Lord of Scoundrels Interview: Part One

An interview with Loretta, by Susan/Miranda

In a time when the shelf-life a romance can be measured in weeks, it’s a rare book indeed that earns a lasting place on the shelves of both booksellers and readers alike.  Lord of Scoundrels by Word Wench Loretta Chase is one of these magical books, a classic historical romance that’s just about perfect in every way.  The list of awards Lord of Scoundrels has won tells the story:  the Romance Writers of America Rita, a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, a repeat winner in the All About Romance Top 100 Romances Reader Poll (#1 in the 2000, 2004, and 2007 polls; here's this year's AAR Poll if you'd like to see the rest as well.) and for Romance Readers Anonymous Best All-Time Historical Romance and Best Romance Novel of All Time awards. 

Avon Books agrees, and this month marks the reissue of Lord of Scoundrels in a new edition, ready to delight a whole new crop of readers. For our next two blogs, Loretta and I will chat about all things Scoundrel: Dain, Jessica, and pornographic French watches. . . .

Susan/Miranda:   For those unfortunates who have yet to discover Lord of Scoundrels, could you tell us a bit about the story?

Loretta:  Quite simply, this is my Beauty and the Beast story.  The Marquess of Dain, the hero, is truly awful:  rude, overbearing, and intimidating.  This is the man he’s become in order to overcome a traumatic childhood.  He consciously uses his monstrousness in the same way he uses his vast wealth and his social position:  to control his world and protect himself.  It’s sad, in a way, because he’s isolated, like the Beast of the fairy tale trapped in his castle.  But Dain is not pitiful by any means:  He’s smart, cynical, and sarcastic, with a sharp eye for the ridiculous.  He has a sense of humor and is adept with clever comebacks and putdowns (or “setdowns” in the language of the time).

At story’s start, he thinks he has everything under control.  He grew up as a misfit and an outcast but he now has everything he wants--or if he doesn’t have it, he can buy it.  Then one day, into a shop walks Jessica Trent, a fashion plate with a brain under her ridiculous bonnet.  She proceeds to turn his world upside down.

In my version, the Beauty of the tale is an unflappable young lady who enters the Beast’s lair of her own accord.  And no matter what he does, no matter how awful he is--and he goes from bad to worse to unspeakable--she can handle it.

Susan/Miranda:   When writers are especially blessed and all the creative stars align, a great book will go so smoothly that it almost seems to write itself.   Was Lord of Scoundrels like this?

Loretta:  It was the only book that came to me as a gift from the writing gods.  Every other book is a struggle, some bloodier than others.  This book was pure fun from start to finish.

Susan/Miranda:   Dain and Jessica meet in a shop selling art and antiques.  Two pieces are of special interest to them, and I’m sure there’s a research story behind each one of them.   What can you tell us more about the Russian icon?

Loretta:  This is one of the things people might think one makes up.  In fact, there was a Stroganov School. The works were done in the 16th & 17th centuries, and by the time of my story were prized by collectors.

Susan/Miranda:   And yes, I’m going to ask: was the pornographic French watch based on a real example?

Loretta:  Oooh, watches.  In that scene, Jessica mentions Breguet --Napoleon wore a Breguet and Marie Antoinette owned several (which she never paid for).  They were famously accurate.

As to the naughty watches--they did exist.  Unfortunately, the only illustrations I have on hand are unsatisfactory.  I got the idea from a short entry and a tiny B&W picture in Eric Bruton’s The History of Clocks and Watches.  It’s a carriage watch from the 1790s.  The book offers a description but shows only the “decent” view.  Here's one, though rather primitive.  Here are some more, but the pix are tiny.  Here's a larger pic though it’s not the type Jessica buys.  I know I found a much better illustration, but the source is either on the shelves of one of the libraries I haunted, part of a museum exhibition I visited (here or in the UK), or buried in my basement.  I think they’re even more fun than the erotic snuff boxes, because the scene can be manipulated.

Susan/Miranda:   Much of Lord of Scoundrels takes place at Dain’s house in Dartmoor.   What about this remote part of England seemed an appropriate match for Dain’s character?

Loretta:  It goes deeper than a match, actually.  He was born there during one of my infrequent trips to England.  We were in Devon in late spring, and had left our hotel on a beautifully warm day.  (The gigantic rhododendrons we encountered there and elsewhere, BTW, inspired the rhododendron love scene.)  A few miles away, we were in Dartmoor, and another world, as I describe in the book:

“His was a Dartmoor soul, where the wind blew fierce and the rain beat down upon grim, grey rocks, and where the pretty green patches of ground turned out to be mires that could suck down an ox.”

