Hi guys, we have Vicktor Alexander visiting us again and this time it’s with Groom of Convenience his brilliant regency romance with a difference. Vicktor was kind enough to answer a question for us and there’s a great excerpt and giveaway. So enjoy the post and click that Rafflecopter link <3 ~Pixie~ 

Groom of Convenience

Vicktor Alexander

In an alternate universe, in the country of Angland, 1814, the gentry live lives of culture and class. It is a time of courtships, marriages of convenience, and titles, where scandal can ruin an entire family. Gender lines are blurred, and making a good match is of utmost importance. Children are born to men and women, which has led to the acceptance of same-sex marriages. 

Lady Lucien Timothy Hawthorne is shocked and angry when he is betrothed against his will to Lord Heathcliff Eddington, III, the Duke of Pompinshire. While drowning his frustration at a popular gentleman’s club, he meets “Robert,” a gorgeous older man whom he sleeps with as “Timmy,” regardless of the potential damage to his reputation. 

After their liaison, Lucien corresponds with Robert via letters left at Remmington, and they decide to elope. Before they can get away, Lucien meets his betrothed, Heathcliff, who he is surprised to discover is also his beloved, Robert. Both men desire a marriage of the heart, but they find out that sometimes a marriage of convenience can turn into love under the right circumstances. But Lucien has a secret, and Tlondon isn’t as safe as they once thought.

 Vicktor answers our question

Where did you get the idea for such a mixed gender/roles merged story and to set it in a regency type setting?

I actually love books set in the Regency time era. I’m actually a huge undercover nerd and if I could I’d go to Medieval Times all the time for dinner and a show, because I love being surrounded by the history of that place. I love watching the History Channel just for the hell of it, and when I was younger my biological mother tried to punish me by making me read the encyclopedia, but soon realized that wasn’t a punishment for me, it was a reward. So being able to write a book set in a historical setting is like an authorgasm for me. I also don’t like to play by other people’s rules, whatsoever. Blame it on the fact that I, according to what one of my readers calls, is my “need to Dom” my readers, but I push people’s limits in my writing. But I love writing mpreg. I love the thought of two men being able to have sex and create a baby. I also love the thought of two women being able to have sex and create a baby (not that I want to imagine them having sex-no thank you. Women are beautiful. Not saying that, at all. But number one, I’m gay. Number two, my daughter is a lesbian, and lesbian sex is my daughter and uhhh…. yeah. Overprotective Daddy Vic says NO. LOL.). So my brain decided to blend those two dynamics together. I was thinking about mpreg, but mpreg in a historical setting. And then I took it and put a twist on it. I didn’t want to just have mpreg and fempreg, but I wanted to really highlight transgenderism (without me even realizing I was doing it), I wanted to give a voice to people who didn’t often get one. I wanted to show people that what you see is not what often matches on the inside. And that just because we have some “ideal” or some “image” of how “men” or “women” are supposed to act, talk, move, dress, etc. that doesn’t mean that they’re all going to be that way. So this series was the best way for me to do that. The Regency era was full of people who were constricted by laws, societal pressures, principles, rules, etc. but there was a group of people who were slowly but surely changing things, they were starting to turn the tide. These people, men and women were changing people’s minds about gender roles, marriage, society, fashion, slavery, the slave trade, the American colonies, and everything else you can think about. Why wouldn’t I want to set my amazing people, these Male men, Male women, Female men, and Female women, these genders who represent the transgender community, right there in the middle of an era that represented such an amazing time in Britain’s history? I was excited to do so and I’m even more excited about the fact that the series is going to touch over such an extended period of time in Britain’s timeline.

Excerpt

Lucien inhaled deeply and then began to softly sing “Ae Fond Kiss,” a popular Tscottish ballad written twenty years prior, sliding his eyelids closed, afraid of any negative reaction from his betrothed. His mother used to sing it to him every night before leaving for a ball or party she was obligated to attend. Rosemary would sing the song and then kiss the top of his head. Annabelle would be waiting at the door, and when Rosemary finished, thinking that Lucien was asleep, she would meet Annabelle at the door, and the two of them would share a sweet kiss and then leave. Lucien loved those late-night lullabies by his mother, cherished them, and when he went to bed, even at his advanced age, he would sing the song to himself until he would fall asleep.

