Martha Waters’ delightful debut romance, To Have and to Hoax, takes the death-by-consumption trope and flips it on its head. Lady Violet fakes a very serious illness in an attempt to get back at her estranged husband, James. But when James finds out that Violet’s been lying to him, it kicks off a hilarious war of lies and pranks between the pair.

We talked to Waters about which episode of “Friends” inspired the buoyant, clever tone of her debut romance, why her cat doesn’t deserve any credit for helping her work and what comes next.

Where did the idea for James and Violet’s war of escalating illnesses and lies come from?
I have to be honest: The fake consumption came before anything else in the entire book. I’ve had a longtime running joke with my friends about consumption being the most romantic way to die (I blame Ruby Gillis’ oh-so-romantic/tragic death of galloping consumption in Anne of the Island for this belief on my part), and several years ago I was joking about it with a friend and said it would make a great premise for a romance novel, but the consumption would have to be fake, since no one wants to read a romance about someone actually dying. And I quickly realized that James needed to see through Violet’s ruse pretty quickly, so readers wouldn’t feel too bad for him, so it logically evolved into this game of one-upsmanship. I was also definitely inspired by the “they don’t know we know” episode of “Friends,” which is overall the vibe I was going for with this book.

If Violet and James were each a cocktail, what would they be?
I don’t think James would be a cocktail at all, but a glass of good red wine—something classic and high-quality, in an understated kind of way. Violet would be some weird combination of ingredients of her own invention that sound totally insane mixed together but that all come together nicely in the end.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our review of To Have and to Hoax.

I stalked you on Instagram (as is necessary when conducting a Q&A) and was delighted to see that you have a very adorable cat! What role does your cat play, if any, in your writing process?
I was just joking with a friend the other day that if I could write an anti-acknowledgements page for my book, noting the people that I succeeded in spite of, rather than because of, my cat Puffin would be at the top of this list. Fortunately, I hadn’t gotten her yet when I was initially drafting To Have and to Hoax, but she was extremely distracting when I was trying to do revisions on a tight deadline. She’s the best cat ever, but a horrible, playful nuisance when I’m actually trying to get writing done.

“Any man who can write a love letter that good has my undying affection.”

There are so many fun side characters in this book, from Violet’s hilarious friends to James’ very sweet and honestly heartbreaking older brother. Did any of them really pop off the page for you while writing?
All of the side characters ended up playing much more crucial roles than I intended. They kind of took over all the scenes they were in. One character a lot of people have told me they love is Sophie, who is James’ brother’s former almost-fiancée and who plays a role in James and Violet’s hijinks. She actually didn’t exist in the first draft of the book! I had a different character filling the sort of plot role that Sophie plays, and I didn’t like her, so I rewrote her completely in the second draft, and Sophie came into existence instead. I ended up really loving her, despite the fact that I originally created her solely in service of the plot. 

Many of the problems in James and Violet’s marriage stem from issues with family. Which backstory came first, and did you shape the other half of the couple’s backstory to complement it?
I actually think the backstories evolved organically in tandem with each other, rather than one leading the way. I realized early on that for a couple to be this bad at communicating, there needed to be some valid issues holding them back. From that point, it was just a matter of figuring out what those issues looked like for each of them. Writing James’ relationship with his father as one that caused a lot of trust issues in his adulthood played really nicely into his character arc. I had known since literally the first few pages of the book that Violet’s relationship with her mother was complicated—that she wasn’t the prim and proper lady her mother wanted her to be—so I then developed this a bit deeper in terms of how these issues affected her relationship with James and the tensions they might cause.

What was the hardest single scene to get right in To Have and to Hoax?
I really struggled, as the book went on and the war between Violet and James escalated, with keeping everyone’s motivations clear. There are a couple of chapters at a ball late in the book that were particularly difficult in this regard. When you have two characters lying to each other and also in total denial about their real feelings for each other and what they actually want the outcome of these shenanigans to be, it’s important to make sure the reader is right there with them for every shift of the emotional winds, so to speak. It was really tricky! I’m super grateful for both my wonderful agent and my brilliant editor for helping me with this in different rounds of revisions.

Is there another era of history that you’d love to explore as a writer?
I really love the 1920s and have a couple of ideas for books set then. I struggle with these ideas a bit, since I find the ’20s to be a fairly depressing decade, and I like to write very lighthearted romps, but I’m confident I could make it work.

Who is your favorite Jane Austen heroine and why? Who is your favorite hero?
It’s obviously hard to choose, as I love so many of them, but Emma is my favorite heroine, and that’s also my favorite Austen book. She’s so complicated and at times unlikable and selfish and deliciously human. For heroes, I think I’ll have to choose Captain Wentworth from Persuasion; any man who can write a love letter that good has my undying affection.