Like Dain, Dartmoor is something apart:  Lots of brooding atmosphere.  It’s intimidating.  Changeable.  Harshly beautiful.  The dangers (like the Grimspound Bog--which Conan Doyle calls the Grimpen Mire in The Hound of the Baskervilles) and the wild, desolate look of the place have given birth to many legends involving the Devil, pixies, and ghostly visitations.  Dain’s harsh exterior, the stormy weather that’s his personality, the devil who seems to rule him, and the ghosts who haunt him--all of this is Dartmoor.

Here's a Devon lane in late spring.

And if readers would like to see his house, they can check out these pictures of Hardwick Hall, on which I based it.  Here are more photos.

Here's the portrait gallery where Dominic makes his run.

You can can get another angle on the locale at my blog at the Avon Romance Books site.

And for more about Dain & Jessica, please check out my blog at Romance B(u)y the Book on Thursday, November 15.  This is a romance blog in conjunction with LifetimeTV.com -- please join me! Here are the details for accessing it:

You can get to "Let's Talk Romance" and Loretta's "GuestBlog" through the blue "Blog Box" in the lower left-hand corner of "Romance: B(u)y the Book".  Register in the blog comments area to take part in the discussion.  (Tips: Leave no spaces in your UserName.  Non-U.S. viewers, use CA/90210 as state/zip code).

Now it's your turn.  Your question or comment has a chance to win an autographed copy of the new Lord of Scoundrels.  If you don't win this time, you'll get a second chance when Part II of the interview appears on 19 November.

Comments

[AnneH]

Congratulations, Loretta. LOS has always been #1 in my ballot and still is. Now that it is being reissued, I'm glad new readers will have the opportunity to discover how wonderful this book.

[Laura Vivanco]

After searching the Romance B(u)y the Book site, I think the reason I couldn't find the interview with Loretta is that it's due to go up tomorrow, the 15th of November.

Anyway, getting back to LoS, what I'd like to know is whether you intended readers to think of Dain as ugly or not? A while ago on a comments thread (I think to a post about appearances, but I might be wrong), I was arguing that Dain was handsome, but that it really depended on which aesthetic standards he was measured by. I got the impression from reading LoS that his great Usignuolo nose and dark colouring which made him seem ugly to English eyes would make him appear handsome/attractive to Italians (and Jessica, who's an art connoisseur and so has had exposure to different aesthetic sensibilities). I suspected that he was rather like Charles II, who was also taller than was usual for Englishmen of the time, had a big nose, and was known as the "Black Boy" and considered ugly, perhaps because he took after his Italian maternal grandmother's family in his colouring.

And if he is ugly, I can only imagine him being the masculine equivalent of a "jolie laide".

Oh, and I've already got a copy of LoS (the original edition) and I just won a copy of a book by Margaret Evans Porter, so please don't put me in for the draw (or however it is you choose winners).

[Maggie Robinson]

I somehow misplaced my copy (could it be in your cellar with the naughty watch?), so MUST comment. I too have also seen Dain as much larger than life in every way, bound to put staid English gentlemen in the shadows. It is so wonderful to see a fearless Jessica match up against him. Dain is often cited as a tortured hero, but where does Jessica's intrepid personality come from?

[piper]

The book sounds positively entrancing. I can hardly wait for the reissue - which will be when?

[piper]

Dang, I just read the excerpt on your website. I want that book now!! Argh. How will I survive until it is released?

[Elaine McCarthy]

The thing I've always loved about LoS is that it seems so emotionally true. I don't know how many times I've read it, and I enjoy it just as much or more every time. I have at least three copies because every time I mislaid it (such as when moving), I just bought another one. Your heroines always tickle me; they're so *smart*! Can't wait for your next!

[Maya]

I recently had the good fortune to win a Loretta book, so I am here simply to make the (completely original, I'm sure) comment: I *heart* Dain

[kay]

Dain’s one of my favorite characters. Did you have someone pictured in your mind when you were writing him?

I believe that writing “funny” is one of the hardest things to do and your book is filled with wonderful laugh out loud scenes.

I have a question for any of you; when you write a character who grabs the public’s imagination, does it intimidate you while you’re writing your next book? Or, how do you feel when you create a secondary character and your readers start clamoring for a book about that character? Or can you separate the public’s expectation from writing?

