Fashions in Re-Covering

I don’t know about you, but I love Marissa’s fashion posts. It’s fun to see how things changed over the course of the nineteenth century. But clothing isn’t the only thing that changes with time. What’s popular in book covers also changes over the years. That’s one of the reasons I decided to update the covers on my Lady Emily Capers. So, join me on a walk down memory lane. 😊

Secrets and Sensibilities was originally published by Kensington as a traditional Regency romance. I’ve edited and rewritten parts since. Here was the first cover (and title--A Dangerous Dalliance).

Art and Artifice began life as La Petite Four (actually, it began life as Diary of a Duke’s Daughter, but my publisher Penguin Razor Bill didn’t care for that title). I heavily rewrote it after the rights were reverted. Here was the first cover (before the addition of a necklace on the young lady):

When I finished the series on my own, I had silhouette covers created for all five books. To me, they caught the campy fun of the stories and hinted of both mystery and romance. But it was terribly hard to find full silhouettes of ladies in Regency garb, so the looks vary from Georgian to Victorian and even beyond. And they didn’t really shout “If you’re a teen, you might enjoy these too!”

 So, I give you the new and improved covers for the Lady Emily Capers:

Secrets and Sensibilities was challenging for me, because, as I’ve mentioned, the character of Hannah Alexander was based on a dear friend who has since passed away. This model has Nancy’s sleek chocolate-colored hair, pale complexion, and big brown eyes.

Almost as challenging was finding the right Lady Emily for Art and Artifice. Emily describes her nose as pointy and her hair as occasionally frizzy. Difficult to find frizzy-haired models. 😊 But I liked the nose on this young lady.

Priscilla Tate in Ballrooms and Blackmail was easier—just look for the most gorgeous blonde I could find. I think she’d approve of the girly colors as well. (Much more so than Emily, who had apoplexy about her original pink cover.)

Ariadne Courdebas in Eloquence and Espionage took a bit of work. She is the plumpest of the young ladies, and the most well-read. I liked the intelligence in this young lady’s face as well as the smoky background my cover artist used.

Ah, her sister Daphne! How to portray our Amazon in Love and Larceny? This model had a nice “girl next door” look that worked for the most athletic of the group.

So, what do you think? Did my cover artist, the talented Kim Killion, capture the characters the way you imagined them?

Six Reasons to Have a Secret Room

[Did you miss us on Tuesday? I had reserved that day to tell you more about Love and Larceny, then promptly got busy writing! My apologies! I hope you’ll enjoy today’s post twice as much. J]

 

I don’t know about you, but secret rooms have always intrigued me. When I was young, I even wrote a story about children who discovered a secret room in their attic and made it their home. But young ladies and gentlemen of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century might have come across secret rooms more often, for the British and the American elite had a surprisingly large number of reasons to construct the things!

1. To Know More Than You Should—You remember the old movies that included spooky castles and paintings with moving eyes? Well, it turns out those aren’t so far-fetched! Hosts did really want to keep an eye on their guests. Take Singer Castle, for example. Built by Frederick Bourne, head of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, in the early 1900s on the appropriately named Dark Island in the St. Lawrence River, the mansion features a library with grates for spying on the occupants. 

2. To Hide Something You Cared About—Let’s face it—misers are downright stingy, to the point where some thought it best to hide their jewels, their rare books, and even their wine. Stair treads, window seats, bookcases and the like have been used to hide the entrances to secret treasure rooms.

3. Someone You Cared About—A priest’s hole is another common literary gambit. In fact, secret rooms were built in many a Catholic home in England during the sixteen century to hide priests and families persecuted during the reign of Elizabeth I. The spaces were designed to allow someone to hide for a short period of time, but those doing the hunting figured that out and tried to wait them out. Some of the spaces were cramped, damp, and filthy by the time the poor priest could leave, and some actually died while hiding! Harvington Hall, Worcestershire, boasts several such holes or “hides.” 

4. To Sneak Off to Special Spots—Sometimes you just have to escape. Secret passageways have been built in a number of stately homes, but perhaps none so charming as the ones supposedly beneath Brighton Pavilion. It seemed the Prince Regent wanted to be able to visit his horses in the stables without getting wet in the rain, so he had a passage built underground.

5. To Have a Special Place All Your Own—Secret gardens and secret grottoes abound in tales from England, the most famous of which may be Frances Hodgson Burnett. For example, Dewstow Gardens contain a number of grottoes and ferneries waiting to be discovered.  

