It’s always a little sad to complete a series. You have “lived” with these characters for months, and leaving their world is like saying “good-bye forever” to a dear friend. So it helps if the new story you move on to write to involves characters from the previous work. Which is the case here!

As I was writing Temper’s story, the unconventional woman who befriended her in the face of all the gossip and innuendo swirling about her was plain, no-nonsense Emma Henley. She was such a vibrant character, she kept trying to take over scenes! So although I had been planning to write the story of Christopher and the twins’ older brother Gregory next, I found I was going to have to do her story instead.

Often told by her beautiful mother that she is “not pretty enough to attract a rake and not rich enough to attract a fortune-hunter,” Emma is not at all concerned that she’s survived several seasons without a suitable offer of marriage. In fact, having grown up viewing the often-loveless or tepid marriages common among the ton, she determined before ever making her debut that she would have none of it. Along with two other school friends of similar average looks and dowries, she’s decided she will live independently and devote herself to good works.

The last person Emma needs to be attracted to is handsome, beguiling Lord Theo Collington, a rich younger son with neither a need nor an inclination to marry. Though she expects her plain-speaking and refusal to adhere to the conventional politenesses will soon have him avoiding her, he seems paradoxically intrigued by a woman who refuses to accept empty compliments and makes no attempt to attract him. How is she to get over her illogical and annoying tendre for him when this far-too-charming rogue keeps seeking out her company?

I’ll keep you updated here as the writing progresses!