[Gretchen F]

I have no idea what Dain is like in your mind, Loretta, but I used to think he might look a little like Lorenzo de Medici, then I came across a Titian portrait in the Indianpolis Museum of art and now I think Dain looks like that, only without the beard!(LOL.!)But I always thought he would sound like Alan Rickman,or Patrick Stewart- so my question is, did you (or do you ever) have real people in mind when you write? Like, if they ever made a movie of LoS, who would you cast? Only I hope they never make a movie, because they would do something awful like casting (insert your least favorite blonde American actress here) and Leonardo di Caprio, or perhaps Keanu Reeves.

[LorettaChase]

Thank you, AnneH and Laura and Maggie and Elaine and Maya and Kay and Gretchen!

Piper, it's supposed to be in the bookstores on 27 November but some people seem to find the books a little ahead of schedule.

Laura,Kay,and Gretchen: I wasn't thinking of Charles II at the time, though now, thanks to Susan/Miranda's ROYAL HARLOT, the resemblance is clear. In fact Dain is a composite of certain men I've seen, some of those Medici & other portraits of the time period (I found a lot more recently, while researching YOUR SCANDALOUS WAYS), and Alan Rickman as the
Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1991 Robin Hood. In my view, Dain was an unattractive child who grew into his looks. When he becomes a big man, the nose is more in proportion, as is the rest of his body. But many of us carry the self-image of our childhood--like the fat child who becomes a slim adult but always sees her/himself as fat. Too, friends from childhood, like family, often retain an outdated view of us. And yes, the aesthetic of the culture does come into play, and a man judged ugly by one culture is handsome in another. Basically, though, I believed Dain could not see himself in the mirror as he truly was. He still saw the boy who was rejected & bullied. The miracle of Jess, for him, is that she sees him as he truly is, inside & out.

[LorettaChase]

Maggie, I'm not sure where Jessica came from. This is what I mean about it being a gift from the writing gods: Dain appeared center stage in my mind's eye, and there she was, an instant later. I can understand the hodgebodge of influences in his case, but I've never been able to pinpoint books or movies or real people that sparked her character.

Kay, my view is that a creative person's survival depends on separating public expectation, public reaction, from the work. The public isn't there when you're facing a blank screen every day. It's just you and the story, and you need to focus on the story and characters at hand--to put everything you have into it. It isn't easy to shut out the rest of the world but I think that if you don't do it, you're sunk, always second guessing yourself. As to secondary characters--because I'm fully immersed in the story and characters I can always imagine going on to do something with secondary characters. But not all the ideas will carry a whole book. One of my fantasies is to make time to write more novellas, so that I can bring back characters who intrigue me. So far, this is merely a dream.

[LorettaChase]

Gretchen, if they ever made a movie of Lord of Scoundrels I would take the money & run. But yes, I think Alan Rickman (with black hair) would make a fine Dain. I've thought of Jennifer Ehle (of the Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth) as Jessica. Mainly I'd hope for English actors (Ehle is half-English). My great fantasy would be a BBC production. Hey, if you're going to dream, dream big!

BTW: Last time I checked, my Avon blog wasn't up. I'll do some sleuthing and see what's happening.

[peggy]

first of all i love your books.
when writting your books.
do you ever fall in love with your
characters.

[LorettaChase]

Thanks, Peggy. I tend to fall in love with the heroes--and maybe that's simply a result of putting myself in the heroine's head. And she becomes my best friend. But I become deeply attached to all my characters. Perhaps because every day, I'm living in their world, they become my friends and family. Finishing a book can leave me feeling a little lost and sad...until the next book starts coming to life.

[LorettaChase]

I have checked in with Avon, and am happy to report that my blog is now up. You can drop by to chat, if you like, at
http://avonromanceblog.blogspot.com/

[margaret]

Congratulations on the re-issue, Loretta! I too, have a treasured original edition.
It's hard to imagine anyone who hasn't read it, but whoever hasn't is in for such a treat!

[Janga]

I was delighted to win an autographed copy of LOS for an earlier post (my original copy was in pieces from rereadings), so please eliminate me from the drawing as well.

Dain is definitely an unforgettable character and always in my list of favorite heroes, but it is Jessica who places LOS at the top of my list of favorite romances. She is both intelligent and smart (not the same thing, I think), articulate, self-knowing and yet not too perfect to believe in--a romance heroine par excellence

[Claire E.]

