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Sabrina Jeffries makes a visit... (& a Giveaway!)

Readers, please join me welcoming Author Sabrina Jeffries who's guest blogging here today! Her latest book The Truth About Lord Stoneville (Hellions of Halstead Hall), is all set to release Jan 19th, according to Amazon.

By the time Sabrina was eighteen, she'd eaten chicken heads and jellyfish, been chased by a baby elephant, seen countless cobras and pythons, had the entire series of rabies shots, and visited rain forests and rubber plantations. But that wasn't enough excitement for her; to escape her mundane life as a missionary's daughter, she read romance novels. Now she writes romance novels, and her bestselling, award-winning tales of strong women and sexy, dangerous men have been translated all over the world! You can also visit her online at at www.sabrinajeffries.com.

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It’s a Family Affair 

You would think I’d have written a family series with a mix of siblings by now. After all, I come from a big, boisterous family (two brothers, one sister, one brother-in-law, one sister-in-law, seven nieces and nephews in ages ranging from 6 to 24—not to mention assorted cousins, aunts, and uncles). What’s more, we’re a funny family. The one-liners and clever asides fly when we’re together. In fact, if one of us quips about some subject, the others pile on, feeding off each other until we’re all rolling on the floor laughing.

But until now I’ve never done a mix of brothers and sisters. Partly I feared I couldn’t write one to rival those I’ve loved through the years (Johanna Lindsey’s Malory novels . . . be still, my heart!). Partly I worried that I couldn’t find an interesting twist on the big family series.

Then I remembered this wonderfully wild Georgian family I’d read about years ago—the Earl of Barrymore’s family. The earl’s parents died when he was young, leaving him and his three siblings to grow up spoiled by their grandmother. They were the kind of family a writer can relish. They had nicknames based on places in London: Hellgate, Cripplegate, Newgate, and Billingsgate (their sister earned the latter because she cursed like a fishwife and Billingsgate was the local fish market). They had a huge circle of hard-living friends. And the earl was incredibly multi-talented and romantic, though sadly he died at 24.

I had my twist! I made Stoneville the titled brother, gave him four siblings and a cranky grandmother, wrapped it all up with a family mystery that shaped all their lives, and, voila!, I had a family series on my hands. They’re the Sharpes—Oliver, Jarret, Minerva, Gabriel, and Celia—five siblings who have never quite recovered from the loss their parents in a scandalous tragedy 19 years before. They’ve reacted by developing a reputation in society as Hellions of Halstead Hall. Their rich maternal grandmother, not of the nobility, has been putting up with their reckless ways, but now she has issued an ultimatum—marry or be cut off. And not just one of them, but all of them. So they’re scrambling to get out of the fix she’s put them in.

The minute I put them all in a room together, they took off sparring—it was like me and my siblings all over again. That’s when it dawned on me—the reason so many readers like family series is we all have families. It may be just a cousin and a wacky mother, or it could be a whole plethora of aunts and brothers and nieces. Whatever the case, we have someone we share blood, sweat, and tears with, so we love to read about it. And I’m sure having fun writing it!

So how do you feel about family series? Do you like them or do they bore you? Why? Do you find novels portray family relationships realistically? Anyone who comments will be put in a drawing to win an autographed copy of my new book, The Truth About Lord Stoneville (Pocket, February 2010), Book 1 in the Hellions of Halstead Hall series.
I love Family series. And yes, like Sabrina, I too love the Malory series of novels, which are one of all time favorites. And now that I think about it, it's perhaps even the first romantic family series that I devoured with such gusto! I just wish they released such series books in short order, instead of making impatient bookworms like me suffer for an entire year in suspense. I love the premise of this series and like you, can't wait to get my hands and eyes on this series, which promises to be stellar like Sabrina's other books.

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GIVEAWAY

The Prize

1 autographed! copy of The Truth About Lord Stoneville to one lucky winner.

To Enter
  • Just answer Sabrina's question! (you did read the guest post all the way to the end, right?)
  • You must include your email address at the end of your comment, so you can be notified should you be chosen as a winner. Use the format abc AT xyz DOT com, to avoid spammers.
For Extra Entries

Please leave a NEW comment for each extra entry you do.

Deadline   Midnight CST of Feb 11, 2010.

Eligibility  US only.

Please read the Disclaimer. Good luck!
Note - This book was received for review/feature consideration.
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Comments

  1. Hello, Sabrina! Happy New Year! Being an only child, I am fascinated with the inner workings of a large family! When the characters are fully developed and the story well detailed and full of treats and twists, how could one resist!

    gcwhiskas at aol dot com

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  2. I am a Google Friend Connect follower.

    gcwhiskas at aol dot com

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  3. I am an email subscriber.

    gcwhiskas at aol dot com

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  4. I am a Google Reader Subscriber.

    gcwhiskas at aol dot com

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  5. I love family series as it allows the reader to see the workings of family and their dynamics together. jacksond@nhr3.net

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  6. I love family series. I love how authors show how different familys can work.

    bc428(at)juno(dot)com

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  7. I am a email subscriber

    bc428(at)juno(dot)com

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  8. I follow this blog.

    bc428(at)juno(dot)com

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  9. I am a Face book Fan.

    bc428(at)juno(dot)com

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  10. Hi Sabrina,

    This is so funny, but I just did a post on series and how much I love them. The ones about families are the best. I have a host that I LOVE. I love them because you get to revisit the former h/h and see them happily married and many times, with children. Nice to know the HEA doesn't finish when you set down the book.

