In honor of her launch title for the Harlequin Historical Undone line, Bronwyn Scott has stopped by the pond to tell us all about her novella, Libertine Lord, Pickpocket Miss. A hero on a secret mission, a heroine with plenty of secrets of her own, and plenty of witty banter to go around! What could possibly go wrong for the intrepid romantic couple?
Sophie DuPlessy has everything to gain. Julian Burke has nothing to lose.
Vienna of the 1820’s is Europe’s new glittering capital both in culture and in politics. No one knows the potential of such a setting better than Sophie DuPlessy. Europe has been ravaged by Napoleon’s wars and re-structured by the Vienna conferences and Europe’s premier statesmen. In the aftermath, kingdoms have been absorbed, national boundaries have been redrawn. In the wake of such upheaval, heirlooms have been lost. In certain circles of dubious repute, Sophie DuPlessy has earned a reputation for discreetly recovering such objects. Now, she’s been hired by an Italian count to retrieve a set of jewels, a supposed heirloom of the family. This will be her last job. The reward promised for recovering the jewels guarantees her the financial resources to re-make her life as a horse breeder. But she’s not the only one looking for them.
Julian Burke, second son of an earl, has been sent on crown business to Vienna to ferret out the truth to the rumors that an heirloom once part of the royal treasury during the time of Charles II has surfaced in Vienna. When the Crown wants something badly, Julian Burke is the man for the job. Julian is the most dangerous of men; a man with nothing to lose. No wife to protect, no estate to risk, a fortune so large he cannot be bribed, no care for his reputation and according to most-no heart to break. He is unassailable when it comes to blackmail and other forms of traditional leverage.
But Sophie DuPlessy is about to change that!
One interesting research tid-bit I enjoyed working with for this story was the neighborhoods of Vienna. The neighborhood Sophie lives in is still marked with a lantern today. In her time, the neighborhood housed bakers and other middle working class citizens.
Readers, be sure to visit the Bronwyn’s blog starting November 1 for links to a few of the research sites she used for the story!
Hope everyone enjoys this fun cat and mouse game between Sophie and Julian. Be sure to leave questions and I’ll be sure to respond later this afternoon pacific standard time. It’s 8:00 AM here in Seattle and I’m off to work. Can’t blog at work (imagine that) so I’ll check back at 3:30 PST and say HI!
I don’t think I have ever read a story set in Vienna. The setting and story sound intriguing. Have you ever visited Vienna?
Sounds interesting. I’ll be adding this one to the wish list.
Better late than never: I didn’t see the question from Maureen earlier (and by that I mean months earlier). Yes, I have been to Vienna. We visited there when we taught English in Slovakia. Vienna is delightful!