Romance author Clyve Rose joins me today to chat about The King’s Mistress.
Clyve is on a virtual book tour with RABT book tours. Full tour information is below.
Bio:
Clyve Rose has been writing historical romance fiction for the best part of two decades. She works in the historical romance, fantasy, and speculative fiction genres. She also creates literary novels under an alternative pen name. In between her devotion to fiction writing, Clyve researches various mythologies and historical periods, often basing her characters on actual historical personalities.
When Clyve isn’t writing fiction, she can be found pounding the sand at just about any of the beautiful beaches near her Australian home. She is also addicted to short-haul ocean swims and has a ‘thing’ for Poseidon, ancient Greek god of the Seas. Much of the inspiration in her stories is drawn from the ocean landscapes near her home.
One of her novels was longlisted for a 2010 Hachette Award for Fiction while her paranormal short story The One Below is a Sexy Scribbles award-winning piece. Her novel, Always a Princess is a winner in The BookFest Awards Spring 2022. Its sequel, The King’s Mistress, is her latest novel.
The first piece she ever had published was a fictional biography of an erotica writer who made a living crafting extremely explicit dating profiles for online chat sites. She lives fairly simply these days, sharing her home with a small white demon-dog and a budding Amazon warrior. Clyve Rose believes that love is the highest and strongest force in the world, and that it only manifests when we are our best and truest selves. Anything less, and we diminish our divinity. She believes she will continue writing about love in all its various, glorious forms, and that one day her epitaph will read ‘just one more read-through’.
Welcome, Clyve. Please tell us about your current release.
Lady Lydia Clifton flees her father’s chosen groom – and travels under a false name. She decides it’s safer if she pretends to be mistress to a man few would wish to cross – and chooses Valkin Brishgen, the Romany King who’s acquainted with her family and known to be fiercely protective of his women.
That’s all very well, but what happens when she runs slap-bang into the man himself? Valkin hasn’t seen her since she was a young girl (she appears in my debut novel Always a Princess).
Lord Brishen doesn’t recognise the woman claiming to be his mistress. She’s lying about her name and she’s definitely not one of his lovers…yet. So why does he feel so drawn to her? So fiercely protective, in fact, that he risks his Romany to keep her safe…her curious combination of vulnerability and strength intrigues him until he can barely stand to be near her. Loving an Englishwoman is dangerous for any Romany, but for the Romany king to love a woman whose past he cannot account for is downright foolish. Unless he’s in love, of course.
The King’s Mistress is the story of a woman who’s been taught she’s worthless for so long that she’s forgotten she’s really strong and smart and has value as herself, until she has to rely on her own wits, her own skill – and until someone shows up to remind her of her worth. Someone who sees her differently – and falls in love with the woman he sees, even though he’s not sure who she is.
What inspired you to write this book?
My readers! They loved Valkin’s appearance in the prequel novel Always a Princess and asked for him to have his own story. That said, it was always my intention to write a trilogy.
Excerpt from The King’s Mistress:
Lydia shifted in her sideways seat (oh, how her stays cut!), trying unsuccessfully to rein her horse into a circle. It came to her suddenly that she was completely, utterly alone. At the mercy of strangers who might do anything they wanted with her.
“I am – I am Miss Martha Dale, an intimate f-friend of Valkin Brishen. I was hoping he – he might aid – ,” she cleared her throat. “That is, I am here to seek the assistance of the Romany King.” Staring down at her hands, cold fear snaked along her spine.
She suppressed a shiver, lifting her chin immediately. The men stepped back into the bushes quite suddenly, as though by command.
Perhaps the next move was supposed to be hers? She rather thought offering them something might be her best strategy. Money was not necessarily of interest to the Romany. It might be better to offer her jewels. Oh how she wished her head would stop pounding for just a moment so she could think. Gazing down at her hands again,
Lydia’s vision blurred as frightened tears burned her eyes. Her skin literally throbbed with pain.
She swallowed hard, blinking furiously. Closing her eyes tightly, she shook her aching head and attempted to straighten her mounted seat; almost impossible in a sidesaddle. Drawing herself up as erect as she could, almost certain her stays had drawn blood, Lydia nerved herself to call after the little band of men. Before she could utter a word, she heard the sound of a horse immediately behind her and froze.
Warm breath caressed her neck as a dark voice spoke directly into her ear. “There is a price to pay for travelling under my protection, gadje.” Rough lips touched the sensitive skin at the side of her face. Lydia shivered against them for just an instant before flinching away. She spun around, her cloak gaping open as her eyes met the blazing dark gaze of the Romany King. Oh lord, what now?
What exciting project are you working on next?
That would be the third Regency romance-mystery in my Soho Club collection, centered around Queen Caroline’s missing papers (based on a real scandal from 1820). It’ll appear in Summer Secrets of the Soho Club, which is already up for preorder on Amazon.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’ve always written. My first poem was published when I was eight years old, so I guess, then? I did back right away from it for about two decades. Very bad for my mental health.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I do – but that’s because I have a dayjob as a copywriter. How do I find time? Luckily I have insomnia, and poor TV reception.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I hear the words as I write them. The way each and every syllable sounds aloud matters to me so I HAVE to read it over and over every time I move a comma. (Yes, I know – it’s utterly maddening.)
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I have Roma heritage, and my series grew out of my annoyance at the way Romany were treated in Chapter 39 of Austen’s Emma. I’m also neuro-divergent and have rather severe social anxiety.
Links:
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Fun excerpt! This sounds so fun. Thanks!