Welcome to Amy Rose’s Parlour … Caroline Warfield
April 26 2017The delightful Caroline Warfield has dropped by my parlour today for an interview and to talk about her latest release, The Reluctant Wife, the second title in her wonderful Children of the Empire Series! Don’t miss the excerpt or Caroline’s new release contests at the end of the interview!
- What is your idea of perfect happiness? I don’t believe in perfection. I think we choose happiness. It is the attitude with which we approach life. What is bliss to me? A day at the seashore with someone I love. Cares fall away and I’m reminded of the heart of what it is to be human.
- Which living person do you most admire? Melinda Gates. She uses her wealth and position to seek solutions to underlying problems behind human misery such as water supplies or access to technology.
- What is your greatest extravagance? Travel, always travel
- What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Patience. Life is too short for it.
- What or who is the greatest love of your life? My husband. He is my love, my calling, my support, my other half.
- When and where were you happiest? My wedding day in 1969.
- Which talent would you most like to have? There are so many… the ability to focus on detail whether in proofreading or project planning would be very useful, but dancing would be a lot more fun.
- Where would you most like to live? If I couldn’t live near family I would choose to live in an apartment in a major city like Chicago, San Francisco, London, Rome, Paris… definitely Paris
- What is your most treasured possession? Aside from my wedding rings, my mother’s locket and the portrait painted of me when I was six.
- What is your favorite occupation? Writing is way more fun than anything I’ve done before, but I liked being involved in public information access policy very much also.
- Who are your favorite writers? Thomas Merton, Gregory of Nyssa, Mark Twain, Harper Lee. Of romance/ficiton? Dorothy Dunnett, Carla Kelly, C.S. Harris and Grace Burrowes. I have many friends whose books I enjoy, but I can’t play favorites.
- Who is your hero/heroine of fiction? Atticus Finch first and foremost. Others woujld be Crawford of Lymond, Sebastian St.Cyr, Amelia Peabody.
- Which historical figure do you most identify with? Thomas More
- Who are your heroes in real life? People who are faithful in service year in year out whether priests, homeless advocates, military professionals, nurses or firefighters. Folks that just get up every day, year after year and go serve the community.
- If you had a day all to yourself and your only mission was to enjoy it, what would you do? I would be hard pressed to choose between heading up to the mountains or down to the seashore, but I would go where the was solitude and quiet in nature, where I could simply walk and breathe it in.
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Caroline Warfield is over the moon to finally be able to release The Reluctant Wife into the wild.
This sweeping story carries readers from the edge of Bengal to Calcutta to the Suez and across the desert, to rural England while two people stumble into love in spite of themselves. The hero, a clueless male with more honor than sense, never stops trying to do the right thing. Imagine his shock when he realizes people actually depend on him! The heroine is a courageous wounded duck with more love bottled up than she finds comfortable. Along the way it features a meteor shower, a tragic asassination, colonial officials, steamboats, narrow minded officers’ wives, herbal remedies, a desert bivouac, a court martial, interfering relatives, a horrific fire, and camels. The self important villain, rotten to the core, makes the hero miserable in both India and England, until the hero brings him down—with a little help from family—in the end. And last but not least, it features two charming children, one a precocius little girl who pushes the hero to do what is right even when he is confused about what that is.
The author dedicts this one to her father, the constant soldier, who understood duty and loyalty as few people do.
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GIVEAWAYS!
Thank you for joining the celebration! If you tell us about your favorite story elements, Caroline will give a kindle copy of The Renegade Wife, Book 1 in the series, to one person who comments below.
Caroline is also sponsoring a grand prize in celebration of her release. You can enter it here! The prequel to this series, A Dangerous Nativity, is always **FREE**. You can get a copy here.
