SCANDALS OF TOKYO by Author Heather Hallman **BOOK BLAST** **GIVEAWAY**

It's my pleasure to welcome author Heather Hallman to Notes From a Romantic's Heart. Today we're featuring her book, Scandals of Tokyo, part of the Tokyo Whispers series. You can find all the stops on this tour at Goddess Fish Promotions. Don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter draw for your chance to win a $25 gift card. The entry form is at the bottom of this post.

Genre: Historical Romance

ENJOY THIS PREQUEL TO THE TOKYO WHISPERS SERIES

In the Foreign Quarter of Tsukiji, Tokyo, Japan, Victorian England is alive and well. Manners and etiquette are as valuable as gossip and deceit. Men are more rakish than ever - so far from home, societal rules seem to be relaxed. But courting young women still requires a deft hand, a smart wit, and a man with something to offer.

INTERNATIONAL SCANDAL

Intent on being an international journalist of repute, Evelyn Prescott will do what it takes to make her mark.

It doesn’t hurt that her father has built a newspaper empire, but finding a scandal in Japan is no easy task.

As much as she hates to admit it, she is forced to meet with the owner of the Tokyo Daily News, Ned Taylor, also an Englishman.

Ned holds a deep-rooted dislike of Evelyn’s father’s approach to journalism, and Ned, a notorious rake, pushes her to see just how far Evelyn is prepared to go to get her story.

Available at Amazon ~ B&N (Nook) ~ Burroughs Publishing ~ iBooks ~ Kobo

Tokyo 1896
Foreign Quarter of Tsukiji

Also, there was the issue of Mr Taylor’s appearance. In Evelyn’s experience, newspaper owners were balding and rotund. This man was… She struggled for the best way to assess him with the objective lens of a soon-to-be international journalist. He was the kind of man women pounced upon at the earliest given opportunity.

With tousled, auburn hair and a profile that suggested a country gentleman returning from a vigorous hunt, the man brimmed with virility. Yet the easy interactions with his companions suggested an absence of the hunter’s aggression found in most newspapermen—charmers and otherwise. Evelyn had to conclude this man lacked a predatory bearing because he didn’t require it: unfailingly, prey fell at his feet.

Aunt Prissy waved her fan against the thick heat, sending the gentle scent of the camellia perfume she’d purchased that afternoon on Tokyo’s luxurious Ginza Boulevard towards Evelyn. “The lovely Mrs Anderson pointed him out to me at the reception for that appalling exhibit at the Tsukiji art museum. She said, ‘That’s Ned Taylor, owner of the Tokyo Daily News.’ What was that exhibit again? Oh, yes, ‘Demonic Masks in the Japanese Shinto Tradition.’ Frightening, those enormous eyes and bulbous noses.”

The woodblock prints in the Hotel Metropolis lobby came to Evelyn’s mind. A series of pictures told the story of the Americans’ arrival in Tokyo on Commodore Perry’s Black Ships. In contrast to the uniformly small, straight, and unblemished Japanese visages, the foreigners boasted ruddy complexions, hordes of unruly hair, and what Evelyn found to be unfairly exaggerated facial features. “Those masks bore resemblance to the foreigners in the lobby prints?”

A look came Evelyn’s way, and Aunt Prissy widened her eyes as she beat the air with the gold satin leaf of her fan. “No wonder we get stared at every time we leave the foreign quarter. The Japanese think we’re demons.”

The men around Mr Taylor erupted in laughter at some gem that had fallen from his lips. “Not all of us,” Evelyn murmured.

Heather Hallman writes witty, sensual, contest-winning romances set in Meiji-era Japan (1868-1912). She is the author of the Tokyo Whispers series that includes Scandals of Tokyo and Talk of Tokyo.

She is fluent in Japanese language, history, and culture, and earned a doctoral degree in cultural anthropology based on fieldwork research in Japan. She lives in Tokyo with her professor husband and two young daughters. In her free time, she can be found translating ancient Japanese poetry and observing the passing of seasons while sipping green tea. Just kidding, she has no free time. But she does watch something that makes her laugh while she does the dishes.

Perennial obsessions include the weather forecast (she checks three different apps at least three times a day, as no single app can be trusted), Baltimore Ravens football (hometown obsession), and making smoothies that taste like candy bars.

Feel free to chat her up about any of her obsessions, or, even better, about historical Japan—any era is fine, she loves them all. She also enjoys exchanging book recommendations, discussions about the craft of romance writing, and stories about life in present-day Tokyo.

Heather's Website ~ Goodreads ~ BookBub ~ Instagram ~ Facebook ~ TikTok

Heather Hallman will award a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~ ~ ~

Thank you so much for stopping by. Please come back again soon for more authors, books, and giveaways.

Nancy