Shortly after moving into our current home nearly
twenty years ago, my husband and I took a walk around our neighborhood. We came
across an old Victorian house, built in 1871, that was undergoing a massive
renovation. It appeared the house had sustained major fire damage.
I’ve always loved Victorian architecture. So over the
course of the next few months, I watched as the house transformed from a
dilapidated mess to a magnificent homage to the period from which it came. The
owners obviously spared no expense as they brought that house back to life.
For years I admired that house from the outside. A
few years ago the owners hosted a holiday fundraiser for one of the local
private schools, and I was lucky enough to see the inside of the carriage house
they had restored into a three-car garage and loft. (That carriage house is
larger than my entire home!) However, I never had a chance to see the inside of
the pink Victorian until recently.
The house is now for sale; pictures are posted online,
along with a description. There are eight bedrooms and three bathrooms in this
5,000 square foot home. The house not only has mahogany floors throughout, the
wrap-around porches are also mahogany. (Remember I said they spared no expense
in the renovation?) There’s a butler’s pantry, leaded glass windows, a
marble(!) driveway, an in-ground heated pool, even a Koi pond. The iron fence
that surrounds the grounds was originally from the Burry Biscuit Factory and
was restored for the property. Along with all this, there are countless modern amenities,
including heated floors!
Authors often get their inspiration from people,
places, and events in their own lives. That pink Victorian, coupled with a
relative’s struggles to get pregnant and a scandal involving a Virginia in
vitro specialist, became my inspiration for Finding
Hope, originally published under my Emma Carlyle pen name.
Finding Hope, which was a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart
finalist, is one of those books that doesn’t fit neatly into a specific genre
category. It’s one part romance, one part women’s fiction, and one part
mystery.
Finding
Hope
Hope
Morgan was always the good girl, doing what her conservative parents expected:
she gave up her dream of going to college, became a secretary right out of high
school, and married the boy next door. When Hope is suddenly widowed, she finds
the courage to pursue her own dreams. Twelve years later, after working
full-time and going to school at night, she obtains her degree and is offered a
position at a prestigious architectural firm.
That’s
when her long-exiled libido decides to resurface, and Hope finds herself
falling head-over-heels for Ben Schaffer, her married boss. What Hope doesn’t
realize is that Ben’s marriage is less than ideal. Within days of Hope starting
her new job, Ben’s wife walks out on him and their three-year-old triplets–the
same day the nanny lands in the hospital. When Ben can’t find a last-minute
replacement, Hope agrees to step in as a temporary nanny–not the best decision
she’s ever made, given her raging hormones.
Ben
is fighting a battle with his own hormones, but an office romance is the last
thing he needs or wants. However, he and Hope are no match for three very
determined three-year-olds on a mission to find a happy ending.
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