Giveaway & Interview with Samhain Publishing Debut Author of "DEVIL'S MISTRESS" Laura Navarre

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Format: eBook

ISBN: 978-1-60928-028-4

Length: Novel

Price: 5.50

Publication Date: June 1, 2010

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Living breath-to-breath beneath the shadow of violence, Italian perfumer and apothecary Allegra Grimaldi was forced to learn the killing arts from the Hand of God—a religious assassin. She has sworn never to use her deadly skills, but now a blackmailer has her by the proverbial throat.

To save her family from an ugly death, she must do the unthinkable. Infiltrate the court of King Henry VIII, poison the heretic Anne Boleyn before she becomes queen—and frame Anne’s bastard brother for the crime. Honest and principled, Sir Joscelin is the perfect pawn.

Allegra is clever, captivating…and her warning to Anne immediately rouses Joscelin’s suspicion. Sworn to protect his sister, and striving for recognition from the powerful father who disdains him, Joscelin has no choice but to put aside his attraction to the mysterious lady and gather evidence to see her burn for witchcraft.

To avert a disaster that will change the face of Europe, this stalwart soldier of incorruptible integrity and the fallen woman who breathes deception must learn to trust each other—and discover the one truth that could save them all.

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Get to know the Author of the Day.

1. What is the best part of being a writer? What is the worst?

The best part of being a writer is having an iron-clad excuse to escape into the darkly seductive medieval/Renaissance world of historical romance every day, where I am wooed by sexy, brave, brilliant heroes whose primary driver is winning my heart.


The worst part of being a writer is the rejection process! Six years, four novels, and sixty-three rejections before I sold. :) About half of those were agent rejections before I finally found the wonderful agent who’s perfect for me—JD DeWitt at The View Literary Agency—whose connections and determination resulted in my second sale to Dorchester (THE DEVIL’S TEMPTRESS, out in November 2010).

2. Name one eye-opening thing you learned from your book research.

In my dark Tudor romance THE DEVIL’S MISTRESS, my heroine Allegra Grimaldi is a reluctant lady assassin who’s blackmailed to poison Anne Boleyn. So I had to research poisons that would have been used in the 1500s. I relied on a great resource for writers called THE BOOK OF POISONS. One particularly fascinating tidbit is that Renaissance ladies put drops of deadly nightshade in their eyes to make them lustrous. The things we do for love. :)

3. Do you have a favorite motto?

This is corny, but it’s what I live by, from the James Bond film THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH: “There’s no point in living if you can’t feel alive.”

4. Do you have a favorite fictional hero? Favorite fictional heroine?

My favorite fictional heroine is definitely the powerful and devious Melanthe in FOR MY LADY’S HEART by Laura Kinsale. This heroine directly inspired my seductive Italian assassin Allegra Grimaldi in THE DEVIL’S MISTRESS. I’m awfully fond of Scarlett O’Hara from GONE WITH THE WIND as well.


My favorite hero is tougher to identify, because I like almost all of them! For now I’ll say it’s cold-as-ice assassin (hmm, is there a theme here?) Bastien Toussaint from Anne Stuart’s BLACK ICE. When I realized the hero himself was an assassin, my entire body tingled! Which made me realize I needed to write one of those myself. :)


You’ve probably figured out by now that my romances are fairly dark!

5. Which fictional character would you hang out with?

Probably time-traveling nurse Claire Randall in Diana Gabaldon’s electrifying OUTLANDER novels. She’s brilliant, compassionate, courageous and resourceful. Time-travel is the least of Claire’s adventures with Scottish hero Jamie Frazer.


But it would also be extremely fun to hang out with dragon-riding Capt. Will Laurence in Naomi Novik’s alternate history/fantasy TEMERAIRE books. Think Regency England and the Napoleonic Wars—with dragons!

6. What is one of your favorite book covers, your own or someone else’s?

I have to say my current favorites are my own. :) In order to maximize my creative control over the cover, I persuaded Samhain to let me shoot my own cover for DEVIL’S MISTRESS, in coordination with Samhain’s fabulous art director Scott Carpenter. I hired the models, photographer, and producer for the shoot, used Paul Mitchell for hair and makeup, and rented Tudor-era costumes from a theater in Spokane, WA. We shot the cover in front of a Gothic cathedral in Spokane, and it turned out so well it still gives me chills. You can find my cover here at http://www.lauranavarre.com/

7. What would readers be surprised to learn about you?

I’m a fluent Russian speaker with a background in diplomacy and arms control, and lived in Russia for five years. Among other adventures, I’m one of very few Americans who’s ever been inside North Korea.

8. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever learned by Googling your name?

There’s an author out there with my name exactly, except for one letter, who has evidently written a book called VALENTIN: A SPECIAL BAT. All very intriguing, but I am not the author. :)

9. If you could go backward or forward in time which would you chose? Why?

This one’s easy, I think. I’d go back in time to Tudor England—either the early years of King Henry VIII (before he beheaded Anne Boleyn and went crazy), or the early years of his daughter with Anne—Elizabeth Tudor. If Henry VIII looked a bit like Jonathan Rhys Meyers (who plays Henry on THE TUDORS), I wouldn’t mind a bit.

