After spending her childhood as a street thief, Gabriella Goodhue thought she'd put her past behind her until a fellow resident at her boardinghouse is unjustly accused of theft. Using her old skills to prove her friend's innocence, Gabriella unexpectedly encounters Nicholas Quinn, the man she once considered her best friend—until he abandoned her.
After being taken under the wing of a professor who introduced him into society and named him as his heir, Nicholas is living far removed from his childhood life of crime. As a favor to a friend, Nicholas agreed to help clear the name of an innocent woman, never imagining he'd be reunited with the girl he thought lost to him forever.
As Gabriella and Nicholas are thrown together into one intrigue after another, their childhood affection grows into more, but their newfound feelings are tested when truths about their past are revealed and danger follows their every step.
After being taken under the wing of a professor who introduced him into society and named him as his heir, Nicholas is living far removed from his childhood life of crime. As a favor to a friend, Nicholas agreed to help clear the name of an innocent woman, never imagining he'd be reunited with the girl he thought lost to him forever.
As Gabriella and Nicholas are thrown together into one intrigue after another, their childhood affection grows into more, but their newfound feelings are tested when truths about their past are revealed and danger follows their every step.
ISBN-13: 9780764235313
Q&A with author Jen Turano
1. Did you enjoy writing as a child or is it something that came in adulthood?
Hmm…bit of a tricky question. I would say I was more of a reader as a child, although I always loved my English and writing classes throughout school, and always took writing classes for my electives. I also always penned all the skits for my sorority, and then wrote copy for the fashion shows I coordinated once I graduated from college and entered the world of fashion. It wasn’t until I penned a middle-grade for my son as a bit of a lark, though, that I realized I really enjoyed getting the stories that were always roaming around my head onto paper, and I just sort of went from there. It took a very long time to break into the publishing business, but it’s been a wonderful second career for me.
Hmm…bit of a tricky question. I would say I was more of a reader as a child, although I always loved my English and writing classes throughout school, and always took writing classes for my electives. I also always penned all the skits for my sorority, and then wrote copy for the fashion shows I coordinated once I graduated from college and entered the world of fashion. It wasn’t until I penned a middle-grade for my son as a bit of a lark, though, that I realized I really enjoyed getting the stories that were always roaming around my head onto paper, and I just sort of went from there. It took a very long time to break into the publishing business, but it’s been a wonderful second career for me.
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2. Most of your books have some pretty fun(ny) animal characters. If you could be any animal, which one would you choose and why? I’d probably enjoy being a dog, but only if I got a super cool family to live with – one who’d take me on adventures a few times a day, feed me delicious food, and then let me nap in out of the way places where I wouldn’t be disturbed. |
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3. Your novels are something of a blend of genres; historical romance, romantic comedy, and an element of suspense – what made you choose to take them in that direction?
I enjoy writing the unexpected because it allows me to keep my stories fresh. When you add a bit of comedy, throw in a touch of a mystery, and then set all of that in the Gilded Age, it’s easier for me to craft stories that I hope will attract, and then keep, a reader’s attention.
I enjoy writing the unexpected because it allows me to keep my stories fresh. When you add a bit of comedy, throw in a touch of a mystery, and then set all of that in the Gilded Age, it’s easier for me to craft stories that I hope will attract, and then keep, a reader’s attention.
4. What were the last three books you read?
Because I’m writing a first draft for the third book in ‘The Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency,’ I’ve mostly been reading non-fiction for research purposes. I just finished “Camp Chronicles” by Mildred Phelps Stokes Hooker that a friend sent me because he thought I might like to use the camp setting for one of my future stories. Before that, I read an early copy of Grace Hitchcock’s “My Dear Miss Dupre,” coming out this spring from Bethany House – highly recommend that one. And then I also just finished “The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus” by Jamie Jo Wright, another book I can highly recommend.
Because I’m writing a first draft for the third book in ‘The Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency,’ I’ve mostly been reading non-fiction for research purposes. I just finished “Camp Chronicles” by Mildred Phelps Stokes Hooker that a friend sent me because he thought I might like to use the camp setting for one of my future stories. Before that, I read an early copy of Grace Hitchcock’s “My Dear Miss Dupre,” coming out this spring from Bethany House – highly recommend that one. And then I also just finished “The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus” by Jamie Jo Wright, another book I can highly recommend.