Finishing the last note of the song, Lucien opened his eyes and looked at Heathcliff, expecting to find him asleep, only to find him looking at him in wonder. “What?” he asked. “You have a beautiful voice, Lucien,” Heathcliff told him. Lucien blushed and ducked his head. “Thank you,” he whispered. Heathcliff’s fingers under his chin brought his face back up, and he found himself looking into Heathcliff’s eyes. “Don’t do that. Don’t hide from me. Never hide from me,” Heathcliff told him. “You have a beautiful voice. One that has obviously been handcrafted by the very touch of God. The beauty of your voice is rivaled only by the beauty of your face, which does not compare to the beauty of your spirit.”

About Vicktor

Vicktor “Vic” Alexander wrote his first story at the age of ten and hasn’t stopped writing since. He loves reading about anything and everything and is a proud member of the little known U.N. group (Undercover Nerds) because while he lives, eats, breathes, and sleeps sports, he also breathes history and science fiction and grew up a Trekkie. But don’t ask him about Dungeons & Dragons, because he has no idea how to play that game. When it comes to writing he loves everything from paranormal to contemporary to fantasy to historical and is known not only for being the Epilogue King but also for writing stories that cross lines and boundaries that he doesn’t know are there. Vic is a proud father of two daughters one of whom watches over him from Heaven with his deceased partner Christopher. Vic is a proud trans* and gay man, and when he is not writing, he is hanging out with his friends, or being distracted by videos of John Barrowman, Scott Hoying, and Shemar Moore. Vicktor has published numerous bestselling novels and has a WIP list that makes him exhausted just thinking about. He knows that he will be still be writing about hot men falling in love with each other, long after he is living in an assisted living facility, flirting with the hot, male nurses.

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Review

Title: Groom of Convenience

Series: Scandalous Whispers of the Remmington Realm, 01

Author: Vicktor Alexander

Genre: Science Fiction, Transgender

Length: Novel (287 pages)

ISBN: 978-1-63216-114-7

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (October 17th, 2014)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 4 1/2Hearts

Reviewer: Shorty

Blurb: In an alternate universe, in the country of Angland, 1814, the gentry live lives of culture and class. It is a time of courtships, marriages of convenience, and titles, where scandal can ruin an entire family. Gender lines are blurred, and making a good match is of utmost importance. Children are born to men and women, which has led to the acceptance of same-sex marriages.

Lady Lucien Timothy Hawthorne is shocked and angry when he is betrothed against his will to Lord Heathcliff Eddington, III, the Duke of Pompinshire. While drowning his frustration at a popular gentleman’s club, he meets “Robert,” a gorgeous older man whom he sleeps with as “Timmy,” regardless of the potential damage to his reputation.
After their liaison, Lucien corresponds with Robert via letters left at Remmington, and they decide to elope.

Before they can get away, Lucien meets his betrothed, Heathcliff, who he is surprised to discover, is also his beloved, Robert. Both men desire a marriage of the heart, but they find out that sometimes a marriage of convenience can turn into love under the right circumstances.

But, Lucien has a secret, and Tlondon isn’t as safe as they once thought.

Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5542

Review: In 1814, Angland, Lady Lucien Timothy Hawthorne is betrothed to Lord Heathcliff Eddington, III, the Duke of Pompinshire against his will by his parents. Hurt and angry he escapes to the Remmington where he meets a handsome man named Robert and sleeps with him. What both don’t realize as they’ve never seen each other, is that they’re each other’s betrothed.

Lady Lucien Timothy Hawthorne is an elegant, beautiful, and intelligent young man caught up in his family wanting him to be taken care of. Upon finding out he may be pregnant after his liaison with Heathcliff, he is fraught with guilt over betraying his intended.
Lord Heathcliff Eddington, III, the Duke of Pompinshire was dashing, sexy, caring yet a dangerous man when those he cared for were threatened. Heath is very happy when he realizes his betrothed is Timmy, Lucien.

I loved the elegance of this unique wonderfully written story. There is more to the story than two people meeting and falling in love. The details of the Regency period were so good I felt as though I was there watching and experiencing the events as they happened.

Fantastic read.

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