Would I trick you?
As Major Henry would say, "No chance."
Did I hear you ask 'Who's Henry?'
Oh, he's a treat ;-)
New Christmas Release
I am excited to announce that I have an extra special treat on its way for you – so no need to egg anything down at my place. In fact, the only trick I have for you, is the magic of a new romance, set among the artists of 1814 Paris.
That’s right, I’ve just this week completed the paperwork for my Christmas release, due out on 19 November.
The Congress of Vienna
If you know your Regency history (and I know my readers do), you’ll know that this was a tense year for those in the Regency world. Napoleon was imprisoned on Elbe, and many European heads of states signed the Treaty of Fontainbleu in April 1814. By November, the Congress of Vienna had convened and the powers of Europe gathered in Vienna to sort out how Europe might look moving forward, now that the wars were over – or so they thought.
The English parliament, and the British Crown, did not sign the treaty. They did not quite trust that Monsieur Bonaparte could keep his ambitions in check. However, they were present at the Congress and sought to regain the stolen works of art taken by the French army as they moved through some of the greatest cultural capitals of the world, including Rome, Florence, and Venice.
One of the works that was stolen was Canova’s Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss – and this work has remained in The Louvre ever since.
Cupid and Psyche
I’m not sure how much people know about these famous lovers, but there’s no doubt that both Psyche (the soul, often represented as a butterfly), and her love-god mate, are intended as symbols of both the physical / sexual aspect of love, as well as the emotional / soul connection that true lovers aspire to share.
It’s worth noting that the immortal lovers only reach this level of understanding and connection after some errors and misunderstandings. The myth represents one of the original romances, and I enjoyed twining this story thread through the Christmas tale of my hero and heroine. Le Salon de Noël (The Christmas Salon)
The beautiful artwork by Canova (above) formed the inspiration for my Christmas novella: Le Salon de Noël (The Christmas Salon). Henry is my British Major hero who collects art – and misses Louisa, the girl with whom he grew up. In a gallery one day, he sees her likeness, and begins to suspect that she might be in trouble. After all, a society lady doesn’t pose like that unless she really needs the money. Does she?
I had so much fun writing about these side characters from Always a Princess that I think I’ll be doing some more. If there’s anyone you’d like to hear about, just drop me a message and let me know. I have subplot lines to spare...