Sophie Jordan’s The Duke Buys a Bride begins with a scene so seemingly outlandish, this reader believed there was no basis for it in the historical record: Heroine Alyse Bell is taken to the square of her tiny village and sold in a bride auction so that her much older husband can then marry another woman. However, a quick Google search revealed that bride auctions were a legal and common practice for decades, affording lower class citizens with an alternative to the far more immoral action of divorce.

Alyse is purchased and married to Marcus, Duke of Autenberry, an upstanding nobleman whose life has steadily imploded during the first two books of Jordan’s current series, The Rogue Files. We talked to Jordan about the historical practice of bride auctions, power dynamics in historical romance and why she wants to write a book inspired by John Tucker Must Die.

Where did you first learn about bride auctions, and when did you decide to use that practice as the premise for a romance novel?
You know, I cannot recall the first moment I learned of “wife-selling,” but as a history major and writer of historical romance I’ve always read research books—especially about British history. I know I stumbled upon the historical tidbit some time during the course of researching (a long time ago), and I found it quite shocking to learn that such a practice was legal in Britain as late as the early 1900s. I was never able to shake the existence of such a thing. I’ve always known I would write a story around this premise some day.

You write contemporary romance and YA novels in addition to historical romance—do you think your authorial voice changes in each genre?
I think it must . . . certainly I use more “colloquial” language in my YA novels and contemporaries. However, I do believe I’ve always written heroines with modern sensibilities.

This book is deeply interested in class and specifically dismantling the hero’s class snobbery, which I greatly appreciated. What level of society would you chose to be born into in the Regency?
Interesting question! Clearly females are afforded very little choice or autonomy in this era amid any class, but as a member of the upper class I would at least likely be fed and clothed and not subject to penury. Living a comfortable middle-class existence might be the way to go. I would not be subject to the pressures placed upon females from the most upper echelon of society, nor would I be so poor that I feared constantly for my next meal/shelter, etc.

How soon did you know that Marcus, who’s appeared in both of the previous books in The Rogue Files, was going to be the hero of The Duke Buys a Bride? And what made you decide to tell his love story?
I always knew his story would be forthcoming (readers wanted to know what happened to the comatose duke in While the Duke Was Sleeping), I just didn’t know what his story would be! It was with a great deal of time and plotting that I realized the time had come to write my book that centered around “wife-selling.” When I came to that conclusion, I just had to weave Marcus’s story in with this woman who was being sold at auction—and make both their separate stories compelling.

What do you want to make sure readers who haven’t read the other books know about Marcus?
I guess . . . just that he’s not your typical duke. He’s turned his back on the ton. He’s gone through something, and he’s trying to figure himself out and what he wants.

The first book in this series, While the Duke Was Sleeping, is a historical adaptation of While You Were Sleeping. Are there any other classic rom-coms you want to transform into romances?
I do think about doing it again! I actually have tinkered with the idea of writing a historical romance version of John Tucker Must Die. Can you imagine? Earl Tucker Must Die . . . or some such? Lol!

How did you approach writing a romance where there is such a dramatic difference in social and economic power between the two leads? How do you balance depicting those dynamics honestly while still telling a love story?
It’s tricky. But the thing I strive to remember (and accomplish) is that both the hero and heroine must be equals in every sense to have a true and authentic happily ever after. If they don’t start out as equals (or perceive to be each other’s equal) they most certainly will be by the end of the book.

What did you like best about writing a road trip romance?
Oh, I love reading them—and watching road trip movies. I’ve actually written another road trip romance (Surrender to Me). But that was so long ago, and I was ready to do it again. The best part is throwing the hero and heroine together in constant proximity. It builds a lot of tension.

What’s next for you?
I’m working on This Scot of Mine (Clara’s book—she’s Marcus’ little sister). Readers meet the hero, Hunt, in The Duke Buys a Bride. I can promise that it’s the most crazypants idea I’ve ever come up with ☺. But basically Clara is forced into a situation where she has to pretend to be ruined/compromised. You’ll just have to read the book to find out what that is!

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our review of The Duke Buys a Bride.

Author photo by Country Park Portraits.

It’s clear from the first chapter of The Governess Game that author Tessa Dare’s irreverent sense of humor is in rare form. Readers are introduced to dashing ne’er-do-well Chase Reynaud as he is woken up by Rosamund, one of his two newly acquired wards, for a funeral that he has to officiate. The funeral is for Millicent, his other ward Daisy’s beloved doll, who is frequently dead or dying. Into this dysfunctional almost-family walks Alexandra Mountbatten, an aspiring astronomer who accepts the position of governess—and nurses a nearly uncontrollable crush on Chase. Of course, he soon finds her equally irresistible.

