I don’t know how many books I read before coming up with my first idea, but I do remember the day I came up with it. I engaged in an orgy of reading: Elizabeth Hoyt, Madeline Hunter, Mary Balogh, Theresa Romain, and dozens of others. Once I connected with a “modern” author of historical romance things got a lot easier when it came to finding new authors. Luckily my library utilizes Overdrive and part of the service is recommendations based on what you’ve checked out.Īnd that’s when I discovered Tessa Dare. That should have been a good thing, but I found it daunting and overwhelming: where did a person start? By then I’d realized there was a whole world of romance out there I hadn’t even known existed. That’s when I discovered Georgette Heyer (I know, I know, what rock had I been living under?!) I blew through her books and still wanted more.

When I worked my way through Holt I wanted more. I needed comfort badly so I turned to Victoria Holt and re-read her books. To give you an idea of where I was “at” mentally after closing my business, I often compare my time operating a b&b to being held hostage for eight years. Ever.)īy the end of 2013, I’d closed my b&b and was taking some time to figure out what was next. Over the next thirty years, I picked up a couple of history degrees, taught history on the college level, became a lawyer, left lawyering, and moved to Taos and bought a bed and breakfast (Worst. I worked my way through Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney, and a few others, but then “life” happened I drifted away from romance. I ripped through all the Holts in the library and ordered the ones the library didn’t have through the mail (yes, that’s how we did it in those days.) I still remember how deliciously shocking the philandering hero was and how I stayed up all night to finish the book.

I read my first romance novel-THE DEVIL ON HORSEBACK, by Victoria Holt-in seventh grade. Minerva Spencer’s debut historical romance, Dangerous, releases June 26, 2018. SmexyBooks is so happy to welcome author Minerva Spencer to the blog.

Hyacinth by Minerva Spencer