Book Title: THE HEIRESS’S DAUGHTER
Character Name: Clarissa Studley
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
Mama and I were very close, but Papa was nasty to Mama and to me. He only married Mama for her money and didn’t love her at all. He used to say I was useless because I was plain (like Mama) and not a boy. Luckily, he didn’t come home very often. Mama died when I was small and after that I was very lonely. But one day when I was almost nine, a man arrived with another little girl — my illegitimate half-sister, Izzy, who had just lost her own mother. Papa ordered her to be dumped in the nearest orphanage. He didn’t want her, but I did, so I hid her until Papa went away again. And we’ve been together ever since.
What was your greatest talent?
I don’t think I’m very talented at anything fashionable, like painting or music, but I like making beauty lotions and ointments from flowers and herbs. Izzy would say that my greatest talent is loving and loyalty, but she’s my sister, and she’s biased.
Significant other?
My sister Izzy has always been the most important person in my life, but she’s married now, and I know I have to learn to stand on my own two feet. I want to marry and have children — a family of my own — but finding the right man isn’t easy.
Biggest challenge in relationships?
I stand to inherit a fortune, and a lot of men are interested in that. But my mother married a rake who married her for her money, and he made her really miserable, so that’s the very last thing I want to do. But it’s very hard to know who is sincere and who wants me for myself, and not for my money. Men can be such liars.
Where do you live?
I grew up in the country, in a home with a beautiful garden, but when Papa died, he left it to someone else, and made Izzy and me homeless. We had to go to London, where our guardian lives and we’re staying in Bellaire Gardens, which is a large square of houses that surrounds a beautiful private garden.
Do you have any enemies?
I don’t think so. But in society everyone wears a mask of politeness and it’s hard to know what they really think. I do need to beware of men who want me only for my money.
How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?
I love the Bellaire Gardens. It’s a beautiful private garden, and I spend a lot of time there collecting flowers and herbs to make my lotions. And if things upset me, I can just step outside, and I instantly feel peaceful. There’s also a summerhouse, where I can go to be private when it’s raining.
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
I have no children or pets of my own yet, but I’m living with an old lady, Lady Scattergood, who has a herd of little dogs, all of which have been abandoned or were brutally treated, and her young footman and I often walk them. She’s lovely, but eccentric. She loathes men and adores animals.
What do you do for a living?
I’m an heiress, so I don’t need to work. But life would be very boring if you did nothing, wouldn’t it? So I make my beauty lotions and herbal ointments and give them to my family and friends.
Greatest disappointment?
When Mama died.
Greatest source of joy?
Meeting my half-sister Izzy for the first time when we were almost nine.
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
I work with flowers and herbs a lot of the time. And meet friends. I love riding, too, especially out in the country. I wouldn’t call going to big society balls and parties “fun”—I’m a bit shy and I never know what to say — but I have to do it if I want to find a husband. Which I do.
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
My lack of confidence. My sister tells me I need to be as nice to myself as I am to other people, but it’s hard. Those early years, with Mama and Papa have sunk in deep. And I’m a bit too plump.
What keeps you awake at night?
Oh, all sorts of things. Worrying about things I’ve done wrong and mistakes I’ve made, and fretting about who I can trust mainly. There’s this man who everyone knows is a terrible rake, but somehow I keep catching myself dreaming of him. I’m so frightened of marrying a man like Papa.
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
Working out whether the man who is courting me is sincere when he tells me he loves me and wants to marry me. He’s handsome, he stands to inherit a fortune of his own and he’s a real war hero. Lord Randall is also charming and good-looking, and he’s rich, so I don’t understand why he seems to be pursuing me. But everyone knows he’s a rake so I know he can’t be trusted. He’s disturbingly attractive, though.
A dashing rake must prove he has changed his scandalous ways to win his one true love from the arms of another, in a witty new Regency romance from the national bestselling author of The Rake's Daughter.
Heiress Clarissa Studley yearns to be loved for more than her fortune. Warmhearted, but plain and shy, she wishes to marry, but has two firm rules: no rakes and no fortune-hunters — her father was both, and she’ll never forget the misery he caused.
So, when Race, Lord Randall, starts to pay Clarissa attention, she knows she must keep him at a distance. Attractive and charming he might be, Race’s reputation precedes him and she’s observed first hand his flirtatious ways with London society beauties. But Race sees a beauty in Clarissa that others cannot, and for the first time in his life, he is truly in love. And when a rival for Clarissa's affections appears — a handsome, wounded war hero, heir to his great-aunt’s fortune — Race becomes desperate as Clarissa seems tempted to make a safer, tamer choice.
Can Race convince Clarissa that his love is true and that she can trust him with her heart? And can Clarissa put aside her unhappy past, and follow her heart, despite the risk of loving a rake?
Romance Historical [Berkley, On Sale: May 21, 2024, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593549681 / eISBN: 9780593549698]
Anne Gracie started her first novel while backpacking solo around the world. After four historical romances published by Harlequin, she moved to Berkley with The Perfect Rake, and never looked back. She's now writing her third series for Berkley. She also wrote the novelization of the first "The Tudors" TV series.
Anne is a former president of Romance Writers of Australia, a five time RITA finalist, has twice won the Romantic Book of the Year (Australia) and the National Reader's Choice Award (USA) and has been several times been listed in Library Journal (USA) best books of the year and NPR's best books listing.
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