Trudging behind my young companion last week was invigorating—and exhausting—but we explored every inch of Rome, at least the old city from the forum to Castel Sant Angelo, from the Bourghese Gardens to the top of the dome of Saint Peter’s in the Vatican City. Awed by art, amused by Irish pubs, and charmed by churches, we did it all. If you follow Caroline Warfield’s Fellow Travelers, you will have seen the photos to prove it. I’ve stored images and memories away that may yet emerge as stories.
Will a gentleman on his Grand Tour encounter an alluring countess in a palazzo like Palazzo Bonaparte? Or will a spy worm his way into that very building during the Napoleonic wars? Will a diplomat visiting the city save a maiden in distress only to discover she is the daughter of a Jewish merchant, an ancient Roman family? Will the stepping stones for holocaust survivors inspire a romance set in 1943? The Coliseum appear in a romance from the time of Vespasian?
I know I’ll revisit Dangerous Secrets this year. My first visit to Rome inspired that story, when I wondered if I could set a Regency Romance in Rome. This visit will add richness to the new epilogue I intend to write. Plans for republishing the Dangerous and Children of Empire series are still under discussion, but when I do each book will need new material. Stay tuned!