What’s next for you?
Coming out in spring 2021 is To Love and to Loathe, which takes place immediately after the action of To Have and to Hoax. It’s not so much a sequel as a linked standalone—meaning, you can read and enjoy it even if you haven’t read the first book, but readers who loved To Have and to Hoax will get a particular kick out of it. It’s set at a country house party at the estate of Jeremy, James’ best friend, and it’s about a deal he makes with Violet’s best friend, Diana, wherein they become lovers solely for the duration of the house party . . . but of course it doesn’t end up being that simple! It’s a fun, banter-y rivals-to-lovers book, and I can’t wait to share it!

Author photo © Ryan Chamberlain

After releasing three critically acclaimed, independently published romances, Scarlett Peckham is making her Avon debut with The Rakess, a ferociously feminist historical romance inspired in part by the Enlightenment-era women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft. Peckham’s romance follows scandalous reformer Seraphina Arden as she confronts her painful past while writing her memoirs and falling in love with Adam Anderson, an upstanding architect and single father.

We asked Peckham about the radical life and heartbreaking death of Mary Wollstonecraft, why she considers her female characters to be “alpha heroines” and the secret to writing fantastic angst.

You’ve said that you write romances starring alpha heroines. How would you define that term?
As a historical romance novelist, I love writing about women who find ways to claim a great deal of agency for themselves and feel empowered despite living in a period in which they were not afforded the same rights women have now. To me, “alpha heroine” is a cri de coeur for readers who, like me, grew up reading alpha heroes and were like, “But what about all the strong, powerful ladies?” In other words, it’s more of a state of mind than a character trope—an acerbic bluestocking spinster can be just as alpha as a naïve aristocratic maiden, who can be just as alpha as a whipping house governess.

This book is dedicated to Mary Wollstonecraft and is clearly inspired by her and the other reformers/revolutionaries of the Georgian period. When did you first encounter Wollstonecraft, and what does she mean to you?
I first read A Vindication on the Rights of Women in a humanities class my freshman year of college. This is embarrassing to admit, but at the time, I thought it was shockingly misogynist. I had expected to read a “feminist” treatise—“feminist” as I understood the word as an 18-year-old in the early aughts. But part of Wollstonecraft’s argument is that women would not be so vain, petty and foolish (I’m paraphrasing) if they were given an education. I was like, “Um, wow. Harsh, Mary.”

When I decided to write a book about a feminist reformer, I went back and reread Vindication and belatedly realized the somewhat obvious fact that the book is not written to persuade women; it’s written to persuade men. There is such a sly brilliance to its rhetorical approach. “Gents, you may not want to educate your silly ladies for their own sake, but they will be less annoying wives and much better mothers to your sons if you give them an education. Do it for the boys!”

I was so amused; it struck me as so transgressive and tricky. This is absolutely something one of my characters would do—use the tools at her disposal to persuade a man into doing what she wants out of his own self-interest. It made me fascinated to know more about what Wollstonecraft was like as a person, rather than just as a writer.

“And so, of course, having fallen head-over-heels in love with her, I was heartbroken over the circumstances of her death.”

I picked up Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon, which is a dual biography of Wollstonecraft and her daughter Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein, and I was blown away by how radical and modern she was in all aspects of her life. Politically, she was pro-abolition, anti-monarchist, anti-marriage, pro-female education—she was literally negotiating an equitable distribution of domestic labor with her male partner in the 1790s because she was trying to write a novel while looking after a baby. And she had this absolutely juicy personal life with grand adventures (she went to Paris to report on the French Revolution and to Scandinavia with her baby to search for a ship of lost treasure for her lover). She had tumultuous love affairs. She suffered depressions and attempted suicide. She was a complicated person with a fierce intellect, a probing sense of personal ethics, grand passions, surprising tenderness. A heroine by any estimation.

And so, of course, having fallen head-over-heels in love with her, I was heartbroken over the circumstances of her death. Her life had just finally reached a place of fulfillment and contentment after years of struggle—she was polishing a feminist gothic novel, she was pregnant with her second child and able to spend quality time with her older daughter, she was in a fiercely equal partnership with a man who was her intellectual peer and also madly in love with her—and she died from complications of childbirth. And then her husband, William Godwin, wrote a memoir about her, which revealed that she had had a child out of wedlock, and she posthumously lost all credibility. She was dismissed as a slut, an “unsex’d woman” who personified the risk of allowing the patriarchy to release any of its grip on power.

It killed me that this woman who was so brave and brilliant and transgressive and determined got this abrupt end after leading such a singular life, just when she seemed about to truly achieve abundant joy. And her fate struck me as being very . . . female. By which I mean a man in Mary’s position would likely have lived to write more books and do even more persuasive work toward reform and raise his children. At the very least, he would not have died of childbed fever. And his reputation would not have been destroyed over the revelation of an affair—because men do not typically get rebranded as whores when their ideas are found frightening.

So I wanted to take all these aspects of Wollstonecraft’s life that remind me so much of an idealized romance heroine—her defiance, her passion, her tenderness, her vulnerability, her self-determination—and give her the romance novel-style happy ending she did not get to enjoy in real life.

