Clio Chase is hoping for a quiet season in Sicily with her family. There she can forget all about the enigmatic Duke of Averton and the strange effect he has on her. That is until he unexpectedly arrives, shattering her peace and warning her of trouble…
The unsettling attraction is still strong between them, despite the secrets they hide. But as the unknown threat grows, they are thrown together in the most intimate of ways. Clio knows there is only so long she can resist her mysterious duke!
“Amanda McCabe has crafted a spell-binding, sensuous read grounded in Greek mythology. Filled with muses, romance, intrigue, and mystery, this thrill-of-the-hunt Regency historical evokes visions of Aphrodite and Apollo amongst the ton setting. Like any great read, I was sad for it to end!” –The Season on To Catch a Rogue (read full review here!)
Last month I launched the “Muses of Mayfair” trilogy with book one, To Catch a Rogue. Now it’s almost May, and I’m very excited to talk about book two, To Deceive a Duke! (Book three, To Kiss a Count, is out in June). One commenter today will win a signed copy of Duke…
In Rogue we met the second-eldest Chase Muse, Clio, and saw her clash with the mysterious Duke of Averton. In Duke they meet again, and those sparks fly between them once more–only this time they have an even harder time keeping them contained! They have to learn to work together to save a rare and precious hoard of ancient temple altar silver–but can they do it while also keeping their hands off each other? I think not…
After meeting this passionate pair in Rogue, I was very eager to see what was really going on between them. As I made my way through their story they often surprised me–and I’m supposed to be their creator, the director of their story! Ha. They usually paid me no heed and went off on their own rollercoaster ride.
It was the middle of winter when I started writing this book, and I was sick of cold, gray skies. I needed some sun ASAP, even if it was just vicariously! So I sent Clio, the duke, Sir Walter Chase, and his fourth daughter Terpsichore (Cory) off to bright Sicily for an archaeological dig. It was so much fun to read travel and history books (and sometimes historical travel books!) about the island, and imagine being somewhere warm and filled with olive and lemon trees, flowers, beautiful architecture, and historic sites. The ancient city Clio and her family are excavating is based on a real place, Enna, which was colonized by the Greeks in the 6th century BC and became a sort of vacation resort for them. Destroyed during the Second Punic Wars with its inhabitants killed or enslaved, it was buried in a mudslide in the 12th century which preserved an ancient agora, theater, and gorgeous holiday villas under almond and olive orchards. The medieval castle Clio and Averton explore together is based on a real site, as if Clio’s farmhouse where the silver is buried and the silver itself. This altar set is based on the famous “Morgantina silver” now in the Met (a great article about it can be found here, and more info about the history of the Enna province here).
As we learned in Rogue, Clio is way passionate about what she believes in and is willing to go to great lengths to protect it–but so is the duke. What will happen if they again find themselves at cross purposes? (And I wish I knew where I could get Clio’s blue dress on the cover. It’s certainly impractical for excavation work but it’s so gorgeous!)
I have lots more info on my website, including some great sources for the history of the era in the History Behind The Book section. And if you don’t win today, you can enter the contest on my website or visit Kwana’s Blog before the end of of today to enter the contest there! (Giveaways galore!)
Where would you have a dream vacation? What are some objects you’ve seen in museums that have captured your imagination? And I have the potential to write more “Muses” books in the future–any ideas for possible settings for them? (I’d love to send Cory, who is an artist, to illustrate some sites in Egypt…). And on a completely unrelated note, how terrific was Small Island on “Masterpiece” last week??? I loved it.
I’m so excited that these are now available in e-book versions! I just bought both for my kindle. I know I won the first book months back…read it and loved it. But I do so like to have an e-copy I can carry around with me. As a funny side note I put my kindle on a bench a few weeks back and it got blown away in a gust of wind. I never thought I’d see the day when 450 books would fly away. Maybe being so light isn’t the best thing. Congrats on the new book!
When I was in Wales there was a book in this little bookstore I went to called “Julia” by William Napier. It was historical fiction based off a Roman sarcophagus found in London while building a carpark. I read the book and fell in love with Julia. Napier did an amazing job at making Julia come alive. When I went to the Museum of London where “Julia” was on display I actually got quite upset. I was angry that Julia was on display for everyone to see and wanted her to buried in the ground near Marcus (you’d have to read the book). It also made me want to own Whitby jet jewelry. I do not yet, but one day I will.
I do have a question Amanda, did you ever visit these places or was everything from books? I ask because I’m writing an update of Northanger Abbey that takes place in Florence and Wales. Wales I’ve been to, but I haven’t been to Florence. I’m using books, but I’m so afraid someone will call me out for getting some detail wrong.
Congrats on your release, Amanda! I look forward to reading TDAD!
I would love to visit England and see some of the wonderful places I’ve read about.
My dream vacation, though, is to return to my grandfather’s homeland of Denmark. I visited once several years ago, but would like to go back and rediscover the places I’d seen before.
