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Dear Reader,

Sometimes when you write a series, a character that lingers in the shadows will suddenly take center stage and demand a story. It's not like I didn't know I was going to use Charlotte von Wolfram, a secondary character in Awaiting the Moon and Awaiting the Night, as the heroine of a book at some point. I did, but I thought that she was going to have to share the spotlight with her brother, Christoph. He is the troubled, tortured fellow who is just beginning to find himself in Awaiting the Night, and I thought that his story would come next. But then Charlotte pouted and demanded that if she was going to England—her Uncle Nikolas was sending her there to meet a potential husband—then she wanted to be the center of attention for once.

Who am I to argue? I'm just the author. I felt sorry for the Earl of Wesmorlyn, her betrothed. He's a good guy, a little stuffy and proper, but well-meaning and morally centered. What on earth would he make of a tempestuous, unruly female like Charlotte?

But... it turns out that he has secrets of his own, and any other woman would let him stay in his tightly closed shell. Charlotte, whirlwind countess and free spirit, demands honesty. But how to handle her? She causes a scandal the very first night she arrives in England and then disappears off the face of the earth. Wesmorlyn is appalled and affronted—a proper lady just does not go wandering through the English countryside in 1795—but, yes, all right, he's intrigued. She is, after all, beautiful, and seeing her kiss another man did cause a quick spurt of jealousy that he doesn't care to examine too closely.

So he takes off after her, and the two find that as different as they are, some things bring them together. But will their secrets—and a few shocking revelations—tear them apart forever?

I have to admit that I really like Charlotte. Some heroines are good to the point of blandness, or feisty to the point of being annoying. Charlotte is a mixture, feisty, but also devoted, loyal and caring. She's a good person, but her headstrong nature, though it takes her into trouble, is tempered by intelligence and a deep need to understand herself. She's supremely flawed and wonderfully real, and when she falls in love, it will rock her to the core.

I hope you enjoy Awaiting the Fire.

Happy reading!

Donna Lea Simpson

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