What was the political atmosphere in England in this period, and how did that influence the book?
The last few decades of the 18th century were such an interesting time, because you see all the ideals from the Enlightenment cresting—citizens rejecting hierarchical forms of government, turning away from the church and toward science, demanding more justice, demanding an end to slavery. You have the American Revolution and the French Revolution throwing off oppressive monarchies and moving toward democratic ideals.

And in England, the response to this was a division in society not unlike the schism we see in American politics today. Conservatives were terrified that revolution would come to England and topple the foundations of society. Progressives were energized by the ideals and changes that were happening abroad. Powerful factions began to mobilize to uphold their power and privilege, while activists were agitating to make reforms. And it resulted in a culture war. Conservatives vilified progressives in the papers, branded them Jacobins, advocated for anti-sedition laws to shut them up and keep them from organizing and publishing.

In The Rakess, because the heroine, Seraphina, is considered to be in league with the Jacobins, you see her become a target. Not just for her “rakish” lifestyle, but for her politically dangerous ideas. The tension in the love story is around the stakes of this—you cannot enter a relationship with a woman like Seraphina Arden without taking on the stakes of her life—which will put you at odds with the ruling class and threaten your family’s security. And you cannot be a woman like Seraphina Arden without feeling the repercussions of this constant threat of danger, the stress and dread that underlie the fight. Which is why, when we meet Seraphina, she is in such a dark place.

Her historical influences are clear, but did any contemporary figures inspire Seraphina? And did you have any specific historical or contemporary inspirations for Thaïs, Cornelia or Lady Bell?
I started the book just after Trump was elected and revised it amidst the #MeToo movement, and I think my anger about how women are still fighting the same fights of the 18th century is . . . not a subtle undercurrent in this book. The concept of “nevertheless, she persisted” runs through Seraphina’s behavior—there is definitely a debt to Elizabeth Warren’s calm in the face of men berating and seeking to undermine her. There is also a hefty debt to women who speak out about gendered injustices and double standards and receive no end of harassment and scrutiny because of it. The characters are not inspired by anyone in particular, but I was inspired by people who have been on the front lines pushing forward feminist thinking, including Chanel Miller, Christine Blasey Ford, Rose McGowan and so many others. I wanted to capture both the bravery and heroism of being on the front lines, and the sacrifice.

What was the most difficult aspect of this book to get right? What came to you the easiest?
Seraphina initially seemed to have arrived fully formed in my head—her voice, her writing style, her mannerisms and the way she looked were all very clear from me from the first chapter. But that was a trick, because Seraphina is very, very tricky. It was much, much harder to actually crack into her interiority and excavate what lies inside this outwardly dazzling but brittle person. She resists being known to protect herself, and that defensiveness extends to the person who invented her!

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our review of The Rakess.

You do such a fabulous job at writing great angst that moves the story along, rather than wallowing without purpose or plot development. How do you plan the emotional journey of your characters?
Thank you! I suppose the basic puzzle that animates any romance novel is, “They must be together, but they cannot not be together.” So when I start a draft, I’m doing a lot of very cynical calculus to see what will drive them together, physically, sexually and emotionally . . . and what will make it absolutely inconceivable that their relationship will work. I’m constantly sowing the seeds of compatibility and conflict, so that there’s always a way to yank the heart strings and then twist the knife.

The next two answers contain spoilers! Click to show.

What’s next for you?
I’m currently writing my next Society of Sirens book for Avon. It will be Cornelia Ludgate’s book, tentatively titled The Jezebel. And after that I’ll be working on The Rogue I Ravished, my next Secrets of Charlotte Street book, which will be about Elena Brearley, the whipping governess who has been in the background to the other books in the series.

All Patience Jordan, heroine of Vanessa Riley’s new historical romance, A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby, wants is to recover her child, Lionel, and escape back to the West Indies. After her English husband died, his uncle had Patience thrown into Bedlam in an attempt to gain custody of Lionel and control over the family fortune. But when Lionel’s actual guardian, the powerful duke and dashing soldier Busick Strathmore appears on the scene, Patience’s plans are thrown into chaos. We talked to Riley about what inspired the unusual shifts in perspective in this story, Patience’s signature dish and what she wishes she could see more of in historical romance.

Were there any real-life inspirations for Patience or Busick?
Patience is modeled after young women, Black or biracial young heiresses whose plantation or wealthy merchant fathers sent them to Europe for education and marriage. Jane Austen memorializes these women in the character of Miss Lambe in Sanditon.

Busick is modeled after the Marquess of Anglesey, whose leg was amputated in battle. He went on to live a robust, full life, not letting his injury stop him. The improved mechanical limb is named after him.

You shift between first-person perspective for Patience and third-person for Busick. Why did you decide to structure the book this way, and how did you decide which perspective worked best for which character?
I’ve been reading a lot more historical fiction, so I might be influenced by that, but Patience’s world is one that is seldom written about and, I believe, easily misunderstood. Putting the reader in her skin centers the reader not purely on the struggle but her celebration of survival. I want you to understand at your core the consequences of her going against patriarchal society, to feel her fears and how she learns to be her most authentic self.

