From the Bookshelf of Around the World in 80 Books…

The Moonflower might have stayed to listen—listening, after all, was his job—but he had another task today.

He was here to meet his new contact.

That was all he had been told: Proceed to Rossio Square and await further instructions. He would know his contact by the code phrase “The eagle nests only once.”

Who in the hell came up with these lines?

Once, just once, he would appreciate a phrase that didn’t involve dogs barking at midnight or doves flying by day.

The Moonflower might have stayed to listen—listening, after all, was his job—but he had another task today.

He was here to meet his new contact.

That was all he had been told: Proceed to Rossio Square and await further instructions. He would know his contact by the code phrase “The eagle nests only once.”

Who in the hell came up with these lines?

Once, just once, he would appreciate a phrase that didn’t involve dogs barking at midnight or doves flying by day.

Jack Reid rocked back on his heels. “This is only the beginning, you know.” He looked up at her, his eyes dark in the uncertain light. “I’m your manservant. I live in your tent. I see to your, ahem, needs. You’re going to be seeing a lot of me, princess.”

I’ve been living with the Pink Carnation series for a very long time. As my little sister would say, “All the feels, all the feels.” Theoretically, I knew the time had come for the series to end. But when it came to putting words on paper? I put this book off. And I put this book off. And I would have put this book off even longer, but for the fact that my agent, editor, and publisher were all getting justifiably antsy and pointed out that there actually needs to be a manuscript for a book to get published.