Julia explains to us THE CHARACTER WHO WASN’T
Once upon a time, I wrote a book with a secondary character, a plucky orphan farm boy who befriends the heroine, eventually helping to save her from the villain, thereby cementing the admiration and affection of the hero. I knew then that the hero, Sir Edward Austin Greaves, would go on to sponsor the boy at Oxford. I knew that Davie, believing a commoner of intelligence, ability and drive should be able to have a part in the governing of his nation, would go on to become a Parliamentary reformer.
Five years later, when I decided it was time to write Davie’s story, I knew he would have to have found a group of like-minded reformers at Oxford. Like him, they would have to be outsiders in some way, therefore more likely to question the way things had always been done. However, to make change happen, it must be initiated by those with connections to people who already have power. So, the other reformers, including the leader, would have to be aristocrats—albeit from unusual circumstances.
Much as I wanted to write Davie’s story, I knew the first book of Davie’s series would need to feature this leader. But who was he?
The search for Giles Hadley began.
So, Giles is an aristocrat—but why was he an outsider? How about because his father divorced his mother when he was still a young child? Although he is the legal heir, he grew up distanced from his father, who remarried, and angry about the way his mother had been treated. He will one day be an earl—but chooses to make a name for himself under his surname, scorning his courtesy title of viscount.
What sort of woman could capture the heart of a man bitter about his past and leery of wedlock? How about a noted Parliamentary hostess who, having lost the love of her life, has no desire to risk loving again? Who’s suspicious of men who might try to lure her into marriage to use her money and position to advance their own Parliamentary ambitions? A woman who decides that the best way to taste passion without complications might be by having a discreet affair with a man from the opposing party, a man who awakes her simmering desires, but for whom her contacts and connections offer no advantage?
A man who would have to want her for herself alone, not for what she could bring him.
And so begins Giles and Maggie’s story, a story of two wounded hearts who seek passion without further entanglements. But, of course, love has ideas of its own.
I hope you will enjoy their story.
(BTW, I did finally write Davie’s book, too—STOLEN ENCOUNTERS WITH THE DUCHESS will be out in September. The book in which he appears as a boy is FROM WAIF TO GENTLEMAN’S WIFE. For excerpts and details of both, check my website at www.juliajustiss.com)
About 
FORBIDDEN NIGHTS WITH THE VISCOUNT
After suffering the loss of her beloved husband, Lady Margaret Roberts has sworn off the pursuit of passion…that is, until she meets Giles Hadley.
Bitterly estranged from his family, reluctant viscount Giles knows all too well the devastation of an unhappy marriage. So while he is prepared to indulge in an illicit affair, he must beware, for spirited Maggie awakens in him something even more forbidden—the desire to claim her as his wife!
Available in April Chick Here for more
About the Author
Award-winning historical romance author Julia Justiss has written more than twenty-five novels and novellas set in the English Regency. Her awards include the Golden Heart for Regency from Romance Writers of America, The Golden Quill, and finals in Romantic Times Magazine’s Best First Historical, the National Readers Choice, the Daphne du Maurier and All About Romance’s Favorite Book of the Year.
An avid reader who began jotting down plot ideas for Nancy Drew novels in her third grade spiral, Julia went on to write poetry and then speeches, sales promotion material and newsletters as a business journalist.
She and her husband live in East Texas, where she continues to craft the stories she loves. Check her website www.juliajustiss.com for her latest releases.