Busick’s perspective is one most Regency readers understand. He’s rich, commanding and influential. Yet, I write him in close-third person so that the reader can feel his struggles with his war injuries, maintaining his dignity in a world that had little room for amputees and the difficulty of reinventing his life when all he knew was combat.

“Only happy women bake. Pick up your cannonballs.”

There’s a very sweet thread throughout this story of Patience’s coconut bread and how much Busick and his men enjoy it. I was delighted to find that you included the recipe at the end of the book! Where did you find the recipe, and how did you decide that this would be Patience’s signature dish?
The coconut bread is an adaptation of a fire- or hearth-roasted bread that my grandmother might have cooked early in the morning in Port of Spain, Trinidad. When she has an army living in her house, men who’ve been deprived hearty meals on the battlefield, I can see Patience wanting to give them a piece of her island home to make them feel welcome in her British home. It also becomes a quiet way to get them to respect her boundaries. Only happy women bake. Pick up your cannonballs.

What aspect of Regency life do you wish historical romance explored more?
I would love to see more stories on how the middle class lived. This was a thriving sector of the British economy filled with tradesmen and artisans. These men and women lived with the subtle tension of who gets to succeed and move up the social ladder. So many interesting tales are not being told because of our intense focus on the most privileged in society.

If Patience and Busick were alive in 2020, what jobs do you think they would have? Would Busick still be a soldier?
Patience would either own a chain of bakeries or be a recruiter for the FBI. Busick would be a military man, a chief of staff or heading the Veteran’s Administration.

I was fascinated by your depiction of Busick’s experience of being an amputee during this period of time. What was most helpful for you in researching this, and did you find anything that surprised you?
Reading about the life of Marquess of Anglesey and how he survived a battlefield amputation and how he worked with inventor James Potts to improve artificial limbs is mind-blowing. You often wonder how, in a time when some in medicine believed in bloodletting or that one could have too much blood, advances such as artificial limbs were made.

What was the hardest part of this book to get right? What part came the easiest?
The hardest part is making sure to deliver all of the emotions and angst that the characters are enduring and also keeping the book balanced with humor and fun. These are two people that are broken and that’s not humorous, but they are both wonderfully human. I hope that I can sensitively portray their complexities. We are not one thing but a mix of emotion and humor and love.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our review of A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby.

What books have you been reading and loving lately?
I’ve been getting in my fill of rom-coms with Farrah Rochon’s The Boyfriend Project and Kwana Jackson’s Real Men Knit. I have loved Kristan Higgins’ Always the Last to Know, and Beatriz Williams’ Along the Infinite Sea. Complete spectrums of emotions from these wonderful authors.

What’s next for you?
I’m working on the second book in the Rogues and Remarkable Women series, Jemina’s book, An Earl, The Girl, and a Toddler. I always wanted to do an amnesia story, though I might be forgetting something else about this like, say, a Blackamoor barrister turned earl who’s a single dad.

I’m also working on a historical fiction about the life of Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, Island Queen (May 2021). This is a woman who rose from enslavement to become one of the wealthiest women in the world. It should blow the minds of everyone who only see 19th century Black people in the role of slaves. It should add another chapter to the complex story of what is known of Black women in history. We were more than victims and more complicated than the superwoman, superhuman tropes. Dorothy was beautiful, Black, strong and flawed, yet she found the faith and courage to win.

In her Union of the Rakes series, romance author Eva Leigh glories in traditional rom-com tropes while also using them to tell stories about less well-known aspects of Regency England, much in the way her London Underground series delved into the darker corners of the period to explore the lives of criminals, sex workers and smugglers. Last year’s My Fake Rake dived into the burgeoning world of naturalism and anthropology with a delicious friends-to-lovers-via-makeover romance.

In her latest release, Would I Lie to the Duke, Leigh takes readers to the exciting arena of Regency commerce and industry with the love story of Noel, Duke of Rotherby, and ambitious Jessica McGale, who masquerades as a lady to try and save her family’s soap business. We talked to Leigh about the tricky dynamics of having one half of a couple lie to the other and which ’80s movies inspired her latest romance.

You’ve said that this series, the Union of the Rakes, was inspired by ’80s movies. Which specific movies or tropes from that era inspired Would I Lie to the Duke?
The whole Union of the Rakes series was inspired by The Breakfast Club, and I’ve taken a little creative license with having my five boys meet at Eton for punishment in the library. That wasn’t a typical form of punishment for students at the time, but I figured perhaps the headmaster might make an exception for these guys. We’ve got the brain (whom we met in My Fake Rake), the weird one, the criminal, the jock (his book is the third in the series) and the popular one, who is the titular duke in Would I Lie to the Duke.

For Would I Lie To the Duke, I was mostly inspired by the 1988 film Working Girl, starring Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver. I also took some inspiration from the 1987 Michael J. Fox movie, The Secret of My Success. Both films have a talented, intelligent outsider creating a fictitious identity to break into the world of high-powered business, and, yep, shenanigans soon follow! I suggest playing Yello’s “Oh Yea” on repeat throughout your reading of the book.

