Amazon 99 Romances Sale!

US Marketplace only . . .  An Agreeable Arrangement and . . .

. . . all 5 books of the Gentlemen of Worth series are on sale for 99 cents each!

Gentlemen of Worth series US Kindle Monthly Deal!

$1.99 US Marketplace from October 1 to October 31!

Gentlemen of Worth series . . . digital!

October 2012: I learn both A Grand Deception and Perfectly Flawed are released in paperback and Kindle format. 

I’m doing the happy dance!

Romance Reviews Today!

Jane Bowers - Romance Reviews Today - www.romrevtoday.com 
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THE SUITOR LIST- Shirley Marks
Avalon
ISBN: 978-0-8034-7796-4
January 2010
Historical Romance

1811 - Faraday Hall, Essex, England

When the story opens, the three Worth sisters are discussing Lady Augusta Worth's impending trip to London, where the eldest daughter of the Duke of Faraday is determined to find a husband. Although she arrives in London at the very end of the season, her purported beauty, wealth, and intelligence cause two broken engagements and bring several eligible peers scrambling back to town. Her two weeks are a flurry of social engagements and visits from myriad eligible and handsome gentleman, which begs the question: How can a girl ever decide amongst them?

The Duke solves the dilemma by offering to host a house party in which no fewer than fourteen of Augusta's prospective suitors are invited to vie for his daughter’s hand. Although he wants her to make a suitable match, the Duke also desires his daughter’s happiness. Thus, the Duke and Augusta’s sisters have a plan to discover and eliminate any undesirables amongst the gentlemen guests.

I confess I had a hard time engaging with the heroine of this novel in the beginning as she came across as completely superficial and egocentric. I also wondered how every one of her fourteen suitors happened to be rich, titled, and handsome, with not a toad amongst them. They all seemed a bit too “perfect.” However, as the story progressed, one by one, the flaws of each suitor were unveiled.

Although the first half of the book seemed to drag due to what I felt was a very stilted writing style, it improved in the second half when the plot became more interesting due to the sisters’ interactions with the guests. I particularly found Muriel’s talent for lip-reading a clever and original touch.

THE SUITOR LIST is a frothy and entertaining Regency romance, vaguely reminiscent of Georgette Heyer in its light comedic touches and its peppering with Regency-speak. The sisters were close knit and mischievous, the plot amusing, and the romance was, in the end, sweetly satisfying.

Victoria

Romance Reviews Today

Booklist Reveiw!

Booklist – January 2011

Lady Augusta, the oldest of the Duke of Faraday's three daughters,  quickly becomes the toast of the London season when she arrives  fashionably late. Her father and aunt want her to find the ideal match  from a long list of suitors, so they host the men and a few other  eligible ladies at their country home just after the season's end.  Augusta's younger sisters, incomparably beautiful Charlotte and  the feisty and clever Muriel, are enlisted to help cull the unsuitable men.  Some make inappropriate advances to Charlotte; others are caught  wagering on who will win Augusta's hand; and yet others are eliminated  for silly quirks. Augusta's true love ends up being the last person  she considered.  Marks' fifth historical romance is a fun but insubstantial escapist read.  The sisters are appealing heroines, but the slew of throwaway characters  can be confusing.--Walker, Aleksandra Copyright 2010 Booklist  From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly Review!

November 15, 2010

The Suitor List 
Shirley Marks, Avalon, $23.95 (192p) ISBN 978-0-8034-7796-4 

Marks (Lady Eugenia's Holiday) comes up with a Regency version of The Bachelorette in this cute historical. Lady Augusta Worth, the beautiful daughter of a duke, could have her pick of the eligible men in England, but is determined to marry for love. Encouraged by her family, she invites a dozen promising prospects to a house party in the country where perhaps she can identify her soul mate. Her high hopes are dashed by her family's antics as they chase away candidates whose behavior reveals their unworthiness, leaving only Augusta's oldest friend and neighbor, Richard Wilbanks, whom she has somehow overlooked. Marks's attempts to infuse the story with humor are heavy-handed and the outcome too well telegraphed, but the setting and story pacing are pleasant. (Jan.)

The Holidays Arrive

December 2010: It’s the release of The Suitor List!

I’m writing like a mad person to get to the end of Book 3. It’s going to be really close. I’m having so much fun with this story. It’s turning out better than I had anticipated back in November. So, so close . . . I can taste the ending!

