, he has no desire to join London's strutting peacocks in this competition when there are more important tasks at hand.

Now, his quest leads him to one of Madeline's "suitors," so he agrees to help this sinful woman. But what begins as a business arrangement quickly turns into something more . . . and love blooms with a passion neither one expected. Show More

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Bio: Anna Randol writes sultry, adventurous Regency romances for Avon. RT Book Reviews gave her new novel, Sins of a Virgin, four and a half stars and called it, “Smart, sassy, sexy, original and tinged with mystery…” When she’s not plotting wild storylines, Anna’s usually eating dark chocolate, having wild dance parties with her kids in the living room, or remodeling her house one ill-planned project at a time.