Caroline Warfield, welcome to Romance Lives Forever. I’m Kayelle Allen, author and owner of this blog. Happy to have you here! We’re excited to find out more about your heroine, but first, tell us about the book.

The Unexpected Wife by Caroline Warfield

Genre Historical Romance Victorian
Book heat level (based on movie ratings): PG 13
Charles Wheatly, Duke of Murnane, accepts an unofficial fact finding mission to the East India Company’s enclave in Canton, China on behalf of the queen. He anticipates intrigue, international tensions, and an outlet for his grief over the death of his young son. He isn’t entirely surprised when he also encounters the troublesome offspring of his mentor, the Duke of Sudbury, but the profound love he discovers for the determined young woman is unforeseen and untimely. Charles certainly doesn’t expect to also face his troubled marriage in such an exotic locale. The appearance of his estranged wife in the company of their enemy throws the entire enterprise into conflict, and tensions boil over when the woman he loves is put at risk by his wife’s scheming–and the beginnings of the First Opium War.
Zambak Hayden seethes with frustration. A woman her age has occupied the throne for over a year, yet the Duke of Sudbury’s line of succession still passes over her–his eldest–to land on a son with neither spine nor character. When she follows her brother to Macau the greed and corruption she finds horrifies her, especially when her brother succumbs to the lure of opium. She isn’t about to bend to the dictates of a family friend nor give up her quest. Her traitorous heart, however, can’t stop yearning for a man she can’t have.
Can their love survive as an epic historical drama unfolds around them?

Know the Heroine from The Unexpected Wife

It’s late, she’s bored. What does she do?
She has a bad habit of breaking into her host’s office late at night. He’s the superintendent of trade for Canton and she can’t resist spying.
What kind of food would she impulse buy if hungry?
Steamed dumplings
Describe the kind of clothes she prefers to wear.
She tried boys clothing and found it very freeing, but what she enjoys the most are her Manchu lady’s dresses. The are colorful and feminine but comfortable and don’t require a corset.
Does she know how to fix things?
Zambak can pick locks, a spring the hidden panel in a trunk but that’s about it.
She tried to do something and it went badly. Tell us about it.
She disguised herself as a seaman to smuggle herself into Wampao where no western women go. Unfortunately Charles, the Duke of Murnane, already intended to go there and chose that ship to sail on. More unfortunately, she knows nothing about seamanship and was forced to climb the mast. Most unfortunate of all, Charles had no problem recognizing the derriere climbing the mast. He wondered if the other men were blind.
How does she act around children she doesn’t know?
Zambak has very little experience with children and is quite awkward. When her friend Temperance hands my heroine her tiny daughter, however, what can she do? Snuggling comes naturally.
What is she like first thing in the morning?
Chocolate always.
How does she handle things when in a “proper” social situation?
Her mother, the Duchess of Sudbury, trained her well. She knows which spoon to use, how to follow precedence, and how to subdue an encroaching worm with a single scathing glance. She can keep conversation flowing, override uncomfortable moments, and bring out the shyest companion. She can also give the cut direct with ruthless effect.
Maid or takes care of herself?
She accepts the services of a maid as an annoying necessity. She is adept at bribing servants of all kinds, however.
Proper dress or casual clothes?
Whichever suits the occasion.
Sleeves buttoned or rolled up?
Rolled up
Powdered wig or natural hair?
Oh please. Natural … but in 1838 this no longer comes up.
Carriage or horseback?
Carriage, although she likes to walk, and can go great distances on foot.
Thanks for helping us get to know your heroine!

Where to buy The Unexpected Wife

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FGGC918/

Caroline Warfield Social Media

Award winning author Caroline Warfield has been many things: traveler, librarian, poet, raiser of children, bird watcher, Internet and Web services manager, conference speaker, indexer, tech writer, genealogist–even a nun. She reckons she is on at least her third act, happily working in an office surrounded by windows where 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.
Website http://www.carolinewarfield.com/
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