5. If you were to go back in time to the era in which your books are set, what single item would you most want to take with you?
I’d say my cellphone because I seem to be rather attached to it, but since it wouldn’t work, I believe I’d take a medicine bag with me, filled with all those antibiotics they didn’t have back then, like penicillin, and I’d definitely take a couple bottles of Advil.
I’d say my cellphone because I seem to be rather attached to it, but since it wouldn’t work, I believe I’d take a medicine bag with me, filled with all those antibiotics they didn’t have back then, like penicillin, and I’d definitely take a couple bottles of Advil.
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6. This year has been a very difficult one for everyone, but, in the spirit of the comedic elements in your stories, what was the funniest thing that has happened to you in 2020?
Oh, which one to choose…I think I’ll go with the time this summer when I was out on the trail (I spend a lot of time on that trail because I like to get in about 10 miles a day.) This year, what with how none of us have been going anywhere, I decided that since I had nowhere to wear cute outfits, and, again, I did major in fashion back in the day, that I was going to spiff-up my workout |
outfits. I’ve settled on skorts – they’re rather flirty and they’re incredibly comfortable. Anyways, on this particular day, I was wearing a new skort, and it had these shorts that were separate from the skirt part and there were these snaps. Well, I was in a hurry so didn’t bother to attach the shorts to the skort, thinking it was really no big deal. Big, big mistake. At one point, I stuck my phone into the back pocket and the next thing you know, the weight of the phone caused the skirt part to fall down – as in fall down past my knees. Hahahaha. Turns out those snaps really were there for a reason, and wasn’t it just too bad that there happened to be a ton of people on the trail that day who saw me? Thank goodness for those little shorts, although I normally wouldn’t be caught dead outside in shorts quite that short.
7. Through all of your published novels and novellas, do you have a favorite cover?
“A Change of Fortune” will always be my favorite, probably because, not only is it gorgeous, but it was my very first published book. “Storing Up Trouble” comes in a close second.
“A Change of Fortune” will always be my favorite, probably because, not only is it gorgeous, but it was my very first published book. “Storing Up Trouble” comes in a close second.
8. What do you do to recharge your creativity?
Odd as this is going to seem, I clean. For some reason, the mindlessness of cleaning clears my thoughts and allows new stories ideas to form.
Odd as this is going to seem, I clean. For some reason, the mindlessness of cleaning clears my thoughts and allows new stories ideas to form.
9. In research for this series, or your most recent one, what were you most surprised to learn?
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Another tricky question – This series revolves around women who are not of high society, and Gabriella, the heroine of “To Steal a Heart,” grew up in Five Points, which was just a horrendous place to live. In researching that area, I ran across accounts of unscrupulous landlords, and there was a time when they resorted to renting out rooms they stuck in the middle of buildings, which meant there were no windows. Disease was rampant, and it wasn’t until the late 1880’s that authorities began to step in and insist that all rooms rented had windows.
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10. Choose quick! Chocolate or strawberry?
Chocolate
Chocolate
Thank you so much for having me on your blog, Jasmine. It’s always a pleasure.
I hope everyone is able to enjoy their holiday season. Stay safe, wear a mask,
and know that there will be an end to this madness at some point. We just
need to do what we can to assure all of us make it to that end.
God bless!
Jen
I hope everyone is able to enjoy their holiday season. Stay safe, wear a mask,
and know that there will be an end to this madness at some point. We just
need to do what we can to assure all of us make it to that end.
God bless!
Jen
Jen Turano
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Named One of the Funniest Voices in Inspirational Romance by Booklist, Jen Turano is a USA Today Best-Selling Author, known for penning quirky historical romances set in the Gilded Age. Her books have earned Publisher Weekly and Booklist starred reviews, top picks from Romantic Times, and praise from Library Journal. Shes been a finalist twice for the RT Reviewers Choice Awards and had two of her books listed in the top 100 romances of the past decade from Booklist. When shes not writing, she spends her time outside of Denver, CO. Readers may find her at www.jenturano.com - https://www.facebook.com/jenturanoaut... , https://www.instagram.com/jenturanoau... or on Twitter at JenTurano@JenTurano.
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It's Time For A Giveaway!
Jen Turano is generously giving away a print copy of To Steal A Heart
(USA ONLY)
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