We talked to Dare about writing a governess romance in the midst of the #MeToo movement, the joys of Twitter and the real-life inspiration for her latest lovable heroine.

Something I really appreciated about Alex is that she wants to be sensible and no-nonsense all the time, but she also has a corner of her brain that is dead set on a sparkly, fairy-tale love story. What led you to write a heroine who is basically resisting the fact that she’s in a romance novel?
As Jane Austen wrote in Pride and Prejudice, “A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” I suspect a lot of women can relate to that quote. At least, I know I can! Sometimes, even though we know it’s absurd, we find ourselves plotting out a whole life with someone solely on the basis of a first date or even a chance encounter. That’s the situation Alex finds herself in. She bumped into a handsome, charming man in a bookstore—one she knows she’s unlikely to ever see again, much less marry—and yet she can’t get those thoughts out of her mind.

Alex’s backstory is inspired in part by your parents-in-law’s experiences as Filipino immigrants. What was it like to write a story where some aspects were based on people who are very close to you?
Alexandra isn’t based as much on my parents-in-law as she is on my own children, who are half Filipino and half Caucasian. After Alex’s mestiza (half Spanish, half native islander) mother died, she was raised by her father, a white sea captain from America, and she has lived in England since her adolescence. Basically, even though my daughter doesn’t read my books—understandably awkward for a 14-year-old to read her mom’s romance novels!—if she ever does, I want her to find a heroine who looks like her and shares a similar heritage. As for research, I lived in the Philippines for a year before I even started dating my husband (who lived in California—it’s a long story). A few of the story elements are from folklore and traditions that I heard about there or from my in-laws. I also tracked down the journal of one of the first American sailors to trade in the Philippines to read an outsider perspective of the era.

The governess trope in historical romance is well loved but also fraught with potentially sexist peril. What parts of this dynamic were you excited to write, and what parts did you know wouldn’t be in The Governess Game?
Governess romances have been a tried and true plot since Jane Eyre, and I love the trope as much as any reader. That said, I happened to be writing this book at the height of the #MeToo movement, and the power imbalance of rake/governess was something I worried about constantly. Any time you have an employer and employee pairing, it’s a delicate line to walk. I tried to acknowledge that in the characters’ thoughts and dialogue, and to make it clear to both the reader and Chase that Alexandra was equally interested in a physical relationship. In fact, she’s often the one initiating!

Romance heroes and heroines generally have a distinctive and alluring scent, as the gods of the genre demand. I’ve always wondered, how do you go about picking the perfect scent for your characters?
Hah! This is a funny question. Honestly, I don’t believe people truly ponder the particular ingredients of a perfume or aftershave, but I think many of us do have that instinctive attraction to a lover’s scent. Saying “he smelled good” over and over again would get boring for both me and the reader, so I use it as an opportunity to throw in a bit more historical detail or characterization. Alexandra smells faintly of orange flower water, which was a common scent of the era, but it’s also a clue to her personality. It tells Chase that she craves a little feminine indulgence, but she has to use the scent sparingly because of the cost.

This made me laugh out loud at my desk, so I have to ask—where on earth did the doll funerals come from?
I wish I could give you a specific answer! It evolved as I developed the characters. At first, I imagined the girls playing sick and/or dead, but then that felt a bit too bratty of them. So poor Millicent had to suffer instead. I liked that I was able to make it a comic element but also an emotional one. Everyone in the household knows the doll isn’t real, but Daisy’s emotions are. She’s still processing the realities of death and loss, and Chase is respectful of that despite the absurdity of the daily funerals.

As someone who adored The Duchess Deal, I was delighted to see Ash take on the role of the protective friend (albeit the most hilariously aggressive version possible). When did you know you wanted him to make more than just a cameo, and will he play a similar role for the remaining two heroines in the series?
Oh, Ash will always be protective. Chase will be protective of Penny and Nicola, too. By the time the fourth hero walks into the series, that unsuspecting guy is going to have a whole trio of protective, overbearing men to contend with—which will be so much fun to write.

