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“I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.” ~Groucho MarxI am not really much of a joiner. Except for a few wonderful writing organizations, I have never been one to sign up for many clubs. Aside from being an extreme introvert (this is why I value my writing organizations—they’re clubs made up entirely of introverts!), I never could get too enthused about rules, mottos, initiations, secret handshakes, and the like.My first historical romance trilogy (Goddess of the Hunt, Surrender of a Siren, A Lady of Persuasion, all 2009) centered on the heroines. When I started thinking about a concept for my second trilogy, I knew I wanted it to focus on the guys. The logical solution seemed to be a Regency guys’ club. There are a lot of these series—clubs of bachelors, spies, gamblers, soldiers, and so forth. They make sense, because gentlemen’s clubs were an important part of Regency society.Except…I’m not big on clubs. So to make this work, I decided would have to write a club that no one took too seriously…not even me. I devised a club based around ownership of a prize stallion, retired to stud. I mean, who could take an organization called the Stud Club seriously? Definitely not its founder, Leo Chatwick, who started it as a joke. Certainly not his sister, Lily, who can’t even say the name without laughing. The members are a mismatched set of guys who have little in common and no love lost for one another—a duke, a war hero, and a scoundrel. And Spencer, the reclusive hero of One Dance with a Duke, is the last man you’d find joining any sort of social club.But when Leo is tragically murdered, suddenly nothing about the situation is funny. And no matter how much these three heroes dislike each other, they must find a way to work together and uncover the truth. Along the way, they discover that love and friendship can spring from unlikely circumstances…just like an author’s ideas!Thanks so much for inviting me to blog today. It’s been a pleasure.
Tessa Dare is a part-time librarian, full-time mommy and swing-shift writer living in Southern California.
Tessa lived a rather nomadic childhood in the Midwest. As a girl, she discovered that no matter how many times she moved, two kinds of friends traveled with her: the friends in books, and the friends in her head. She still converses with both sets daily. You can visit Tessa on Facebook or MySpace, or follow her on Twitter or Tumblr.
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Intrigued? You have reason to be. The first book in the series, and its hero, are just as interesting as Tessa suggests they are. And the rest of the series promises to be just as lovely. Lucky for you, I happen to have 2 copies of One Dance with a Duke
If you’d like a chance to win, leave a comment on this post welcome Tessa and telling us what you think of the premise behind – and the name of – The Stud Club, and we’ll enter your name in the drawing. Contest ends Sunday, June 6, 2010 at 11:59 p.m.
Welcome to Book Binge, Tessa. I love the Marx quote. The premise behind the Stud Club is clever and elitist. The name is suggestive of all kinds of things that English gentlemen could be interested in, including horses.
elcome Tessa! Loved your first trilogy and I am definitely reading The Stud Club books. Now i know stud refers to horses but in my mind I will always get the picture of a stud of a man :).
BTW I love the covers of your books!
I love the Stud Club. LOL! Great double entendre.:) I look forward to reading this series, as I really enjoyed the GOTH series.
Welcome to the Book Binge 🙂
The Stub club series sounds like a great new series, I have only read the first book in your other series, but it was so much fun.
Hm the Stud club. Perhaps it’s meant as a joke, they are studs, prime for breeding 😉
Welcome, Tessa. I *hate* club series(es?), so I think it’s awesome that you’re poking fun of them a bit. — willaful
Hi, Tessa – That’s a great name for a series. Most of Regency England would sell their souls to belong to Almack’s, so it’s funny that there’s a club that no one really cares about. Best wishes on the new series.
Hi, everyone! Thanks to Book Binge for inviting me today.
Of course, the double entendre was my big reason for naming it what I did – but in the Regency, the word wasn’t used to refer to hunky guys yet. So they don’t have quite as much reason to find it silly, but still…
In my mind, the club’s founder was poking fun at a real organization: The Jockey Club, which was the actual historical gentlemen’s society that organized and oversaw horseracing. It was a very elite club, open only to the most wealthy and well-connected. But in my backstory, Leo Chatwick was generous and fair-minded and didn’t like the snobbishness associated with The Jockey Club. That’s why he made the Stud Club open to anyone with luck.
