Dazzled by Books

Author: Aven Ellis

Narrator: Andrea Emmes

Length: 10 hours and 1 minute

Series: Modern Royals, Book 1

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Released: Aug. 14, 2018

Genre: Romantic Comedy

When art-history student Clementine Jones receives a message complimenting her latest internship project, she doesn't hesitate to answer it. She never dreamed this decision would not only change her life, but the future of the British monarchy as well. Her response leads Clementine to the mysterious CP Chadwick, a British man studying history at Cambridge. Clementine finds CP charming, smart, and unlike any man she's ever met. Most of all, when she confides her medical past to CP, his perception of her doesn't change. He doesn't treat her as fragile like her parents do. CP sees her as normal, which is something she cherishes. Clementine, however, has no idea CP is actually Prince Christian of Wales, who has never had a "normal" life. Christian is at a crossroad. His destiny is to be a working royal, but he is desperate to fill that role in his own way. Wary of others, he's kept himself closed off from the world - until he lets Clementine in. A royal romance is never a fairy tale, but Clementine and Christian are determined to write their own version. Can they overcome their own fears - as well as the constraints of a royal life - to reach their own happily ever after?

Aven began her publishing career in 2013 with her debut release, Connectivity. She currently writes hockey and baseball romances as well as a modern royal romance series. Her books are designed to make readers laugh out loud and fall in love. Happily-ever-after endings and good-boy heroes are guaranteed. Aven lives in the Dallas area with her family. She is a huge fan of both the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Aven loves shopping and fashion and can spend hours playing with fragrances in any department store. She can be found chatting it up on social media, eating specialty M&Ms, and crushing on the latest outfit the Duchess of Cambridge is wearing.

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Best Selling, Award Winning Audiobook Narrator, Andrea Emmes was born in Hollywood, Florida, grew up in both Tennessee and Rhode Island and started her career in musical theatre. She’s enjoyed an eclectic career as a singer, dancer, Vegas Headliner, Magician’s Assistant, a Recording Artist and a Video Game Designer. A total book nerd, Andrea, now enjoys narrating all genres of audiobooks, especially YA, LitRPG, Mystery, Romance, and NonFictionat her professional home studio in San Jose, CA. Her wide range of character voices and dynamic/emotionally invested performances has reviewers and listeners alike commenting on how she effortlessly pulls listeners in and has versatility and charisma. Fun Facts: Andrea has a Bachelor of Science in Game Art and Design; was a game designer for Disney Interactive; and gets her gamer-geek on playing games of all kinds!

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Top Ten Literary inspirations

1. Sophie Kinsella. The moment I started reading Confessions of a Shopaholic, I felt as though I had never read anything like it before. It was so funny, so vivid, so bright. I knew instantly that these where the kind of stories I wanted to write-ones with humor and heart. And that began my path toward becoming a romantic comedy writer. 

2. Georgette Heyer. I absolutely love her regency romances, in particular Sylvester and The Grand Sophy, which had me laughing out loud. Absolutely brilliant writing. 

3. Jane Austen. The way she weaves together a story is masterful. These are re-reads for me. 

4. JK Rowling. The fact that she had such strength and perseverance to follow her writing dream is truly inspiring. 

5. Maeve Binchy-She wrote the most beautiful descriptions and stories with so many layers. 

6. Julia Child-Her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking is a masterpiece. When you read her book My Life In France, you see what a monumental undertaking it was to write that cookbook and in this book, you feel like you are on the journey. I absolutely love both of them. 

7. Julia Quinn. Her Bridgerton series is a master class in laying out a series. How the plots are so thought out, so interwoven to lead to the next book, is brilliant.

8. Margaret Mitchell. Gone with the Wind, need I say more? I love the way her plotting kept me turning the page. 

9. Helen Fielding. Bridget Jones’s Diary is humor at it’s best. She is another comedic inspiration for me. 

10. Emma MCLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, The Nanny Diaries. I still remember parts of this book, which made me laugh and made me sad. Most of all, I remember feeling it was totally unique and I loved that about their writing style. 