I bought a small print of a little girl in blue when I was in a museum in Skagen, Denmark. The original caught my attention and I stared at if for a very long time. It is about a four-foot painting and I still am captivated by the print I brought home. I matted it in blue velvet and put it in an antique frame.
All the best for your release Amanda! I just read ‘The Winter Queen’ and I loved it!
And I love the sound of your trilogy!
I too, would love to go to the UK. Hubby swears we will be making the trip in the next 5 years, I hope so, it has been a life long dream for me!
Amanda, congratulations on your release! I can’t even READ your books as quickly as you write them!
I just booked our first Frampton family vacation that doesn’t involve visiting family–we’re headed to California to the Monterey Institute and Big Sur. So right now, that’s my dream vacation.
Way to go, Megan! Our vacations always seem to involve family visits, too, but when my kids were older teens, we all took a trip to San Francisco, driving up the coast to Seattle. It was terrific.
Of course I’ve been to England twice, but those weren’t family vacations. I’m DYING to go back. At this moment, my dream vacation would be to attend the 2010 Waterloo reenactment with Kristine Hughes and Vicky Hinshaw http://onelondonone.blogspot.com/
JA, I, too, am thrilled the books are available as ebooks. Gasp about your Kindle blowing away!! I assume you caught it again or you’d be crying, not laughing.
Thanks for visiting at my blog not that I wouldn’t take a win for myself somewhere else *wink*
I’m dreaming of a vacation like crazy now. I’d love to go to Italy be like Under the Tuscan Sun or to Greece. Oh Yeah but really right now NJ would be a getaway. I’m fried.
Jane Austen, I often have visited places I write about (that’s one of the perks of the job, LOL!), but I’ve never been to Sicily. It just fit perfectly, history and site-wise as well as the atmosphere, with the story. I read a LOT of books about Sicily (both modern non-fiction and travel narratives from the period, which were lots of fun), looked at photos and maps, and talked to friends who have been. Hopefully one day I’ll make it there myself…
And I hope your Kindle is unhurt!!!
Kwana, I would love to be on a Greek beach right about now! This WIP (due in a month, ugh) is kicking my butt. But I’d love any vacation that not connected to family visits or a conference–I hardly remember what those are like!
“”Julia” by William Napier. It was historical fiction based off a Roman sarcophagus found in London while building a carpark.”
I’m going to look for this book ASAP! It sounds so intriguing.
(BTW, book 3, “To Kiss a Count,” takes place in Bath and is centered around the Roman history and artifacts of the town–I had visited there, so it was fun to use all the places I had seen)
Amanda,
I know the book is out of print. I found it on abebooks.com. It’s amazing! You’ll love it. The next is the muse series sounds good. I LOVE Bath.
My dream vacation would be to tour Great Britain, with lots of time to check out all the great historic spots I’ve read so much about.
To Deceive a Duke sounds like a wonderful story and I’m looking forward to reading it.
I have To Catch a Rogue on my TBR stack and I am SO looking forward to reading it. I might save it and read all three back to back.
My dream vacation is to return to England and tour great houses, great gardens and museums and bookstores until my eyes cross! I’m trying to save up so I can be there for the bicentennial of Waterloo.
I was fortunate enough to be in Amsterdam during the Van Gogh bicentennial and they had a display of letters between Vincent and his brother, Theo at the Van Gogh museum. There was just something so poignant about the letters these two wrote to each other. A window into a life, so to speak.
The other moving thing I saw in Amsterdam was Anne Frank’s diary in the Anne Frank house. Having read The Diary of Anne Frank as a young girl, seeing the actual diary amazed, awed and saddened me.
I wpnder about prevopis pwners ofbthings shown on Antique Roashow,
I look forward to you new book. I never could resist a duke.
Louisa, that sounds like a wonderful time in Amsterdam! I keep trying to scheme a way to go to the UK for at least a month (preferably a whole summer) to research and visit places. 🙂
Kat, it seems I can’t resist a duke either! Especially this one–he was originally meant to be the villain in “To Catch a Rogue” but as I got to know him he intrigued me, so I made him redeemable in the end. 🙂
I wanted to study archeology in college, but didn’t get the chance. Since high school I’ve read about ancient civilizations and the efforts to discover more about them. At one point, I would have said my dream vacation would be Egypt. I would still like to go to the Middle East. Southeast Asia is another place. I got to see some of it. Bali was incredible. At the moment, the top spot on my travel list is Ireland, Scotland, England. the Celtic call is very strong and I need to answer it. I’d like to spend at least a month in each country. Even that won’t be enough.
These are such intersting books, Amanda! I’ve been an archeology freak since childhood, so love the idea of finding inspiration for a story in an old artifact or treasure trove.
My dream vacation right now would be somewhere warm and sunny, with no distracting internet access, and a butler and cook to tend to everything while I set up a table overlooking the ocean and write for two weeks uninterrupted.
That would be bliss.