Everyone talks about tje follow-up when they read an author's first book. In my opinion, when a series is concerned, it is the third book that says so much. 
I think I have made "Maid in Waiting" a monster. It is, after all, number three in the series, and that is the one by which I judge a writer. I know that I am guilty of examining "Waiting" too much -- for formulaic writing, for patterns, for evidence that I am going to be cheated by increasingly watered-down versions of the first book. I simply do not want "Maid in Waiting" to be that. 
Unlike my first book, which I tossed up on the internet with a certain defensive carelessness, the series has become important to me. Not letting you down by accidentally uploading a draft (as I did in my virgin foray into self-publishing) has become something bigger. I don't want to disappoint my readers with anything that would disillusion me. When I talk about Ben in Yemen, I want to know everything about it. I want to know so much more than I need in order to set the scene for you.
While Gretchen is with Elizabeth in London, I want you to feel it, see it, love the people she loves and want to come and visit with them again. And this is perhaps how I turned "Maid in Waiting" from book three into book "Oh My God I So Want Every Fan to Be Completely Happy."

That is a ridiculous goal. 
I wrote the first two books for me and created a world with a character I understood and wanted to reveal to you in all her damaged glory. Now I am back to doing just that again. In order for you to have Gretchen again, she has to be mine first.
I am so grateful to all the people who have been so patient and continue to wait. Now the reviews have been pushed aside (as much as I appreciate every single one) and Gretchen can stretch, breathe, grow, and get to you more quickly.

Thank you all.