About the Book

Book: Arranged with the Earl

Author: Jackie Killelea

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: May 13, 2025

A spinster with a tarnished reputation. An earl scarred from war. Can their convenient marriage withstand those aiming to steal everything they have?

Catherine Blynn resigned herself to a life without romantic love after a disastrous broken engagement. Although she’s always hoped to marry for affection, her father arranges for her to wed Loftus Cromwell, the broken Earl of Hardwicke. If she defies her parents, she risks her family’s ruin.

Loftus Cromwell had no intention to marry for love, only for the sake of his estate. But If he fails to win the love of his spirited and unconventional betrothed, he risks his conniving brother claiming everything he holds dear.

As treachery unfolds within the manor’s walls and a foe from Catherine’s past resurfaces, can Loftus and Catherine trust one another enough to unravel the truth before tragedy steals any chance of happiness?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Jackie Killelea is a born and raised small-town girl from Connecticut with a degree in English and Creative Writing. She started off her writing journey with poetry, soon shifting into novels and becoming hooked. On days when she’s not busy with her nose in a book, she can be found typing away with a cup of tea at her side.

More from Jackie

In Arranged with the Earl, Loftus’ study of plants and flora is his foremost pastime, aside from his duties managing his estate and those that come along with being an earl. In his conservatory, there are a variety of different species of plants that he cares for but, would he actually have had these plants in his conservatory and would they have been able to feasibly grow there if he did?

Well, according to my research and a bit of wishful thinking…yes.

The thing is, Loftus has a few native plants in his conservatory and those certainly would have been able to grow there, given that they’ve pretty much just been brought inside from other counties in England. Loftus knows his home country and the landscape as well as how to care for those plants, already. The trickier plants to think upon are the exotics.

For instance, when showing Catherine the conservatory for the first time, he mentions Black Hellebore(Helleborus niger). How would he have come to own this? This plant is native to the mountains and woodlands of southern and central Europe, so we must assume that Loftus would’ve had it imported, or grown from seed. Still, would a woodland plant grow well enough to produce flowers in a conservatory setting?

Well, fortunately for Loftus, Black Hellebore actually grows fairly well in containers and does well in partial shade, so where he placed it in the conservatory was a prime location and it isn’t a stretch of the imagination to think that it produces blooms there.

With each plant I chose to be in the conservatory, I had to research if Loftus would reasonably have access to it and if it would grow under conservatory conditions–as well as during the season in which the book takes place. Of course you, as readers, will still need to use your imagination at some points. I’m sure Loftus would agree that ideas, like plants, need lots of water and space to grow.

I do so hope you enjoy Catherine and Loftus’ story in Arranged with the Earl!

Sincerely,

Jackie

Interview with Jackie

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I’ve written six books, at the moment, with one set to release after Arranged with the Earl—and my first three being collections of poetry—so quite different from historical romance. Out of all of the books I’ve written thus far, I must say that my most favorite has to be Arranged with the Earl. I had to do quite a bit of research for it relating to botany and plants, as well as some research regarding the Napoleonic War. It was a fun book to write and the twists and turns within it will be page-turning for readers, I hope.

What does your family think of your writing?

My family is incredibly encouraging of my writing. They are very proud of me and have been from the beginning. They all enjoy reading my writing and look forward to my new releases.

What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a book?

In my opinion, there are two most difficult parts in writing a book. I have always had a difficult time with both of these. The first is finding the motivation to begin writing a book. It can be very daunting before you begin–the idea of typing pages upon pages and editing and reviewing, etc. It’s a lot of work and, occasionally, it’s a bit difficult to find the motivation to start a novel when all of that work awaits you once you begin. Additionally, sometimes you really want to start but you don’t even know where. You only have an idea and nothing else. You want to get it on paper but can’t seem to figure out the rest.

              The second most difficult part of writing a book for me is plotting. I have tried not to plot before—to just go with the flow and let the story figure itself out. It did not work out, unfortunately… The story lacked development. I am the type of writer that needs to know a plot beforehand so that I can write scenes and chapters accordingly. It can, however, be difficult to figure out how you want each scene to go, in advance. Sometimes when you’re writing you get a brilliant idea and your mind wishes to take the story in an entirely different direction, as well, and then all of the plotting you did earlier is for naught and you have to plot a new course for your characters. Truly, I wish I could be a pantser.

Do you base your characters on real people?

I don’t normally base them off of real people but, lately, I’ve been incorporating the traits of some of my family and friends into different characters. While the characters are not, in any way, copycats of people I know, they resemble a few people close to me. I think, subconsciously, it is difficult not to have some characters resemble the people an author knows, as characters are based off of experiences an author has had.

What are your favorite books to read?

My favorite books to read are probably historical romance. I love a good Regency romance or Victorian romance. Medieval and Renaissance romances are fun to read too. I’ll read contemporary, too, but historical holds my heart. I love sweet romances.

Blog Stops

For Him and My Family, May 28

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, May 28

She Lives To Read, May 29

Holly’s Book Corner, May 29

Betti Mace, May 30

Devoted Steps, May 30

Texas Book-aholic, May 31

Locks, Hooks and Books, June 1

Romances of the Cross, June 1

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, June 2

Pens Pages & Pulses, June 3

The Important Things in Life: God, books, & chocolate, June 3

Devoted To Hope, June 4

Stories By Gina, June 5 (Author Interview)

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, June 5

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, June 6

Cover Lover Book Review, June 7

Book Butterfly in Dreamland, June 7

Book Looks by Lisa, June 8

Pause for Tales, June 8

Blossoms and Blessings, June 9

Blogging With Carol, June 9

Simple Harvest Reads, June 10 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Jackie is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54230