Loretta, can you comment on the interaction between Dain and his son. For someone who suffered rejection as a boy himself, he seems awfully hard-hearted toward the boy.

[JudiDW]

This is a new one for me but after reading all the comments from readers I can't wait for it to come out!

[jrox]

I love this book. I only read it for the first time about a year ago, after seeing it at the top of so many favorites lists. It was my first Loretta Chase and I have since glommed many others, mostly as ebooks as that is how they were available. There are so many things about Dain that in another book would completely turn me off to the hero, and I believe that it is the prologue which saves the story, because once having started out from a place of sympathy, you just can't hate him; the knowledge of his vulnerability is always lurking beneath every scene.

My question to Loretta is:
Did you envision the story with Dain's backstory in place? Or did he come to you as a flawed adult and you had to create the story to explain his adult self? How did you come to use the prologue, as opposed to dropping nuggets of Dain's past here and there throughout the book?

[Malvina]

Lord Of Scoundrels is one of those books that resound long after the reading is finished. Or the rereading. You peel layers off Dain until in the end we love him sooo much and want him to be loved, and loved well. Actually, we want that well before the end! I run a romance writer's group in Australia and asked the group to read LOS, even though some aren't historical readers. It was given a unanimous thumbs up (which surprised those non-historical readers in the nicest possible way) - an accolade only ever given previously to a Linda Howard romantic suspense. All I can say is thankyou for such a beautifully romantic book. I loved reading it and will reread it as often as I can.

[AnneH]

**Basically, though, I believed Dain could not see himself in the mirror as he truly was. He still saw the boy who was rejected & bullied.**

Yes, I don’t think he quite overcame it. It reminded me of his reaction to Dominic after he saw him for the first time in the churchyard and everytime Jessica brings up the boy in a conversation, his feeling of being seized up and a certain paralysis. Not that he hated the boy, but that the boy reminded him so much of himself, this ugly ,hideous, unwanted child. But what was wonderful was that, when Jessica finally forces him to do something about Dominic, he finally saw through that. He recognized in Dominic a kindred spirit, that this was a lost, unwanted and vulnerable child as he once was, and one who deserves to be loved and taken care of instead of being rejected.

**There are so many things about Dain that in another book would completely turn me off to the hero, and I believe that it is the prologue which saves the story, because once having started out from a place of sympathy, you just can't hate him; the knowledge of his vulnerability is always lurking beneath every scene.**

I do agree. The prologue was just marvelous. LOS was my first Loretta Chase book, and the moment I read that prologue, I knew that this book was going to be something special.

[Mickey Thies]

I am a huge fan of Heyer and Dorothy Dunnett. Sad to say, I have not heard about your book. It sounds just up my alley, so to speak. I certainly will search Amazon for it. I am always looking for a new author and a great read. I think Lord Of Scoundrels will fit me to a tee.

Mickey lover of all great historical novels

[RevMelinda]

Loretta, I just have to say that I love the naughty watch and the icon and Jessica's hats and The Glove and the mental dictionary. . . and the scene where Jessica does--well, you know--to Dain. . . and I love all the rest of the book too!

::sigh::

(Can I also confess that I have an awful crush on Rupert in Mr. Impossible?)

[LorettaChase]

Thank you, Margaret!

Janga, more thanks! I agree that intelligent is not the same as smart, and Jessica did need to be both.

ClaireE, I think AnneH has answered your question. Dain isn't a hard-hearted man, but the trauma of childhood isn't something he can deal with in a reasoning way. If he could, he wouldn't be the man he is when he first meets Jessica. Seeing Dominic--the image of himself as a child--paralyzes him. It's as though something from a nightmare has appeared in real life. But because he is, at heart, a good man as well as an intelligent one, when Jessica makes him face and deal with the awful parts of his life, the good part of him comes through.

JudiDW and Mickey Thies: If you'd like more of a sample, there's an excerpt on my website.

[AnneH]

ClaireE, I might also add that Jessica herself didn’t understand why Dain was acting the way he did everytime she tries to broach the subject of Dominic. It was only when she forces the issue at Haytor Rocks that she herself realised what the problem was - a problem of cosmic proportion - as she calls it.

Loretta, I’d like to mention Phelps, the groom who taught him to ride his first pony and accompanied him to boarding school, and who was later promoted as coachman. I’m glad that Dain knew the value of this man and that in a way, he was the one person in his past who I think he has was really fond of and respected.

