An Interview with Author Bianca Blythe

An Interview with Author Bianca Blythe

Author of Matchmaking for Wallflowers, 

Wedding Trouble, and Sleuthing Starlet series.

Thank you to Bianca Blythe for agreeing to Glass of Wine, Glass of Milk's debut author interview! Read on for our interview and then my review of her two historical romance series. Spoiler alert: I recommend them!

Glass of Wine, Glass of Milk: Your Instagram account has photos of such lovely scenery. Is an author's life really so glamorous? Beaches, travel, and coffee? Could you describe your creative process a bit?

Bianca Blythe: It's not glamorous at all! Mostly I'm home alone--I miss having work colleagues :-) My mother is Norwegian, so travel has always been more a part of my life than if my grandparents had all lived nearby.

I do believe in the concept of filling a writer's well--even taking a walk in the park can be helpful. I try to appreciate my surroundings, wherever I am. I usually build my story around a trope I like, let it linger in my mind while I'm working on other projects, and then finally write an outline and get to work.

GW, GM: What genres do you enjoy reading? How do your reading preferences inform your writing?

Blythe: I came to historical romance relatively late--I was in graduate school. My mother wasn't a romance reader, and I simply didn't know anything about the genre. Now I love that I can read books that center around women, where they can work to win happily ever afters. Before I discovered romances, I loved chick lit books (Sophie Kinsella!) and classics. I read and reread PG Wodehouse and Agatha Christie many times. One reason that I adore regencies, is that the genre was basically invented in the interwar period by Georgette Heyer. A lot of the humor I found in PG Wodehouse (who also wrote during that period), I find in a certain type of humorous regency.

GW, GM: Can you name an all-time favorite book, or does it change regularly?

Blythe: Emily of New Moon, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, probably had the largest impact on me. It's about a young girl who wants to become a writer. And then she becomes one!

GW, GM: In consideration of this blog's tilt toward children's literature, can you share any picture books that had an impact on you as a child? Are there any particularly memorable authors who shaped you as a young reader?

Blythe: My father read to me a whole lot--several chapters from the Little House series or the Chronicles of Narnia each night, from when I was very young. Once he finished one series, he would begin again on the other one.

Ms. Blythe holding Linnea in Monet's Garden 
while in Monet's garden as a child.

For picture books specifically, I remember loving The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. I loved reading the story from the wolf's perspective, and as an author, I adore telling stories of people who were regarded with suspicion in previous books.

GW, GM: In your Matchmaking for Wallflowers series, the characters read romance novels by a mysterious American author. Is Loretta Van Lochen much of an incarnation of yourself? What occupation, if any, do you think you would have had if you had lived during the Regency era?

Blythe: Loretta Van Lochen is much braver than I am. I would never climb down a castle wall! I would have loved to have been an author in the regency era or perhaps to have risen to the status of cook in a nice manor house.

GW, GM: In the Matchmaking for Wallflowers series, the characters also read a pamphlet of the same title. What inspired this gossip and advice pamphlet? Do you have a favorite magazine yourself?

Blythe: I was homeschooled for a bit and didn't have a television until I was in high school. I remember quite studiously reading Seventeen magazines to try to catch up with popular culture. I also went to Germany when I was sixteen to study abroad for a year, and though I loved reading, German books were too difficult for me. German versions of Glamour or Cosmopolitan were easier to read than actual books. All those lists with pretty pictures :-) Now I no longer read those magazines--I'm more of a New Yorker reader, but I do remember how much importance I attached to them when trying to understand the world, especially when the internet was still pretty new and not always available. I can imagine that during the regency era, when people could be very isolated, women might place too much importance on a pamphlet like Matchmaking for Wallflowers, which would at least offer advice--even if questionable. I can also imagine the horror of being negatively written about as an example of what not to do! This happens to some of my heroines.

GW, GM: And finally, A Kiss for the Marquess was just published. Dare we hope for more in the Wedding Trouble series?

Blythe: A Kiss for the Marquess was the last Wedding Trouble book, but the next series will be about Margaret Carberry and her friends. The heroine of A Kiss for the Marquess was tasked with ensuring that Margaret win a marquess, though she ended up falling for the marquess herself. Hopefully, Margaret will have better luck later :-)

Series Review
Matchmaking for Wallflowers and Wedding Trouble
Historical Romance Series by Bianca Blythe
Author website here
Books on Kindle Unlimited here

Why I chose these series:
You know I enjoy historical romances, so I was interested to try out Matchmaking for Wallflowers when it was recommended to me. Then I just kept on reading through both series!

Review
The titles of both series let you know the general premise: wallflowers find love and marriage, and weddings do not go as planned. As I've mentioned in past posts on historical romance novels, I don't read them to find out if the characters find their HEA's (happily ever after's), but rather how. And that is one of the most delightful things about Blythe's series: the story that has been crafted for each character. You know what to expect from the genre. Here's what to expect from Ms. Blythe in particular:

1. relatable, believable, admirable heroines (each follows her passion, be it archaeology, marine biology, etc...)
2. a beautifully complex and perfectly crafted network of friends whose stories overlap, intertwine, and flow from one to the next (each book teases the next, and Wedding Trouble flows smoothly from Wallflowers)
3. romances that develop organically, with heroes and heroines confronting obstacles head-on, making mistakes, and recognizing their feelings in ways that keep a reader up late
4. plots with an ideal balance of excitement, mystery, novelty, and predictability

If you like historical romances and especially enjoy series, I suggest picking up How to Capture a Duke. My bet? You won't stop reading 'til you've finished A Kiss for the Marquess. That's what I did, anyway!

All titles:

Matchmaking for Wallflowers

(0. The Perfect Fiancé)
1. How to Capture a Duke
2. A Rogue to Avoid
3. Runaway Wallflower
4. Mad About the Baron
5. A Marquess for Convenience
6. The Wrong Heiress for Christmas

Wedding Trouble
1. Don't Tie the Knot
2. Dukes Prefer Bluestockings
3. The Earl's Christmas Consultant
4. How to Train a Viscount
5. A Kiss for the Marquess