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The Reluctant Wife, Children of Empire, Book 2
When all else fails, love succeeds…
When Captain Fred Wheatly, a soldier with more honor than sense, is forced to resign from the Bengal army, and his mistress dies leaving him with two half-caste daughters to raise, he reluctantly turns to Clare Armbruster for help. But the interfering widow has her own problems, and a past she would rather forget. With no more military career and two half-caste daughters to support, Fred must return to England and turn once more—as a failure—to the family he let down so often in the past. Can two hearts rise above the past to forge a future together?
Enjoy an excerpt …
The ballroom at Government House, Calcutta, 1835
Clare had stopped listening. A prickle of awareness drew her gaze to the entrance where another man entered. He stood well above average height, he radiated coiled strength, and her eyes found his auburn hair unerringly. Captain Wheatly had come. The rapid acceleration of her heart took her off guard. Why should I care that he’s here?
“Clare? The lieutenant asked you a question.”
Lieutenant? Clare blinked to clear her head, only to see Mrs. Davis’s icy glare turned on Captain Wheatly. “Is that your strange captain from the black neighborhood?” she demanded in a faux whisper.
The lieutenant’s avid curiosity added to Clare’s discomfort. “Is that Wheatly in a captain’s uniform? I thought they might demote him after the business with Cornell,” he volunteered.
Clare forced herself to turn to the lieutenant. “Cornell?” she asked to deflect Mrs. Davis’s questions.
“Collector at Dehrapur. Wheatly assaulted the man. Unprovoked, I heard,” the lieutenant answered.
She looked back, unable to stop herself. Merciful angels, he’s seen me. She watched the captain start toward them. At least Gleason could make introductions.
The lieutenant went on as though he had her full attention. “He was in line for promotion, the one that went to your brother instead. Philip posted over there right after it happened.”
Clare found it impossible to look away. The captain gave an ironic smile when he saw her watching. Mrs. Davis gave a sharp intake of breath when she realized Wheatly’s intent. “He’s coming here? Clare, I think I should warn you that a man who has been passed over as this one was—”
Before she could finish, Colonel Davis, who had been coming from the other direction, met the captain and greeted him with a smile. Clare couldn’t hear the words, but Captain Wheatly’s self-deprecating grin seemed to indicate at least a modicum of respect. The two men approached together.
“Captain Frederick Wheatly, may I present my wife, Mrs. Davis.” The captain bowed properly, and the colonel went on, “And our house guest, Miss Armbruster.”
This time the captain’s eyes held a distinct twinkle. “Miss Armbruster and I are acquainted. I met her when she visited her brother in Dehrapur.”
“Of course, of course! I should have remembered,” the colonel said jovially. He leaned toward Clare and winked. “He’s a catch, this one. Doesn’t like to boast of his connections, but earls and dukes lurk in his pedigree. His cousin stepped down from Under-Secretary for War and the Colonies just last year!”
Captain Wheatly looked discomfited by that revelation.
Gleason looked skeptical. “The Duke of Murnane?” he gasped.
Before anyone could answer, the small orchestra hired for the occasion began to play, and the captain cocked an eyebrow as if to ask a question.
“I think the captain wants a dance, Miss Armbruster. It’s your patriotic duty to see to the morale of the troops,” the colonel said coyly.
Captain Wheatly put out a gloved hand, and she put her equally gloved hand in his. Walking away from Gleason and the Davises, she admitted two things to herself. She was glad he came, and she planned to enjoy the dance.
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About Caroline Warfield
Traveler, poet, librarian, technology manager—Caroline Warfield has been many things (even a nun), but above all she is a romantic. Having retired to the urban wilds of eastern Pennsylvania, she reckons she is on at least her third act, happily working in an office surrounded by windows while she lets her characters lead her to adventures in England and the far-flung corners of the British Empire. She nudges them to explore the riskiest territory of all, the human heart.
Caroline is a RONE award winner with five star reviews from Readers’ Favorite, Night Owl Reviews, and InD’Tale and an Amazon best-seller. She is also a member of the writers’ co-operative, the Bluestocking Belles. With partners she manages and regularly writes for both The Teatime Tattler and History Imagined.
Twitter @CaroWarfield
Email: [email protected]