Fun Facts about My Cornish Romance Series by Laura Briggs – Guest Post

Today on the blog we welcome author Laura Briggs to Whispering Stories with her guest post ‘Fun Facts about My Cornish Romance Series‘ as part of the blog tour for her book ‘A Wedding In Cornwall’ the first book in her Cornwall series, which was released on 11th August 2016. This post contains affiliate links.

Laura Briggs is the author of several feel-good romance reads, including the Top 100 Amazon UK seller ‘A Wedding in Cornwall’. She has a fondness for vintage style dresses (especially ones with polka dots), and reads everything from Jane Austen to modern day mysteries.

When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, caring for her pets, gardening, and seeing the occasional movie or play.

Fun Facts about My Cornish Romance Series

Thanks so much to Stacey for allowing me to share with the readers at Whispering Stories for the 3rd anniversary celebration of my romance novella A Wedding in Cornwall. The first in what turned out to be a twelve-book series, it followed the adventures of American event planner Julianne in her new life working at a manor house in a tiny Cornish village. It was lots of fun to dream up scenarios for this colorful setting and I had a lot of influence from real-life Cornwall, as well as other books, not to mention film and television, when I penned new ideas for Julianne’s world. I thought it might be awfully fun to let readers in on a few of the lesser-known facts about sources of inspiration for the series setting and characters—so here goes!

1) Even though he’s based on Aidan Turner’s portrayal of Ross Poldark, the character of Matthew was actually named for Matthew Crawford in ITV’s Downton Abbey. His surname of Rose is, of course, rather fitting for his profession as a gardener/botanist (and also happens to be the name of a hamlet in real-life Cornwall).

2) The model for Cliffs House was the real-life Pencarrow, the northern Cornish estate mentioned in Book 4 of the series, A Manor in Cornwall. Other influences for creating the atmosphere of the manor Julianne comes to think of as a second home include the grand houses depicted in such favorite British dramas as Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs.

3) The character of Dinah, the estate’s no-nonsense chef was a little inspired by a tough-but-fair female chef in the Hallmark Channel Movie An Ice Sculpture Christmas. Dinah’s baked goodies were one of my favorite things to create for the series and even got their own starring role in the plot of Book 5, A Bake Off in Cornwall.

4) Gemma, one of the young maids on the housekeeping staff at Cliffs House, was modeled after the physical characteristics of actress Emma Watson. The description for her friend and fellow maid Pippa, however, was inspired by a character from a Sleeping Beauty re-telling I co-authored in another genre.

5) And finally, one of my favorite behind-the-scenes facts—the description for the beloved cliffside view where Julianne and Matt share their most romantic moments was actually inspired by the scenery in a 1940s horror movie known as The Uninvited (I know, I know…apologies to my fellow Poldark fans!!!). The novel behind the movie was set in Devon, but for the Hollywood film version, they changed its location to … you guessed it … Cornwall.

So I hope this fun trivia will inspire some of you to check out Julianne’s adventures, now available in handy book bundle editions as well as individual novellas and paperback sets. And if you’ve already read and enjoyed A Wedding in Cornwall and its sequels, I hope you’ll be sure to check out my newest Cornish-inspired romance series, ‘A Little Hotel in Cornwall’. It features another fish-out-of-water heroine, but this time she has a quest, a secret, and a bit of a bumpy road in terms of both romantic and personal aspirations.

If you love feel good, flyaway reads with glamorous settings and a hero with a bit of a James Norton vibe, then it might just be your cup of tea!!

It’s the career move of a lifetime, and Julianne can’t believe it’s hers: a position as an event planner at a country house in Cornwall, England, beginning with the wedding of a celebrity! If her old firm’s senior planner back in the States hadn’t fallen suddenly sick with the chicken pox, Julianne would never have found herself chosen for a life in one of England’s most beautiful coastal counties, surrounded by rugged shores, quaint cottages, elegant gardens and a house to die for.

But life in Cornwall isn’t exactly as Julianne imagined it. Her first bride-to-be is a resentful, petted snob, the groom is immature and bored, and the Cornish staff of Cliffs House has a difficult time believing that an event planner from a mid-level position can handle a wedding this big. And then there’s a personal matter — the handsome, sometimes charming, sometimes standoffish gardener Matthew Rose. He and Julianne have a strangely complicated relationship somewhere between friendship and attraction.

But with a secret in his past, and a scheming bridesmaid plotting to have Matthew all to herself, will Julianne find a way to untangle her feelings and the problems of planning a perfect Cornish wedding?

www.paperdollwrites.blogspot.com
@PaperDollWrites
Facebook
Goodreads

If you enjoyed reading ‘Fun Facts about My Cornish Romance Series’ please share your thoughts in the comment section below!