November at the start: The Historical Romance Sampler & Vampire Deer
Happy Diwali 🪔 & Happy belated Halloween! 🎃
Well, somehow we’ve already arrived at November. Let’s get into it, y’all. I hope you’ve had a very happy Diwali 🪔 and Halloween! 🎃
Find new historical romances for your TBR!
Catch up on any releases you may have missed in 2024 (and keep an eye on those soon-to-be-published) all in one place with this fantastic BookFunnel roundup of 2024 Historical Romance New Releases. My debut, The Deed with the Duke, is there as well to check out.
What I’m reading:
Here’s a little roundup of books that are on my mind. Follow me on BookBub and Instagram so we can keep up with each other’s book recommendations there too!
I recently won an annotated paperback of Sunsets & Other Dangerous Things by Dani Frank and it just arrived (Hi, Dani! 🦇🌅). What a treat to dive into another paranormal romance this fall. Dani and I both released our debuts in September, and I know reading annotations from a fellow author is going to be super fun. Also, just look at this adorable bookmark and the stickers.
This tagline is major: “A sunshine vampire who can't help falling in love, a grumpy grad student who's followed by bad luck, and a cure that could bring them together or end them forever.”
I’m deep into listening to (and reading along with on my Kindle) the Stay a Spell series by Juliette Cross. Currently 40% into Book 5, and I don’t, at all, regret buying the whole series years ago as they each released. 10/10 a great instinct on my part, and starting now has been perfect since I don’t have to wait to read the next book. (I only have one left! Plus the holiday collection of stories).
The books I like best, so far, are the first three: Wolf Gone Wild, Don’t Hex and Drive, and Witches Get Stitches. (The wordplay in all the titles for this series is amazing). I enjoy the lore and world-building for this series that deepens in later books, too, (especially, learning about the notoriously secretive grim reapers).
Don’t Hex and Drive features Devraj Kumar as the hero, an Indian vampire and Bollywood actor, and if I recall correctly, Cross said his character is modeled on Ranveer Singh from Ram Leela.
So this book was extra lovely to read for me because I haven’t run into many Indian characters in paranormal romance before, (and while I eventually have plans to write my own PNR too, with Indian mythology and folklore elements, one day…) if you know of other PNR books with Indian characters that I should check out, then I’m all ears.
I love that Devraj’s character is equally as dominant/hot AF as the rest of the PNR heroes in this series. And whether alpha heroes are up your alley or not, the important point of this is that we continue to break the stereotypical ways Indian people have been represented in books, movies, and television—if they’re included at all, that is.
Devraj is written as a romantic lead in the same delicious, over-the-top romantic fashion as every other main character in this paranormal romance series. Not only is he a vampire, he’s a Stygorn—an elite, legendary, vampire warrior. He’s the best of the best, because PNR doesn’t go halfway with their heroes. And we LOVE to see it. Devraj is desirable and sexy to Isadora, the heroine—and other characters, too. A pivotal point of the story involves Isadora’s five sisters (each sister is a heroine of a book in this series) watching one of Devraj’s Bollywood movies, after Isadora refuses to give in to the temptation and admit her attraction to him. They’re all in love with Dev too, and convince her to give him a chance—so he gets the family’s approval as well. Devraj becomes friends with the other heroes and they support each other in meaningful ways that add to their character development. He has that special magical skill, strength, and magnetic charisma that Isadora (and other characters in this world, too) find attractive. That’s a wonderful thing for readers—especially those like me who are Indian—to see.
I’ve also preordered the first book in the second-gen Southern Charm series and am looking forward to reading about a new cast of characters (hopefully with some cameos from familiar faces, too) in this cozy, lovable world. I also love Cross’s cover designs so much—they’re gorgeous.
What I’m writing:
Still typing away at the exclusive story for newsletter subscribers. I’ve got nearly 15,000 words written on this first draft. But I’m doing a bit of restructuring, so we’ll see how long it ends up, currently aiming for 20-25K novella length. I know I want to add a scene at the start in the hero’s POV, and a couple conflict beats near the end. I’d also like to set up another story so that this becomes a Jaipur-set newsletter-first duology of sorts? Again, this is all very much still in progress, and I don’t generally like to discuss in-progress projects too much at the start when I’m still learning the characters myself. They cooperate even less than they might once I have a better handle on them (hopefully). But I wanted to give you all an update, and you’ll learn more about this book and world as I do, too.
Research Rabbit Hole 🐇 🕰️
One of the things I came across in my research during the restructuring of my draft is the “vampire deer,” better known as the water deer or musk deer. Retractable “fangs” and found all the way in England too, far from their native habitat in Asia. Fascinating stuff. I ended up here because I was writing a dream sequence for a character that featured a fanged deer (and a tiger), and subsequently was curious about what breeds like that exist. Only a very, very small fraction of this was needed to confirm my inkling, but there ya go, a little post-Halloween treat for y’all.
I am also trying to get halfway through my next Regency romance novel’s first draft by the end of the month if possible. (For those curious, this book does not have any vampire deer, but does feature horses). I’m currently at 16,000 words, but we’ll see how that goes with the approaching holiday season. Might have to set that goal post for January. Sometime in Q1 of 2025 is when I’d definitely like to be at a “good” (a relative term to keep planning and progress flexible) place with both of these projects.
As always, Sri’s Savitastack readers will be the first to know.
The Historical Romance Sampler
In other writing-related news, I discussed some of my research and writing process on The Historical Romance Sampler podcast with host, and fellow historical romance author, Katherine Grant. I also read an excerpt from The Deed with the Duke. I had great fun chatting with Katherine, who’s been such a supportive regency and indie author pal in the genre.
You can check out the episode wherever you listen to podcasts.
Here’s a little teaser of the excerpt I read on the podcast.
Here’s some insight into how I integrate Indian culture with Regency romance.
Full episode here from Spotify, but you can also listen on many other apps.
Katherine also wrote a very kind blurb that mentions my book with Tessa Dare and Courtney Milan—two of my favorite authors and powerhouses in historical romance. If you loved The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare and The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan, you’ll definitely enjoy The Deed with the Duke.
Here are some other books I’m hoping to read soon:
A Fine Looking Soldier by Jane Hadley is an American Historical Romance that sounds like it’s going to be tons of fun from the blurb.
Good Duke Gone Wild by Eliana Piers features a pirate hero, and as someone who’s written her own pirate historical romance (I will return to that book after I get a few other things out the door first lol) I’m eager to read this one.
What I’m watching:
Still working my way through the BBC Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice miniseries. Also, my mom and I watched Hamilton on Disney+. Very late to the party on this one, I know. But now that I have seen it, two refrains alternate on repeat in my head. “It must be nice, it must be nice,” from “Washington on Your Side” and “oceans rise, empires fall,” from “You’ll Be Back.”
That’s all for now. Happy reading and writing, friends. I hope it’s a great month for you.
Sri