The lady’s maid meets her match…
Wenna Chenoweth’s future is secure, until dashing Devon Courtney’s illicit flirtation gets her dismissed from her job as a lady’s maid. With nowhere to turn, Wenna is forced to accept Devon’s bold proposal: To be his bride. To enter society on the handsome aristocrat’s arm. To give him the heir he requires. It’s a foolproof plan. Except Wenna finds herself falling hard for a man who can never love her for who she is….
Wenna is passionate, mysterious, and ill-suited to the idle life of a society wife. She’s also exactly the kind of woman who could endanger Devon’s hopes to build his own future far from his family’s influence. For the spirited beauty has embarked on an unthinkable plan of her own—one that could lead him to surrender his resolve, and sacrifice everything he believes he holds dear….
Yet amid the wondrous landscape of colonial South Australia, anything is possible. Perhaps even love between two people the boundaries of society would keep apart….
Setting Books in Australia
You might be a little surprised to see that all my books are set in Australia. Although England and the USA are popular settings for historical romances, before I began writing, I had read hundreds of them. This made me very popular as a group member for quiz nights. After all, how many people know the name of the Duke of Wellington’s horse? That knowledge actually changed coming home from a quiz night with a few empty bottles into coming home with a huge basket of goodies. I find the obscure facts that I know about other countries in books. Some authors make their historical settings so absorbing that without leaving my armchair, I am in another far more exciting, or far less stressful place. And the more places the better, I think.
My place in the world, South Australia, has a rather unusual history. Although most of the states of Australian began as British penal colonies, my state grew through migration from every strata of British society, from the wealthy landed class to the working class poor. The settlement that was created was touted as the Utopia of the South. I decided to showcase my very different part of the world – have you seen our native animals? – in my romantic novels. Plus, of course, if I ever get famous, I can have Chris Hemsworth in the movies of my books.
During the course of my research, I saw how the enterprising immigrants formed our country. These people were the heroes of their time, discovering minerals, starting up industries, and stocking the vast open land. They were the inspiration for my heroes and heroines, indestructible, inventive, and hard working.
Wenna, my latest story, features aristocratic Devon Courtney, sent to South Australia as a disciplinary measure by his father. In history, this wasn’t so unusual. Back then, these errant English lads were called remittance men and paid by their families to stay away. Devon, however, is not one of these. He has responsibilities back in England, and he can’t remain in the new land. When he meets lady’s maid, Wenna, the great social divide ought to part them. In England, any formal relationship between the upper and lower classes wouldn’t stand a chance.
In South Australia a woman is as good as she wants to be. And Wenna has a business plan that should net her far more than the lay about remittance man she assumes Devon is. But he is tall and handsome, and a lover she cannot resist.
The lady’s maid meets her match…
Wenna Chenoweth’s future is secure, until dashing Devon Courtney’s illicit flirtation gets her dismissed from her job as a lady’s maid. With nowhere to turn, Wenna is forced to accept Devon’s bold proposal: To be his bride. To enter society on the handsome aristocrat’s arm. To give him the heir he requires. It’s a foolproof plan. Except Wenna finds herself falling hard for a man who can never love her for who she is….
Wenna is passionate, mysterious, and ill-suited to the idle life of a society wife. She’s also exactly the kind of woman who could endanger Devon’s hopes to build his own future far from his family’s influence. For the spirited beauty has embarked on an unthinkable plan of her own—one that could lead him to surrender his resolve, and sacrifice everything he believes he holds dear….
Yet amid the wondrous landscape of colonial South Australia, anything is possible. Perhaps even love between two people the boundaries of society would keep apart….
I am lucky enough to have inherited the family paintings of the first settlers arriving on the sandy shore of the new colony, by J D Welsh, and a newer one of a settler’s cottage, by Gary Gaston.
You can purchase Wenna at:
Amazon
KOBO
iBooks
B&N
Google
About the Author:
Former art student, former midwife, Virginia Taylor is the author of a couple of medical romances, four historical romances in the South Landers series, and a projected contemporary series called Design for Romance. She takes time off to work as a volunteer gardener in a local heritage property, which she features on a blog at: virginia-taylor.com
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