Every so often in the UK, with it being a monarchy, there comes the madness of a royal wedding and the increasingly insane media circus around it. Think Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton and Diana Spencer, and you get the idea. However, this is nothing new. Back in 1791, the bridegroom was Frederick, Duke of York - second and favourite son of King George III. The bride was Princess Frederica Charlotte, daughter of the King of Prussia. The media in Britain, longing for one of

Now here's a surprise. These days we expect our heroines to take the lead at times, or at least not to sit about being passive drips - the days of the woman shrieking helplessly while the man did all the work are long gone. Even in Georgian and Tudor times, some women defied these conventions, but medieval? Medieval? Did medieval women take control and power their way to the men they loved? In such a brutal, violent time, did they dare? Well, Marjorie Carrick did. She k

It’s a beautiful day here, and a perfect one to go somewhere just as beautiful, famous for its great romance. Behold the splendour of Hever Castle, childhood home of Anne Boleyn. A smitten Henry VIII came to stay here, or sometimes stayed a few miles away at a hunting lodge to protect Anne’s reputation while being close to the woman he adored. In the end, knowing he could not have her unless he offered marriage, he divorced his wife and made Anne queen! Love conquers all!

It's always fun when writing a hero to decide his characteristics - for all my top ten essentials on what he needs to have, the variation beyond these is enormous. As it should be, men not being all the same, but this time I have found inspiration for not one but two heroes in the same picture above: a portrait of the cicisbeo. The cicisbeo was a courtly lover, and particularly popular in Venice high society, but he was not expected to be a physical lover at all. Charming,

Who says that love at first sight doesn't exist? And who says that historical tales of aristocrats falling madly in love forever are unrealistic? Behold the true story of Charles Lennox, Earl of March. Lord March was the heir of the Duke of Richmond, an illegitimate son of King Charles II. In 1719, with March having racked up large debts, Richmond arranged a marriage between his son and Sarah Cadogan, daughter of a wealthy Irish peer. So far, so standard for Georgian aris

I live in an old house. It’s 500 years old, it leans all over the place, and it still has the original Tudor bread oven working. It’s a timber frame building, most of the timbers coming from Tudor ships broken up at the Chatham dockyard. So the house is 500 years old, but the timbers are older. These aren’t the only older things in the house. When it was being built, according to legend, a medieval manor house in the village was being pulled down. As was common back then, bui

On top of the Empire State Building. On an obscure beach in Kiribati. In the gardens of a palace you will never be allowed into. You know how it works - the Valentine's Day lists of Most Romantic Places that you can't afford (unless you actually live in Kiribati). Smug! Annoying! Totally unrealistic! Also, Valentine’s Day is just one day. The chance of having the big romantic kiss on 14th February is small, as well as too restrictive. No! It’s time to capture the momen

So My Lady Governess comes out today – hurrah!!! I am joyous! Tam and Marina are unleashed upon the world, and I hope they make some people as happy as they have made me. Thus ends 2017 on a very high note, before 2018 comes in with more books on the way. The next one is almost finished and very different; my next hero may be Army, but he is not an iron-clad haughty Crusader like Tam. Not that Tam is as invulnerable as he would like to portray, which has just made me sta

In June 1999, I met my husband. I walked into an Edinburgh pub on my first night at work there, someone said, "Oh, he'll look after you," then this big Scotsman turned around and smiled. I stared back and thought he was gorgeous. I still do. I hope I always will. Real life romance is out there! And thinking of the first time I met him, and the impact that first sight had, I've decided to post some real love stories of people I have met. Here's the first. Peter was in h

When reading historical fiction, it isn’t uncommon to have a man marrying someone ‘beneath him’ – witness Mr Darcy, who for all Elizabeth’s claims that they are both gentlemen’s children, knows that her family is “decidedly beneath my own”. However, Darcy had the man’s unquestioned right to choose. It was far less common to see a woman marry ‘beneath her’, but the Georgian period provides two fascinating examples with two very different outcomes. The Bad – Mary, Countess of