Your Twitter feed is a total joy. What has been your favorite moment or tweet of the year so far?
I’m glad you enjoy it! I am pretty unfiltered on Twitter, so that’s always a relief to hear. My favorite Twitter experience of the year was most definitely the “Halloween Eagle” thread. A friend’s daughter saw a crow and said, “Look, mom—a Halloween eagle!” I posted this on Twitter, and people started chiming in with their own children’s hilarious and inventive names for common things. The thread kept growing and getting shared, and eventually it ended up being featured everywhere from Buzzfeed to “The Today Show!” The tweet is still pinned to my profile if anyone wants to read through the thread.

**Spoiler alert for the following question** Alex is a virgin, and the first time she and Chase have sex, it is physically painful for her at first. Why do you think that’s still a thing the genre shies away from depicting, despite the abundance of virginal heroines?
To start, I don’t actually consider it their first sex scene. One theme I enjoyed exploring in this book is that “sex” has a broader definition than just intercourse. That said, I know I’ve read quite a few painful deflowerings in romance, but it’s often that just-a-twinge-then-bliss sort of thing. And that’s not necessarily unrealistic. Every woman’s first time is different. However, Alex and Chase’s first go at it requires some communication, patience and collaborative problem-solving—all of which is so very them. Every couple’s love scenes should be very them, in my opinion. Of course, Chase and Alex do work it out and get to the bliss part pretty quickly!

What’s next for you?
I’m writing the third book in the Girl Meets Duke series, The Wallflower Wager. This will be Penny’s book. I don’t want to give away too many details yet, but Penny is a softhearted champion of wounded creatures and an incurable romantic—so naturally, her hero will be the opposite.

When banker Quinn Wentworth marries preacher’s daughter Jane Winston, he has no illusions that it will lead to happily ever after. Quinn is in Newgate prison, condemned to die the following morning. Having enjoyed the company of the self-possessed Jane when she accompanied her father on aid missions to the prison, Quinn offers her the protection of his name and family after learning that she is pregnant. Jane agrees to his proposal, they share a tender kiss during their wedding, and she leaves, intending to honor his memory. But then, Quinn shows up on her doorstep, very much not dead. He’s been pardoned by the crown at the very last second, because he’s the heir to a dukedom.

What follows is a tender love story between two solitary, guarded souls, laced with delicious wit and shadowed by the ever-present danger of the conspiracy against Quinn’s life. We talked to Burrowes about bringing this unexpected marriage (and the dark corners of Regency society) to life.

I really adored Quinn as a character, and think he is a fantastic example of a hero who reads as a man of the 18th century while still appeasing those of us who, you know, believe in equal rights for women. How do you thread that needle in regards to your historical heroes?
Great question! One of the reasons I like writing Regency era stories is because, in many ways, that period mirrors our own. The Napoleonic wars dragged on for twenty years prior to 1815 and resulted in the deaths of millions of (mostly) men. English women as of 1816 had thus seen tremendous expansion in their societal roles. Just as American and British women moved into factory jobs during WWII, so too, did British women become more commercially and logistically independent in wartime—with the backlash of repression once the wars ended.

Recall as well, that Georgian women went to war with their menfolk. They “followed the drum,” and kept the army fed, clothed, organized and medically tended to, despite the genteel image the Victorians tried desperately to fob off on us regarding their parents and grandparents.

A Regency hero, at least one who glanced beyond an aristocratic ballroom, was thus well acquainted with women who’d gone to war, women who ran business empires, and women involved in everything from blacksmithing to professional pugilism to membership in the Royal Academy as artists.

The more difficult needle to thread is not that Regency heroes were navigating in a sexist culture—aren’t contemporary heroes also faced with that challenge?—but that reader expectations regarding Regency women’s roles are in many cases narrower than the historical reality.

Turning our attention to Jane, I was delighted to read a pregnant heroine who was still a sexual being while also experiencing morning sickness and all the other not-so-fun physical elements of pregnancy. Was this the plan from the very beginning and why did you make that choice?
Yes, this was the plan from the beginning. For her own sake, Jane would probably not have accepted a stranger’s proposal. She’d have slogged along, putting up with her situation, trying to make the best of it. The looming prospect of motherhood, though, and single motherhood at that, raised all the stakes. She no longer had the luxury of thinking only of herself, and thus Quinn’s offer merited serious consideration (thank heavens!).