 I keep having to fix the Barnes and Noble.com link on my website. They’re having problems keeping a page for The Suitor List. It’s there, then it’s not. Then it’s back!

I’m hoping to finish Book 3 by the end of the year and spend the first few weeks of January 2011 polishing before I send it in.

Homestretch and Status

Late November  2010:  I’ve written past the gap I had earlier and I’m sailing toward the end of the story. 

I’ve updated my website since the library release on The Suitor List was October.  I gave it a “citrus” flavor.  I’m still undecided if I should commit myself to a Blog.

The Thanksgiving holiday stalls my writing progress.  I dive right back into the book after the kids leave.

Perfectly Flawed, Book 2: I still have no word whether the revised manuscript has been accepted.

The Suitor List, Book 1: I’ve decided to print some “series” stickers and apply them myself.  Not much else I can do about it now. 

No use stressing about it. Might as well sit back and have a cuppa . . .

Back to Book 3

September 2010 – I’m so removed from my story…

The kids are off to college and I’ve made the mistake of helping them move. My knee and my back are injured from lifting furniture.

Another unhappy realization . . . I’ve just seen the cover for The Suitor List. There’s no reference to it belonging to a series, no cool series logo of which I had had hoped. I mentioned it being Book 1 of my Gentlemen of Worth series in my Bio on the flap at the back of the book but the reference had been removed. And it’s too late for any changes. It’s too bad I was not able to see it at an earlier stage.

I guess it’s supposed to be a secret.

Re-starting Book 1

Early June 2010 -Two weeks after starting in on Charlotte’s story, Augusta’s book is back—the galleys.

I open the title page to read: THE SUITOR LIST—the alternate title is missing and there is no reference to it being book 1 of The Gentlemen of Worth series. Oh, well. Maybe it’ll be on the cover. We’ll see.

I sit and carefully reread the typeset pages. What surprises me is how much I enjoy it. I hope those readers who pick it up like it too.

A New Start . . . again

June 2009 - After finishing The Suitor List I need to work out what I think Book 2 is about. I know the basic story but where do I begin?

I know Charlotte even more lovely, with a sweeter disposition than her elder sister. I have to take care that she did not come across as weak. Worse than that, Muriel’s trying to take over the book. How could demure Char-Char possibly come to the forefront of her own book?

Some of the characters from The Suitor List will return. I make a list of their names.

I’m enjoying this book . . . it’s going to be such fun to write. I've reached the end of Chapter 2, Chapter 3 . . . and now I have to stop.

Selling the Series

May 2009 - I have a happily ever after for Book One. The title: The Suitor List.

I spoke to my editor about what she needs to see to consider a series. She asks that I submit the entire first book, and two or three chapters from the next two books.

I need to finish up Augusta’s book and figure out where the next two begin. I know Book 2 takes place in 1813 and Book 3 in 1815. For everyone to be the age I’d like them to be, Book 1 has moved from 1801 to 1811.

Talking about leaping forward! And it does NOT make this a time-travel.

Duck, Duck, Goose

March 2009 - I’m having difficulty keeping Augusta’s suitors straight. I need to know what they look like. I spend a few hours on the Internet looking at men dressed in Regency garb. I search under Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, and PBS.

Most of these men I’ve never seen before but others are familiar: Colin Firth, James Mcavoy, and even Sir Laurence Olivier. Don’t they look handsome in their cravats and tailored jackets? I’ve matched each character with an image. Now when I work on my book it’s like watching a period movie before my very eyes.

The Sagging Middle

February 2009 - There’s too much going on for the middle to sag. Here we are introduced to the Citrus Parlor at Faraday Hall. Charlotte plays a larger role in this book than I expected. It turns out that Muriel isn’t going to be ignored--even though she’s now 13. She’s had a birthday since the beginning of the book.

Interesting new characters, some, I believe, will be reoccurring throughout the series. And—Augusta has told me there is a younger brother . . . Frederick. Where did he come from?

Does this mean there are SIX books in this series?

From Miss Quinn's Quandary Comes . . .

January 2009 – A character I’ve wanted to bring forward has emerged.

Lord and Lady Rushton (uncle and aunt to the Sir Randall and Larissa all characters from Miss Quinn’s Quandary host a small party where Lord William Felgate meets Lady Augusta.

I don’t know what is in store for Wills but I am glad he is to appear in this book.

