Writing historical romance can be scary work, fraught with the possibility of the dreaded…

Historical error

You might think that’s a minor thing, but if you’ve lurked in the chat rooms of historical authors, you’ve heard the scathing criticisms. Those ideas are too modern! Gasp–an anachronism!

And my personal favorite: Girls didn’t do that then!

Paulette’s Puzzle Ring

Honestly, those voices nagged at me as I prepped The Bastard’s Iberian Bride for its May 5, 2017, release. My heroine, Paulette, is seeking a stolen ring that is part of a puzzle ring. When complete the ring looks something like this.

You probably recognize this as a Claddagh ring. These rings have supposedly been produced in Galway since 1700, and in my first draft, one of my characters says something like, “aha, the ring you’re seeking is a Claddagh ring.”

Except…the term “Claddagh” wasn’t used until the 1830s. Phew, glad I found that error and corrected it!

And Spies

The Bastard’s Iberian Bride is the first book in a series I’m calling Sons of the Spy Lord. My reading and research on Britain’s involvement in the wars of the late 18th and early 19th century led to my creation of the somewhat shady Earl who is retired from his clandestine activities–or is he?

One of the more interesting real life characters of the period was William Wickham, who led British spying activities in Europe for a time, and who destroyed all the really interesting records before he died!

I blogged about Claddagh rings and The Real Mr. Wickham, back in 2014, which tells you something about when I started noodling around with the idea for this project. Check out the Wickham post to see what a handsome 18th-century British Spymaster looked like. And to see some much better pictures of Claddagh rings (as well as some handsome guys who have red hair like my hero), visit my Bastard’s Iberian Bride Pinterest Board.

Buy Links

I’m excited to share pre-order buy links for The Bastard’s Iberian Bride. And just a reminder, for a limited time this full-length Regency romantic adventure will be priced at 99 cents! Get your pre-order in today!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071D52388

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-bastard-s-iberian-bride

iTunes: https://itun.es/i6759FF

Images: ring, Wikimedia Commons