Raine Miller Romance

Where history comes unlaced..

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In Search of Mr. Darcy

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My view as I arrived. The green and picturesque countryside is utterly breathtaking. I was left pretty much speechless.

I’ve decided my trip yesterday to one of my “bucket-list-places” was worthy of a blog post.  I know I’ve been mostly absent on here for a while, and I do apologize, but circumstances have pretty much taken my wishes out of the equation.

The important thing to take from this is how I made my way over to London for a slew of book signings plus The London Book Fair this month, and I think the trip will go down in history as one of the best I’ve ever had in jolly ole England.  First off, I hit the super lottery on weather when I experienced warm-and-sunny for 14 out of the 17 days I was there.  *this never happens*   For April it’s an anomaly to experience anything other than cold-and-wet per the Brits who live there.  Global warming anyone?

So, on one of those beautiful and rare sunshine-filled April days of my trip, I made my way to a place I’ve dreamed of visiting for more than a decade–>  Chatsworth.  The ancestral country estate of the Dukes and Duchesses of Devonshire situated in the Derbyshire countryside.  But Chatsworth is more than just an estate though, much, much more.  In fact, if you’re a fan of my books and a lover of romance, you’ve probably SEEN this famous house in a movie before…because Mr. Darcy lives there.

I’m not kidding!

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Marble bust of Mr. Darcy made for the movie and now on display in the gift shop. It has a cute sign below asking that visitors “Do not kiss”

In the film Pride and Prejudice, 2005, Elizabeth Bennett travels with her aunt and uncle to the Peak District of England on a sightseeing holiday and runs into Mr. Darcy when they take a tour of “Pemberly” as played magnificently  by Chatsworth House.

Mister.  Darcy.

Yes, people, I love him.  I fully planned on seeing him coming out of the fountain with a soaking wet shirt.  Ahhh, the joys of an active imagination, true?

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The walls are filled with gorgeous paintings like this one. One of the Dukes had this portrait done of his three granddaughters in the garden. Le sigh…

I took some pictures of my experience but they will never be able to do justice to what is there…house and gardens left me speechless for the most part.  I just stared wide eyed and sighed a lot.  This huge estate has just about everything from stunning paintings, to soulful sculpture, to country vistas of rolling hills of green, to flowers blooming beside a koi pond with friendly fat fishes in it.  I just can’t even…

Let’s just leave it right here:  I’m very confident you’ll see aspects of Chatsworth appear on the pages of my future books, both those set in the past as well as the present.

Happy trails,

Raine xxoo

What we owe the Victorians~

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Christmas Crackers! ...Circa 1900

Sitting here addressing holiday cards made me think about where they came from.  We can thank those Victorians from England for them.  Since I write Victorian Noir and all my stories seem to end up in that time I can appreciate their contribution to a tradition in full force today.

Sir Henry Cole (a civil servant with a very nice British name) commissioned the first Christmas card in London in 1843 because he had too many holiday wishes to write out and didn’t want to pen each and every one.  Sound familiar?   So Sir Henry asked English painter J.C. Horsley to design one and history was made.  About 2,050 cards were printed and sold that year for a shilling (equivalent of about a nickel) each.

Early English cards rarely showed winter or religious themes, instead favoring flowers, fairies and other fanciful designs that reminded the recipient of the approach of spring. My favorites are the holiday themed images that came later.  In 1875 Louis Prang (recognize the name of Prang for the paints and chalks still sold today) became the first printer to offer cards in America.

These people were shrewd businessmen I tell you.  I sure hope they made some money for their idea, because I am shelling out loads of cash now over 100 years later.  Cards, stamps, labels, printer ink…and it adds up.  But still, I do enjoy getting them in the mail so I imagine I’ll still continue to send them out.  *as I moisten the last envelope with a wet sponge*  Lick the envelopes?  Heck no!!!  George’s fiance died that way!~

Countdown to Lover Unleashed…

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J.R. Ward’s latest in the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series

Okay, I am dying for this book and gratefully only have a week left to wait for it.  If JR can improve on LOVER MINE (and I don’t see how she can) then I’m going to be AWOL for a couple days while I read this.  If you’ve never read JR Ward, then you are missing out BIG TIME.  Every person I’ve ever turned on to her has become a fan of her stories.  She also writes contemporary romance under the name Jessica Bird.  Every story leaves me dying for more.  The characters in every one of her books are so unique and finely crafted that they’ve become real people in my head, not to mention the amazing world they live in.  JR Ward is on my shortlist of “bookshelf” authors.  I read most everything on my Kindle.  I order hardbacks of those special books that will have a place on my bookshelf  until time immemorial.  LOVER UNLEASHED gets that honor even before I’ve read it.  Now that’s sayin something.

Raine