A Dangerous Love

A Dangerous Love is Book 1 in the Swanlea Spinster series. It is available from Amazon.com

Reader Cheryl Moore's favorite lines from A Dangerous Love

—Daniel trying to explain Griff to Rosalind:

"There's something you got to understand about men. A man's got three parts: his brain, his...er...St. Peter, and his heart. Each part has got its own needs, you see?"

…

"Griff's always answered the needs of his brain and his St. Peter. But he's ignored the needs of his heart, most likely because he didn't hear it calling, didn't even know it was there."

…

"Then he meets you, and all hell breaks loose. His brain's trying to figure you out, his St. Peter is crying out for attention, and worst of all, his heart is clamoring to be heard for the first time in the poor sod's life. All that clamoring is confusing the man like mad. He doesn't know it's his heart wanting something, since it never troubled him before. So he's listening to his St. Peter. He figures if he satisfies it, the rest of the parts will settle down and let him go back to how thing were. But that's not gonna work. He just doesn't know it yet."

Books

A Dangerous Love Scoop

  • If you read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, you know that the Bennet's English estate was entailed away to a distant cousin. That's why Mrs. Bennet was so eager to accept the cousin's offer for Lizzie. But it got me to thinking: what would happen if an estate was entailed to an heir who didn't want to marry the current owner's daughter? What if the daughter had no interest in maintaining the family estate? That sparked my original idea. Then I gave Griffith Knighton a shady past and an aversion to the Earl of Swanlea. And what kind of regency spinster would not want to get married? Why, a woman with aspirations to a career of her own, of course!
  • I'm a great lover of Shakespeare's comedies, so I made both Rosalind and Griff fans of the bard. But instead of relying entirely on my spotty memory for those dueling quotes in the book, I used a Shakespeare search engine (currently down, but I'll put a link to it when it's back up).
  • For the details of the scene where Griff and Rosalind play billiards, I went to sites like Billly Aardd's Club English Billiards House Rules and The Forgotten History of English Billiards and Snooker. That's how I learned that the rules for English billiards differ vastly from the rules for our "pool." But "Naughty billiards" was my own invention. What do you expect of a romance writer?
  • Elizabeth Inchbald was a real playright. For more about her, check out her bio or look at her portrait on this page about women writers.

Inside Scoop from Characters

The hero's letter…

Dear Mrs. Jeffries,
I’ve learned from concerned friends that you think to make me the hero of your next absurd little novel and marry me off to one of the Swanlea Spinsters. I find the possibility so laughable that I wish topublicly remark upon the futility of any such efforts.

I am a respectable businessman (no matter what your website might claim) with little time for such frivolities as courtship. When I do choose a wife, she will not resemble the sort of woman you and your sentimental companions would likely choose. She will be an attractive gentlewoman of good breeding, content to occupy her time with pursuits appropriate to her gender, and not prone to interfere in matters of business.

I’ve heard that Lady Rosalind, the woman whom you have suggested for me, possesses none of the attributes I require. She is said to be a brazen, meddling spinster—not my sort at all. Worse still, her father, though a distant relation of mine, is a man I do not respect, with whom I do not wish any association. No marriage between the Earl of Swanlea’s daughter and myself could possibly take place.

So you see, your efforts in this endeavour will be fruitless. I suggest you find a more willing victim for your next piece of nonsense. I shall not fall in with any plans you and your partner, Avon Books, make for me.

Sincerely,
Mr. Marsden Griffith "Griff" Knighton

The heroine's letter…

Dear Mrs. Jeffries,
I have long been an admirer of your work, so it was with great dismay that I learned of your plans to make me the heroine in your next novel. While I am terribly flattered, I believe I should warn you that I have no intention of marrying any man my father chooses for me, and certainly not some arrant rogue with hidden secrets. Having met the rogue in question, I can honestly say that he is not marriageable in the least.

He does possess a creditable wit, I’ll grant you, but beyond that, he is an arrogant, deceitful devil. He recently attempted to use his extensive knowledge of my favorite author, William Shakespeare, to entice me into behaving wickedly. I resisted, of course, but his efforts demonstrate his truly despicable character.

To illustrate my sincere wish not to marry, I have enclosed an article that fully explains my feelings. I hope it will persuade you that I do not wish to participate in your next novel, since I greatly fear that participation might be detrimental to my sanity (and my reputation).

Cordially,
Lady Rosalind Laverick

Ten Reasons I Prefer to Remain a Spinster

by Lady Rosalind Laverick

Lord I would never marry such a bold woman. Lady: That's why you're a fory-year-old bachelor.

  1. I often find gentlemen annoyingly arrogant.
  2. My father wishes me to marry for money.
  3. Many gentlemen—I speak of no one in particular, mind you—cannot be trusted.
  4. Shakespeare did not have a happy marriage.
  5. Marriage is a tedious proposition for women.
  6. Certain gentlemen, who shall remain nameless, ply women with seductive kisses for nefarious reasons, then expect said women to fall in with their heartless and despicable plans… But forgive me, I digress.
  7. I wish to become an actress. Although a certain tedious male informed me that the profession isn’t respectable, I don’t care.
  8. Some men—I shan’t call them gentlemen—think mere wealth and status will buy them any woman, no matter what her feelings on the subject or how reprehensibly they have behaved… But enough. I shan’t speak another word on that score.
  9. Shakespeare’s wife did not have a happy marriage.
  10. I refuse to marry for wealth, only for love.