The Slums of London in Regency England

Highlighting the Facts behind Historical Romance with Jude Knight Like any big city, London has always had slum areas. In the early nineteenth century, they were noxious and dangerous. I’ve been studying them for the last two novels in my Regency series, The Return of the Mountain King. In 1800, over a million people lived […]

New Book; New World

I’ve been forced to spend more time lately dealing with Real Life rather than my fictional worlds lately but I’m taking a moment out to remind everyone that Thursday will see the release of not only a new book but a new Caroline Warfield fictional world. The Wayward Son launches on Thursday and will be […]

Hedge Inns

I travel. Sometimes I travel by boat, plane, or automobile. Sometimes I travel by book. Sometimes I explore the real world. This week I wandered off the beaten path and spent some time in hedge inns with Ella Quinn and the characters of The Marquis and I. I’ve read my way through many historic inns […]

England and Argentinian Independence

Highlighting Historical Romance and the facts behind the fiction with Mirta Ines Trupp and Celestial Persuasion. Although I was born in Argentina, I grew up—for the most part—in the United States of America. My knowledge of Argentine history was limited to bits and pieces of family lore and stories I had picked up throughout the […]

Alone in a Crowd: an Excerpt

The Defiant Daughter, the second of the Ashmead Heirs, has gone to beta readers. Here is a bit from early on. Lady Madelyn has been lured to London by invitations from her brothers and a plea from her stepson. She thought she preferred her solitude. She is beginning to realize she does not. ***** The […]

Legitimacy, Appearances, and Pedigree: Hypocrisy Among the Upper Classes

Highlighting facts behind the fiction with Jude Knight and her Melting Matilda The premise of my novella Melting Matilda is that an earl, the head of one of the upper ton families, could not consider a mesalliance with someone of humble and scandalous birth. Certainly, those same ton families had many scandals of their own […]

A Different Kind of Steamy Romance

Highlighting Historical Romance with Samara Parish and the facts behind her current release, How to Survive a Scandal. Writing my first historical romance novel was a lot of fun and there was so much to learn. In addition to researching the period and trying to make the book feel authentic, my hero was an engineer. […]

Private charity and the Great Slums

Highlighting the facts behind Historical Romance with Jude Knight and her Children of the Mountain King. In Regency Britain, one in ten families lived below the ‘breadline’, and at times as many as two in five. Many people were precariously balanced on a knife edge where illness, accidents or old age could tumble them into […]

Family Ties Can Choke a Man

Sir Robert Benson came to Ashmead at the request of his sister—his half sister—planning to leave as soon as he could. In this bit for WIP Wednesday from The Wayward Son he has been dragged into a family party to celebrate the birthday of the man he thought was his father before he learned the […]