6. To Romance That Special Someone—Parents and other scheming
   
   relatives have worked tirelessly to keep couples apart, often sending them to opposite sides of the manor to prevent any sort of romance after hours. That didn’t stop enterprising gentlemen from building secret passages over, under, and around the barricading architecture to reach their lady loves. Brentfield Manor in Secrets and Sensibilities and now Love and Larceny is riddled with such passages, and even a secret room or two, making for some very interesting ways to thwart determined chaperones.

Me? If I was to build a secret room in my house, I think I would line it with bookshelves and all my favorite stories and give it a comfy chair and a window looking out onto Mt. Rainier.

Where’s a carpenter when you need one?

Love and Larceny Launches!

I’m delighted to announce that Love and Larceny, Book 5 in the Lady Emily Capers, is now out as an e-book. This story follows Daphne Courdebas, the last of our intrepid friends, alas, to find a beau.

But even an Amazon can fall hard.

Daphne Courdebas is known for her daring. So when her former teacher now countess Lady Brentfield asks her, her sister Ariadne, and their friends Lady Emily Southwell and Priscilla Tate to return to Brentfield Manor to investigate things that go bump in the night, Daphne is ready. But once again, things are not as they seem at Brentfield, especially when it comes to Daphne’s new friend, Wynn Fairfax. Wynn is determined to prove himself to the lovely Amazon. What’s a lady known for saving the day to do when she finds her own heart in jeopardy?

Here’s a snippet:

Daphne climbed into the secret passage beside Wynn. “Which way tonight?”

He seemed surprised to see her, which was silly given the fact that he had come to find her. Who else did he think would answer his knock?

“Daphne,” he said, tone somber, “I didn’t come to explore. I have something I must say to you.”

“Can you say it while we walk?” she asked, pushing past him. “I have a terrible urge to move.” She lifted her skirts to clamber up the steps to the main passage.

Immediately, the darkness closed around her, and she realized Wynn and his candle had remained behind. Glancing back at the glow below, she called, “Wynn? Is something wrong?”

“No.” She could hear the sigh in his voice. The space brightened as he climbed up to join her.

“I can refuse you nothing,” he said, and for once he didn’t sound all that pleased about the matter.

“That’s because you’re a good friend,” she assured him, reaching out to take the candle from his grip. “Perhaps we should remain here in the west wing, as that is where Emily is concentrating her efforts.”

“Indeed,” he said, still with that defeated tone. “Lead the way. You can count on me to follow. That seems to be my role.”

Daphne frowned at him, then held out the candle. “Do you want to go first? You can have the light.”

“No,” he said. “I need to find the light inside me.”

Daphne shook her head. “You’re in an odd humor tonight. Perhaps we’ve stayed up too late. I’ll try to get you back by a reasonable hour.”

“I’m no invalid,” he snapped.

“Well, certainly not.” She turned and raised the candle high so they could both see their way. “But everyone needs a good night sleep now and then. You can’t expect to be at your best if your brain is muddled.”

“There isn’t anything wrong with my brain either,” he said behind her. “What I seem to lack is conviction.”

“About what?” she asked, remembering to lower her voice. They were passing over her mother’s room, and she doubted she could be convincing as a dream two nights in a row. Then she felt Wynn’s hand on her shoulder, pulling her to a stop.

“The only place I lack conviction is about you, Daphne.”

Balancing carefully, she turned to face him. “About me?”

In the candlelight, she could see that his dark brows were down, those sea-green eyes intent on her face. Indeed, every part of him seemed tense, as if he were about to jump a fence or shoot a bow.

“Daphne,” he said, “there is so much I want to tell you, but I know how difficult it can be for you to stand still and listen. Perhaps it’s better if I show you.”

He pulled her close and kissed her.

Once again her world exploded, and she found herself trembling with the sheer wonder of it. The sweet pressure of his lips, his arm stealing about her waist, made her head spin in the most delightful way. Was this how all young ladies felt when they were in love?

Wait. She wasn’t in love. This was Wynn.

She broke from his embrace and shoved him away from her. “What are you doing?!”

He teetered on the beam, off balance and leaning hard on his bad leg. As she watched, horror dawning, he toppled to one side and crashed through the plaster to disappear into the darkness below.

When the daring Daphne first appeared in A Dangerous Dalliance, the original version of Secrets and Sensibilities, I knew I wanted to tell her story someday. It’s taken years (a lot of years!) to finally have the opportunity. I hope you’ll agree her story was worth waiting for.

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