My Favorite Tropes by Cheryl Bolen

My readers would be the first to tell you my favorite romance trope is the "marriage of convenience" story. Seven of my first nine published books followed this trope, including my first, A Duke Decieved, which was a finalist for Best First Book (Holt Medallion) and won the Notable New Author distinction back in 1999.

 My 2005 One Golden Ring won the Holt Medallion as Best Historical, and it too was a marriage-of-convenience story. That book has been rewritten and published as The Wedding Bargain.

 I do believe readers must like MOCs  as much as I. 

 In November I will be publishing one of my favorite MOCs, A Proposal of Marriage. In this one, I turn the tables and have the girl do the proposal in this entry into my Brazen Brides series.

 Another of my favorite tropes in a romance novel is the "ugly duckling" story. I used this in my To Take This Lord (Brides of Bath 4), The Earl, the Vow and the Plain Jane (Lords of Eton 2), and in my novella "Home for Christmas" which appears in my Christmas anthology Christmas Brides. I also used it in my novel My Lord Wicked, which won Best Historical in the International Digital Awards in 2011, and in With His Lady's Assistance (Regent Mysteries 1).

 Many of us can identify with those ugly ducklings!

 Another of my favorite tropes is the fish-out-of-water story. My October release, Once Upon aTime in Bath, is one such story. It will be the seventh of my Brides of Bath series. The fifth in the same series, Love in the Library, is also a fish-out-of-water story featuring one hot nerd hero. You don't find a lot of nerd heroes, but I don't think anything's sexier than tapping into their still waters. I hope you agree. 

 Tell us what are your favorite tropes?

Introducing Cheryl Bolen by @JoanReeves #RomanceGems

Normally, Karyn Gerrard blogs on the 14th. However, Karyn had pressing commitments and could not be with us today.

I told Karyn I'd take the opportunity to introduce Cheryl Bolen, a bestselling author and one of my friends in real life.

Cheryl and I go back a long way to the time before either of us was published.

I remember when she made her first sale. I took a bouquet of stargazer lilies to her at our RWA Chapter meeting the night she announced it.

I won't tell you how long ago that was. Suffice it to say all of our kids are grown, and we've traveled many a mile on the road to success.

About Cheryl Bolen

Since being named Notable New Author for 1998, Cheryl has published 39 books with Kensington/Zebra, Harlequin, Love Inspired Historical, Montlake, and independently. She has broken into the top 5 on the New York Times and hit the USA Today bestseller lists.

Her 2005 romance One Golden Ring won Best Historical, Holt Medallion, and her 2011 novel My Lord Wicked was awarded Best Historical, International Digital Awards, the same year her Christmas novella was chosen as Best Novella.

Her books have been finalists for other awards, including the Daphne du Maurier, and have been translated into nine languages. Cheryl also has consistently been the number 1 bestselling historical romance author in Germany.

She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and English from the University of Texas and a master's degree from the University of Houston.

Her favorite pursuits are traveling to England, watching the University of Texas Longhorns play football and basketball, and reading letters and diaries of dead English women.

Visit Cheryl Online

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Last Duke Standing by Cheryl Bolen

As the third son of the Duke of Fordham, Alex never thought he'd become a duke. But he's suddenly catapulted to the lofty title after his slightly older brother dies in his sleep.

Now Alex has the onerous task of announcing the death to the woman his brother was to wed.

Ever pragmatic, Lady Georgiana Fenton insists on seeing the late duke's body, and when she does, she's convinced he was smothered as he slept.

She and the new duke decide to secretly work together to uncover the murderer. But the longer they're together, the harder it becomes to resist the duke's scorching kisses—and even harder to dismiss him from the list of suspects. No one had more to gain by her fiancé's death.

Reviews for Last Duke Standing

"A wonderful mystery tale in the vein of Agatha Christie. Ms. Bolen does a masterful job creating suspects, then cleverly entwining their motives to keep her readers guessing whodunit. . .A lovingly crafted historical novel with a deeply satisfying mystery!" -- InD' Tale

"An exquisitely written historical romantic suspense with very appealing characters" -- Fresh Fiction

"This book really ticked all the boxes for me and it gripped me from start to finish. " -- Dragonrose Books Galore

"Cheryl Bolen spins a delightful tale of mystery, politics, and (of course) romance " -- IN PRINT

LUCK O' THE IRISH Giveaway: 3 Ways to Win

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