“The tolerances for heroines’ behavior are often much slimmer than for heroes.”

In the acknowledgements at the beginning of this book, you thank your editor Nicole Fischer for helping you write “a romance, and not a thinly-veiled critique of capitalism.” What moments or plotlines did she help you steer away from, and how did you eventually strike the right balance?
Ha! It’s true—I spent a lot of page space talking about the repercussions of capitalist business, including the origins of wealth and power, and the people who are often exploited (and enslaved) in order to create a titled, leisured class. Which may be relevant and important, but going on for chapters about it can take the focus off what this book is supposed to be—a romance. So I scaled back these scenes, but I do hope that what I have included still makes us think about who and what we lionize, and what the human cost is in the making of wealth.

The following contains spoilers! Click to show.

Having one half of the main couple lie to the other can be a very tricky thing to pull off in a romance. When it came to Jess’ masquerade as a noblewoman, were there any actions you knew you could never have her take? How did that aspect of the book complicate her and Noel’s romance?
I knew that Jess could never specifically set out to seduce Noel in order to achieve her aim, yet at the same time, the attraction between them had to be irresistible, so walking that line between “I have to keep lying to you” and “I really, really want you” was definitely on my mind throughout. I also knew that the tolerances for heroines’ behavior are often much slimmer than for heroes, and there might be a quick condemnation of her and her actions, so I had to ground her decision to lie in desperation. She has to keep lying to Noel to save her family, and her family’s business, and the fact that she has to be deceitful is agonizing to her.

Noel is fairly rare among romance heroes in that he enjoys being submissive to Jess in bed, not just on occasion, but for a majority of their sexual encounters. What interested you about writing this aspect of their relationship? Was there anything about Noel and Jess in particular that led you to flip the stereotype of the domineering duke on its head?
I really do enjoy inversion, especially the exploration of gender power dynamics. For many readers of historical romance, dukes have become the byword for desirable heroes, and I thought, wouldn’t it be interesting if we took a man who had nearly unlimited privilege and power, and explored what it means to invert that? And wouldn’t it be interesting if the person who had power over him was a woman who was also a commoner? It’s a mutually agreed upon relationship, and evolves as they come to know and trust each other. Everything has to be consensual, too. That’s something I feel strongly about—enthusiastic consent.

Please tell me everything about the moment where a man basically pitches a Regency version of Twitter. How did it come about? Did you ever think it wasn’t going to work?
The funny thing was that, because the book is inspired by ’80s films, I worried that throwing in Regency Twitter was going to confuse things, but in the end, I thought it was just so silly and funny, I couldn’t resist.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our review of Would I Lie to the Duke.

What job do you think Noel would have enjoyed if he hadn’t been born a duke? Would he have been a business owner like Jess?
Noel is pretty but clever, and I think he would have been a pretty awesome event planner, or maybe a theatrical director, at the center of the action, calling the shots, with a bit of showmanship thrown in.

Did you always know that Lady Ferris would be your next heroine? Was she as fun to write as she is to read on the page?
Yes! Lady Farris was always going to be the heroine of the third Union of the Rakes book, which has Major Duncan McCameron as the hero, who is 12 years her junior. The clue to the inspiration for their book is found in their names . . . I did really enjoy writing her, because she’s in her forties, like me, and has given her last fuck, which is an attitude I truly respect.

What’s next for you?
McCameron’s book, Waiting for a Scot Like You, comes out February 23, 2021. There will also be a Union of the Rakes novella that follows a character we meet in Waiting for a Scot Like You, which is inspired by an iconic ’80s film—which I won’t reveal here! Also, I have some other projects in the works, but I can’t say too much about them . . . yet! So long as there’s always more chocolate and coffee, I’ll have more stories.

Lady Charlotte “Lottie” Wentworth hates Ethan Ridley, Viscount Amesbury, for making her a laughingstock back when she was a sheltered debutante. Ethan wants to make amends when they cross paths five years later, but Lottie is single-mindedly pursuing a marriage of convenience to escape her father’s attempt to pawn her off to the man of his choosing. But as it becomes clear that Ethan truly has changed and Lottie begins to value his friendship and support, she wonders if her carefully constructed plans will truly satisfy her.

We spoke with debut author Bethany Bennett about how she finally nailed Any Rogue Will Do’s tricky plot progression, whether she hates mornings as much as Lottie does and what comes next.

There's a really cute running bit in this romance about how Lottie is the farthest thing from a morning person, to the point that Ethan learns to not even interact with her until she's had enough tea. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Every snarky thought Lottie has about mornings I would proudly wear on a T-shirt. When my husband brings me coffee in bed, I fall in love with him all over again.

If I could, I’d be a night owl and not move from my pillow palace until well after 10 a.m. However, life has a way of forcing you to do things you’d rather not. In my case, that means peopling before noon. These days I’ve adapted to life with a young child, so I’ve flipped my natural schedule 180 degrees. In retaliation, my system demands dangerous amounts of caffeine to cope.

