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Voted a "Favorite Read of 2002" by the Nonesuch Regency Site!

Nicola's Notes

My second book in The Steepwood Scandal is the sequel to A Companion of Quality.

When I was researching for my two books in The Steepwood Scandal I went to the Salcey Forest, an old oak woodland in Northamptonshire. Originally one of the Royal Hunting Forests, it dates back to the time of William the Conqueror and contains open grassy "lawns" which were used to provide hay and pasture for deer and cattle. These days the Forest contains a mix of oak, ash and conifer and is cared for by the Forestry Commission. Nearby is Sulgrave Manor, which I used as the basis for Hewly Manor. Sulgrave, the home of George Washington's ancestors, is a beautiful Tudor manor house with a glorious rose and lavender garden.

About the book

An Unlikely Suitor  is Book 14 in The Steepwood Scandal Series.

Lavender Brabant is a bluestocking who finds herself drawn irresistibly to Barnabas Hammond, the adopted son of the draper in Abbot's Quincey. Lavender is an heiress and the daughter of an Admiral. Barnabas is an enigma - his parentage is shrouded in a scandalous mystery and he is far below her on the social scale. How can Lavender follow her heart and find true happiness with her unlikely suitor?

An Unlikely Suitor was published in the UK in 2002 and direct only in the US in 2002. It was reprinted in the UK in 2007.