This week I’m hosting Jennifer Delamere with An Heiress at Heart, Susan Sleeman with Dead Wrong, Gail Sattler with Take the Trophy and Run, and M.K. Gilroy with Every Breath You Take. If you want to enter the drawings for the books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don’t want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (November 11th) evening.
Interview with the hero from An Heiress at Heart by Jennifer Delamere:
1. Lord Geoffrey Somerville, tell me the most interesting thing about you.
Most people say the most interesting thing about me is that I went from being a simple clergyman to a peer of the realm. Since I was the youngest of three sons, no one expected that I would ever inherit my father’s title. However, with the deaths of my two older brothers, that’s exactly what happened. I was a clergyman in a small country parish at the time I unexpectedly found myself elevated to the peerage. It has been a challenge to adjust to all of the social expectations that come with such a position! But I think the most interesting thing about me is that with my background I can bring to the House of Lords a genuine desire serve my country. I want to help people and glorify God in all I do.
2. What do you do for fun?
Horseback riding. I have a stable full of fine horses at my country estate in Kent. The men of the Somerville family have always been known for their excellent horsemanship.
3. What do you put off doing because you dread it?
At the moment, I’m putting off getting married. Everyone wants me to marry a high-born society miss, but I don’t want a shallow marriage based on social position. I won’t make a commitment unless I can find a Christian woman whom I can genuinely love. At the moment, this is proving very difficult.
4. What are you afraid of most in life?
The Lord tells us to fear not, so I do my best to put my trust in Him. At the moment, however, I can’t help worrying about whether I can properly live up to the title of Lord Somerville. When it comes to the social expectations and the politics of the position, I’m painfully aware that either of my elder brothers would have been much better suited for the job.
5. What do you want out of life?
I want to serve God and my fellow man as best I can, and to have a wife and family that I can love and who will love me in return.
6. What is the most important thing to you?
See the answer to question #5!
7. Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?
I love reading the Bible, of course. I also enjoy secular works that can inspire and entertain, such as literature and poetry.
8. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My friend James Simpson (also known as most amiably scandalous bachelor) tells me I take life far too seriously. How can I not, given the circumstances? And yet secretly I wish I had more of his joie de vivre. James says a good woman might bring this out of me, but I don’t know….
9. Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?
I suppose one could call my favorite mare a pet. She has a lovely disposition and rides like the wind.
10. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?
I long to go back ten years and prevent my brother Edward from moving to Australia, where he ended up dying too young. Now a woman has returned to England who says she is my brother’s widow, and my grief and guilt are ten times greater because I am beginning to fall in love with her. I keep reminding myself of Psalms 31:15 which says, “My times are in thy hand,” because surely the Lord alone knows the answer to so great a dilemma!