[LorettaChase]

"Did you envision the story with Dain's backstory in place? Or did he come to you as a flawed adult and you had to create the story to explain his adult self? How did you come to use the prologue, as opposed to dropping nuggets of Dain's past here and there throughout the book?"

jrox, when Dain came to me, he came complete with backstory. That was part of my outline. And the prologue, like every other scene, was clear in my mind as I sat down to write. When I say this book was a gift from the writing gods, this is what I mean. It was all THERE. I did fret a bit, when I turned in the manuscript, because we are advised to avoid prologues and this is a long one. If the editor had asked me to drop in nuggets--flashbacks and such--instead, I definitely would have argued. But she didn't. She understood that LOS simply had to have that prologue. Without it, Dain is an awful man, and I couldn't see readers developing much sympathy for him. They had to live his childhood with him.

Malvina, thank you for introducing my book to your group. I am hugely complimented that they liked it!

[LorettaChase]

AnneH, you're so right about Dain's attitude toward his son. I'll be talking more about Dominic in the second part of the interview.

RevMelinda, thank you! I continue to feel amazed at the way it all came together. Oh, yes, confess. I'm all for crushes--and I do really love the lug myself.

[LorettaChase]

AnnH, it's so interesting that you bring up Phelps. He tells us that there was at least a little humanity in Dain's past, that he hasn't forgotten it, and that he's grateful.

[Santa]

Lord of Scoundrels is my favorite romance of all time!

I got my first copy from the library which I had to return because I am a good doobie. My second copy was from the UBS and I felt sorry for that poor misguided soul who dropped it off there. Imagine my delight when I found it on the bookshelf at my local Borders. Now that copy is as tattered as my copy of 'Persuasion'.

Congrats on the re-issue. Sorry I missed you here and over at Avon. I'll try to catch you tomorrow at RBTB.

[PJ]

Well, I'm one of the poor souls who hasn't ready LOS yet, but not for lack of trying! It seems like I've been searching forever but haven't been able to find a copy. None of my used book stores has it, not surprising since I imagine it's on thousands of keeper shelves around the world. I was delighted to hear Avon would be reissuing it and you better believe I'll be one of the first in line to pick up a copy at my local store.

~PJ

[Nathalie]

I have never read any of your books... a sacrilege!

I came here from the AvonFanLit blog... so I am new here :)

[Lily]

Number 1 in romantic lists... that must be such a privilege... I have not read it yet, but I see that my public libaray has one copy :)

[Lila N.]

Thanks for giving us this excerpt and I don't know how come I have never had the chance of reading your book...

Number 1: WOW! Congrats :D

[Michelle Buonfiglio]

Ciao, Loretta! Congrats on the AAR #1! I find LoS one of the best romances ever, for many reasons. But, mostly, I find Dain wildly attractive. As Laura Vivanco was remarking above, there are things attractive about him that wouldn't be understood w/in what we as romance readers understand as haute ton, or British Society. But you made him choose to embrace his "Italian" nature, out of spite, perhaps. It's interesting, because here in America, we often choose whether to accept our ethnicity and wear it outwardly, or "tame" it to blend in. Perhaps that's why Dain is so attractive to me; he's Italian with a vengeance.

Someone mentioned at your GuestBlog at RBTB/Let's Talk Romance today, that Jessica would make a great friend. As a reader who's hero focused, I found that idea intriguing, and also agree. There is much about her to admire, and while I usually think of heroines as placeholders, Jessica stands out as memorable. But I'm not alone, apparently; so many agree that LoS is remarkable.

[LorettaChase]

Hello, Santa. You didn't miss me. Our WW blogs last a couple of days--and I'm still checking in at Avon. Currently I'm experiencing technical difficulties but hope to get to RBTB soon today!

PJ--I ought to point out that the new version includes a letter from me to readers. Also, I was assured, a couple of errors in the Italian were corrected. There may be an excerpt from one of my other books as well. So the reissue has some extras besides the lovely cover.

Natalie, welcome! I hope you'll return again and again. The Wenches give some great blog, and I'm always learning something from them and from our readers.

[LorettaChase]

Lily, it's an honor, indeed. This has been an amazing week for LOS.

Lila N, thank you! I hope you'll read & enjoy it.

