The Story Behind the Gentlemen of Fortune miniseries

Awhile back I submitted a Regency proposal to Harlequin Historical.  I wanted the hero to be a man who'd made a lot of money (legally!) in quite a short time.  I knew large fortunes were being made in the East Indies, so I did a bit more research and discovered that the free port of Singapore was founded during the Regency era.  In those early days, vast fortunes were made by men willing to work hard and take risks.  It sounded perfect!

My editor thought so too.  She offered me a three-book contract and asked if my next two books could be linked.  I told her if she wanted all three books connected, I could give my hero, Ford Barrett a couple of business partners.  My original idea was to have all three men return to England with their new wealth and meet the heroines there, but the senior editor ask if I could set the last book in Singapore since HH is very keen to offer readers some different settings in addition to the very popular ones.

As I wrote the first book, I discovered a perfect match for Hadrian Northmore among the secondary characters of Married: The Virgin Widow -- that's her on the cover of Bought: The Penniless Lady.  Then I introduced the heroine of the final book (Wanted: Mail-Order Mistress) in the second one.  About that time I was asked if I'd like to write an Undone e-book to introduce the series, so I came up with a friend for the three business partners.

I hope readers will enjoy this miniseries about the self-made men of the Vindicara Trading Company and the ladies who love them!