#FiveOnFriday with Caroline Warfield

Please say hi to Caroline Warfield! She’s got a great story coming in a few weeks. You won’t want to miss it!

While visiting Venice not long ago I asked myself if I could set a Regency story there. I decided to find out. Here are five things I learned.

1. Lord Byron lived in Venice from 1816 to 1819 after he was forced to leave England over debts.

2. Young men of the Regency era regularly stopped in the city while on their Grand Tour, ostensibly a finishing touch on their classical education, but most often an excuse for wild living.

3. When Napoleon captured Venice in 1797 he ended centuries of rule by the aristocratic families, established democratic rule on the French model, tore down the gates of the Venetian Ghetto, and carted away many priceless works of art including the famous bronze horses from Saint Mark’s Cathedral.

4. He almost immediately gave Venice to Austria by treaty. Austria’s austere laws but a damper in Venice’s licentious customs. They banned Carnevale, In the opinion of many it became a dreary place.

5. The city was blessed with many physicians such as my hero, Salvatore. Many others were Jews, including Salvatore’s friend Judah Ottolenghi, because medicine was one of the limited numbers of professions open to them.

And so I discovered that I could indeed write a Regency romance set in Venice. The result was Lady Charlotte’s Christmas Vigil.

About the Book

It is 1818 and Byron is in Venice…

Lady Charlotte clings to one dream—to see the splendor of Rome before settling for life as the spinster sister of an earl. But now her feckless brother forces her to wait again, stranded in Venice halfway to the place of her dreams when he falls ill after attempting to imitate his idol. She finds the city damp, moldy, and riddled with disease.

As a physician, Salvatore Caresini well knows the danger of putrid fever. He lost his young wife to it, leaving him alone to care for their rambunctious children. He isn’t about to let the lovely English lady risk her life nursing her brother.

But Christmas is coming, that season of miracles, and with it, perhaps, lessons for two lonely people: that love heals the deepest wounds and sometimes the finest dreams aren’t the ones we expect.

Preorder now for an October 20 release:

Barnes & Noble Amazon

Join us to celebrate the launch and holiday reading in general. There will be games and prizes!

About the Author

Traveler, would-be adventurer, former tech writer, and library technology professional, Caroline Warfield has now retired to the urban wilds of Eastern Pennsylvania, and divides her time between writing and seeking adventures with her grandbuddy and the prince among men she married. Her new series sends the children of the heroes of her earlier books to seek their own happiness in the far-flung corners of the British Empire. She reminds them always that love is worth the risk.