The First Chapters

January 2009 - The bad news: there are many characters added to the cast. The good news: I know what’s happening. I know who Augusta marries.

I’ve so many characters I need ways to distinguishing them. I’m writing their names in a notebook and keeping track of when they first appear. I’m thinking that it’s going to prove helpful down the road.

Family members are added. The family trees leaf and new branches grow. It’s exciting. I can see the far reaching possibilities of reoccurring and related characters spanning over several books.

Now there’s a concern regarding the ages of my main characters. I’m making charts like crazy… dates of births, marriages, and deaths. I’m thinking the timeframe for the first book may be 1801, a bit before the Regency period. . . Georgian.

My Ambitious Plan Continues

December 2008 - It took a little over a week to work out what would happen in the first three books. I still had the “how” to work out. The struggle with titles continued. I tried using the sister’s names: Augusta’s Anguish, Charlotte’s Charade, and Muriel’s Muddles.

No. No. No.

I kept the Gentlemen’s titles which kept me on track because it gave me some sense of those men. While I worked on Augusta’s book, learning about the people, the family members, the neighbors, the townspeople, it occurred to me that the premise of my idea, about limiting Augusta’s London Season exposure, came from Aunt Penny. She had grown up in a family of legendary beauties.

They were the Darling sisters: Mary, Sarah, and Penelope. Mary, the eldest, had married a baron , Sarah, the most beautiful sister, a duke, and Penny, the dutiful daughter had an arranged marriage. Her husband, who was much older than she, passed away a year or so after they wed—about the time her sister Sarah died. Penny then removed to Faraday Hall and helped raise her nieces.

I wonder . . . now that I’m marrying off the three sisters. What happens to Penny? Then it occurs to me . . . I have a duke whose daughters have gone off to marry, what happens to him?

I’m thinking this might be a FIVE book series?

Character Names

November 2008 - The name Muriel seemed to fit for the youngest sister. I like it. Moo. She was 12 years old. I wanted her young for the first book. By the time I reached her book, the third one, she’d be 17 or 18. Which, by the way, should have been Augusta’s age during the first book. If Muriel was 12 and August 18, it put Charlotte somewhere in between. I think I stuck her somewhere in the middle 15 or 16. I could narrow their ages down later when I knew more about them and the book.

I sat at the table every morning of my vacation with a mug of coffee in hand and worked out the plot of the first book. A young woman attending her first Season. How many ballroom scenes would I have to write? What would happen? How would her Season be any different than that of any other girl’s?

What if she didn’t attend as she should? What if it was known she’d have a target on her? Fortune hunters and social climbers would be seeking her out—or gentlemen who waited for just the right lady to come along. What if “someone” had had a similar experience and knew most of the pitfalls a young, beautiful, wealthy heiress to expect?

What type of a gentleman would win her heart?

Titles

Still November 2008 - I thought that each book Gentlemen of Worth series would have a Gentleman title. Gentleman of Standing, Gentleman of Determination, Gentleman of Circumstance. Then I realized there were too many Gentlemen and it would confuse everyone, including me.

It would work for a working title because I didn’t know what the books were going to be about. I didn’t even know who the characters were . . . I didn’t even know the names of all the main characters.

So it was time I began, or tried to. I need to learn about these people. Besides marrying off each daughter what are the books about? What makes each story unique?

Not until I placed the three girls in the Breakfast Parlor and allowed them to move and speak for themselves did I become acquainted with them. Book 1, Chapter 1, scene 1 resulted. Augusta, the eldest, scolded her youngest sister Moo, short for Muriel.

What's in a Name

Still November 2008 - I realized the Duke could not have raised his daughters on his own. Yes, they had nannies and governesses, a houseful of servants but they needed more . . . another family member, female perhaps, to guide them to young adulthood. The middle daughter Charlotte called out to her . . . Aunt Penny.

Penny . . . Penelope Parker. Mrs. Penelope Parker, their mother’s sister. Younger sister, just as Whatshername was the younger sister of Augusta and Charlotte. And I knew that Mrs. Parker, Aunt Penny, was a young widow.

Then I wondered if the Duchess and Aunt Penny, two sisters, might have been three, mimicking my three young heroines.

I still needed a family name for them . . . something meaningful. I would have three stories set during three different time periods with all three sisters looking for a worthy gentleman.

Playing around with that idea I decided upon the idea that each daughter searches for a Gentleman of Worth.