10, Laura, please tell us more about your recent release by Samhain Publishing, “THE DEVIL’S MISTRESS”?

THE DEVIL’S MISTRESS is a dark and sexy Tudor romance about a reluctant lady assassin who’s blackmailed to poison Anne Boleyn. Allegra Grimaldi is an Italian perfumer and apothecary who learned the killing arts from the Hand of God, a religious assassin. The honorable Sir Joscelin Boleyn is Anne’s bastard brother, and sworn to protect her. This novel has won the Hearts Through History Romance Through the Ages contest (Ancient/Medieval/Renaissance category), the River City Romance Writers Duel on the Delta contest, and was named Overall Winner across all seven categories of the Yellow Rose RWA’s Winter Rose Contest.

11.  If you could compare “THE DEVIL’S MISTRESS” to your other books, how would you say it’s different?

THE DEVIL’S MISTRESS is the fourth novel I wrote, but the first to sell, which makes it very special for me. My heroine is far darker and more cunning than my other heroines, and my hero’s incredibly hot! The physical model for my Sir Joscelin is Sean Bean’s Boromir in LORD OF THE RINGS.

12. Which do you find is most important to you as a writer, voice or story? Why?

In my view, voice and story are both important, but I think voice takes precedence. There are only so many plots and storylines that work for historical romance. (Some well-known examples of romance tropes are Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella story, marriage of convenience, amnesia story, etc.) So it’s voice that makes a writer’s work unique. No one can ever tell the story exactly the way you tell it, and I think the reader’s attraction to your voice is what will make your book stand out in her mind long after she’s finished it.

13.  Laura, please tell us where we can find you out in cyber world. For desperate readers like me-- we just need to know…:)

Thanks for asking this question! My new website and blog are up at http://www.lauranavarre.com/ , where you can also find excerpts and information about my upcoming releases. If you send me an email with your address, I’ll happily mail you an autographed postcard with my gorgeous cover. I also love to meet readers on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LauraNavarreAuthor.


I’m still figuring out Twitter at www.twitter.com/LauraNavarre, and I’m one of the “official Tweeters” for the Stonecoast MFA program at University of Southern Maine at www.twitter.com/StonecoastTweet . My “coming soon” page is up on the Samhain website at http://samhainpublishing.com/coming/the-devil-s-mistress. And, finally, I’m thrilled to hear from readers at LauraNavarreAuthor@yahoo.com .

14. I know this is a difficult question with there being so many amazing authors out there to choose from but who are some of the GOT-TO-HAVE authors in your TBR pile?

I’m insanely obsessed by Jacqueline Carey’s dark alternate Renaissance world and her seductive courtesan/spy heroine Phedre in the Kushiel series. (First book is KUSHIEL’S DART.) I adore the late great Marion Zimmer Bradley, who wrote THE MISTS OF AVALON and the telepathic fantasy Darkover novels—still working my way through her backlist. And I’m a huge fan of RITA-winning historical romance author Laura Kinsale, whose latest release is LESSONS IN FRENCH, which I’m hoping to read shortly. :)

15.  What’s next in the works for you? When can readers expect to see it out on shelves in their local bookstores?

My second novel is a dark Crusader romance called THE DEVIL’S TEMPTRESS. Set in Eleanor of Aquitaine’s elegant court, it’s a love triangle between a disgraced Muslim knight, an ardent Christian lady, and Richard the Lionheart. The novel’s being released by Dorchester in November 2010, so you can find it at your local bookstore.

DEVIL’S MISTRESS is out in e-book format on June 1, and will be released as a print book in early 2011. You can find out more about my upcoming releases and works-in-progress at www.LauraNavarre.com

I’d like to thank Laura Navarre for stopping by and spending time with us, it’s been a blast getting to know more about you and your books. I wish you all the best and much success in everything you do. :)

Thanks so much for the opportunity to appear on Over The Edge! It’s been a fantastic experience.

*GIVEAWAY RULES*
It is my great pleasure to introduce you to a writer whom will take you on a dark and seductive thrill ride author Laura Navarre. Laura is chatting and giving one lucky commenter the chance to win a eBook copy of her debut release,"DEVIL'S MISTRESS". I just have a few simple rules.

* +2 Leave a comment for Laura Navarre including email.
* +2 Spread the Word! { this means go out into cyber world and post it on any netwok sites that your are a member of, or on your blog or website. +2 Then come back and leave a link so I can verify the post.}
* Become a follower of Over the Edge! {+3 Already a follower--You ROCK! +2 Become a follower.}

The giveaway is open to all and will be running until May 23, 2010. I'll be picking and contacting the winner directly on May 24, 2010. Please make sure to include your email with your comment. Happy Reading!