I am so excited to launch my first book as a fiction writer. For this story I drew on elements of my own, wonderful meet-cute. My husband is my personal hero and I could not have gotten this far without him. When I told him I wanted to return to fiction writing he was all about it. Didn't hesitate for a second.
Even after fifteen years of marriage I still get surprised how much he believes in me. One never grows accustomed to that kind of unwavering support.
In the photo accompanying this post you can see my copy of Debrett's Peerage of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1802. I hunted these volumes down after extensive online research. I decided instead of relying on second, third and even fourth hand information I would rather have a copy of the original text. Debrett's Peerage is the most frequently mentioned text in historical romances and it just seemed my library would be incomplete if I did not have one to read personally. The books assists with all kinds of information such as last names versus titles, the combination of multiple titles that a higher ranking peer may have, their children, their late wives and current wives, the extant spelling for first and last names within that time period – a veritable wealth of information first hand.
Imagine my excitement when I finally tracked down this two volume set which serves as pivotal plot point in The Duke Wins a Bride! When I received my first edition copy and opened it, it was a journey back in time to discover a hand written inscription, "G: Manigault 1803". Chills.
Who was this person? Why was it imperative for them to own a two volume set of Debrett's Peerage in time when books were expensive? Were they part of the peerage, or merely interacted with them in some capacity? Perhaps a story idea for another time.
In The Duke Wins a Bride you will enjoy an account of how these books from 1802 helped shape "the future" in 1818.
This first book is definitely dedicated to my wonderful husband and I hope you enjoy reading it as least half as much as I enjoyed writing it!
