Guest Author & Giveaway: Leigh Michaels featuring The Wedding Affair

House parties in Historical Romance are notorious for a scandal....or two...or in the case of Leigh Michael's new book, The Wedding Affair....three!  Author Leigh Michaels is my special guest today to share with us a bit about The Wedding Affair.  Read and enjoy!

One of the things I love best about writing historical romances is the way that society’s restrictions forced choices which today’s young women would find ludicrous. Marrying a stranger because her parents arranged it? Being traded off in marriage for property or money? Marrying a man she doesn’t love in order to have a home and food on the table?

Those would be horrible options in real life, but they’re lots of fun in fiction.

In The Wedding Affair, the three heroines—Olivia, Kate and Penelope—are all facing desperate problems, and that makes them willing to look at desperate solutions. When the three are invited to the wedding of the Duke of Somervale’s sister, each sees the gathering as an opportunity to salvage her life.

Olivia is widowed and has a daughter to support, which means that even the few jobs which were open to women of the time aren’t available to her. No one would hire a governess or a housekeeper who had a small child in tow. When the Duke of Somervale, who’s being pursued by his sister’s bridesmaids, propositions Olivia, telling her that if she’ll pretend he’s courting her, he’ll make the charade worth her while… Olivia has to consider the offer in order to provide a future for her daughter. And if they have a passionate affair on the side, who’s to know?

Kate is the vicar’s daughter, which means that her father’s death has left her homeless as well as without a source of income. There are no jobs in the village and no one who can even recommend her to employers. Surely someone at the wedding will offer her a job as secretary, companion, or governess, for Kate is willing to do anything for security… until her past returns to haunt her in the person of adventurer Andrew Carlisle. Andrew is just as exciting as he was when Kate was seventeen – but he’s still not offering anything that resembles stability. In fact, he wants Kate to toss everything aside and come with him on his next New World adventure. But opposites attract—flirting and fighting with Andrew makes Kate wonder whether security is really what she wants.

Penelope is the daughter of a prosperous brewer and has plenty of money, but she’s caught in a loveless marriage of convenience with the Earl of Townsend. He married her only for her wealth, and the fact that she’s anything but aristocratic has kept their marriage as cold as the Arctic. The Townsends barely speak to each other, but a week in the country with a wedding to attend might just thaw the ice and turn their marriage into something bearable. Penelope is determined to do anything it takes— including seducing her husband, if only she can figure out how to reach him.

None of these women is looking for love, even Penelope hopes only to achieve a tolerable marriage, not a happy one. Still, even when a loveless marriage seems to be the best option, not one of these feisty women is willing to settle—and in the end, they all find far more than they hoped for when they embark on The Wedding Affair.

The Duke of Somervale's sister is getting married in the wedding of year -- but the wedding guests are in the mood for affairs, not vows!

The Duke needs the help of beautiful, stubborn Olivia Reyne to fight off the debutantes who have taken over his country estate. Olivia's willing to help -- at a price which will secure the future for her small daughter.

Penny Townsend sees the wedding as her last chance to salvage her arranged marriage and turn it into something more than a matter of convenience.

And vicar's daughter Kate Blakely needs a job -- and fast -- before she gives in to the tempting presence of her first love!

Congratulations Leigh & thank you for being my guest today!  I don't know about you but I love that their are three interconnected stories in one book. It's one of the things that I like most about her Sourcebooks titles.  To learn more about author Leigh Michaels and the romances she writes you can find her at her website www.leighmichaels.com, on Facebook and on Twitter.

To celebrate the release of The Wedding Affair, Leigh's publisher Sourcebooks Casablanca would like to giveaway sets of her trilogy books to two lucky Musings followers!  Each winner will receive The Wedding Affair, Just One Season in London, and The Mistress House.  How great is that!  Here's how you can enter to win:

Ways to earn entries:

• Mandatory:  Which one of the three heroines from The Wedding Affair appeals to you most and why?  (psst...don't forget to leave Leigh some comment love!) (good for 1 entry)
• Mandatory: You MUST be a Google Friend Connect (GFC) follower in order to be eligible to win (unfortunately an email subscriber, or subscription in Google reader, and a follower are not the same thing so make sure you are signed up as a follower if you'd like to win this book)
• If you have a blog, or even if you don't, you can earn extra entries by telling your friends. If they successfully enter to win and mention that you sent them you can each earn extra entries. You can blog about it with a link to this post, post it on Facebook, Twitter, email...or even word of mouth (good for 5 entries for the referrer and the commenter for each friend) . Please note that to earn the points they must mention your GFC name so that I can match you.  
• Purchase any item from the Seductive Musings Amazon store by using this link, or the Amazon widget contained within this post and email a copy of your purchase receipt to me no later than the deadline to enter (email available in sidebar). Sorry purchases made prior to this date do not apply, and link contained in this post must be used. No faxes or snail mail copies are allowed. No purchases are necessary to win. (good for 25 entries, or 50 entries if a purchase is made from the featured author's available titles)

How to enter:

• You can choose to enter as many different ways that you want, but please place all of your entries in ONE comment 

Rules and disclaimers:

• This contest is open to US & Canadian addresses only
• You must be at least 18 years or older, or of legal age in your country
• The contest will end on September 24th at 11:59 pm EST and winner will be posted after they have been selected
• Winner(s) will be selected using Random.org
• The winner(s) will have THREE days from the date they are posted to provide a mailing address. If you do not contact me within three days a replacement winner will be selected. NO EXCEPTIONS
• The book(s) will be mailed directly from the publisher or author and no substitutions are allowed
• Winners will be subject to one copy per household, which means that if you win the same title in two or more contests, that you will only receive one copy of the title in the mail
• Seductive Musings is not responsible for prizes that are not honored, distributed in a timely manner, lost, stolen, or damaged during transit 
• All giveaways are subject to change/cancellation without prior written notice

Good Luck!

*Seductive Musings is an Amazon affiliate and receives a very small referral fee for purchases made via the links on the blog and through the Seductive Musings Amazon Store. Read the full disclosure here.