Speaking of mornings, if they were suddenly sent to the present day, what types of coffee drinks do you think Ethan and Lottie would love? Or would Lottie never abandon her beloved tea?
I think for their day-to-day wake up routine, they’d stick with tea. But if they were to walk into a modern coffee shop on a date, they’d choose an independently owned espresso joint with fair trade coffee, because they’d be big into the shop local/shop small movement. Lottie would splurge on a mocha with all the trimmings and torment Ethan by licking the whipped cream. Ethan would keep it simple with a breve (espresso with steamed half-and-half). He’d think the foam art on the top of the cup was a waste of time and effort since he planned to ruin it by drinking the thing, but he wouldn’t say so to the barista because Lottie would squeeze his hand in a silent reminder to not growl at strangers. They’d tip big.

Both Lottie and Ethan are devoted landowners and farmers, and they bond over their shared interest in improving their holdings. Where does one go to research how a country estate was run in the Regency?
I disappeared into a research rabbit warren on the internet. None of that information really ended up in the book, but for a while there I got grossed out every day over historical treatments for livestock ailments. Thankfully, there are so many blogs and archives online, compiled by far smarter people than myself who truly know their stuff, so it’s fairly easy to cherry-pick information.

The Regency period was a time of upheaval for agriculture, as factories and industry began to make their imprint on the economic landscape. I wanted Ethan’s goal of opening a local brewery to focus on controlling the supply chain and turning toward a production/retail endeavor, because that was the future of their economy. Ethan could see the way the country was changing, instead of holding onto the way it was always done.

I am extremely curious as to what Cal and Ethan thought of each other when they first met! And why do you think they're such good friends?
This is very much opposites attract, crossing paths with a white-knight complex. At first Ethan was probably intimidated by Cal’s polish, but stayed in his orbit to learn how to deal with society. Ethan could follow along in Cal’s wake as he tried to fit in with the ton. Cal saw someone who needed him and didn’t judge him for the scandals of his father.

I think Ethan appreciates Cal for being a loyal, steady friend who accepts him wherever he’s at, while always encouraging healthy growth. Cal has a knack for recognizing the good in someone, and we know our hero is very much a good guy at his core.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our starred review of Any Rogue Will Do.

Ethan and Lottie go through such a lovely progression from enemies to friends to lovers. What was structuring that evolution like for you as a writer? Did you move around any events or developments in their relationship while drafting? Or did you realize you had to add certain moments to make those transitions work?
Man, how brilliant would it be if I could say that all flowed like honey and worked from the beginning? I equate my first round of edits to hacking through a jungle with a machete. It wasn’t until I was working with my editor that I was able to match emotional arcs with romantic arcs and then pair everything with that series of tropes.

I wrote each scene on a 3-by-5-inch notecard and shuffled them on my bed until a new progression of events made sense. The end result speaks to my editor’s talent for helping me see how the structure of the story should work. This book was a crash course in so many craft elements. I’m still very new at this, and I’ll never stop learning.

"Basically, if there are people kissing after 1810, sign me up."

When did you first come up with the backstory for Lottie's parents? I thought it was really interesting to read a romance where a couple's overwhelming love for each other was actually a problem and not a perfect and holy thing, forever amen.
With Lottie’s father emotionally paralyzed by grief for years, it made sense that they’d been a love match. From there it developed very organically.

When you delve into child-rearing practices among the upper classes during that period, you see something drastically different from our modern households. My heart always hurts for those children and everything the parents missed out on. I wondered how that kind of emotional-outsider experience could damage a person, especially someone who already knew she was a second-rate citizen because of her gender.

The following contains spoilers! Click to show.

Are there any other tropes you'd love to tackle in your writing going forward? Are there any other historical eras you'd love to explore, or do you see yourself happily settled in the Regency for the foreseeable future?
Tropes are an absolute playground for me. The rest of the Misfits of Mayfair series will see us toying around with Girls Wearing Pants, Friends to Lovers, Single Mother, Fake Widow and the evergreen Pirate trope. Except he’s not actually a pirate, it’s just a long-running joke. However, his cave of treasure isn’t compelling evidence against the label.

After the Misfits (currently planned as a trilogy), I have a Victorian series in mind with a runaway bride I’m itching to get to. Regency will probably be the period I return to time and again. That’s the time period that made me fall in love with historical romance, so it just feels right. That said, I’m not ruling out writing a contemporary down the road. Basically, if there are people kissing after 1810, sign me up.

What's next for you?
I’m editing West End Earl, which is Cal’s book—no machete-hack-style edits involved this time, thank God. His story releases summer of 2021. I’m also drafting the third book, All Rogues Lead to London, which is slated for publication the following winter.

Author photo by Kristen Lauren Photography.

As the various Wildes have found and fallen in love in Eloisa James’ Wildes of Lindow Castle series, their ducal father, Hugo, and his duchess, Ophelia, have been following merrily along, offering advice, commentary and quips along the way. After five delightful romances starring their children and stepchildren, fans were delighted to discover that My Last Duchess would be traveling back in time to tell the story of how Hugo and Ophelia met.

