AFTH w/ Anna Harrington-- The Regency Era was a LOT Naughtier than You Think! Woo!

At the very end of last year a gorgeous book-- Dukes Are Forever-- landed in my hands. And the author's name was Anna. Yay for Annas!! Woohoo! I was so excited and dove in. And what a lovely series it turned into. Delicious heroes, heroines that are unique, strong, and fierce. I was in. So in!

The original series I read is complete--definitely recommend all of them. But Anna's got a new series coming out in February and, yall, it looks amazing, too! Anywho. She's taking over for a spell today talking about those oh so naughty regency era folks. Yall check it out then plaster her with awesome comments. ~anna

Top Ten Reasons that the Regency Era was a LOT Naughtier than You Think!

1. No underwear = easy and quick trysts

2. Lots of alcohol (Whisky goggles, anyone?)

3. A scandalous amount of erotic drawings, including peep boxes

4. Closed carriage = the original back-seat (Insert your own private joke here about well-sprung carriages!)

5. A scandalous new dance called the waltz

6.  No sewn-in pockets = slits in women’s skirts allowing access to the separate pocket beneath and to...eh-hem, other things beneath

7. Skin-tight men’s riding breeches (No need to say more)

8. Lots of very short engagements (Wink, wink!)

9. Theatre boxes with curtains. Opera boxes with curtains. Carriages with curtains...see #8.

10. Wild Twelfth Night celebrations 

A Regency Christmas was a boringly NICE affair barely celebrated at all, with little more than a family dinner and gifts to the poor. But Twelfth Night...now that was NAUGHTY! Bonfires, drinking of hard ciders and wassail, eating, singing, shooting off guns...and all kinds of scandalous behavior in the dark shadows of a winter’s night. 

They also celebrated with Twelfth Night cakes – small and light pastries that contained a hard pea and bean baked inside. NICE. The man who found the bean became king for the night’s festivities, and the woman who found the pea would be queen. Sometimes, names were drawn out of a hat, and sometimes, the king and queen would choose their own partners for the night...NAUGHTY!

English Twelfth Night Cake Recipe

(From NYT)

Ingredients

½ pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ pound sugar
5 eggs, beaten
¼ cup brandy
½ pound all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
½ pound raisins
1 cup blanched almonds, chopped
1 dried bean 

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until pale and lemon-colored.
• In a separate bowl beat the eggs. Add the eggs and brandy to the butter-sugar mixture. Stir in the flour and spices and mix thoroughly. Add the raisins, almonds and bean. Mix thoroughly.
• Butter a 12-inch cake tin and line it with buttered wax paper. Pour in the cake mixture and bake for three hours. If the top browns too much during cooking, cover with foil.
• Share with your favorite Twelfth Night king or queen and enjoy!

And while you’re waiting for your cakes to bake (or your wassail to brew!), enjoy this special FREE short story, “How the Duke Stole Christmas,” about a Twelfth Night romance between Sebastian Carlisle and Miranda Hodgkins, the couple from my upcoming February 28th release, IF THE DUKE DEMANDS: Grab it HERE!

Happy Twelfth Night, everyone! ~Anna Harringtion

Sebastian Carlisle, Duke of Trent, has inherited more than a dukedom--he's been saddled with the responsibility of ensuring his family's legacy. Determined to find a proper wife to be his duchess, he’s planned for dowries and settlements, eventually an heir. But he certainly never planned on  finding a beautiful, masked woman draped across his bed, begging to be seduced…and very nearly succeeding until he discovers that his seductress is none other than Miranda Hodgkins, the flighty, free-spirited neighbor who has mistakenly sneaked into the wrong bedroom.

Madly in love with Robert Carlisle since he shared her first kiss, Miranda has planned a seduction designed to make him fall in love with her, only for it to all go horribly wrong when the man behind the mask reveals himself to be not Robert but Sebastian. The two strike an agreement—Sebastian will help her with Robert, and Miranda promises not to do anything to embarrass the duke or his family when his mother sponsors her season. But once in London, Sebastian is distracted from his quest for a proper wife by Miranda’s wholly improper antics, and he soon finds himself sabotaging her attempts to catch his brother…in order to keep her for himself.

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I fell in love with historical romances and all things Regency—and especially all those dashing Regency heroes—while living in England, where I spent most of my time studying the Romantic poets, reading Jane Austen, and getting lost all over the English countryside. I love the period’s rich history and find that all those rules of etiquette and propriety can be worked to the heroine’s advantage…if she’s daring enough to seize her dreams. I adore all things chocolate, ice cream of any flavor, and Kona coffee by the gallon. A Doctor Who fanatic (everyone says my house is bigger on the inside), I am a terrible cook who hopes to one day use my oven for something other than shoe storage. When I'm not writing, I like to spend my time trying not to kill the innocent rose bushes in my garden. Website | Facebook | Twitter | On this Blog

And be sure to pick up the FREE short story from Anna, too!

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