So, anyway – even though the characters are all thinking “horses”, readers are most definitely encouraged to take the other meaning of stud, and all it implies. 🙂
I was lucky enough to read Twice Tempted By A Rogue, the second book in her newest trilogy, and found it to be perfectly wonderful. Tessa is a great writer whose characters come to life on the pages and make you sigh at the end. Her stories are quite unique and so charming. You close the book on a sigh and you want to read another. She’s an amazing talent, and had my editor told me there was a quick turn around, my quote would have been on the cover!
Jill, pretty soon I am going to owe you my firstborn. Thank you so much for coming by my guest blog.
Book Binge ladies, you should check your calendar and make a date with Jill right now to talk about her new series coming out next year.
(For what it’s worth, Jill, I am putting your quote all over everything I can…ads, website. A t-shirt may be next. *g*)
I read ODwaD this weekend and am so glad the 2 book will be out relatively soon, altho not soon enough. I did not have the same reaction as the reviwer here to the ending, but I need to go back and review because I read the new Julia Quinn and Lisa Kleypas over the weekend also. All Regency all the time- wonderful books and wonderful characters.
I do have a question since Lily saw Leo’s body is it safe to asssume he won’t return from the dead? Pity, because I liked what we know of him. I’ll probably ask this question on your 6! Page too.
Hey, anonymous –
Thanks for reading! I am sorry to say that Leo is really, truly dead. Much as I wish I could bring him back, and I do. As I told a friend the other day, if it helps, you can imagine him stranded on a mysterious pacific island with a bunch of good-looking plane-crash survivors…? 😉
Wasn’t this a great week for historical romance? As a reader, i feel like I hit the jackpot!
Phyllis, it’s nice to know I’m not alone in my need for being alone. If that makes sense. I’m not as extreme as Spencer, but I could identify with him quite a bit.
Great double entendre!
Hi Tessa and welcome, The Book Binge is a great romance blog. I really like the play-on-words for the “stud club,” pretty sexy and I’m sure perfect for your new trilogy.
Hi Tessa – I’m looking forward to reading your book. Thanks for the info about the Jockey Club, I wouldn’t have known that and that does help explain why you named the club the way you did. I’ll just have to keep my mind out of the gutter and concentrate on horse studs (as opposed to other kinds of studs). Loved the promo video by the way.
hi tessa! i’m with you on clubs. i hardly joined any in high school (and if i didn’t i didn’t go to any of the meetings/activities). it wasn’t until college that i stepped out of my comfort zone and made myself join clubs. the part about “stud club” in the post made me giggle. it does sound silly and i can’t wait to read more about it’s members 😉
Hi! Did they call virile gentlemen “studs” back in the day? Still, the “Stud Club” is giggle-worthy.
Looking forward to it! I love your books 🙂
And ditto on the introversion…
Welcome Tessa. I would love to be part of an exclusive club.
I think the Stud Club is a clever idea – it’s actually about horses of course and in those days that’s the only connotation (probably?) that would have been made but in modern times stud means something different. I’m sure these heroes are all studs though! Welcome Tessa!
Interesting! And I adore the name 🙂
Wow! Thanks for the chance to win. I love the premise for this series and I do love the name of the series. I also like the cover!
tradingaddress at gmail dot com
I like the double speak of naming the club the way you did. It gets the mind thinking all sorts of naughty thoughts. I’m very excited to read this series since all these excerpts are taunting me.
joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com
Your books are wonderful. I’d love to win one. Thanks!
Hi Tess 🙂
I really like the idea of the Stud Club and the double meaning behind it 😉
wish you all the best,
Ina
I think naming the club is a stroke of genius 🙂 I love the double meaning, because I am sure each and everyone of the heroes in this series is a “stud” himself 🙂
Can’t wait to read this trilogy!
Great post, Tessa! I’m so glad readers get a new Dare trilogy for 2010. I loved last year’s GOTH trilogy (and the excellent title acronym).
My verification word: “fearse.” TGIF.
Hi Tessa,
I love the idea behind the Stud Club. I just finished your first trilogy and I definitely can’t wait to start on this new one!
Welcome Tessa, and I just want to say that I think you’re a wonderful writer. I like the idea of the Stud Club, it’s hilarious, and it is so different from what historical authors usually come up with. I can’t wait to read One Dance With a Duke and the rest of the trilogy.
Hi Tessa! Love your writing and read all your novels and looking forward to ODwAD! The Stud Club is titillating! I’m thinking Thunder from Down Under!