Another unique element of this romance is that certain sections of it are written from the point of view of other characters, not just the hero and heroine. What led you to include other perspectives?
Readers are smart—I mean, really smart. When an element of a book becomes predictable, whether it’s alternating points of view, chapter length, tea-and-crumpets stage business or the contour of a plot, readers pick up on that very quickly. Anything the author can do to make the reading experience more engaging is fair game by my lights. I thus tend to include secondary points of view in my books, which can add tension, preview future story arcs and make red herrings more believable. To give a lesser character some point of view scenes can diffuse the focus on the protagonists, so it’s not a tool to overuse. As an occasional departure though, it can keep the story and the writing fresh.

When Jane’s father first appeared, I thought I knew exactly what type of overbearing, overly religious character he would be. But he’s terrible in a less obvious, much more passive-aggressive way. What was the inspiration for his character?
Isn’t he a stinker? A villain is often what the hero (or heroine) could become, if the hero makes bad, fearful choices, instead of good, courageous ones. With Jane’s father, I wanted to create a character that talks the talk, chapter and verse, but is in fact, a frightened, lonely, hollow little man. Quinn, by contrast, isn’t fancy, doesn’t have the pretty words, is never going to be accepted by polite society and hasn’t much use for churches (including the York Minster), but he’s a brave, honorable, fierce man. Honor—which I define as kindness and honesty—makes all the difference.

Which Wentworth sibling would you most like to get a drink with?
Stephen. I know he’ll have a book at some point in the series, but he’s being all coy and shy-guy with me so far. Maybe over a glass of brandy, he might give me a hint or two.

I have to ask because I saw this on your website and it made me giggle to myself at my desk—why have you tried, several times, to ride a cow?
I eventually DID ride a cow, in fact. One of my farming friends got tired of hearing his wife’s horsey-buddies brag about their noble steeds, so he trained his bullocks to go under saddle. The pace was sedate, and we certainly didn’t engage in any fancy dressage, but the general result was forward locomotion.

There are all these perfect little human details in My One and Only Duke, from Jane loving the smell of Quinn’s soap to Quinn loving the way she bundles herself up in his bed (even though she initially steals his side). When do those grace notes come in during your writing process?
Sometimes, I’ll read a scene in the revision phase and think, “This is talking heads in a white room, Grace. What does this scene smell like? What does it sound like? Is there dead silence in the middle of a fancy London neighborhood? Are all the textures bland, smooth and comfy? Where is the light coming from?” And I’ll add in details at that phase. Other aspects of the scene—like a pregnant woman having a very acute sense of smell—are there from the first draft.

Tell me about Elizabeth Fry, the Newgate reformer you discovered during your research.
Elizabeth Gurney Fry is an example of how one person can make a tremendous difference. We know a lot about her not only because her work gained the notice of Parliament and Queen Victoria, but also because she kept voluminous, meticulous diaries. She was a Quaker (and a minister in that tradition), who visited Newgate in 1813 and was appalled at the conditions she found.

She inspired the prisoners to organize their own set of rules for governing their wards, challenged members of Parliament to spend a night in prison (which she did herself), wrote extensively about prison conditions and was the first person to successfully promulgate the idea that incarceration should be rehabilitative rather than purely punitive. To that end, she organized a school for children jailed with their mothers, taught female prisoners sewing skills and equipped women bound for transportation with sewing supplies and fabric so they might occupy themselves on the long voyage and have something to sell when they arrived in New South Wales.

She was, in short, a force of nature who put her money, her time and her energy behind the cause of prison reform. She was the first woman to testify as an expert before the House of Commons, and she was eventually successful at ending the transportation of prisoners. She also founded London’s first homeless shelter when she saw the body of a boy who’d died of exposure in the London streets. She was brave, kind and tireless, all while raising eleven kids. She’s a fine example of a Regency-era lady who had a significant, positive and lasting impact on her whole society.

What’s next for you?
Thanks for asking! A book for Duncan Wentworth, When A Duchess Says I Do, is scheduled for release in April 2019. I had great fun with that one, and now I’m in the drafting stages of a story for Wrexham, Duke of Elsmore, and the Wentworth and Penrose bank auditor, Mrs. Eleanora Hatfield. Just how is that our Mrs. Hatfield knows every accounting scam ever devised to suborn fraud and theft? Enquiring dukes want to know . . .

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our review of My One and Only Duke.