Buongiorno, Michelle. That is an important point about Dain's character. He chose--defiantly--to learn Italian, to be Italian, rather than to try to blend in. BTW, my new hero, in Your Scandalous Ways, is also half-Italian--and he definitely has embraced this part of his nature.

Thank you for the big compliment for Jessica. I try to create heroines I'd like to have as friends, and she's one I think of with very great affection.

[Francois]

Thank you for writing LoS, Loretta. It really stands out as something special. I have two copies, both well worn!

[Kristie(J)]

I've long adored Lord of Scoundrels too and although it was a very tough choice - it was my #2 book, but could easily have been #1 - except that my #1 pick was - #1. Anyway - you answered my question on Dain's attractiveness so now I'm hoping to win one *g*. My original copy is pretty beat up from reading it so many times. I think he is ugly only in his own eyes because of the way he grew up and his mother deserting him and everything. I missed you during the hiatus you took and rejoiced when you returned to writing. And as your other older books were slowly being rereleased, I was crossing my fingers that Lord of Scoundrels would be too! And I'm so glad that is so that a younger generation of readers can discover the joy in reading this very, very fine book.

[Tal]

I have loved this book, it is the Best Regency book I have read there have been one or two closebut the deciding factor is the heroine, Jess, I always beleive that it is hard to write a likable heroine, heros are typically easy, tall, dark, the more trouble the better!! Heroines can make the book, being to whiny, stupid, to much 'no, no, no,' up until the last paragraph of the last chapter.. Something I love is also that the couple work together instead of against each other, I just love that , and hardly any one does it..Lord of Scoundrals...
PERFECT
BTW, the Last Hellion also very good...sequel does NOT disapppoint
Tal

[AnneH]

I like Jessica. I think he’s perfect for Dain. There are some readers, paricularly at AAR, who disliked her and think her character is like that of a Mary Sue but I disagree. Dain needs a strong, smart and intelligent woman who can “manage” him. Otherwise, he would just ride roughshod over her.

Loretta, when I was reading Captives of the Night, I was wondering why Esmond and Leila never mentioned Dain, especially when they were going over the people who were acquainted with Francis in Paris. Then I realised that it was written before LOS even though it was set after that. It would have been interesting to know what Esmond thinks of Dain and their interesting, hilarious and dramatic courtship in Paris. Maybe, if the book gets reissued, you can makes some tiny bit of changes... .

BTW, I also loved your Knaves Wager and I’m glad some readers mentioned it in the other blog. It’s one of the best traditional regencies out there for me. And what marvelous secondary characters. Was Dangerous Liaisons an inspiration for this book?

[Santa]

I feel I must make a confession here about one of the reasons I adore this book and it is the fact that Dain expressed the depth of his feelings for Jessica in Italian. Another one of those instances that I smiled ear to ear while reading LOS. I KNEW what he was saying to her and it upped the ante for me. I could hear him breath those words to her.

Can't wait for more of that kind of deliciousness in your newest book!

I also found Jessica refreshing in that not only was she an independent woman and strong but she had a loving and maternal instinct to nurture and care for everyone in her life. She never gave up one for the other.

And finally, I loved Bertie and was sooo happy when he got his HEA in a later book.

I'm heading over to RBTB and hit PST!

[LorettaChase]

Francois, Kristie(J), and Tal, thank you!__ And Tal, thank you for the compliment about TLH. That book is special to me, too, in a different way and for different reasons.__Anne H, I'd love to make changes--and fix some mistakes I've discovered too late (see Jo's blog on this topic)--but we usually only get reissues in the page proof stage (if then--it depends on factors too complicated to discuss here)where we are limited in what we can change, as each small correction is costly. As to KNAVES' WAGER--Dangerous Liaisons was one of two inspirations. The other was Richardson's CLARISSA.__Santa, it's so great that you know the language and could hear the exact words he was saying. All I could do was try to capture the feeling. I love the sound of Italian, and I know the words to some operas, and so it was clear to me how passionate it would be, and how the sound would affect Jessica. My new book, YOUR SCANDALOUS WAYS, which is set in Venice, has more Italian in it--and the whole experience, especially the discussion with my "consultant" Anna, in Italy, has made me determined to take lessons. You make a good point about Jessica, too. She keeps her cool but she is a loving and warm woman. Oh, and Bertie. I adore Bertie. That's why he ended up in two books and a novella!

[Teresa W.]

Enjoyed hearing from you today and the book sounds terrific!

[Christy H.]

Lord of Scoundrels sounds like a wonderful read.