We talked to James about the joys of fashion research, why she would like to go to a Frost Fair and how she made the very tricky trope of instalove work.

Did you always know that you would eventually write Hugo and Ophelia’s love story? And if not, when did the idea come to you?
The idea came to me as the Wilde books were being written; Hugo and Ophelia turned out to be such a lively couple that I wanted to tell their story, not just their children’s.

The other books in the Wildes of Lindow Castle series are set in the later decades of the 18th century. What did you enjoy about going back to the 1760s? Were there any differences you wanted to highlight between this period and the setting of the other Wilde books?
It’s always fun to settle into a new decade. One of my delights is fashion research. For example, Ophelia wears a sack-back hand-painted dress that actually exists. But I couldn’t just drop in a description of the dress; it had to have meaning. So, when Hugo realizes how expensive her dress is, he knows that she has no financial problems, and it takes the edge off his instinctive protective alpha reaction. A fun tidbit: Wilde Child comes out in the spring and takes place over a decade later. My Wilde heroine (Joan) wears a refurbished version of her stepmother’s dress! Many gowns at the time—especially exuberantly expensive ones like this one—were resewn into new fashion. And it’s a nod to Ophelia’s prudent nature, as shown by her rabbit muffs.

“I wanted her to be startled by something new and throw herself into a marriage without forethought.”

As a literature nerd, I had so much fun looking up the books that characters read and discuss in My Last Duchess. Which of those titles was the most interesting to you? Would you recommend any of them to a modern reader?
I love dropping literary nuggets into a story. I can’t say I would recommend picking up The Life and Adventures of Mr. Francis Clive, which Ophelia is reading—but I loved noting the fact that novels were written long before Dickens came along. The plot of Mr. Francis Clive gave me a way to establish Ophelia’s dead husband’s character, which I needed to do before Hugo introduced himself to her.

Hugo basically falls in love with Ophelia at first sight, and her own feelings for him aren’t far behind. Instalove can be such a tricky trope. How do you approach it as a writer? What do you think is needed to make it work?
You’re right about the challenges of instalove. On the one hand, it’s a beloved trope; on the other, it runs the risk of being really boring (two beautiful people instantly fall in love—ho-hum). When I was designing the Wilde family series, I decided that the male Wildes would know immediately that they had just met their future partner or, at least, a person whom they could love dearly. That decision changed the nature of conflict in the novels: I couldn’t include an “alpha who hates marriage,” for example. Here, Ophelia genuinely doesn’t want to be a duchess. And from my research, that was a prudent decision. But, obviously, Hugo won her over.

It was such a delight to see the young Ophelia. What did you enjoy most about writing her in prequel form?
I really enjoy filling in aspects of a character whom I had sketched in previous books—here, Ophelia’s red hair, her temper, her widowhood, her love for Viola and Hugo. It’s so satisfying, like filling in a crossword puzzle. I discovered why she made certain decisions in earlier books; I discovered why Hugo loves her so much. I found out what gives her the backbone to act as duchess-like as she will in Wilde Child!

I really enjoyed the complexity of Ophelia’s first marriage: it wasn’t great love or a passionless union, but something in between. Did you have any specific inspirations for that type of relationship? When did Peter’s character come into focus for you?
I’m glad you liked it! I wasn’t interested in the “terrible first marriage” trope (though I have certainly used that at times). Ophelia’s character suggested that she would have made a reasoned, thoughtful choice. At the same time, I wanted her to be startled by something new and throw herself into a marriage without forethought.

My Last Duchess is our first glimpse of Horatius, Hugo’s sadly deceased firstborn son. Did finally portraying him in all his stuffiness make you feel better or worse about killing him off?
Ahem. I live and write in Romancelandia! Who knows what actually happened to Horatius . . . I’ll just add that if I were so inclined to listen to the desolate readers who have written to offer fantastical ways by which Horatius may have actually survived, I would definitely bring him back as a very different man than he was as a youth. IF. . .

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our starred review of My Last Duchess.

The Frost Fair that Ophelia and Hugo both attend is so magical. What activity would you be most excited to do if you could travel back in time to attend it yourself?
I would love to travel by way of Doctor Who’s TARDIS. (Check out Doctor Who’s visit to a Frost Fair!) I’d wear a gorgeous pelisse with a muff. A duke would buy me gingerbread and mulled wine, and then bring me to the dancing enclosure where we would caper about doing country dances. Or, if I could travel to Regency times, a waltz!

What’s next for you?
Wilde Child comes out March 30, 2021! It probably won’t surprise you to hear that my heroine is not only a Wilde, but wild. Lady Joan doesn’t care a fig that she regularly shocks polite society. Joan goes for broke: She cross-dresses in order to play a man’s part on the public stage—risking the Duke of Lindow’s fury and her reputation—and the only thing standing between her and ruin is a very upright young duke.

I had a lot of fun writing this book—and My Last Duchess, for that matter! I hope they both make readers very happy.