    I'm one of 5 children so I know loud boisterous families and I really connect with the sibling relationships. I can't wait to read The Truth About Lord Stoneville.

    beverley at beverleykendall dot com

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  11. Hi Sabrina -- followed you here from FB and Goddess Blog --
    I really like reading families because I feel like you get to know the characters a little better with each novel and you can follow the families as they grow. I've been reading Stephanie Lauren's Temptation and Surrender and it's number 16 of the series of the same families that have intertwined. This novel is in the same smaller village as an earlier one and it was great to see older characters come back and to see how they had changed in the years between novels.

    weyrdkat at msn dot com

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  12. Family series are THE BEST! I absolutely love them! I suppose it's because I've always wanted a bunch of siblings.
    While I 'play writing', I have a series of seven siblings and I love writing about them and their relationships to each other and the rest of the world. It's always a lot of fun.
    Bring on the family of Lord Stoneville.

    barbarapopstar at yahoo dot com

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  13. I'm so glad so many of you like family series! Yes, Beverly and Heather, you're right--that's another reason they're fun, because you get to see them grow and change. For this series, the whole thing takes place in a year, so you won't get to see that as much, but you WILL get to see how each sibling interacts after the previous ones change and grow. I find that kind of fun so far.

    Barbie, glad you're looking forward to it!

    Virginia C, I do wonder if there's a difference between how only children view big family series as opposed to people who are part of a big family. Glad to know that you like them!

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  14. I like stories with families especially if they have some humor. It is fun to see how they get along or don't. LOL.
    Subsribe to email
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    Sue B
    katsrus(at)gmail(dot)com

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  15. I love family series, Julia Quinn's Bridgerton Series, your own Royal Brotherhood Series top my list. There are a few that I found repetitive but I still love series.

    sceanac@yahoo.com

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  16. I love family series also. I have read the Malory series as well as the Bridgerton series and a few others. I just started reading a few years ago when I was off work and was able to read a lot of them back to back, which was nice. Now I have to wait like everyone else for the next one to come out :(

    mlegen@aol.com

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  17. I really like the series that are linked by families, so I guess you could say that I like family series!

    Margay

    Margay1122(at)aol(dot)com

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  18. I am a subscriber to this blog (RSS feed).
    Margay

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  19. I enjoy series as long as I like the characters. Linda Lael Miller does this well with her McKettrick and Creed series as does Debbie Macomber. I don't really like continuations but series focused on different people.
    msboatgal at aol.com

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  20. hookedup, I'm so glad you enjoyed the Royal Brotherhood series.

    For the rest of you, is there anything you DON'T like about a family serie?

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  21. I think family series can be like any other type of series. If written well, they are great to read. I don't mind reading about families. I just don't want so many that it's gets confusing as to who is who. I'd like to read this book. Thanks.
    partymix25(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  22. email subscriber
    partymix25(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  23. I follow your blog.
    partymix25(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  24. I'm an email subscriber. Please enter me in your giveaway...Sabrina's book sounds great! Thank you! Enjoyed your blog with her.

    Sandee61

    Muzzley56[at]aol[dot]com

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  25. I enjoy family series. I feel like I invest time in getting to know the characters and like to see each of them developed more. I think there is quite a bit realistic about the characters. In real life each person/family is different so you would expect that in books as well.

    Wendy
    ebeandebe at gmail dot com

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  26. I follow with google reader.

    Wendy
    ebeandebe at gmail dot com

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  27. Interesting plot for this. I really enjoyed the post, "The Jeffries visit", with its future where every aspect of life has been taken over by corporations and the steps taken by her.
    R4i卡

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  28. I enjoy series with families, mainly siblings.

    alternate email other than blogger
    magenta 2 red [at] gmail [dot] com

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  29. I'm subscribed to A Book Blogger's Diary feed

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  32. I love novels that portray family relationships realistically and I love serials. Sabrina, Thanks for the great books you give us to read.

    misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com

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  33. 1 ENTRY -I Subscribe to A Book Blogger's Diary feed
    I really enjoyed your interview with Sabrina.

    misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com

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  34. 1 ENTRY - I Subscribe to A Book Blogger's Diary Email Update

    Great interview and thanks for great giveaway.

    misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com

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  35. 1 ENTRY - I Follow this blog

    Thanks for the great giveaway.

    misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com

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  36. Hi Sabrina,
    I look forward to the new book. The School for Heiresses books were awesome and I've loved all your Heroes and Heroines. I enjoyed your post today and would love to be entered.
    Carol L.
    Lucky4750@aol.com

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  37. I am a follower
    Carol L.
    Lucky4750@aol.com

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  38. I'm a subscriber
    Carol L.
    Lucky4750@aol.com

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  39. I do like family series, because I love finding out what happens to all the characters. This sounds like a lovely book, and I would enjoy reading it. Please enter me. Thanks!

    ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

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  40. I do like family series but I think most tend to go on for too long. I think three books is enough for one series.

    tradingaddress at gmail dot com

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  41. I subscribe to your email too.

    tradingaddress at gmail dot com

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