Movies & The Magical Mystery of Historical Settings

by Nico Jaye

Thank you so much to The Blogger Girls for inviting me to visit today to chat a little about A Time for Loving! I had so much fun writing this historical short story.

Historicals. Ahh. There’s just something about them, right? The manners and civility. The style of dress. The house parties. The carriage and cobblestone streets. The rolling, untouched hills.

When I decided to write A Time for Loving, I knew immediately that I wanted to set it at a country estate. As a lifelong Regency romance reader, I’ve always loved the country estate as a place for intrigue and romance; there’s just something very special about finding love away from the hustle and bustle of London.

Just as I’m a sucker for historical romances, I also love historical-set movies, where it’s so interesting to see how these settings have been recreated. There are fun hybrid movies like “Austenland,” which presents the really cool premise of what a theme park would look like today if it immersed you in Jane Austen’s England. And there’s of course the classic BBC miniseries “Pride and Prejudice” with a dreamy Colin Firth as the embodiment of Mr. Darcy.

My absolute favorite BBC miniseries, though, is actually “North and South,” which is based on the novel by Elizabeth Gaskell. Gah. That series is fantabulous. It’s set in northern England in the time of the industrial revolution, and Richard Armitage plays the stoic-yet-swoon-worthy mill owner Mr. Thornton. If you haven’t had a chance to see this series, I highly recommend it for both the romance and the very interesting social dynamics around which the story revolves. Although “North and South” is definitely grittier than “Pride and Prejudice,” the story is so well-presented and thought out that it is the series I turn to repeatedly for a complete, quality romance that can transport me into another world.

In A Time for Loving, I had a lot of fun recreating the historical setting at both the fictional Swathmore Manor and…elsewhere (to say more would be to spoil the story!). =) If you decide to check out the book, I hope you’ll taste the historical flavor and feel transported into Regency England.

Nico ♥

About A Time for Loving

Jack and Christopher have made it through years of campaigning and the horrors of Waterloo together–side by side by day and, by night, in each other’s arms. After the war is over, however, will the love shared between this batman and his officer survive when Christopher returns to the life of a gentleman?

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An Excerpt from A Time for Loving

When Christopher returned to the bedchamber at the time the clock ticked its way past midnight, Jack was waiting for him. As was their routine, they locked the doors to bar any unwanted nightly visitors, such a practice explained to the household as a way to deter Christopher’s childhood habit of sleepwalking.

Little did they know he’d outgrown such an inclination years ago.

“A pleasant evening,” Christopher said mildly over his shoulder as Jack assisted him out of his well-fitted navy evening jacket.

“Was it?” Jack murmured in response. Setting aside the garment onto the clothes valet, he turned to face Christopher’s back and skimmed his hands over his shoulders. His palms, forever callused from years of campaigning, nevertheless picked up the texture of the silver-embroidered brocade waistcoat. Those shoulders were broad, carrying with them the weight of responsibility—for their regiment, for their secret, for their future—well beyond Christopher’s twenty-three years.

Lost in his thoughts, Jack startled when Christopher turned around to grasp his wrist gently. He looked up into Christopher’s familiar gaze and sighed, his heart settling into place even as his pulse began to race at the sight of the heat in those blue depths.

“It would have been much more pleasant with your company, Jack,” Christopher said, his voice warm and low.

With a hard swallow, Jack smiled up into that precious face. Tilting his head, he listened for a moment and heard the sounds of the house going to sleep around them.

This was their time—the time between days when they could be lost in their world.

“You know ’tis impossible, Christopher,” Jack whispered regretfully, searching his gaze. Jack moved to clasp his hand, drawing Christopher’s palm to his neck and curling it against the skin there. Leaning into the touch, Jack closed his eyes briefly before glancing up again. “But our time is now, and my company is yours. Yours always.”

When Christopher’s gaze dropped to his lips, Jack moved forward, touching their mouths to each other lightly…

About Nico Jaye

Nico Jaye is a fan of all things HEA and has dragged her romance collection along for her moves from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Chicago to New York and back. She thinks reading is awesome and loves that she can hang out night after night with crinoline-wearing debutantes, brawny firemen in suspenders, and werewolf shifters with Scottish brogues. An overall feline enthusiast, Nico secretly (or not so secretly?) adores Hello Kitty, cat GIFs, spontaneous traveling, pretending to be crafty, emoticons, hot menfolk, and parenthetical statements (not necessarily in that order). After starting as the pitcher for Team Awesome (literally) and visiting places like South Africa, Oman, and Fiji, Nico discovered that letting the boys in her head tell her where they want to go could actually be the most exciting journey of all.

Find out more about Nico on her Website/Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

As part of this blog tour, Nico is giving away TWO prizes to three lucky winners!! These prizes are: (1) an ebook copy of A Time for Loving and (2) a pretty ring with the word “love” inscribed on it. There are no shipping restrictions, and this giveaway is open worldwide where permitted by law. The giveaway will run from October 23rd to November 6th. To enter, just click the link below!

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Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway unless otherwise stated but are still welcome anyway.

Don’t forget to check out Heather C’s review of A Time for Loving to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!