Surprising absolutely no one who’s ever been sucked into a show on HGTV, romances with a home-improvement plot have been a steadily growing little subgenre in recent years. Christy Carlyle’s A Duke Changes Everything hits all those beats, but with a Victorian gothic twist. Mina Thorne is the steward of Enderley, a crumbling country estate that just passed to the new duke, Nicholas Lyon. Nick has always hated Enderley, and fled years ago to run a gentlemen’s club in London. But Mina’s passion for the property and devotion to the people whose livelihoods depend on it make Nick reconsider his plans to sell as soon as he and Mina have completed their renovations. We talked to Carlyle about her love of the Victorian era and what her characters have taught her.

You clearly have a passion for history—I see that you got your bachelor’s degree on the subject. When did the 19th century steal your heart and start to inspire you? What was it that caught your eye?
My grandfather had a big influence on my interest in history. He loved books and introduced me to lots of 19th-century literary classics—Dickens, the Brontes, Austen, Eliot—and that led me to explore and find new favorites like Stoker and Le Fanu. When I entered college and chose history as my major, it felt natural to gravitate toward that era where so many of my favorite stories had been set. I’m continually intrigued with the cultures, fashion, technology and history of the period.

You’ve been magically transported to the world of one of your series! Which one would you choose?
That’s a great question! I think I’d choose my Romancing the Rule series. It’s set in the late 19th century, in the 1880s and ’90s, and that’s probably my favorite period of the era. So many technological advances had sprung up and were altering Victorian lives. I love the way fashion had changed during that era to allow for more natural skirt shapes and tailored waists and even the big poofy sleeves on gowns.

Which do you enjoy writing more: shy wallflowers or bold temptresses?
I like writing bold wallflowers! I like writing heroines who are unexpected and who end up surprising even themselves with their tenacity and drive. They may seem like a wallflower or a shy young woman, but I enjoy writing their journey to discovering they are much more.

What is one life-changing lesson or writing technique you’ve learned from your own characters?
My characters have definitely helped me push past the fear of putting emotion on the page. Writing is a revealing endeavor, and I sometimes find it hard to be vulnerable on the page, but truly wounded characters like Nick, Duke of Tremayne in A Duke Changes Everything have forced me to explore emotion in new ways.

You’ve said that you’re a lifelong learner—what’s your go-to source for knowledge? And is there an author, a former teacher or a character that you cite for inspiration?
I’m a constant reader, not only many types of fiction but history and biographies, too. Books are where I tend to go for my knowledge. This may sound odd, but when I was younger I read a multivolume biography about Percy Shelley, and his thirst for knowledge inspired me. He was constantly reading multiple books on a variety of subjects, and did so on purpose in order to expand his mind. As a teacher, I always viewed myself as much as an instructor as a co-learner with my students. I think it’s vital to stay curious.

Would you rather travel in America or Britain?
I’d have to say Britain. I’ve done a fair bit of traveling in the U.S., but there are many places in Britain I still haven’t explored. I’ve never been to Wales or Scotland, for instance. Both are high on my travel wish list.

If you were to write about a different cultural or time period (besides Victorian times or the Regency period), what would it be? How do you think it would change your writing?
Actually, I’m working on a Gilded Age story set in Chicago, and though it’s essentially still the Victorian era, it has a distinctly different flavor. American history was on its own trailblazing track, and there were lots of unique cultural differences.

I’ve also toyed with the idea of writing science fiction, and that is a whole new level of world building that intrigues me. I’d like to flex those writing muscles and imagine that the process of creating new worlds would enhance my historical writing, too.

How do you get into your writing zone? You’ve said you think about your characters constantly, but what do you do to focus up when it’s time to put pen to paper?
Mostly I try to lose myself in the story world. I usually refer to notes and images (often saved on a Pinterest board) when I start writing, but once I’m into the draft of a book, I read over previous scenes to get back into the motivations and emotions of the characters. Then most of all, I try to turn off my internal editor and just get the story down as honestly as I can.

You’ve done a little work in supernatural tale telling with Enchanted at Christmas. Any plans to do more of that?
I am always a sucker for a good ghost story, and I’m also a longtime fan of gothic romance. I’d love to explore those spooky supernatural elements in a future book.

As a former teacher, what’s the one lesson you would impart to a timid writer afraid to add to such a vast, developed genre as romance?
As a confirmed bookworm, I’d definitely advise someone wishing to write romance to reads lots of them. But I’d also encourage them not to be frightened, to dig in and put their own spin on old tropes. It’s a beloved genre, but definitely one that’s still full of new possibilities.