relzreviewz.com Character Spotlight: Leah Garriott’s Margaret Brinton and Gregory Williams

Character Spotlight: Leah Garriott’s Margaret Brinton and Gregory Williams

I’m delighted to feature novelist Leah Garriott today and her charming protagonists from her acclaimed debut Regency romance, Promised, as a participant of the Promised Blog Tour. Not only does my dear friend, Rachel McMillan, recommend this story but Publishers Weekly has these words to say, “Promising Regency-set debut. Vivid period details and the hero’s grand romantic efforts will please fans of historical romance.“. But my favourite review would be this one from the Historical Novel Society, “With an Austen-like focus on minute emotional detail and some amusing secondary characters, Garriott’s gentle novel promises a treat for Regency fans who like their characters well-bred, their interiors comfortable, and the romance no racier than the hero turning up in a wet shirt.”

Enjoy meeting two new literary characters and be sure to add Promised to your bookshelves!

Margaret Brinton keeps her promises, and the one she is most determined to keep is the promise to protect her heart…

Warwickshire, England, 1812

Fooled by love once before, Margaret vows never to be played the fool again. To keep her vow, she attends a notorious match-making party intent on securing the perfect marital match: a union of convenience to someone who could never affect her heart. She discovers a man who exceeds all her hopes in the handsome and obliging rake, Mr. Northam.

There’s only one problem. His meddling cousin, Lord Williams, won’t leave Margaret alone. Condescending and high-handed, Lord Williams lectures and insults her. When she refuses to give heed to his counsel, he single-handedly ruins Margaret’s chances for making a good match–to his cousin or anyone else. With no reason to remain at the party, Margaret returns home to discover her father has promised her hand in marriage–to Lord Williams.

Under no conditions will Margaret consent to marrying such an odious man. Yet as Lord Williams inserts himself into her everyday life, interrupting her family games and following her on morning walks, winning the good opinion of her siblings and proving himself intelligent and even kind, Margaret is forced to realize that Lord Williams is exactly the man she’d hoped to marry before she’d learned how much love hurt. When paths diverge and her time with Lord Williams ends, Margaret is faced with her ultimate choice: keep the promises that protect her or break free of them for one more chance at love. Either way, she fears her heart will lose.

Introducing Margaret & Gregory

Physical Stats

Height:

Margaret: 5’ 5”

Gregory: 6’ 1”

Hair colour:

Margaret: Brown with a slight reddish tint

Gregory: Brown

Eye colour:

Margaret: Blue

Gregory: Blue

Dress sense:

Margaret: Comfortable

Gregory: Formal

Resembles…

Can’t live without…

Margaret: A bit of freedom

Gregory: Integrity

Strengths

Margaret: Going after what she wants, Being true to herself

Gregory: Consistency, Gift giving, Humor

Vulnerabilities

Margaret: Being a burden on others/being unwanted

Gregory: Being misjudged/not being seen for who he is but instead for what he is (his title and wealth).

Gregory and Margaret when they are a bit older!

Passions

Margaret: Protecting her home/life from change. Acting according to her truth. Helping others to live their truths and obtain their goals.

Gregory: Living worthy of the trust placed upon him by his station. Being a good person and helping others to be their best selves. Making others happy.

What book would they recommend?

Margaret: For Gregory, Fordyce’s Sermons. For everyone else, Mary Oliver, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickens, or some other wonderful writer of poetry.

Gregory: For Margaret, Shel Silvertein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends. For everyone else, Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond.

Your inspiration for the character

Margaret: I wanted to write about a woman who was completely determined to make the worst possible love choice she could. I figured she had to be strong, quite independent, and be driven by pain in order to make such a choice. And thus was born Margaret, with her broken engagement, her mistrust of love, and her blind determination to live life on her terms.

Gregory: The male character, who is the antagonist through much of the story, needed to be just as strong as the female character, just as determined, yet driven toward the “correct” goal so that he could guide his counterpart to her happily ever after. But I also wanted him to be flawed, to make mistakes and have his own agenda. I think Gregory captures this pretty well.

Background to the story

I’m a sucker for slow-build romances and I love when a character begins a story determined to get what she wants only to make a complete turn by the end of the novel, admit she was wrong, and that what she wants now is something so much better than she ever thought possible. Also, a story is better if there’s a lot of pain, confusion, and surprises along the way. This was my attempt to write that kind of novel.

Thanks for sharing Margaret and Gregory with us today, Leah!

Though she earned degrees in math and statistics, Leah Garriott lives for a good love story. She’s resided in Hawaii and Italy, walked the countryside of England, and owns every mainstream movie version of Pride and Prejudice. She’s currently living her own happily ever after in Utah with her husband and three kids. Leah is represented by Sharon Pelletier at Dystel, Goderich, and Bourret.

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Buy at Amazon: Promised

Forty popular book bloggers specializing in historical romance, inspirational fiction, and Austenesque fiction will feature guest blogs, interviews, exclusive excerpts, and book reviews of this acclaimed Regency romance novel. Be sure to follow the tour stops below!

PROMISED: A PROPER ROMANCE BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE:

February 17 My Jane Austen Book Club (Guest Blog)

February 17 Austenprose—A Jane Austen Blog (Review)

February 18 Katie’s Clean Book Collection (Review)

February 18 Wishful Endings (Interview)

February 19 RelzReviewz (Character Spotlight)

February 20 Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen (Spotlight)

February 21 The Lit Bitch (Excerpt)

February 22 The Debutante Ball (Interview)

February 23 Adventure. Romance. Suspense (Review)

February 24 A Bookish Way of Life (Review)

February 24 Austenesque Reviews (Guest Blog)