Interview with Regency Romance Author Donna Hatch

Donna Hatch, author of the best-selling “Rogue Hearts Series," is a hopeless romantic and adventurer at heart. A music lover, she sings and plays the harp. She is a multi-award winner, a sought-after workshop presenter, and juggles multiple volunteer positions as well as her six children. A native of Arizona who recently transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, she and her husband of over twenty years are living proof that there really is a happily ever after.

Welcome back to my blog, Donna. Where did you get your inspiration for The Rogue Hearts Series?

My intention was never to write a series. My idea for the first book, The Stranger She Married came, oddly enough, in part from Phantom of the Opera but with the idea that maybe the man with the mask was not a monster, but rather a kind and honorable man, and that maybe he had more substance than the handsome young man vying for her attention. Of course, my story has a few twists. The idea for writing book 2 came from a random sentence I typed without any forethought that he had a brother who was a pirate. And so book 2 was born. Then my editor suggested I should write a book about each of the four brothers. So I did. Two more books, about the sisters in this family, are not yet completed.

Please give us a short description of book one: The Stranger She Married.

Desperate to save her family from debtor’s prison, Alicia vows to marry the first wealthy man to propose. Her choices? A scarred cripple with the heart of a poet or a handsome rake with a deadly secret.

I read the first book in this series and absolutely loved it. It’s full of mystery. Now tell us about book two: The Guise of a Gentleman.

So glad to hear you loved it! The Guise of a Gentleman is about a young widow whose proper English world is shattered when a charming rogue re-awakens her yearning for adventure. The stranger’s irrepressible grin and sea-green eyes hide a terrible secret that will test both her love and her courage. I promise it is NOT your typical pirate romance. Where The Stranger She Married has more mystery, this one has more adventure.

"The Guise of a Gentleman was very well done. The hero of the story acted rough and tough, just like a pirate would. Jared even looked at Elise, who is the main character, as a pirate would, which was not very gentlemanly. He was the perfect swashbuckling hero. It was fun to read a “clean” romance with a lot of intrigue and adventure. I was so impressed with was all the research this author must have done. She knew all the technical names of a ship, how they did their coordinates to know where to sail, and the ways of a pirate ship, such as having “articles” that they stood by. Great research! I learned a lot." –Review by Author Linda Weaver Clarke

A Perfect Secret is the third book. Please tell us about it.

Genevieve breaks off her engagement with Christian to marry the blackmailer threatening her father, but flees her husband’s violence. Though fate brings her back to Christian, her husband tracks her down, stalks her, and threatens everyone she loves. This book is more suspenseful than the others.

"A Perfect Secret had a very sad beginning but soon changed into one of suspense and forgotten love. This is the first time I’ve read a regency romance that began with sorrow, but I soon realized that the couple would be able to overcome their trials of the past. I absolutely loved Christian’s personality. He was humble, noble, and courageous. The secret that I loved about the relationship of this couple was the respect Christian had for Genevieve even when he was hurting. I just knew that his love would win out." –Review by Author Linda Weaver Clarke

The fourth book is called The Suspect's Daughter. What is this one about?

This is the book my fans have been demanding since the very first book. It’s about the cynical brother of the family, Grant, and the woman who is his match, Jocelyn. She is determined to clear her father’s name in a murder plot. Jocelyn aids an intriguing wounded war hero, Grant, to find the conspirators. England’s future hangs in the balance…and so does their love.

Each book is written to be a stand-alone novel, so reading the previous books in the series is not required to understand what is happening in subsequent books.

Thank you for this awesome interview, Donna. I have read your books and thoroughly enjoyed them. Below is my review for The Stranger She Married, which is my favorite book out of the series.

  

"The Stranger She Married was not only a clean romance, but was filled with action and suspense as well. What would it be like to marry a man you didn’t love but had no other choice? The most memorable moment in this story was when the heroine realized she was finally falling in love with her husband and told him so. I was waiting for that moment because I saw him as a caring and loving man. I wanted her to see that, also. The only time I was concerned was when the heroine had feelings for her husband’s cousin... that is, until I began figuring things out." –Review by Author Linda Weaver Clarke