Bronwen Evans - Why Rheda Kerrich would be my best friend…
Let’s face it, not every woman you meet instantly becomes your best friend. There has to be something about her that
piques your interest or just clicks. You have to admire certain traits in your friends, like compassion, loyalty, humor etc.
When I was mulling over ideas for my second book in the ‘Invitation to’ Regency romance series, INVITATION TO SCANDAL, I fell instantly in love with my heroine, Rheda Kerrich. Probably because she’s someone I’d be proud to call my best friend.
I connected with Rheda the minute she popped into my he
ad. I love that she’s a risk taker. She doesn’t sit back and let life dictate terms. She’s prepared to try and shape and mould her lot to suit her needs. If something is not right, she tries to fix it, not always successfully, but she doesn’t sit about and mope. And it’s not only her world she tries to make the best off. She has her local village to look after, especially the widows and orphans.
To better understand her character, let me briefly tell you about the book Rheda is in.
In Invitation to Scandal, Rufus Knight, Viscount Strathmore is desperately trying to capture a deadly French spy—for two reasons. One, because that’s his job, he works for the Secret Service, and two, because he hopes that in doing so he can learn the truth about his late father’s supposed treason and clear the Strathmore name. However, to find the spy he needs to capture Dark Shadow, a notorious Kent smuggler. The spy is using Dark Shadow’s network to send his communiqués.
On his first day in Deal, Kent, who does he spot with an unstamped barrel of brandy? You guessed it Miss Rheda Kerrick, dressed as a local farming wench. She’d be a perfect informant. A local beauty who can help him discover a smuggler, while also keeping his bed warm at night. However, his normal charm doesn’t appear to work, and she refuses to reveal her name or who gave her the cask. [CLUE FIVE: THAT’S]
Miss Rheda Kerrick, the eldest child of Baron de Winter, was left penniless and parentless at the age of seventeen when her dissolute father dies. She also has a younger brother, Daniel, who will inherit Tumsbury Cliff Manor and the estate. Facing bankruptcy she resorts to whatever means necessary to save Tumsbury Cliff for him. In addition, she quickly realizes that unless she wants to end up like her mother, married to a man who sees her only as a means to beget an heir, she’d better work out a way to become financially independent. At twenty-five she’s almost there. Prince Hammed has gifted her two Arabian mares, and her dream of owning her own cavalry horse breeding business is in her reach. She simply lacks one vital ingredient- a stallion. Unable to afford stud fees, she cheekily decides to ‘borrow’ Rufus’s magnificent stallion.
But Rufus is not as dumb as most men, and Rheda is caught red-handed. Her punishment is to aid Rufus in his mission. Rufus uses the opportunity to try and seduce the information from her and to her horror she longs to submit.
The more they work together the harder it is to resist the handsome rake. Rheda empathizes with his desire to clear his father’s name and restore his mother and sister to their rightful place in Society. Soon it’s more than her pride at stake. She’s beginning to fall in love with him. But once he learns the truth about Dark Shadow, how can they have any future together?
Rheda is a woman of strength and determination. It took strength to single handedly run an estate and hold onto her brother’s inheritance. It took strength to ignore the expectations of Society and to risk doing a little wrong in order to accomplish a lot of good. It took courage to defy convention and want to create her own safety net and financial independence. As women we could all learn from Rheda about this—ensure we have something concrete behind us. And finally, it takes strength to sacrifice everything for the ones you love—there is nothing in life more honorable.
Why is Rheda my best friend? She throws herself into life and it’s contagious. She is smart, brave and loyal. But like all my favorite romance heroines, she is strong. And if you get the chance to read INVITATION TO SCANDAL , I hope, that as I did, you will find yourself a new best friend, too.
I’d love to hear what characteristic you most identify with in your favourite heroines! Is it strength? Cunning? Bravery? Something else? What, to you, is the most important trait a heroine should have?
One random commenter will be chosen to win a copy of my newest book, INVITAION TO SCANDAL, (open internationally)! Also, find out how to win the INVITATION TO ROMANCE Blog Tour Grand Prize of a $200 Gift Card from Amazon or B&N PLUS 30+ ‘signed by the authors’ romance novels by visiting www.bronwenevans.com
There will be a one WORD hidden in each blog post ie. [WHO] in brackets (the word ‘WHO’ is the first clue). There are 30 words altogether. These words will spell a paragraph related toBron’s 1 May release INVITATION TO SCANDAL.

The cover of a novel is the single most important ingredient in the success or failure of a book. This isn’t something authors want to hear and it’s not always true. If the book is special enough and it gets lots of word-of-mouth, even a bad cover can’t stop the book from being a success. 

It’s so wonderful to be here with you today! I write romantic suspense as P.J. O’Dwyer and have loved reading romance ever since my mother gave me my first historical as a teenager. Back then, the voice that said “you should write” was ignored, unfortunately. Instead, I opted to travel the world as a travel counselor. But the yearning to put words to paper resurfaced years later.
Featuring, main character, Jolie Wilkins – below are three different Youtube videos – you’ll see right away these stories are fun with a paranormal bent – cut & paste the embedded code below to your website & let your readers enjoy these zany videos!

Writing a series is often easier than writing a single title. You become comfortable with the characters and their personalities, know what they will and won’t do, what gets under their skin, how they will handle the surprises that we, as writers, throw their way. Heck, they are like family members you have come to know, like, dread….you get the idea.
It wasn’t until I read Janet’s first Stephanie Plum novel, One for the Money, that I realized our characters were very similar. I’m amazed at the way my main character, Vinnie Esposito, runs fairly neck-in-neck with that of Stephanie Plum. While she isn’t an out of work woman who takes on a job she has difficulty doing like Stephanie has, Vinnie can’t seem to get from one place to another without some mysterious misfortune throwing her off course, which usually leaves her treading dangerous ground.
To write humor isn’t all that hard if you really take a hard look at life. Something funny happens at least once a day which can be incorporated it into a story. For instance…my daughter and I went to the Providence Art Club for a gallery show about a year ago. There were so many different people there, dressed up, dressed down, and barely dressed, that I stood in a corner and jotted notes about them while pretending to admire the artwork. When I stepped into the second viewing room, I found this short man with thin greasy hair slicked over his head that draped over the tops of his ears. His suit was old, his shirt crisp and white. He stuffed his mouth with crackers loaded with as much food as he could pile onto each one. I asked my daughter about him. She told me he goes to all the gallery openings and eats, but never stays long and he’s very well off. As we left, another man entered the building. My daughter smiled, acknowledged him, and whispered to me “He only comes to drink the wine. When it’s gone, so is he.” I found this fascinating and decided I’d add it to a story.
<!–[endif]–>
Are you interested in contributing to our blog? It's a new area we are just starting up. If you are interested in contributing send an email to the Blog staff at blog@romancejunkies.com