Emily Larkin's Blog - Posts Tagged "the-spinster-s-secret"
The Countess and The Spinster
I'm delighted to announce that The Spinster's Secret and The Countess's Groom have been reissued!
The Spinster's Secret is the story of a penniless young spinster who decides to earn her living by writing erotic stories. Being a virgin herself, she knows nothing of sex, but she's found a copy of the notorious Fanny Hill as well as a diary detailing a love affair between a countess and her horse groom. With those to draw on, she embarks on a scandalous new career.
I had a lot of fun writing The Spinster's Secret. I read Regency-era porn (Fanny Hill and The Lustful Turk) and then made up some of my own!
The Spinster's Secret has a fairly dark backdrop. Creed Hall, where it takes place, is grim, cold, bleak, and the hero is suffering from a huge dose of survivor's guilt after Waterloo -- but the story also has a lot of humor. (Well, I think it does! The dinners, in particular, amuse me.)
The Countess's Groom is the companion novella to The Spinster's Secret. It is also set at Creed Hall, only 50 years earlier, and it's the countess's diary that sparks the spinster's career as an author.
The Countess's Groom tells the story of a young countess trapped in a violent marriage and the horse groom who risks everything to rescue her. It's a short and emotional read.
Originally 18,000 words, The Countess's Groom was cut to 15,000 words to fit a specific publishing imprint, but the reissued edition has the missing words added back in, which (I think) adds more depth to the story.
The first chapters of both books are up on my website, if you'd like to check them out!
Happy reading
Emily
The Spinster's Secret is the story of a penniless young spinster who decides to earn her living by writing erotic stories. Being a virgin herself, she knows nothing of sex, but she's found a copy of the notorious Fanny Hill as well as a diary detailing a love affair between a countess and her horse groom. With those to draw on, she embarks on a scandalous new career.
I had a lot of fun writing The Spinster's Secret. I read Regency-era porn (Fanny Hill and The Lustful Turk) and then made up some of my own!
The Spinster's Secret has a fairly dark backdrop. Creed Hall, where it takes place, is grim, cold, bleak, and the hero is suffering from a huge dose of survivor's guilt after Waterloo -- but the story also has a lot of humor. (Well, I think it does! The dinners, in particular, amuse me.)
The Countess's Groom is the companion novella to The Spinster's Secret. It is also set at Creed Hall, only 50 years earlier, and it's the countess's diary that sparks the spinster's career as an author.
The Countess's Groom tells the story of a young countess trapped in a violent marriage and the horse groom who risks everything to rescue her. It's a short and emotional read.
Originally 18,000 words, The Countess's Groom was cut to 15,000 words to fit a specific publishing imprint, but the reissued edition has the missing words added back in, which (I think) adds more depth to the story.
The first chapters of both books are up on my website, if you'd like to check them out!
Happy reading
Emily
