Well it's been a while coming, but Lady Serena's Secret is now available as an e-book on Amazon. It was not an easy book to write as Lady Serena is basically a very nice person. And nice people are trickier to write about, as they tend not to offend or do outrageous things. In short - they can be a bit boring. So, whilst being true to the nature of one's chief protagonist, a writer has to dig a little deeper into her subject. No-one is really perfect after all - are they?
And Serena, I am glad to say, is not quite the perfect 'Diamond of the First Water' - a model of upper class beauty and perfection, that she first appears to be. No, Lady Serena has been flouting quite a few of those unspoken rules that dictate the rather restricted lifestyle of Upper Class Virgins.
Bored with yet another London Season, Serena and her friends, Lady Millie and Lady Fliss are, instead of devoting their energies to finding suitable husbands, relieving their ennui, by helping out at a Girl's Charity School (which is acceptable), and supporting it financially by secretly producing a Lady's Periodical, 'La Dernier Cri' (which is not quite so acceptable). Their involvement in this kind of enterprise would, if it ever became known publicly, bring not only scandal to them, but also to their families. However, so far, they have eluded detection, and are quietly proud of the results of their efforts.
Serena, not content with sailing close to the wind with her publishing activities, secretly designs clothes and jewellery (though the latter she has not indulged in recently, as the danger of detection is considerably higher). However, she still provides her modiste, Madame Tiffany with the odd dress design when she feels inspired and cannot resist her muse any longer. The haute ton would be shocked and outraged if they knew that Lady Serena had designed some of the most admired dresses of the Season.
Hew d'Arras, Earl of Blencathra has returned to English shores reluctantly, due to the necessity of taking over the reins of the family Estate and businesses, and to avoid an almost certain demise from illness, if he had insisted on remaining in India. He is also looking forward to the challenge of extending the gem and jewellery business he started in India, and building up the family shipping business to be a global enterprise.
When he left England ten years previously, he had sworn never to return. However, embracing the inescapable, he looks up his sole remaining close relative, his cousin Isabel, who has recently married Theo Brockworth, Marquess of Norcombe - Serena's eldest brother. On being introduced to the Brockworth family, Hew discovers that Serena is everything he despises in females - a beautiful blue-eyed blonde, and despite his instant attraction to her physically, immediately raises all his defences.
Far from the usual stunned admiration that she is used to receiving when introduced to any male on the right side of the grave, Serena is totally dumbfounded when Hew views her with stony disdain, bordering on outright hostility. Somewhat miffed that he appears to have taken her in instant dislike for no apparent reason, Serena delights in thwarting his efforts to put her off, when Isabel invites her to help in Hew's quest of finding a new home in London.
And so begins the on-off, up and down relationship between Serena and Hew. As Serena goes about her life helping friends and acquaintances whenever she can, Hew starts to realise that there may be more to Lady Serena than first appearances might suggest. Indeed, far from the ambitious, avaricious and manipulative heartless siren he expected, he has to admit that she is warm, generous, talented and soft-hearted, amongst countless other virtues. Likewise, Serena starts to realise that far from being the stony-faced, one dimensional businessman that he likes to portray himself as, Hew is a closet Romantic with an artistic side that he keeps very carefully concealed.
Running the gauntlet of scandal, intrigue, fortune hunters and the malicious harpies of the ton, enjoy the trials and tribulations of love within the Ruling Class during the 1820's with Hew and Serena, in