The couple at the center of Betina Krahn’s new romance, Hero Wanted, are seemingly the opposite of “meant to be.” While on a boating excursion to get to know each other, Lauren Alcott urges her new fiancé Rafe Townsend to save two women whose vessel has overturned. When he dithers, she frustratedly rips off her dress and jumps in to save them herself. Outraged by his seeming cowardice, she promptly breaks their engagement, only to have both of their fathers urge them to try again, given that a merger between their two companies hinges on Rafe and Lauren’s marriage. We talked to Krahn about the real life (and truly disastrous) date that inspired Hero Wanted and how she ultimately brought this mismatched couple together.

You mention in the afterword that Lauren and Rafe’s disastrous boating excursion is based off of something that actually happened to your niece! Can you tell us more about that? 
Yes, well . . . it was a canoe, not a rowboat, and they were certainly not engaged. In fact, it was a first date that the wealthy young man had asked for more than once. She kept expecting him to help the two women floundering, but he just sat, watching them struggle. She finally stripped off her shirt (over a swimsuit) and dove in to help them. He was astonished and declared her “amazing” and a “hero.” She was appalled at his inaction and when she retrieved her car from his driveway, he apologized for not inviting her into his home. He said his lawyer told him never to be alone with a woman in private, for fear she could claim something untoward had happened and try to get money from him. My niece was appalled. Though he tried to ask her out again and again, she refused all approaches. I can’t really blame her. To hear her tell the story is hilarious . . . and also a sad commentary on the effects of sudden wealth on some people.

You’ve written romances set in so many different time periods, from the American Revolution to the late 1800s to the medieval era. What do you enjoy about the Victorian era?
For a long time I avoided the Victorian period because I thought of it as stuffy, restrictive and morally hypocritical. When my sister did a master’s thesis on Lady Audley’s Secret and began researching the era, she showed me personal ads from period newspapers and I was shocked to learn the true nature of English Victorian society. Fascinated by the imbalance of the numbers of men to women (so many men went abroad to seek their fortunes or served in the army or navy at the time that many women had no chance to marry), I began to research it myself. What I learned was astounding and so human and oddly “modern” that I fell in love with the era and began to set stories in it.

"I love that we’re all a little ridiculous at times—it’s a human thing."

I thought Lauren’s Ivanhoe obsession was such an adorable and funny character trait. Who is your favorite hero in fiction? Do you share her love for Ivanhoe?
I do love Ivanhoe, though I confess, I have tried to wade through the book, but find it wordy and tough going. I prefer the movie version made in the heyday of Hollywood and starring a wonderful cast. He is the ultimate heroic figure . . . the quintessential “white knight.”

It’s hard to pick a favorite fictional hero, but Wulfgar in The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss has to be in my top five.

Your website prominently features the phrase, "The only thing the world needs as much as love, is laughter." Why do you think laughter and humor is so important to a love story?
Laughter is found in the wonder and unpredictability of our world and ourselves. It is the balancing factor in our hearts and minds and is the leavening that permits joy in our relationships. In laughter, we find hope, commonality and acceptance. Sharing such things is critical to loving relationships and gives us a foundation for genuine love. I love that we’re all a little ridiculous at times—it’s a human thing. And the ability to laugh at ourselves is one of the most revealing and endearing personality traits a person can have.

At one point, Lauren reveals that she’s learned how to pick locks because the iconic Victorian advice book Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management said that it was a useful skill for a lady of the house to have. Did Mrs. Beeton really recommend learning to pick locks? Have you read her household guide?
I’m afraid that’s my invention. I doubt Mrs. Beeton would have included detailed instructions for such a thing, but I also have no doubt it was necessary at times for household staff to access things that were locked up for safekeeping.

What jobs do you think Lauren and Rafe would have if they lived in our modern world?
Lauren would probably be the daughter of a hedge fund guru and Rafe would be the son of a rival. She would have gone to Vassar and become a crusader for social causes and a proponent of literacy. He would have attended Annapolis in spite of his family’s wishes and ended up in the family firm. Not so different from the book, actually. See what I mean about Victorian society being so similar to ours—and still different enough to be interesting?

What do you think is the biggest obstacle in Lauren and Rafe’s relationship?
Both of them have preconceived notions of the other, which makes them act in ways that didn’t allow intimacy to develop. And a big part of the problem is their sensual attraction to each other. There are layers here. Neither wants to reveal his or her true self because that makes them vulnerable. The face they present is a defense and prevents the other from learning their true selves. And isn’t that what often happens in real life?

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our starred review of Hero Wanted.

What was the most difficult part of this book to get right?
Bringing Lauren and Rafe together after such a rocky start was harder than I imagined. It took a tête-à-tête in the drawing room (where humor snuck in) for me to believe these two were meant to be together. I confess, I wasn’t sure if Rafe would be the hero or not, at first. He came through with flying colors in that first meeting after the river incident!

What’s next for you?
Another Reluctant Hero book! This one with a different kind of hero—Rafe’s best friend, Barclay Howard. He’s far from society’s darling. He’s big, muscular and imposing . . . with a wolfish grin and a heart of gold. I can’t wait for readers to meet him!