A Regency Version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith? An Interview with Anne Cleeland

Hi, Anne and thank you for visiting Nocturnal Book Reviews! In one sentence can you tell us what Tainted Angel is all about?

Tainted Angel is a Regency version of the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

What kind of reader do you think will gravitate towards your book?

This book will (hopefully!) appeal to a variety of readers—readers who love Regencies and
historicals, readers who love adventure stories, and readers who love romances. The plot mixes romance, adventure and mystery.

Your writing blends historical fiction and mystery. What made you choose this genre?

I like to call this type of story “Regency Adventure,” even though technically there is no such subgenre. My favorite stories are about ordinary people swept up in extraordinary events, so that’s what I like to write. If you can plot a romance that is tied up in a mystery, and then throw in a treasure hunt, you have the makings of a pretty interesting plot!

What kind of research did you have to undertake for Tainted Angel?

Language and historical accuracy are always very tricky; you have to try to strike a balance between evoking the Regency era and still appealing to the average modern reader (who is not a history professor and may not be familiar with that world.) I try not to overwhelm the reader with a lot of historical facts—only enough to explain why the stakes are so high for the characters.

And thank heaven for Google and Wikipedia; I am constantly checking to make sure I’m not making an obvious error. Did you know that bedsprings hadn’t yet been invented in 1814?

At last, what are your writing plans for the future?

I am also writing a contemporary British detective series; the first book is called Murder in Thrall, if any of your readers like mysteries. It is the first in a three-book series.

In November, the second book in this historical series will come out; Daughter of the God-King. It is about a heroine who travels to Egypt after her famous archeologist parents disappear, only to discover that various
factions from the last war are desperate to find her—for reasons that are unclear. She begins to suspect that her love interest is not what he seems, and she doesn’t know who to trust as she uncovers one devastating secret after the other, all while the next war looms on the horizon.

 Anne Cleeland holds a degree in English from UCLA as well as a degree in law from Pepperdine University, and is a member of the California State Bar.

She writes a historical fiction series set in the Regency period as well as a contemporary mystery series set in New Scotland Yard. A member of the Historical Novel Society and Mystery Writers of America, she lives in California and has four children.

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