Where did you get the inspiration for this story?

I love the concept of women in disguise in a time when women were considered little more than breeding stock and property. I also thought Anthony needed to be challenged since book one sees him fairly rigid in his propriety towards Daniella, his sister. I wanted to shake him up a bit and who better than Rose Clairmont to do that? He’s drawn to her but she’s dangerous to his future plans. 

This is an exciting marriage of convenience historical romance. What drew you to this trope? What is your favorite trope to write?

It does have the flavour of marriage of convenience but it’s more about being compromised. When Anthony accidentally compromises Rose, he knows he has to marry her, his honour demands it, and it might just further his own ends in the process. In terms of tropes, I actually love beauty and the beast as a favourite but I haven’t been able to play with it yet.

If you could spend the day with Rose or Anthony, who would you choose and what would you do?

Rose, definitely. She’s so fierce and unrelenting, perhaps too much so sometimes, but I love strong women who know what they want from life. I think she would be a lot of fun in real life!

What do you want readers to take away after reading this story?

I want women (and all people) to just be their best selves, the self you want to see reflected back at you in the mirror. Rose has had to create lies on top of more lies to do this in a very difficult time. For most of us living in first world and developed countries, we have the opportunity to do almost anything we set our minds to (dodging the patriarchy of course), you just have to have the courage to reach for it…  

What are you currently reading?

I’m just about to start reading Stacey Reid’s The Scandalous Diary of Lily Layton for a little bit of sizzle! It also shares the same couple on the cover as The Road to Ruin (book one) which I thought was a nice twist from the universe when scanning recommendations for romance authors to read during Black History Month. I’ll keep you posted! 

About the Author

Bronwyn Stuart is a multi-published, award-winning author of both contemporary and historical romantic fiction. Her latest Regency series, Daughters of Disgrace, will be released July 2020 by Tule Publishing. She and her shoe collection share a house in the Adelaide Hills with her husband, kids, dogs and cat. She’s a sucker for a love story and a bad boy. You can find out more at www.bronwynstuart.com