Books
After The Abduction Scoop
Inside Scoop from Sabrina
- I meant for Sebastian/Morgan to be the heartless villain in A Notorious Love and never have his own story. He talked me out of it the first time he appeared, so the wealthy duke hero I'd intended for this book became the Baron Templemore. But I still got to use my duke…as the villain.
- Sleighs are rare in England, so to use a sleigh in the book I had to present it as imported. To see what period sleighs might have looked like, check out this site.
- I learned chess at my father's knee, but didn't want to spend hours on a chess board working out a believable short game for Juliet and Morgan's scene at the card party. Fortunately, I found one on a site listing short chess games.
- Charnwood was loosely based on two actual estates/houses: Weston Park in Shropshire and Erddig in nearby Wales.
Inside Scoop from Characters
Interview with Lord Templemore’s Maid, Mary Baker:
Reporter: Is it true that Lord Templemore resembles his ward?
Mary: It’s true all right. Like as two peas in a pod, they are.
Reporter: Are they by chance related?
Mary: The master won’t say, but I overheard his uncle calling them brothers.
Reporter: Listening at doors, were you?
Mary, looking offended: Indeed not! I just happened to pass his lordship’s study, and the door was open, and his uncle has a very loud voice—
Reporter: Very well, go on. How could Lord Templemore have a brother unknown to society?
Mary: After the late baron’s wife run off and took the one boy with her—
Reporter: We heard that his wife died in childbirth.
Mary (coloring): Oh. Well, that ain’t the case. That’s why there’s two of them. The boys, I mean.
Reporter: Why did the late baron’s wife run off?
Mary: Because he was a bad one, sniffing around the maids all the time and going with other ladies right under my ladyship’s nose. Shameful, it was. And he didn’t stop it neither after she left, even though he had the boy to raise.
Reporter: Did his son turn out to be a “bad one,” too?
Mary: Heavens, no! Lord Templemore is a responsible sort and don’t go running after every woman who comes along. Well, except for—
Reporter: Except for whom?
Mary: I really shouldn’t tell. (Pauses to look around) All right, you twisted my arm. He seems to fancy Lady Juliet. Took her riding in the sleigh, and nobody’s got that old thing out in ages.
Reporter: But surely taking a woman riding is not unusual.
Mary: Truth is, he don’t go out in society much. It ain’t just that neither. The butler told one of the footmen who told the housekeeper who told me that Lady Juliet was seen leaving his company in a hurry the other day. Her hair was mussed and her lips red. Makes you wonder, you know?
How to Bedevil an Arrogant, Lying Lord
by Lady Juliet Laverick
- Leave your embroidery needles sticking out of his furniture.
- Beg him to teach you to shoot … then threaten to shoot him.
- Play “naughty” chess with him.
- Quiz his uncle about his character.
- Instruct him in how to handle his servants.
- Refuse to let him intimidate you, even when he scowls.
- Succumb to his kisses, then tell him they’re merely “adequate” … even if they make your bones melt.