Hi friends! First of all, my apologies to Ms. Snow that I’m hi-jacking her post, and I wanted to let you know there is a lot going on right now, so I might be off with the scheduling.

As you see, we’ve got Heather Snow visiting with us today! I haven’t had the chance to read her debut book yet but it’s near the top of my TBR universe. It sounds awesome. (And her second one too, of course!) And pay attention – Ms. Snow has a question for all of you, and a prize up for grabs! NB you have to answer the question to be entered to win! 😀

Miss Smartypants

Hi! My name is Heather Snow and I’d like to thank the lovely Limecello for inviting me for my very first visit to “A Little Bit Tart, A Little Bit Sweet”. I’m thrilled to be here.

I’ve recently returned from the Romance Writers of America® Conference, where I got to participate in my very first publisher book signing and Literacy Autographing (a charitable event where all proceeds from books sold go to promote literacy worldwide).
Now, when you are a debut author trying to peddle her wares amongst a thousand other great (and I mean great!) authors in a huge room full of lovely books, you really have to be able to express in just a few words what makes your book stand out. For my historical romances, I knew it was two things: my science-savvy heroines and the mysteries they had to solve. I needed to let readers know that my heroines were not your average debutantes.

At my first large signing at the RT convention in the spring, I hadn’t quite figured this out ahead of time, but I quickly did some guerilla marketing MacGuyver style, using only scrap notebook paper, a signed by author sticker and my trusty blue pen.

It worked! People stopped long enough for me to kiddingly ask them if they liked Miss Smartypants heroines, and I was thrilled when they enthusiastically cried, “Yes!” Then I got to tell them about my regency-era lady scientists: the lady chemist from my debut and the heroine of my latest, a regency-era lady criminologist who also dabbles in forensic science. And do you know what? I found readers were as excited to hear of a ‘different’ type of heroine as I had been to write about them.

So, for all of us who love our historical heroines brainy and brilliant, I thought we could share some other of our favorite Miss Smartypants. Here are a few of mine:

For older books, you can never go wrong with Amanda Quick. But here’s another you can try:

My Darling Caroline by Adele Ashworth: Caroline Grayson is a brilliant, independent lady whose true passion is botany.

For some more recent titles, how about:

Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas: Bryony Asquith rebelled against society by becoming a doctor

To Sin With A Scoundrel by Cara Elliott: Lady Ciara Sheffield is a reclusive widow known for her scientific scholarship. (The other two novels in her Circle of Sin trilogy feature an antiquities expert and a lady botanist)

A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare: Lady Minerva Highwood’s passion is geology, and her personality is just so adorably scientific.

And finally, I humbly offer my first two novels:

Sweet Enemy: Beakers and ball gowns don’t mix, so when a lady chemist goes undercover as a husband hunter to investigate the earl whose family she suspects murdered her father, romance isn’t part of her formula. But it only takes one kiss to start a reaction she can’t control…

Sweet Deception: A lady criminologist finds herself tangled up in the dangerous final mission of a spy who just happens to also be her long-lost first love. But when deception, however sweet, is the name of the game, no one can be trusted. And every love—and every life—is at risk…

For excerpt and buy links, please visit Heather’s website books page.

Do YOU like Miss Smartypants heroines? And if so, please share some of your favorites! I’d be happy to give away a copy of my debut, Sweet Enemy.

Bio: Heather Snow is a historical romance author with a degree in Chemistry who discovered she much preferred creating chemistry on the page, rather than in the lab.  She is forever trying to wrangle her left and right brain to work together (some days with more success than others!), but if her two sides had to duke it out, left would win every time—which can be a creative challenge.  Luckily, she loves challenges…she just goes about solving them analytically.
Heather lives in the Midwest with her husband, two rambunctious boys and one very put upon cat.  She sincerely hopes you find her stories have just the right chemistry…

Beyond her website, you can also find Heather on Facebook, and Twitter.