My Unfair Lady by Kathryne Kennedy

Top Ten Reasons Why My Hero is Irresistible

Reason Number Ten:
Byron, the Duke of Monchester, my hero in My Unfair Lady, shares the same name of one of the most romantic English poets from the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century, who wrote She Walks in Beauty and Don Juan. Byron has some similar qualities to the English poet: He’s handsome, has had numerous love affairs, and is infamous for being a little bit ‘bad’. But unlike the poet, my Byron meets his soul mate, and is redeemed from a life that might have become dissolute.

Number Nine:
He was taught how to fight by his Chinese gardener. The discipline of Kung fu has made his hands lethal weapons…and yet he can still manage to touch a woman with gentle persuasion.

Number Eight:
Despite the fact that my heroine can take care of herself, Byron is constantly putting himself between her and danger. His bravery and perseverance can only be admired, especially when my heroine, Summer Wine Lee, keeps managing to get them into one scrape after another.

Number Seven:
Byron is like chocolate. Melt-in-your-mouth smooth and creamy, with a dark undertone of rich sweetness that makes you crave even more.

Number Six:
He has a thick head of golden blond hair, piercing blue eyes, a mouth so perfect it will remind you of a statue of Apollo, and above that masterpiece a nose that seems slightly crooked, saving him from being extraordinarily handsome to just boyishly so. Of little-bit-less than average height, my heroine never gets a crick in her neck when she kisses him.

Number Five:
He’s a man of contradictions. He appears bored, arrogant and completely jaded. And yet he helps Summer rescue baby foxes, allows her tiny dog to scuff up his boots with her pointy little teeth, and tolerates a monkey’s hug of affection.

Number Four:
It’s hard to resist a man in a cravat, a white lawn shirt…and only a button flap to separate my heroine from heaven.

Number Three:
He loves Summer because of her faults, not in spite of them. My heroine has hired him to turn her into a lady, and he desperately tries. But for a man bored of London society, her mannerisms are completely intoxicating. A visit to Paris to purchase Summer a new wardrobe turns into a chaotic involvement with her knife, the fitter, and silk drapes. A trip to the races turns into a match of wits involving Prince Albert. A jaunt in the country results in a bullet to his shoulder (not that this was the first time he’d been shot since he met Summer). Despite it all, or because of it all, Byron is having the best time of his life.

Number Two:
He has a wicked sense of humor. See Number Eight, Five, and Three above. He will desperately need it.

And the Number One reason why my hero is irresistible is:
Byron knows how to pleasure a woman in bed, because really, after all is said and done…

So all humor aside, what makes a hero irresistible to you? I’ll be checking in all day to comment on your responses, and I’d be very interested to know.

Thank you, Yankee Romance Reviewers, for having me here today!

All My Best,
Kathryne
My Unfair Lady by Kathryne Kennedy—in stores December 2009!

He created the perfect woman…
The impoverished Duke of Monchester despises the rich Americans who flock to London, seeking to buy their way into the ranks of the British peerage. So when railroad heiress Summer Wine Lee offers him a king’s ransom if he’ll teach her to become a proper lady, he’s prepared to rebuff her. But when he meets the petite beauty with the knife in her boot, it’s not her fortune he finds impossible to resist…

For the arms of another man
Frontier-bred Summer Wine Lee has no interest in winning over London society—it’s the New York bluebloods and her future mother-in-law she’s determined to impress. She knows the cost of smoothing her rough-and-tumble frontier edges will be high. But she never imagined it might cost her heart…
About the Author
Kathryne Kennedy is the author of the Relics of Merlin series, acclaimed for her world-building and best known for her historical paranormal romances. She has also written a fantasy romance and this Victorian historical romance. She has also published nearly a dozen short stories in the SFF/Romance genre, receiving Honorable Mention twice in the “Writers of the Future” contest. She has traveled a great deal and has lived in Guam, Okinawa, and several states in the U.S. She is a business owner and currently lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons. For more information, please visit http://www.kathrynekennedy.com/

Make sure and leave a comment or question for Kathryne along with your email addy as Sourcebooks is giving away 3 copies of My Unfair Lady: 3 winners will be chosen at the end of the week. US and Canada Only Please!!