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Q&A with Author Aven Ellis

• Are you an audiobook listener?
  • What about the audiobook format appeals to you? Yes, I’m always listening to a book-when I’m in my car, and right before bed. I love the audiobook format because it allows me to read at times when I can’t. As a writer, when I’m done writing for the day, my eyes need a break. Audiobooks fill that need nicely!
• How did you select your narrator?
  • The Modern Royals Series is produced by Tantor, and they gave me a couple of narrators to choose from. But I requested Andrea because I heard a clip of her British accent and I knew she was perfect to carry the series forward! Her accent is so good I had a British friend ask if she was British! There’s no greater compliment than that!
• Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
  • I have been fascinated with the British royal family since I was a tween. People always come to me to talk royals and finally another author said, “Why aren’t you writing a royal series? You would be perfect for that.” So I thought about it and decided I wanted to create an alternate reality British royal family. I use the real palaces and traditions in the books, and it’s been a tremendous research project to get those details right, but I absolutely love telling royal stories.
• What gets you out of a writing slump? What about a reading slump?
  • If I get to a sticking point with my writing, I bounce ideas off my critique partners and beta team until the story is back in the right direction. For a reading slump-I’m lucky, I’ve never had one.
• How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
  • I always treat myself to a bottle of perfume after finishing a novel, and that’s what I did.
• If you had the power to time travel, would you use it? If yes, when and where would you go?
  • You know what? I wouldn’t. I’m grateful for the time I’m in and wouldn’t want to go back to any other time.
• What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading”?
  • If you are consuming a story, if you are enjoying escaping to another world, to me that’s all that matters. Personally, if you are listening to a one of my audiobooks you are consuming my story and that’s all that matters.
• What's your favorite:
  • Food: steak
  • Song: Poison by Bell Biv DeVoe
  • Book: Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
  • Television show: MasterChef
  • Movie The King’s Speech
  • Band: Don’t really have one at the moment
  • Sports team: Dallas Stars
  • City: Dallas
• Are any of those things referenced in appearance in your work?
  • My favorite foods appear all the time! I set a series in Dallas, too.
• What’s next for you?
  • I’ll be releasing the third book in my Rinkside in the Rockies series-Outscored. That is a romantic comedy and yes, it will be in audio, too.

Aven Ellis' Casting Picks for A Royal Shade of Blue

• Katherine McNamara as Clementine Jones
• Freddie Stroma as Prince Christian
• Kate Beckinsdale as Queen Antonia
• Laurence Nicotra as King Arthur
• Francis Cadieux as Prince Alexander
• Amanda Schull as Princess Elizabeth
• Fabian Castro as Roman Lawler
• Helen Mirren as Jillian Park

 

Giveaway: $25 Amazon Gift Card

Modern Royals Giveaway: $25 Amazon Gift Card

BOOK 1- A ROYAL SHADE OF BLUE

Aug. 25th: Country Road Reviews Viviana MacKade The Book Junkie Reads . . . Aug. 26th: A Blue Million Books KayBee's Bookshelf, A Literary Blog One Last Page Book Blog T's Stuff Aug. 27th: Author C.A. Gray My Creatively Random Life The Book Addict's Reviews Aug. 28th: Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author Locks, Hooks and Books WonderlandiansBooks Aug. 29th: Jazzy Book Reviews Reading for the Love of Books Audiobook Ebook Fascination Aug. 30th: What Is That Book About Nesie's Place BookishOwlette (Review, Giveaway) Turning Another Page Aug. 31st: Teatime and Books Haddie's Haven Smada's Book Smack Dazzled by Books Guilty Indulgence Bookclub

BOOK 2- THE PRINCESS POSE

Sep. 1st: Country Road Reviews Dazzled by Books Sep. 2nd: Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author The Book Junkie Reads . . . KayBee's Bookshelf, A Literary Blog Sep. 3rd: A Blue Million Books One Last Page Book Blog T's Stuff Turning Another Page Sep. 4th: Author C.A. Gray WonderlandiansBooks The Book Addict's Reviews Sep. 5th: Viviana MacKade Locks, Hooks and Books BookishOwlette Audiobook Ebook Fascination Sep. 6th: Haddie's Haven Smada's Book Smack Reading for the Love of Books Guilty Indulgence Bookclub Sep. 7th: Teatime and Books Jazzy Book Reviews My Creatively Random Life