Over time, I’ve been asked: why write romances? More specifically, why nineteenth century Regency era romances?

Because: they’re fun. Whether such tales are romps or wailers, there’s something about the time of Jane Austen that holds a certain charm when put between the pages of a book (or on the screen), even when we know it wasn’t all grace and honor.

Just think of charming ladies in beautiful gowns. Of dashing gentlemen in top hats. Fine carriages. Elegant balls. Jewels and fans. Pistols and swords.

Or: think of poor chimney climbing boys, or impoverished widows, or milkmaids who never get to see a hint of the world beyond a square mile of where they were born.

For good or ill, those are great tools with which to tell a tale.

So if you start with great tools, the next best ingredient to be added is for an author to have a particular drive behind their writing. Mine has always been: exploring what makes two people fall in love. Why these two? Why in this place? Why is this dance so magical? What about his look across the room makes the stomach drop or the heart race?

And, really, isn’t exploring the “why” of our existence the main reason we read in the first place?

That and fun, of course.

I had fun writing these novels.  It is my dearest wish that you have fun reading them.

Teresa DesJardien